First time polishing - caused swirls

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Kyle_Elantra

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Today I polished the trunk lid on my brand new car (bought in March, did my first wash today) . Before I touched it there were no swirls.

I used ONR as a detail spray, then I clayed using ONR as lube.

Using a 3D DA:
I used XMT 360 on a Lake Country 5.5" white pad
DP Polish Coat Sealant on a Lake Country black pad
Finally Collinite 845 on a black pad

This was all done in the shade at maybe 7:30 at night. It looked okay when I was done, but looking at it from an angle using gas station lights shows swirl marks.

I know I caused this but I'm not sure how. The XMT 360 says to polish until dry. Also the sealant was a little dry too.

Can dry buffing cause a lot of swirling?

Should I have used more product? I know I'm supposed to leave a wet trail but the 360 says not to. I've read that Mike suggests to use your own judgement with things like this. With the sealant I guess I was trying to go thin and stretched it too far.

Or did I do something else wrong?

I'm ordering a brinkmann tomorrow.
 
A Brinkmann is just a light. It can show you a result, but it won't help you solve your issue.

What you needed to do was to stop at the end of each phase and check your work. That's the only way you'll know for sure which step actually introduced the swirls.

Once you know, you can re-do that step until it comes out right.

The Brinkmann light can help you with that, but so can any bright flashlight with either Halogen or LED bulbs.

Jim
 
xmt is a light polish so you may have never removed the swirls in the first place
 
The one thing I always tell people "TEST SPOT" this will save you time and a headache down the road.
 
I'm aware the brinkmann is just a light, but using the lights available to me I didn't see the swirls.

I know that 360 is light, but there were no swirls before I began.

The trunk lid was my test spot, I only did the center so maybe a 2' x 2' area.

I'll have to try again on the next day when it isn't supposed to rain.
 
What's going through my head is why on earth would you decide to polish your trunk with a white pad when you apparently don't have swirls. What were you trying to do?!?!? Why didn't you just seal it and add the 847?
 
Post pictures of your work (we can help)

Detailing is a Therapy not a reason you need therapy - Michael Stoops (something like that) :)


Art Hernandez
 
Maybe the polishing took off any uber fillers the dealer used to hide dealership washing swirls? Exposed/uncovered existing paint conditions? *Shrug*

Sent from my VS840 4G using AG Online
 
Becciasm said:
Maybe the polishing took off any uber fillers the dealer used to hide dealership washing swirls? Exposed/uncovered existing paint conditions? *Shrug*

Sent from my VS840 4G using AG Online
Click to expand...

:iagree:

I was just going to post this. I believe the DISO (Dealer Installed Swirl Option) was there but hidden with their "delivery filler option".
 
Becciasm said:
Maybe the polishing took off any uber fillers the dealer used to hide dealership washing swirls? Exposed/uncovered existing paint conditions? *Shrug*

Sent from my VS840 4G using AG Online
Click to expand...

Did not think about this, but it is possible.

Is there a spot you didn't work on Kyle?
 
DISO is possible. Well, BSISO (Body Shop ISO). The dealer uses a touchless wash system, but I got hit on day 3 with like 300 miles on it, so the car was at a body shop.

They didn't touch the trunk, but maybe they washed the car?

Art,
I haven't touched the rest of the car, but I also didn't remove anything either. When it stops raining here (which seems like never, 10 day forecast all shows rain) I will have my Brinkmann and can take a look after each step.

All I have is the camera on my GS4, but I will try to get some pictures if the sun ever comes out again!

I used the XMT 360 because it was suggested that I use an All in One. It's a very light polish, but if it was due to using a dry pad I probably would have done that with the sealant anyway because I used too little product I think.

I just feel so hopeless - if I caused this, then who am I to attempt to correct it? I don't want them to, but I kinda hope the other panels look bad too.

Do you think the Wolfgang Twins would work better now that I know there are swirls? Has anybody removed swirls with XMT 360?

Becciasm,
I should be at the VA meet on the 20th so maybe we can look at this then? I'm scared to touch the car now.

On the other hand, holy crap does the 845 bead like crazy. The rest of the car beads, but not like this.

Even if I didn't do it, just so I know in the future:

Can dry buffing cause swirls?
 
Kyle_Elantra said:
Today I polished the trunk lid on my brand new car (bought in March, did my first wash today) . Before I touched it there were no swirls.

I used ONR as a detail spray, then I clayed using ONR as lube.

Using a 3D DA:
I used XMT 360 on a Lake Country 5.5" white pad
DP Polish Coat Sealant on a Lake Country black pad
Finally Collinite 845 on a black pad

This was all done in the shade at maybe 7:30 at night. It looked okay when I was done, but looking at it from an angle using gas station lights shows swirl marks.

I know I caused this but I'm not sure how. The XMT 360 says to polish until dry. Also the sealant was a little dry too.

Can dry buffing cause a lot of swirling?

Should I have used more product? I know I'm supposed to leave a wet trail but the 360 says not to. I've read that Mike suggests to use your own judgement with things like this. With the sealant I guess I was trying to go thin and stretched it too far.

Or did I do something else wrong?

I'm ordering a brinkmann tomorrow.
Click to expand...

No disrespect, but this is baffling to me in multiple ways:

1. Your a frequent poster on a detailing forum, you bought a brand new car, and didn't wash it for 4-5 months?

2. You were polishing paint with no swirls?

3. You used an AIO, then a sealant and a wax? Wouldn't you just use a polish if you were going to apply a/an LSP(s)?

Lets forget all that. You want to fix it. Polishing IME can cause: tick marks, hazing, pigtails, holograms, cloudiness, loss of clarity - but not swirls.

I don't recall you mentioning it, but I'm betting you have a dark car. You will also need a pad brush and some terry cotton towels to keep your pads clean, as cleanliness is key.

Two Questions:

Does your trunk now have swirls OR holograms?

Are they anywhere else on the car?

These are swirls caused from improper touching or washing of paint:

rysuduvu.jpg


These are holograms. They are almost always caused by some type of buffing machine:

e5unymag.jpg


(Images stolen from Google)

Swirls will look like spider webs and tend to look like circles. Holograms look like something is smudged/smeared on the paint.

I'm going to guess it has holograms and they are no place but the trunk, that would mean they were instilled by your buffer. IMO AIO's are probably not the best route to go. AIOs are for very experienced polishers or people to cheap to pay for correction. Products that do "it all", may not do it all very good. I'm betting your paint is soft and a white pad left holograms.

To fix it, you need to carefully polish it with a black finishing pad using a fine finishing polish like Menz SF 4500 or Optimum Finish polish. I'd probably recommend the later because its SMAT, easier to use, and won't "fill" like Menz can.

If you have swirls, they probably were not cause by a buffer. They are probably also not isolated to the trunk. Removing swirls will require a test spot and likely a regular polish (not a finishing polish).

Is it swirls or holograms?
 
How dare you!

Just kidding, that's why I came here for help, I expect criticism and take no offense to your questions.

I will try to answer all of your questions as clearly as I can:

1. Your a frequent poster on a detailing forum, you bought a brand new car, and didn't wash it for 4-5 months?
Click to expand...

I was not a member here until last month.
I bought the car in March with every intent to baby it completely, then as I mentioned I got hit. I lost all enthusiasm about the car and just stopped caring. Slowly, and with the help of AutoGeek, I realized that like it or not I was stuck with this car for another $22,000 and if I enjoyed detailing then I should continue.

2. You were polishing paint with no swirls?
Click to expand...

Per some advice I've gotten here, yes I was using an AIO. The advice was either an AIO or a cleaner/wax. There was some positive feedback for XMT 360 so I tried that.


3. You used an AIO, then a sealant and a wax? Wouldn't you just use a polish if you were going to apply a/an LSP(s)?
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware that putting the sealant on top of the AIO was a bad thing. I also have WG Total Swirl Remover and Finishing Glaze. Which would you recommend I use, or is there another product that would better serve my purposes?


Lets forget all that. You want to fix it. Polishing IME can cause: tick marks, hazing, pigtails, holograms, cloudiness, loss of clarity - but not swirls.
Click to expand...

They appeared to be swirls under the fluorescent lights, I will double check when either I get the Brinkmann or the sun comes out.

I don't recall you mentioning it, but I'm betting you have a dark car. You will also need a pad brush and some terry cotton towels to keep your pads clean, as cleanliness is key.
Click to expand...

It's gold/bronze, not very dark. I do have terry towels to clean my pad on the fly, however I was only doing one section with each pad. I used brand new pads with each product.

Also, I used a white pad as that is what is recommended for use on the XMT 360 bottle.

Two Questions:

Does your trunk now have swirls OR holograms?
Click to expand...

I believe it is swirls, however I will double check as soon as possible.

You believe that if it is swirls, I did not cause them?

Are they anywhere else on the car?
Click to expand...

I cannot find them if they are, but as mentioned earlier they may be "covered up" by dealer or body shop fillers/glazes.

Thank you for the time to write out your post!
 
Do a test spot (which in a way was your trunk)

We need to figure it out before you being further aggressive. There is a TON of steps that can fix this, we just need to figure out which one is the least aggressive for you. (Your wallet will thank you)


Art
 
My theory is that they were there before you polished. Like swanic said, polishing doesn't instill swirls, it may do other things but not swirls, unless you somehow managed to get some sort of contaminant in your pad that was gritty. But that's highly unlikely.
 
Question: without a Paint Thickness Gauge how much do you guys recommend to keep on polishing?

Swirl remover/polish is liquid sand paper. (From my understanding)

Art
 
You really would have to polish a panel quite a bit before I'd start worrying. Polishing doesn't remove nearly as much CC as compounding.

But I it's been messed with by a dealer or a body shop then it's a game of luck really
 
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