I think I'm creating swirl marks...

snoby

snoby

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Hi All,
I'm a newbie with the DA, I just started testing out my new 7424XP with a Green pad and some Meguiars Ultimate Polish.

I attempted a test area on a 2008 silver BMW 535i. The paint is in really good condition with only very minor water spot etchings. I wanted to just run some polish on it before putting on the Klasse sealant.

After running one section pass I wiped down with a micro fiber cloth and it looks like I put in some minor swirl marks. I did take some before and after pictures, but on a silver car it just doesn't show up.

I stopped after the test area because I'm a bit hesitant of continuing. I'm looking for any feedback. Thanks!
 
you will want to do more than one pass and if you find that the green pad is leaving marks after additional working time (passes) then i would go to a gray/black finishing pad.

other option would be to just go with the black or gray pad and stop using the green... least aggressive approach first.
 
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I tried again this time with the blue finishing pad and still got the swirl marks. I guess this polish is way to aggressive for the work I want to do. Although it is strange I wanted to take out some water mark etchings and it didn't take those out.
 
pardon me if this is way too obvious, but are you starting with clean paint?
 
I'm starting with Pad's just out of the plastic so brand new. I'm priming the pads by creating an 'X' out of the polish then pushing the pad around the surface before I start the DA up.
I did do an experiment and put a microfiber buffer pad on top of the finishing pad and attempted to use the polish and I didn't get any swirl marks when I used the MF bonnet.
 
I'd be leaning the other way. Non-Jet Black BMW paint is generally pretty hard. I might be thinking you are revealing swirls that you cannot take out with your combo.

Try IPA or Eraser and see if swirls show up.
 
slickooz said:
He means did you prep the car right before you started polishing?

Wash and clayed?
Click to expand...

I did wash it but did not clay it. I will do another test area with clay first then the polish.
BTW the Klasse stuff is like concrete trying to get off.
 
Anytime you're going to polish, you need to clay the car first. If the car has not been clayed and you start polishing it, the pad will pick up any contaminant off the surface and create scratches/swirls.
 
Thanks for the advice, I will give it a try again tomorrow this time after claying the surface. Just for the fun of it I did clay a bit this evening and honestly I didn't pick up very much, however I agree I should have clayed the surface before beginning with the polish. Thanks for everyone's reply I appreciate the help.
 
snoby said:
I did wash it but did not clay it. I will do another test area with clay first then the polish.
BTW the Klasse stuff is like concrete trying to get off.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the joy of Klasse lol it really is great stuff just not the most user friendly. I would do a search and read up on how to apply and remove it much more easily. Once you get the hang of it, it's much nicer to use.
 
I did some additional testing and taped off a small area and once again tested the Meguire's ultimate polish glaze on an area and I definitely created some minor swirl marks and it didn't even get rid of the water etching marks I was looking to get rid of. At this point I'm going to take a step back and just put some paint sealant on the car and find some test cars to hone my skills on.
 
mjlinane said:
I might be thinking you are revealing swirls that you cannot take out with your combo.
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking, the light polish and soft pad are merely removing any previously applied coats of wax revealing swirls already in the paint.


snoby said:
I did wash it but did not clay it. I will do another test area with clay first then the polish.
Click to expand...

slickooz said:
Anytime you're going to polish, you need to clay the car first. If the car has not been clayed and you start polishing it, the pad will pick up any contaminant off the surface and create scratches/swirls.
Click to expand...


If you've washed and rinsed the car really well then foam pads on DA Polishers will tend to glide over any remaining bonded contaminants instead of removing them and grinding them into the paint BUT it's a good "Best Practice" to clay the paint before machine polishing just to ensure that you don't remove above surface bonded contaminants and then grind them into the paint.


snoby said:
BTW the Klasse stuff is like concrete trying to get off.
Click to expand...

And your experience, which mimics a lot of other people's experience, is why I wrote this article,

A tip for working with waxes, paint sealants or coatings that are new to you

You can find the above article under the heading Waxes and Paint Sealants in my article list.




The polish you're using is a fine polish, that is it's not very aggressive at all. If this polish is in fact instilling swirls you can see on a silver metallic finish then that doesn't bode well for you or your future polishing work on the paint.


One thing I would recommend is using a Tape-Line for your testing so that there will be a very distinct before and after difference that you can then judge your progress or lack thereof... like this,


TapeLine02.jpg




I like you're idea here,

snoby said:
At this point I'm going to take a step back and just put some paint sealant on the car and find some test cars to hone my skills on.
Click to expand...

IF the silver car is important to you, then learn how to remove swirls and hone your skills on something that's less important, like the wife's or girlfriend's car.

Also, if you have Type II Water Spots, that is etchings or craters in the paint, then you're going to need a much more aggressive product and pad.


3 - Types of Water Spots - Type I, Type II and Type III



What other cars or trucks do you have you can practice on?


:xyxthumbs:
 
Thanks Mike, and all for your replies. I do appreciate the time spent replying to my posts. This car is 3 years old and just purchased from a dealership that does prep work to the cars ( aka polishing work ) so it looks pretty good, however I suspect that they used some type of glaze that hid the swirl marks from view until I used the polish on my test areas.

I've got a buddy with a car that has a failed clearcoat that I'm sure would delight in me washing it and playing around with his car. LOL.

However digging into to the facts I do believe that some of these water etching spots are level 2 spots. I actually worked a couple out by hand with the Meguire's polish although it took quite a bit of rubbing.
 
snoby said:
However digging into to the facts I do believe that some of these water etching spots are level 2 spots.

I actually worked a couple out by hand with the Meguire's polish although it took quite a bit of rubbing.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right... that's because modern clear coat paints tend to be hard at least compared to old style single stage paints, which is really the only other dominant paint system to compare to.

I cover this in my how-to book but also here,

The practical differences between single stage paints and a clear coat paints


:)
 
Just a tip for when you're claying. You can test the paint for contaminants by feeling the paint through a ziplock bag. This will make the contaminants more apparent and will feel like you're dragging your hand across sandpaper. If it feels smooth then there's no contaminants.
 
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