I'm done being OCD about swirls...

And, the problem with me is I want another Corvette so bad, I can taste it!
Once bitten I guess.
Need a Garage, or another home with a Garage I reckon.
Mark
 
Coat it, touchless auto wash in the winter months, profit?
I'm assuming the auto wash you are going to is touchless correct? You shouldn't be getting swirls from that anyway.
 
The funny thing about swirls is that when you didn't know about it... they were invisible and you only notice the dulling of the paint over time. But once you do find and know about them... they are everywhere!
 
MarkD51 said:
And, the problem with me is I want another Corvette so bad, I can taste it!
Once bitten I guess.
Need a Garage, or another home with a Garage I reckon.
Mark
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The new Stingray is an AWESOME vehicle.... just not terribly practical with two little kids...

They were on display at COTA (the local race track here in Austin) during the ALMS/WEC event last year... I didn't get many photos, but did get this one:

10079444064_23219dd7ed.jpg
 
c8n said:
The funny thing about swirls is that when you didn't know about it... they were invisible and you only notice the dulling of the paint over time. But once you do find and know about them... they are everywhere!
Click to expand...

And that is the curse of owning a black car...
 
SlightlyBent said:
The new Stingray is an AWESOME vehicle.... just not terribly practical with two little kids...

They were on display at COTA (the local race track here in Austin) during the ALMS/WEC event last year... I didn't get many photos, but did get this one:
Click to expand...
Still slower than a Nissan though :dblthumb2:
 
I am struggling with this right now.

I own a black car, which is the first problem. The second problem is the horrible winter we're having. Everytime I clean the car, it's bound to get dirty. Fast. My car had turned white from all the salt spray last week, so I hit a touchless wash and then followed up with a waterless wash to finish what the touchless would'nt do. That night it rained and the spray turned my car gray again. Two days later I washed the car again...and this morning it snowed...again. Sigh....

I've now noticed that despite going though a touchless, it doesn't get enough crud off the back of my hatchback and I've marred the car doing a waterless; probably for the large ammount of grit still on the car. I'm starting to believe waterless is not the answer for me in the winter...a semi-dirty car is. Touchless washes will turn my car from white to gray, and I'm now realizing I'll have to live with that until spring when I can properly wash it and save the waterless for times when it is only slightly dusty or covered in pollen. I don't think I'd be as frustrated if the touchless places would do more than a 70% job.
 
To the OP, Why not use touchless Car wash versus swirlomatic? The place near me charges the same with a blow dry, $9.
 
Desertnate said:
I am struggling with this right now.

I own a black car, which is the first problem. The second problem is the horrible winter we're having. Everytime I clean the car, it's bound to get dirty. Fast. My car had turned white from all the salt spray last week, so I hit a touchless wash and then followed up with a waterless wash to finish what the touchless would'nt do. That night it rained and the spray turned my car gray again. Two days later I washed the car again...and this morning it snowed...again. Sigh....

I've now noticed that despite going though a touchless, it doesn't get enough crud off the back of my hatchback and I've marred the car doing a waterless; probably for the large ammount of grit still on the car. I'm starting to believe waterless is not the answer for me in the winter...a semi-dirty car is. Touchless washes will turn my car from white to gray, and I'm now realizing I'll have to live with that until spring when I can properly wash it and save the waterless for times when it is only slightly dusty or covered in pollen. I don't think I'd be as frustrated if the touchless places would do more than a 70% job.
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That's the sad reality. I live in Ottawa, Canada we've had snow since end of November and it won't be gone until April. Best thing is touchless or do it yourself with a pressure washer. I would never ever attempt a waterless wash after leaving that place and getting home. With so much salt residue on the roads you'll simply be dragging salt powder over your paint. You might not see it but it's there.. I wash it when the roads have dried and I use a snow foam brush thing to remove the big snowfalls off the car. I never brush all of the snow off always leave a thin layer of snow that will blow away as you drive. I follow those rules and I have no swirl marks after winter.
 
QUOTE=mdgrwl;1027345]I'm throwing in the towel on being OCD...

I work full time.
I live in the Northeast.
I drive 100 miles a day ... and within a day or two, my car is filthy, especially during the winter.

For the longest I've been trying to NEVER take my car through an automatic and only doing 2 bucket washes & waterless. This leaves me vigorously watching the weather, looking for a few days in a row of dry weather to wash my car. And if there is any rain in the forecast I wouldn't wash as my car as it will just get filthy again during my commute ...this would leave me going 1-2 weeks in a row driving a filthy car. Worst, when I do find a few days in a row of dry weather, I have to wash my car outside in the dark, in 35 degree weather becuase I get home from work at 6pm and during the winter its dark out.

All this to avoid swirls... ?? Swirls that you have to really look for and swirls that the average Joe couldn't bother to take notice of??

I'm done. I just joined a automatic car wash for unlimited washes a year... now my car will be clean every day, but wont be swirl free. Oh friggin well![/QUOTE]


Thank God. Somebody has finally been cured. It's just an impossible task with a 100 mile commute daily. Glad you have been saved.
 
You don't need to live with swirls. The answer is simple: just don't touch the car until you can wash it correctly. Since I've adopted this practice, and stopped doing waterless/QD wipe downs and such - marring is a memory. Dirt and salt don't mar cars - improper washing does.
 
swanicyouth said:
You don't need to live with swirls. The answer is simple: just don't touch the car until you can wash it correctly. Since I've adopted this practice, and stopped doing waterless/QD wipe downs and such - marring is a memory. Dirt and salt don't mar cars - improper washing does.
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Well put!

In winter i barely touch my car.
 
Just don't obsess with keeping it clean during the winter.

I know I can wash my car indoors and make it spotless but as soon as I get on the freeway and drive for 5-10 miles, my car will be covered in salt and all kind of "winter crap" by the time I am home.
 
I'm with a lot of people here: I try not to stress about having a dirty car during the winter time. I did warm water ONR until about a month ago, and then I went to touchless washes every 2 weeks. No, the car isn't 100% clean, and it does have a haze around the quarter panels from the salt and road grime, but I'm OK with that until it gets warm again and I can properly ONR the car and then do a full out foam gun, 2BW, etc.

Having a coating (Gtechniq C1 & EXOv2) makes a big difference in the touchless washing process.

I find that with 2 kids, 12-14 hour days, being on-call and needing weekends to regroup with family, friends and sitting by the fire, warming up the garage to do a car wash only to have it get pretty dirty the next day isn't worth it either.

But, I can't wait until spring when I can be anal again!
 
I live in Edmonton, so I deal with a cold and usually loooong winter. The cars get dirty really quick. I do a thorough high pressure soap power wash at the wand car wash and then rinse very well. The car looks acceptably "clean".

I finally got a garage this year so coming spring both cars will be opticoated. When the temperature is in acceptable levels in the garage then I do a rinseless wash. It's not ideal but it works well until the spring comes...

Then the snow foam cannon and the shampoo comes out...
 
I can't drive around with a filthy car for weeks on end... sorry guys. Your gonna do a full correction in spring time anyway, might as well have a clean car.

I personally feel driving around with a filthy car for weeks (months?) becuase you can't give it a "perfect" wash is insane... you'll get some swirls, so what? Spend an afternoon on it and they are gone.
 
mdgrwl said:
I can't drive around with a filthy car for weeks on end... sorry guys. Your gonna do a full correction in spring time anyway, might as well have a clean car.

I personally feel driving around with a filthy car for weeks (months?) becuase you can't give it a "perfect" wash is insane... you'll get some swirls, so what? Spend an afternoon on it and they are gone.
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Just be glad you will be able to wash yours at all. Mine hasn't been washed in 2 months and hasn't been hand washed since early September. It sits outside 24/7 so I won't even bother hitting an automatic touchless wash unless it gets near 30 degrees for a couple days, which is rare. I'm just glad that coatings and long lasting sealants exists because they protect my paint well and allow to me to not worry as much about her being dirty for so long. Just the kind things you have to learn to deal with when it averages 200 inches of snow a year where I live, currently at 200 inches already this year.
 
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