Swirls appearing after correction/OG

WRXINXS

WRXINXS

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I recently got my 1993 RX-7 a three step correction followed by Opti-Guard a few months back. I have washed it twice since then and topped it once. For my washes I am using a Cobra Micro-Chenille mitt and high quality shampoos with no rinse added in for extra lubraction. The car is a garage queen and only gets dusty and a tiny bit of road grime only so I am only using only one 5 gallon bucket with grit guard. On the first wash I dryed with Sonus Microfiber drying cloths and by the time of the second wash I had bought a leaf blower so I would not have to touch the paint to dry. I did top once with Reload and that involved wiping the surface with a high quality clean $7 Autogeek microfiber.

My issue is that I already see some very fine swirling when I get the car in direct sunlight. Can it be that even with proper wash techniques these very fine lines/swirls might be unavoidable? Does this happen to everyone after a polish even with proper techniques. I had heard the OG was harder than Clear Coat so I am a little dissapointed. I guess if the defects get too bad I can use a very fine polish like poliseal to correct them without removing the OG.

I have since bought an even softer mitt (Carpro Merino Wool Mitt) to use and also will use the blower to dry each time. Even though the car is not very dirty I will now use two buckets with 2 grit guards in the rinse bucket and 1 grit guard in the wash bucket for extra protection. I have now switched over to a mixture of Optimum Car Wash with some ONR mixed in for serious cleaning power and extra lubrication. I have also decided not to top the OG with reload because even though I am using high quality MF I am still touching the paint.

Drew
 
Did you perform the correction? Maybe the detailer used a glaze to fill in the swirls and they are beginning to resurface.
 
No no glaze, Megs 105/205/p085rd with IPA wipedown.
 
I'm taking delivery of a new black car in a couple weeks and this is my chief concern. It sounds as though it could be yoru washing or drying technique.

I'm very careful, but I know swirling is almost inevitable despite a cautious approach and carefully selected products and techniques. I've mentally prepared myself to accept light swirling as an inescapable reality with my situation.

BTW - amazing year for sports cars. The FD RX7s and MKII MR2s were some of my favorite cars.
 
Hi Drew...

I'll generalize...

Opti-Gard/OC 2.0 claims are:

-Protects the factory paint systems from environmental and manmade damages better than other LSP's...With:

-A single film-layer of OG/OC 2.0 that is ~2 microns thick...Which:

-Acts as a buffer-zone---absorbing, to a degree...damages from occurring to the underlying paint system...Ergo:

-Swirl marks, light scratches, chemical etching are decreased upon/into paint systems by having these OPT. Coatings atop them.


So...
Although OG/OC 2.0 is a (9H?) hard-wearing, "ceramic clear-coat"...that offers superior resistance to scratching,
chemical etching, etc...It is not scratch/swirl-proof.

-Optimum recommends using their polshes (like Poli-Seal) for remediation of the blemishes
you are now observing that, hopefully, are only atop/in---not through---the OPT. Coating.

:)

Bob
 
Bob,

Thanks, I am still very impressed with the look and easy cleaning of the Opti-Guard. And the swirls are certainly not through the OG. Just very very faint swirls. Switching my washing methods may help. I was just wondering if it was really truely possible to maintain a COMPLETELY swirl free finish after a polish.
 
fdesalvo said:
I'm taking delivery of a new black car in a couple weeks and this is my chief concern. It sounds as though it could be yoru washing or drying technique.

I'm very careful, but I know swirling is almost inevitable despite a cautious approach and carefully selected products and techniques. I've mentally prepared myself to accept light swirling as an inescapable reality with my situation.

BTW - amazing year for sports cars. The FD RX7s and MKII MR2s were some of my favorite cars.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think that under the best conditions with proper wash techniques very light isolated swirling that you can see under certain conditins may be inescapable?
 
WRXINXS said:
I was just wondering if it was really truely possible to maintain a COMPLETELY swirl free finish after a polish.
Click to expand...

YES!! There is a way:

Put the vehicles in one of these carcoons...And never get 'em out!

CarCoon.jpg


Not much FUN in ownership using this method, though.


Bob
 
FUNX725 said:
YES!! There is a way:

Put the vehicles in one of these carcoons...And never get 'em out!

CarCoon.jpg


Not much FUN in ownership using this method, though.


Bob
Click to expand...

Bob I love it lol! But you sure are right no fun at ALL!!
 
Have you tried spraying with foam gun, let it dweel, then rinse with water, drying with forced air (leaf blower)? With a semi or permanent coating the protection and sheeting should take the dirt right off, unless its really bad. Limit mitt use to once a month? That way you aren't even touching it as often.

Another possibility I was thinking of is to stack a bunch of quality MF towels in your shampoo bucket, no rinse bucket no grit guard, just gently wipe , fold towel, wipe again etc, then grab new towel when you have no clean sides left, basically a stealing the gary dean method but applying to water/shampoo wash. Roll wipe away from paint in one direction, fold towel do next section of panel etc, there are some youtube videos of the roll technique that may help you.
 
Have no tried a foam gun yet but now I am looking into one. Do you really think it adds extra lubrication if I were going to foam followed by the two bucket method or do you think it would be a waste for a car that stays so clean?

Drew
 
It will pull off dirt by itself (water and shampoo) foamed on the body shot by the foan gun, without touching, its visible to the eye when I do it. So, before you start rubbing with a mitt, less particles or particles that are already lubricated, should theoretically "swirl less" or not at all. Also, waterless wash products pull dirt off the side of my winter salt ridden daily driver vehicle without agitation. Either one applied first before you start rubbing with a wash mitt (or whatever) is probably (I'd say 99% certain) better than nothing at all before rubbing with wash mitt.
 
Something doesn't seem right here. First, how "soft" the paint is should not matter if the OptiCoat is indeed intact. As, you are actually washing the OC, not the factory paint. One of the whole purposes of OC is that is more resistant to marring than most factory clear coats, "harder" if you will. After reading many OC testimonials, I think it's pretty safe to say, you shouldnt see swirls after 2 quality washes - not even shallow ones.

I haven't seen a swirl on my DD since I polished them out over a year ago. A RID here and there, not swirls though. And this vehicle gets filthy in rain, snow and salt. Ive been doing rinseless washes all winter, did one today - and the finish is still holding up fine. I've also done many waterless washes. I think its always a mistake to not either do a Gary Dean Wash or use 2 buckets - no matter how "clean" your car is if your going to be doing conventional or rinseless washes.

I'm not trying to stir the pot, and I have no idea who worked on your car, but my HONEST feeling is one of two things MAY be going on here:

1. Swirls were never removed 100%, just made less visible or were "hidden". This could be the result of many things. I have seen reputable detailers mention they have experience "re-appearing" swirls on cars that have just sat after polishing. It could possibly be caused by something causing the paint to swell, or something in the polish "filling" or "hiding" defects in the paint. Possibly ALL the polish was not removed, regardless what was used to "strip" or prep the paint.

I have experienced this myself using a polish that claims to use no "fillers" or glazes. I can't explain it, but I have experienced it. Defect was gone under bright light for sure, then defect re-appeared after driving the car in severe rain the next day. Again, I can't explain it, but it can happen. Or, possibly, the swirls that remained are so shallow they are only visible under certain lighting or conditions.

2. OC is no longer present on paint. This is unlikely, but easy to check. Stop using any "toppers", clean paint with something that removes wax, and check for beading or sheeting.

It just seems like you are already using quality stuff and the swirls this soon after removing an OC'ed car are unlikely if they were removed originally. Keep us posted. You should be able to touch your paint to wash it, dry it, apply spray waxes and not swirl it so quickly.
 
Thanks Swanic, it may be the case of the paint not getting 100% corrected and I just assumed it was my wash technique. I know 205 has lots of polishing oils in it and that was used as step 2. The Detailer is very reputable and uses halogens lights to inspect as well as IPA wipedown but I know IPA sometimes may not be adaquate to get all the oils. I just thought I might be doing something wrong, and it still could be me but with my wash technique maybe not.
 
WRXINXS said:
Bob,

Thanks, I am still very impressed with the look and easy cleaning of the Opti-Guard. And the swirls are certainly not through the OG. Just very very faint swirls. Switching my washing methods may help. I was just wondering if it was really truely possible to maintain a COMPLETELY swirl free finish after a polish.
Click to expand...

I recently spent 10 hours or so polishing my Mazda3 and since then I've been using the foam gun, two bucket (with grit guards) and two wash mitt method. I was checking my paint on in the full sun the other day... seriously... not one visible scratch or swirl anywhere. When you wash your car using the method I just mentioned, you're greatly reducing the risk of inflicting more swirls into the paint.

First I heavily rinse my car down with water and then I thoroughly foam the car down with my foam gun using Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II soap (super foamy, smells good). I let the foam sit while I prepare my wash and rinse buckets and once they're ready, I rinse my car down with clean water so the foam doesn't streak or dry. Then I proceed with the washing and I use two wash mitts -- one for the top-half of the car, one for the bottom-half, they never interchange. I frequently rinse both mitts in the rinse bucket and make sure they're clean before they hit the wash bucket. I also wash in straight lines with very little pressure, if any. I let the weight of the soaking wet wash mitts do the work more or less. I never wash the paint in circular motions, just straight lines.

Once the car is completely washed, I rinse it down heavily once again and then I use a microfiber drying towel and some detail spray for the drying process. First I soak the MF towel and then wring it all out until it's just damp. I then spray one panel at a time with detail spray and then dry that panel and continue all the way around until the car is dry. Then I break out the leaf blower to blast all the water left in the nooks and crannies around the car and wipe it up with the damp MF towel.

Sounds like a ton of work, but it yields results that are hard to argue with. I've seriously seen not one scratch or swirl added back into my paint.

I don't know if you use this method already, but I just wanted to share what I do specifically. As I mentioned, I haven't added any new marring or damage to the paint since it has been polished, so I reckon it's a good method. :xyxthumbs:
 
How do you wash/dry? Front to back/up and down or in a circular long looping motions?

If you go up down/fron back and the swirls are circular I would tend to think the swirls were not completely removed.

If they are linear and then it would be your technique.
 
Chris@Optimum said:
... It can take up to 90 depending on climate and heat exposure. The average time for this time of year in the US is 30 days give or take. There is no magic moment when it goes from not cured to cured. The cure time is determined by exposure to heat...not time.



I remember the first couple of syringes of the original Opti Coat (pro only) that I used. I swear it fully hardened in about a week. I had to use 3000 grit to remove a drop I missed and left on the fender. Both the current offerings take longer to harden now. That is a huge plus for the do it yourselfer and detailer's alike unless the customer is a polishing addict or likes to operate in test mode. For myself, I actually preferred the faster cure time.
Click to expand...

I was looking for Chris' post on 2.0/swirls, and the tendency for the swirls to self-mitigate (is this a word?) but found this instead.

Back to research.
 
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