Paint swirls

[kaanage]

I am a Car Detailer with over 15 years Experience, Using a machine Buffer/Polisher with a Soft White pad Not wool with the orbiting speed of 1000rpm max of 1500rpm use a Good Quality swirl remover such as mothers or Meguiars and move the buffer/polisher side to side and up and down slowly and softly
You should achieve a brilliant swirl free gloss

Umm Brad, I am not a car detailer with 15 years experience but will say that there is a bit more to it than that, prep work such as clay and paint cleaner etc etc then correction then layer protection... but hey as I said I haven't got the experience

I would assume that Brad assumes as a given all that prep has been done prior to the finishing that he describes (ie over familiarity with the subject)

[QBDentFree]

I would assume that Brad assumes as a given all that prep has been done prior to the finishing that he describes (ie over familiarity with the subject)

But still, it was about as vague an answer as he could have given.

"Using a machine Buffer/Polisher" - You mean RO or rotary. A lot of people are scared of rotaries, but I've never done damage with one, and once you figure them out you will never look back

"Soft White pad" - There is a general trend with pad colours, but depending on the manufacturer there will be a massive difference in levels of cut/gloss from white pad to white pad

"Good Quality swirl remover such as mothers or Meguiars" - I hope he means the proper meguiars stuff, not what you find at your local SCA. I do use a couple meguiars polishes, but only on rubbish dealer used cars. Any retail customer (that's you guys) gets Menzerna polishes, but again just listing a brand doesn't mean anything. There are always a huge range covered by each brand. Always look to a proper detailing supplier for paint correction products. I've been buying mine from carcareproducts and can't recommend them enough.

"Move the buffer/polisher side to side and up and down slowly and softly" - There is SO much more to it than this. For example you will generally want to start out slowly to spread the product (how much product? Most people I see use too much) then speed up to work it in/break it down, and slow the machine down again to finish up. How long do you work the product? How slow to start/finish? There is a lot more to getting a GOOD result than just moving it around a bit and crossing your fingers.

Finally, many cars (black cars especially) will want to be followed up with a finishing polishing on a finishing pad (let's say a black pad, but again it will depend on the manufacturer). This will remove any final defects and add to your paints depth and gloss.

This isn't meant to be a "how-to" guide. I'm just pointing out that there is a LOT more to correcting your paint than what Brad mentioned in his single sentence. Just don't want people being misled.

Also, I don't want to put people off doing this. It really isn't too hard, just takes a little bit of finding and getting used to the right products. Finding your perfect technique will just take time, but if you read up first and start out slow then you really can't mess it up