Paint swirls

[MovieDude]

How do you get rid of the circular swirls on a black Mk 6 GTI? Other than a professional job what is there that I can do?

[SilvrFoxX]

well you can learn to detail your own car, but you will find that the cost of pulling together the kit required to start will be almost as much.

On the counter point though I am guessing the way you wash the car is creating the swirls to start with.

[Brads4wdmad]

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

[SilvrFoxX]

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

[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

[Tubbs76]

agree, comimg from a detailing background myself, its all in the technique. good products and a good buff help. Dependant how bad, ive also cut back with a sander and buffed up from there, same process as really bad orange peel

[MovieDude]

well you can learn to detail your own car, but you will find that the cost of pulling together the kit required to start will be almost as much.

On the counter point though I am guessing the way you wash the car is creating the swirls to start with.

The swirls were there when I bought the car. Can you point me to methods to wash without causing swirls and how to remove said swirls?

[Tubbs76]

The swirls were there when I bought the car. Can you point me to methods to wash without causing swirls and how to remove said swirls?

Me personally,I wouldn't have accepted delivery with the swirl marks. in most cases, the swirl marks come from the pre delivery dept. cause the guy preparing the car doesn't know how to buff. As hard as it is, ive seen seen white cars with swirl marks which is near impossible to do..Part of the purchase price includes pre delivery.Get em to do it 20x if need be until u r happy.

[Silver dub]

Me personally,I wouldn't have accepted delivery with the swirl marks. in most cases, the swirl marks come from the pre delivery dept. cause the guy preparing the car doesn't know how to buff. As hard as it is, ive seen seen white cars with swirl marks which is near impossible to do..Part of the purchase price includes pre delivery.Get em to do it 20x if need be until u r happy.

I would highly suggest NOT to keep taking it back to the Dealership detailers.

If they had no idea in the beginning and introduced all of the swirls whilst detailing then chances are they will still have no idea and will keep doing so.

Not to mention the amount of clear coat they are removing each time they throw a rotary at it.

If i was you, give Mike or Pierre at Car Care Products a call and they might be able to point you in the right direction of someone in your local area that specialises in paint correction.