Light Paint Swirls

an2lin

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Anybody know how to get rid of the light paint swirls? First time hand wash and used what seemed to be a abrasive microfiber towel to dry and left tons of swirls especially on the window door black finish. I have a sonic gray hatchback and it just bothers me to see these swirls.
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ski-line900

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Could try hand polish but there's not much you can do other than wash and dry correctly or get professional paint correction. SGP should be one of the easier colors to hide scratches too
 

Shinjari

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Gonna need to polish or use a wax/sealant with some filler. The piano/gloss black pieces are notorious for showing swirls. Those swirls are basically in the clear coat.

Also from my experience you want to dry in straight lines, not circular motions to minimize the swirls. Regardless of what you do, swirls will happen eventually. But by following certain best practices and keeping it maintained will minimize them.
 

SBPerformance

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I feel as if the dealers add quite a few swirls when "detailing" the car for the lot haha. The only way you will remove them is by polishing the car, you can purchase a small orbital polisher and some light compound for around $80 (me personally, I do quite a bit of automotive detailing and have a Porter Cable 7424XP polisher which does a great job for the money)

After polishing, I would get a wax coating on the car (again, my personal opinion is to ceramic coat the car) to help protect the paint against the elements and make washing the car easier in the future.

For future reference, here are some tips to prevent swirls:
- 2 bucket wash system (one was bucket for rinsing your mitt and one wash bucket that has soap)
- Wash/dry using back and fourth, not in circular motions.
- Wash the car top to bottom, the top of the car is cleaner than the bottom
- Use a dedicated automotive towel (such as Meguiar's Water Magnet or The Absorber) and keep them stored in a clean container when not in use
- Be sure to rip off tags from your microfiber towels when washing/quick detailing, the little paper tags can scratch your clear coat
- Keep your wash mitt stored in a clean dedicated container as well, if you drop it I would buy a new one. I replace mine probably every 15-20 washes
- Soap is your best friend, don't be shy with it. Lube the mitt well to help it easily glide across your cars surface

Best of luck!
 

Shinjari

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Typed out my exact process for me haha.

I have the Harbor Freight orbital and it does great.

Waiting for this weather to clear up so I can do my spring clay/polish/wax detail already...
 


Fit2Hatch

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Piano black trim gets swirls even when you look at it side ways,,,LOL.

I got rid of dealer induced swirls after picked up my HB Sport, using my orbital + Final Polish during the Kamikaze prep. Two coats of Miyabi then one ISM, weekly wash still pristine eight months later. Most clear coats are thin and Honda's being on the soft side, especially the Piano Black trims....so I only polish as needed accordingly prior to coating. Having understand that polishing is essentially removing layers of paint or any surface material, so I seldom polish and removing swirls from Piano Black is very easy!

...For maintenance, however:

To avoid cross contamination and induce swirls. Beside segregate all cleaning tools + using the 2 or 3 bucket method. It is a lot safer to clean off the dirtiest areas such as tires, wheels and lower portion of body paint work before starting the top to bottom washing method.

There is no magic, all purpose tool or chemical to eliminate swirls. Simply - More contacts = more swirls! But using good equipments certainly can make car washing/drying/maintaining fun as well as rewarding!!

Good luck and have fun!
 

ATM

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bump.

having some light swirls on my car too. any up to date swirl remover polish products to recommend or techniques by hand if you don't have a DA polisher machine?

Chem Guys VSS and 3M Perfect-It Ultrafine Machine Polish (06068) i've read good reviews on.
 

zspeed

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bump.

having some light swirls on my car too. any up to date swirl remover polish products to recommend or techniques by hand if you don't have a DA polisher machine?

Chem Guys VSS and 3M Perfect-It Ultrafine Machine Polish (06068) i've read good reviews on.
I personally use the new Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions formula. Great product since it’ll remove any swirls and provide correction to the paint. Amazing shine as well afterwards.

I bought a black and decker DA buffer that is a good thing.

Honda Civic 10th gen Light Paint Swirls 5AB9803C-7051-41ED-A9C0-7CAB0356EB66
 

Fit2Hatch

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Piano black trim gets swirls even when you look at it side ways,,,LOL.

I got rid of dealer induced swirls after picked up my HB Sport, using my orbital + Final Polish during the Kamikaze prep. Two coats of Miyabi then one ISM, weekly wash still pristine eight months later. Most clear coats are thin and Honda's being on the soft side, especially the Piano Black trims....so I only polish as needed accordingly prior to coating. Having understand that polishing is essentially removing layers of paint or any surface material, so I seldom polish and removing swirls from Piano Black is very easy!

...For maintenance, however:

To avoid cross contamination and induce swirls. Beside segregate all cleaning tools + using the 2 or 3 bucket method. It is a lot safer to clean off the dirtiest areas such as tires, wheels and lower portion of body paint work before starting the top to bottom washing method.

There is no magic, all purpose tool or chemical to eliminate swirls. Simply - More contacts = more swirls! But using good equipments certainly can make car washing/drying/maintaining fun as well as rewarding!!

Good luck and have fun!
Fail to mentioned I also use Master Blaster to blow dry following wash and walk away for a no touch car wash.

Two years this month on the Kamikaze coat and car finish is still pristine.
 

Archie

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A DA is the best option. Otherwise by hand you can still buy the same pads that you will have on a DA. Look for chemical guys pads and their V lines. Otherwise turtle guys works good too.
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