I apologize if this question was already answered. But I couldn't find anything concrete.

I would like to provide you with my background with this issue. This is my first time washing a car this detailed. The closest I've done was washing my car with megieur gold soap 2 times. :-)I have no knowledge of any type of waxing. So any help in this matter is appreciated.

First my goals are to remove the SWIRL marks. Would I wash my car first with Megieur gold soap and dry it with a shammy, then use this product:

http://www.properautocare.com/3mperswirmar.html

with a microfiber to remove the swirl marks by hand?
Once the swirls are removed, do I wash my car with DAWN? (A dishwasher soap)?? Then I clay my car?

Once that all is done, then can I apply CG to my car?

Is using the CG Quick enough?

If anyone can assist or correct my methods, please do so. And also, if you can provide me any links to these items such as the claybar, microfibers, CG Q, shammy to purchase, I would appreciate that as well.

Thank you.

 

You're on the right track just in the wrong order (and the wrong product IMO, but we'll leave that alone for now ).

You'll want to wash with the Dawn FIRST, then clay, then fill in the swirls, then polish.

 

Thank you Bonz. Any ideas as where I should get all of those items. Like the clay bar and microfibers.

 

I've had good luck with properautocare.com they are fast, decently priced, and have just about all the various brands and products you'll be looking for.

The reason for the Dawn washing is it will break down polishes and wax. Your normal car soap is actually forumulated to NOT strip that stuff.. so thats why you use Dawn initially, to take off all the other polish/wax/etc. Think of it as a 'acid bath' to take everything off the car.. to make it bare.

The clay is used to 'clean' the paint, remove any foreign stubstances.

The polish is the key step to what you are trying to achieve.. conceal and lessen scratches and swirls. A machine will work much better then hand-application for this depending on what products you use.. as the machine can work up the heat and friction needed to minimize those scratches and swirls. The rest of the polish is meant to fill in inperfections to make them less visable.

Your final step is to wax/seal which locks in those polish filers, and protects the finish.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't heat and friction CAUSE more swirls? If you have a tiny dirt particle on A) your hand applicator and B) your orbital polisher, I would think that B would do far more damage as far as swirls due to it's circular motion (you shouldn't ever use circles when you do it by hand, only straight lines) and due to multiple passes with the orbital.

 

Extreme care should be taken when polishing or using a scratch remover. These potentially abrasive compounds can scratch the paint themselves if you're not removing them properly.

A really good detailer in my town doesnt recommend I polish unless necessary because he said that even though you can cover up existing swirl marks, you could create more also if you're not careful. Dont overbuff.

Finally, no one has mentioned this, but from experience, I find that CGQ does not last as long as it should when applied over a different product (this makes sense anyway). I got my car waxed and detailed., then put on CGQ after. 2 months later, I could tell the wax AND CGQ was gone. CGQ works best when applied directly to the surface of the car. Since then, I can tell it is "layering" like Zaino and lasting much, much longer with each repeated application. Also the effect of the car looking almost "spotless" even after a rainfall was not apparent on my first coat (over wax) but more noticable the second time I applied it (after the wax coat was stripped).

If you must use a swirl remover, perhaps a similarly long lasting compound is in order (like Zaino swirl remover) in conjunction with CGQ.


Good luck,
RaymanZ

 

Yes, if you have debris in your pad or applicator.. you're in deep dodo. But polishes work by having very fine 'grit' in them to act like a very fine sand-paper. Different polishes have different degrees of 'cut' which represent how abrasive they are. Also, the type of pad you use is part of that equation.

The idea is kind of like wet-sanding.. but to a much much much less degree. A swirl-remover will try to knock down the edges of the scratch in the finish.. making it harder to see.. and the other materials in the polish try to fill it in making it harder as well.

The orbital motion prevents you from 'abusing' one spot repeatedly.. and like the other poster said.. you don't want to over buff.. because as the material dries out.. you loose the lubercating factor and then its like pushing dirt into the finish with a buffer

 

I'm in much the same boat as the other guy, but I have a concern about the few scratches that I have. I have some scratches that appear to be left by the plastic they used to wrap the car for shipment. I also have a few other small scratches that I'd like to get rid of.

I planned on using the 3M stuff to remove these scratches after claybarring, and then applying CQ. Will CQ itself lessen the appearance of these scratches at all? Couldn't I just apply the 3M Swirl-It to the few scratches instead of the whole car as some have recommended?

Also, since I'll be washing my car with Dawn initially, then claybarring, should I wash again after using the claybar before applying the CQ?