Swirl Free Cleaning

macou · 20-04-2010, 05:49 PM

Just wanted to get your opinion on this topic. I have a panther black WS fez and am planning to give it it's first polish this weekend. I have been so careful when washing and drying to do so in a way as to avoid getting swirl marks (two bucket method).... so far!

Normally when polishing I would apply the polish with a wet cloth and buff off with a dry one. I use the rolls of stockinette (not sure what it's proper name is??) that you get in all the auto stores for buffing. I'm not keen on polishing machines - had a nasty experience when I was younger - and prefer good old fashioned elbow grease. I really don't want to get swirl marks when doing this so...

What does the community use and recommend for polishing? I would love to here about both products and techniques. Please share your experiences and help me improve on what is already an ******** fixation.

mik068 · 20-04-2010, 07:04 PM

Im in the same boat Panther Black Zetec, she shows dirt real easy so needs a wash once a week. I polish with the old cloth nappies super soft on the body

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macou · 20-04-2010, 07:44 PM

Yeah I like to wash mine every weekend too - black shows every speck of dust, but looks amazing when all cleaned up... imho

galaxy xr8 · 20-04-2010, 08:16 PM

One word for you "Microfibre" and a good quality one, if you use anything else you might aswell rub the paintwork with sandpaper, lol.

Fiesta God · 20-04-2010, 09:13 PM

I follow this order:

1. Hose down car at relatively high pressure.
2. Wash with a very small amount of Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo
3. Dry with a high quality chamois (gently dry, no hard scrubbing)
4. 3M Clay Bar and Meguiar's Quick Detailing spray to remove all bugs and tar and unseen dirt.
(After this step the surface of your car will feel like glass and be ready to polish).
5. Meguiar's Deep Crystal polish applied with Meguiar's foam applicator and then buffed off with microfibre towels
6. Meguiar's Gold Class Wax applied as above and buffed off.
7. Final buff a couple of hours later with a microfibre cloth to really bring out the shine.

So far I hardly have a swirl mark on the car (been doing this for a year since my car was new).

Takes about 4-5 hours, but I only do it every 2 months and just give the car a hose down and maybe a light wash with water in between (every couple of weeks).