Still minor swirls after polishing

Hey guys/girls, We do a lot of detailing out of my shop and some minor paint correction and polishing. I have noticed that we have very small swirl marks even after we're all done. Obviously they can only be seen when looking at a reflection of the sun, and even then it might be 3 or 4 1" clear coat marks that you can see. Not enough that any customer would probably ever notice, but it drives us nuts. We use a Griot's 6" orbital (we're mainly a tint shop that details and sells Griot's products). We are using orange pads for the polish, and red pads for the wax/sealant. We start with Polish 3, then work our way to whatever roughness we need, (Griot's Polish 1 being our roughest), then Polish 2 and 3, then one step sealant. Speed is on 4 on the orbital (tried many settings, none made any real difference) with a little bit of pressure. Basically apply it until it begins to turn clear (maybe 5-6 passes in an area). Anybody have any suggestions? Is it our polish? I really would like to keep it Griot's if possible due to the fact that we sell the stuff, so it's a great testament for the product. I have been using everything else Griot's forever and love basically all of their other products but just recently started getting into polishing. Any info would be appreciated, thanks.

 

Your swirls might be deeper then expected, or your not working your polish long enough to cut those down...try a mist of water to reactivate the polish or compound for more worktime. Make sure you are cleaning your pad too in between sections.

 

Slight marring could also be induced by inferior/dirty microfiber towels. Make sure they are of quality brand, soft and fluffy, and always in like-new condition if they'll be touching paint. Otherwise, your issue is most likely what mrd0t described. Best of luck!

 

If they're straight lines, then it's from the microfibers. If they are many small C-shaped marks, it's from the polish/pad combo being too aggressive. Let us know a basic description of the marks and we'll be able to help. Pictures would be even better if you can capture the marks.

 

I agree. If the paint is otherwise flawless, look to your microfibres.

 

Microfibers make a lot of sense...Probably the only thing we have not changed, and the only thing I wasn't using something Griot's for. I was using cheap ones from the auto parts store because I didn't get a chance to clean the good ones this week. Ill open a pack of fresh Griot's polish removal towels and see how it goes. They look like straight lines, not C's. I'll try to get a good pic today. Thanks for all the inout guys!

 

Didn't get a chance to clean the good ones? Good God man!! LOL Pick up enough "good" MFs to last you 2 weeks and do laundry every weekend. That way you'll always have enough.

 

You may also want to look at getting some ultra plush microfibers, especially good for dark/softer paints. There are several good retailers here with high quality towels. I get mine at Chemical Guys and Detailers Domain. Also be sure you are washing the towels properly, caring for them is just as important as buying quality! Hope this fixes your problem

 

Good call haha guess I'll do that. Never really had an issue because I am a tint shop and 90% of my work used to be tint....Now we're still slammed with tint work and the detailing has really picked up. Went from a few cars a month to 2-3 a week now. Happened too fast for me to stock up and prepare! lol Thanks again everyone, the guy that does my detailing is buffing his hood 5 feet away from me as we speak, so I'll let you know the results

 

Microfibers didnt really change the outcome at all. I mean it looks really really good but a direct reflection of the sun shows some stuff. Halogens don't show anything...Here'es before and afters

 

Really, really hard to tell man, but the light looks a bit fuzzy. Could be hazing from too aggressive of a combination. Griot's most likely isn't going to cut it for everything, especially with only 1 pad for polishing. While the combos may take care of 75% of the clients that you ever get, it's the other 25% is what I call real paint correction. This is where the knowledge of what products work and having the skill to use them plays a major factor. I'm guessing you're going to need a fine polish and a fine pad. Sonax 3/6 is being released soon and is supposed to be an amazing finishing polish. 3D HD polish also works great for fine work.

Also, halogens really don't show that much, and the sun is so bright that it can wash out fine marring from the intense glare. Personally, I love the Fenix TK35, an LED flashlight with 4 brightness levels and 825 lumens at the highest setting makes it perfect for paint correction. Phil carries them if you want to check them out.

 

Hey, I am having the same issue with my personal vehicle. People don't notice them, but I do. I recently detailed my Shelby which is used for cruising and car shows, see here http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum...lby-50th-anniversary-celebration-car-show.htm , I used halogen lights in a garage.

First issue, I still notice light swirls and scratches in the paint, but they are only visible in sunlight or at night under a street light or garage light and you MUST look at the paint at an angle. I have tried taking picture to post up but they don't show up in the photos.

Second issue is on some of the fender and door edges there is marring from the car cover. This marring is from the cover rubbing on the edges and it looks like a white haze. The haze is hard to see and you have to look at it at angles, again it doesn't show up in pics that well. I had no choice but to use the cover because the car was kept in a driveway, but I am moving to a house with a garage shortly and will not be using a cover anymore.

I have polished the car twice since new with a DA and am wondering how far I should push the issues. The car will be put away for the winter and I am wondering if I should take this time to tape off the car and work on each panel and section until perfection without time being an issue or just leave it alone? I also don't want to keep polishing the car every year removing more and more clear coat.

I am also concerned about the marring because it is on the fender and door edges, don't wanna burn the paint.

I go to allot of car shows and check out allot of cars from resto-mods to exotics and I have noticed the same light swirls and scratches on 99% of the cars. To be honest I don't think I have ever seen a car without them unless it was a silver color or grey and even then if you look close enough you can find them.

I have some CG Glossworkz on hand and was going to give that a shot and top it with a sealant and then wax.

 

It's hard to say for sure without being there and seeing your process, and determine what's causing the minor swirl. Some ideas come to mind though. If the issue is not with the towels, it could be with how you are using them. You don't need to apply much pressure to remove wax/polish. That is, unless you didn't use those right. If you don't break a polish down properly, it may require extra effort to remove, and you might use too much pressure with the microfiber towel. Breaking the polish down too for can cause hazing as well. If you over apply a wax or sealant, and use too much pressure to remove it, you can induce marring that way too. That, or you aren't cutting the paint enough to remove all the swirl. You might pay close attention to your techniques and maybe not so much the products. Hope this helps!

 

Notes taken, I'll have to mess around a little more when I get into the shop again next week. I believe we're OK as far as the breakdown goes most of the time, usually comes off very easily. We work it until it almost becomes invisible. Is this correct? Usually 5-7 passes in a cross-hatch pattern. Perhaps we're over-doing it? I was thinknig about ordering some of the M105 polish and uber pads after doing some research on here, but the one question I have is do you think it is possible to achieve perfect paint correction with the full line of Griot's polishes, the orbital, and foam pads? We use an orange polish pad for the polishes, then a red wax pad for wax/sealant. If you guys think the polish is good enough to do it (most everything Griot's we use works really really well, so I sort of feel it should be good enough), It'll make me a little more confident that I need to pay a lot of attention to exactly how we are doing it. I really really appreciate all the help, this is by far the most willing-to-help forum I've ever been a part of.

 

To keep it simple, Megs 105 / Uber Yellow for heavy cutting, Menz Power Finish / Uber Green for polishing and Menz 85RD / Uber Black for finishing.

 

Porsche944t,

I think most will agree that the marks left over are just the "deeper" scratches in the clear coat that the griots orange pad and polish 3 cannot level completely. Many people on here refer to them as RIDS (random isolated deeper scratches. The reality is, if you want 100% correction (realistically 95%-99%....100% is an impossibility if you're really honest) then you're gonna need a more aggressive initial step, such as a compound like Meguiar's M105 paired with a compounding pad, then do the polish 2-3-4 w/e.... Perfect paint is an art not to be rushed!

 

Thanks guys, ordered a small bottle of M105 to test it out, should be here next week sometime