I've noticed on my Artic Silver car that I have seemed to develop more swirling on the trunk vs. other parts of the vehicle. Is this behavior typical?

I've noticed the sides, flanks, doors and roof of the car have far fewer swirl marks.

I wash my car about every two weeks, polish with Zaino every 4 but it seems like the swirls are inevitable.

I'm thinking of investing in an orbital buffer (lots of great threads here about that) and practicing on my older vehicles...

I have an artic silver as well but I have not seen any significant level of swirls on my car. I am sure theat when I leave tonight I will take a closer look and update if I notice anything.

You mentioned an orbital buffer - a good friend of mine showed me this website and I have learned a ton about how to clean a car:

Classic Motoring Accessories - Car Buffers, Car Waxes, Car Polishes, Car Covers, Car Accessories

I am sure you will get plenty of replies here from people - but I wanted to offer my opinion. Using the right polishes and sealants is more critical than using the best power buffer. Invest is good products and learn how to clean, polish and seal by hand before spending time learning how to power buff your car.

If you have areas that show too many swirl marks I wonder if you should consider claying your car...the guys at properautocare should be able to give you an honest path to follow to remove swirl marks.

Good luck, Erik

Sorry, one more thing - if you are really waxing / polishing every 4 weeks you may have just a buildup of wax on your clearcoat. You may need to strip off the old wax and start over.

Erik

Thanks. Yeah I've read up tons on the site here on how to polish, clay, and detail the car including site like autopia.

The swirls are only noticeable in direct sunlight.

I use Zaino (highly reccomended by many folks on this site -- including me as my polish. I'm wondering if the swirls are being caused my microfiber towels. I know the use of microfiber towels for Zaino has been somewhat controversial on this site.

I bought some Z-PC and I'm going to try and see if I can buff out the swirls with the cotton applicator (as per instructions).

Let me know if you have any swirling. My car is used as daily driver (even with heavy rain and snow).

Arctic Silver here, no swirl marks yet. That's probably due to the fact that I haven't washed my car yet. Picked up in April and still going.....

OK - I just went out and gave my car a good inspection. No swirl marks anywhere. It is hot and sunny today, so if you see the swirl marks in direct sun I should have seen something if this was common to the artic silver paint.



FYI - I bought my car last October and have about 5500miles to date. I have washed it about 6 times but have not polished and sealed the paint.

I have about 15,000 miles and bought it last April. I do drive my car a bit. I wonder if it is my microfiber towels... but if it was, shouldn't I see the swirl marks consistently throughout...

Try Fusion by Zaino to remove swirls, followed by Zaino polish (which is not really a polish, however it's more like a sealer or synthetic wax)

Yep.. I have Z-PC from Zaino already. This thread was more a question about if swirls had a tendency to show-up more on certain locations of the vehicle rather than detailing advice. I guess I wasn't making myself too clear. Don't want to invoke the wrath of the "search the forums" gods .

(I've gotten plenty of good advice on detailing here).

You are probably just noticing more swirls on the trunk and hood because they are large, relatively flat surfaces. My wife's car is black. The hood and trunk often look swirled (especially after going through a car wash) and the sides look fine. But if I take a shop light and look at the sides I can see swirl marks there too.

Nano waxes (EagleOne for example) are good at removing swirls.

As Erik noted, a good orbital buffer . . . used correctly . . . will get rid of swirl marks. Use a very mild cleaner to get rid of the swirl marks and follow with a good wax to protect the paint. Meguiars has (or had?) a good detailing book that will give you pointers.

It should not be your microfiber towels - if they are used correctly.

Let me explain, I have two wash buckets, one for tires and one for painted surfaces and never mix their usage. I have at least two of everything I use to wash my painted surfaces, if I drop one on the ground its goes into the laundry and not back into the wash bucket. If a towel gets too dirty while washing, I switch to a clean towel. Once I am done washing, everything goes into the washing machine, is air dried and put into a closed plastic container until next time. So, if used correctly, microfiber towels should never cause swirl marks.

There are too many GOOD products available for cleaning your car to debate not using microfibers. I used to be a huge Meguiers fan until I tried some other products and would never go back.

When i first got My CS I used tried several waxes including mcguires and then Mothers carnuba. I used some auto zone polishing cloths that were garbage . Didnt know any better. Swirl mark city. I stripped the finish using spray wax remover from Griots and applied PS21 carnuba and finished with speed shine afterward. Using the proper microfiber stuff this time. Swirl marks are gone. Car looks flawless.If it were me I would try this before using a buffer.My CS is bassalt black and shows every tiny flaw. I have heard nothing but good things about Zanio.Dont understand where the marks came from.Good luck getting rid of them

So after 4-5 hours of hand polishing with ZPC, then Z-2, Z-5 and Z-6 the swirls all went away. I polished my car and viewed in direct sunlight several times to confirm.

I wonder if the swirls have always been there and I've never noticed before. Usually when I polish, I don't bother checking in direct sunlight.

I also wonder, if some of the swirls are just being filled. I only used ZPC (which is midly abrasive) on the rear hatch. On the hard top which also had swirls I just used Z-2, Z-5 and Z-6. gfspencer is right as well about flat vs. curved surfaces. With a shop light you can see the swirls.

I guess I'll find out in a few weeks when the polish begins to wear off.