DrJones
06-16-2003, 09:13 PM
Anyone with a black, red, blue or any color besides white/siver car probably knows what these things are. Well... at least if they see them they know. But what are they really? Where did they come from? How do you make these ugly marks go away? Read below for the answers.
So what are they? Aside from those ugly circles you see when looking at a bright light (ie the sun) swirls are actually tiny scratches in the clear coat of your car. Clear coats are naturally very very soft, therefore just about anything that touches the surface, will leave it's mark. Swirls, also known as marring, are simply lots of tiny scratches in your surface. The light hits them and gets caught in the groves, which bounces it around before it hits your eye. That's why you can see them.
So where did they come from? The answer in short is everywhere. Infact, if you have swirls (just about everyone does) chances are you helped put them there. Even the softest 100% cotton or microfiber towels can still mar the surface. Don't believe me, just take a blank cd and rub them on the surface and look at it in different angles. However, the most common sources are:
Dealerships: stupid kids with no skills using high powered buffers
Automatic car washes: some are good, most will swirl your car
drying your car: usually there is a lot of friction when performing this step, especially using a chamois or absorber or one of those new squeegy things will cause them
Washing with a dirty wash mitt: The general rule in the detailing comunity, is if it hits the ground, it hits the trash. If your wash mit touches the ground, or if you store it there, it will pick up dirt from the floor... you then take that dirt and rub it into your paint when you are 'cleaning' your car.
There are solutions to some of those problems, such as taking care of your towels, and using the 2 bucket/hose method when washing. If you really want to show off there is even a way which you can dry your car (remove usually about 95% of the water) with the hose (more on this later).
So what do you do about them? Well there are 3 solutions.
1) Live with them: 'nuff said, but who would want to?
2) Remove them: Since they are just scratches in the clear coat, you can use an abrasive comput (like liquid sand paper) and 'sand' down the clear coat leveling it out and removing the scratches. This takes a little bit of knowhow and skill, but with the right products and a little bit of reading anyone can acomplish fairly decent results. And no it doesn't take a $150 buffer. Infact you can do it by hand (might take a few hours and work your arm muscles though)
3) Cover them up: This is a popular option. Especially at used car dealerships. Why fix the problem when you can just create the illusion it isn't there. A lot of people like this option because it doesn't involve removing any of your paint. You basically just have to get a good product (usually a polish or glaze) which contains oils and fillers. These don't 'fill' in the scratches like it sounds like they should, but rather they adhere to the surface on the microscopic level, and basically round off the edges (optically). So the light doesn't get as reflected/refracted inside, so they are still there, you just can't see them as well.
Well there you have it. 90% of all ugly looking finishes look that way because of swirls. Just about every car out on the road has them, seems like few people really care. However, when you park a car with no swirls next to a car with them, you will see a HUGE difference.
So what are they? Aside from those ugly circles you see when looking at a bright light (ie the sun) swirls are actually tiny scratches in the clear coat of your car. Clear coats are naturally very very soft, therefore just about anything that touches the surface, will leave it's mark. Swirls, also known as marring, are simply lots of tiny scratches in your surface. The light hits them and gets caught in the groves, which bounces it around before it hits your eye. That's why you can see them.
So where did they come from? The answer in short is everywhere. Infact, if you have swirls (just about everyone does) chances are you helped put them there. Even the softest 100% cotton or microfiber towels can still mar the surface. Don't believe me, just take a blank cd and rub them on the surface and look at it in different angles. However, the most common sources are:
Dealerships: stupid kids with no skills using high powered buffers
Automatic car washes: some are good, most will swirl your car
drying your car: usually there is a lot of friction when performing this step, especially using a chamois or absorber or one of those new squeegy things will cause them
Washing with a dirty wash mitt: The general rule in the detailing comunity, is if it hits the ground, it hits the trash. If your wash mit touches the ground, or if you store it there, it will pick up dirt from the floor... you then take that dirt and rub it into your paint when you are 'cleaning' your car.
There are solutions to some of those problems, such as taking care of your towels, and using the 2 bucket/hose method when washing. If you really want to show off there is even a way which you can dry your car (remove usually about 95% of the water) with the hose (more on this later).
So what do you do about them? Well there are 3 solutions.
1) Live with them: 'nuff said, but who would want to?
2) Remove them: Since they are just scratches in the clear coat, you can use an abrasive comput (like liquid sand paper) and 'sand' down the clear coat leveling it out and removing the scratches. This takes a little bit of knowhow and skill, but with the right products and a little bit of reading anyone can acomplish fairly decent results. And no it doesn't take a $150 buffer. Infact you can do it by hand (might take a few hours and work your arm muscles though)
3) Cover them up: This is a popular option. Especially at used car dealerships. Why fix the problem when you can just create the illusion it isn't there. A lot of people like this option because it doesn't involve removing any of your paint. You basically just have to get a good product (usually a polish or glaze) which contains oils and fillers. These don't 'fill' in the scratches like it sounds like they should, but rather they adhere to the surface on the microscopic level, and basically round off the edges (optically). So the light doesn't get as reflected/refracted inside, so they are still there, you just can't see them as well.
Well there you have it. 90% of all ugly looking finishes look that way because of swirls. Just about every car out on the road has them, seems like few people really care. However, when you park a car with no swirls next to a car with them, you will see a HUGE difference.