I would use Zaino swirl mark remover.. I would also use Clay Bar before applying the swirl mark remover..
I also never use %100 cotton towels...
Go with Microfiber products but not the ones from K-Mart and Walmart...

You can pm me if u want more details

Memo

 

Another vote for Zaino Z5.

 

Funny, Zaino specifically says to use quality 100% cotton towels and I finally found out why when I first tried it. I too thought that the microfiber stuff would be better but you hae to work it harder to get the polish off of the car. The cotton towls seem to work better at getting the polish off of the car.

Just remember, Zaino is great, but if the swirl marks are deeper than the paint, no polish in the world will help.

 

Swirl marks are actually in tiny ridges in the paint. Polishes and glazes have "fillers" that will hide the swirl marks by filling the grooves. I am VERY rehersed in this subject. It is my hobby and past-time to find the perfect combo of polish, sealant, cleaner, and wax.

To the guy that said he does the Meg's 123, and then tops it with gold class, you are shooting yourself in the foot, and defeating the purpose. Gold Class has cleaners in it that negate most of the time consiming prep work that you did.

The best, and really only, to truly get rid of swirl marks is to use a fine polish, or 3m swirl mark remover, and a rotary buffer with the proper pad. You MUST know what you are doing however, because you can fubar your paint with a rotary in short order. A Porter Cable random orbital buffer will suffice for the novice. It is simple, and nearly impossible to fubar the paint.

So far, my favorite combonation goes like this:

Clay the car to the perfect smoothnes (Use the plastic bag test on the paint to make sure you got out all of the contaminants). Use a good polish, such as meguires #7 I believe and hit up the whole car, then go with meguires #20 polymer sealant...this is a really good protectant...finally, I top it with Mothers carnuba was...pure wax in the big red can (NOT THE CLEANER WAX IN THE SMALLER CAN) NOT CLEANER WAX. Then remove with a cotton towel and buff with a microfiber and a detail spray. I use this on my wife's new civic, and it just shines through the rain, sludge, and or anything else. Re top it with the wax every few months and re-clay polish and seal it anualy or so.

 

question for all of you that recommend polishing in parallel strokes from front to back:

while that may leave less swirls, won't that cause your paint to look HORRIBLE from one particular angle, the one that WILL reflect the parallel scratches?

Heres my reasoning:

1) circular scratches are made b/c of the circular motion people use when washing, waxing, etc.

2) swirls show so easily b/c the all scratches , aligned in every which way, reflect the light.

3) the idea behind parallel motions is to eliminate the minor scratches from being visible at every angle.

4) BUT, assuming you are still scratching the paint, instead of having them visible from every angle, there will be one particular angle in which EVERY SINGLE PARALLEL scratch would show, and presumably a bunch of angles where they wouldn't show.

5) So, now, instead of your car looking ok from every angle, it now looks decent from most angles and HORRIBLE from one particular one. And even this is assuming that you are somehow able to reduce the prexisting swirls.

6) One possible answer is : if you do it the right way, with the right materials, you won't scratch the paint. But if this is the case, then why deal with parallel strokes in the first place. It seems that implicit in the recommendation is an assumption that you will leave minute scratches regardless.

 

im curious to know b/c i have a blue by you evo that came from the dealership with horrible swirls, which, from what i understand, is not unsual on the blues. Ive been to a couple dealerships and most of the blues show scratches worse than black.

 

ugh. saw the swirls in the sunlight again

 

Same here, alex alex.

I feel you, blue shows swirls like no tomrrow. It sucks.

 

ya its not an evo...
but it is black.
i use the maguires 3 step.... only using step 2 and 3 polish 1st then wax.

 

I have not noticed this in any of my cars, or any of my friends who wax their cars in parallel strokes.

I think at least part of the issue here is that when people put on wax in a circular motion, they tend to scrub in the wax with a fair amount of force. When I apply in straight strokes, I know I don't tend to apply nearly as much pressure on the paints surface.

Unless you are attempting to cut the paint with a compound, you don't really need to apply any force when applying non abrasive wax.

But I think the biggest problem is that many people use a wax with abrasives in it when they don't really need the benefit of an abrasive 'cutting' wax.

SC~

 

Honda's paint is no where near as bad as the EVO's. My wife has a black Mazda 6 that is about 2 months older than my black EVO and difference in paint quality is astounding.

I used to use a chamoi, sponge, terry cloth towels, and meguars gold class wax. This would clean the Mazda fine but the EVO would look worse and worse every week. The swirls got so bad that even after a wax the car still looked bad. I admit, that I'm not as **** as everyone here. I don't have the time to clay bar, polish, wax, sealant,...etc. I also didn't take the time to clean my chamoi everytime I washed the car.

But...now I've changed. I take a little more care with the things that touch my car. I now use a wash mit and microfiber cloths. This has worked for me so far. Without changing anything else in my routine, the car has looked MUCH better. I'd say I have 5% of the swirls I used to have and I spend 20% of the time I used. (I used to be using a swirl remover almost everytime I washed the car). I've gone a full month now without waxing and the paint still looks awesome.

My next step is to try one of the methods recommended above and see how well it works. So, if you have an awesome car care program, give us a step by step. I'm sure we could all use it. I know I for one am learning a lot about paint care through the EVO.

 

You can't completely avoid swirls but the key things are the following. I am an accomplished detailer.

1. No Automatic Wash
2. Wash with clean water and a good mild auto shampoo
3. Dry with a California Water Blade and Waffle weave Microfiber
4. If there are contaminants on the paint get a good clay. I use clay magic.
5. When you get any swirls use a random orbital buffer like a Porter Cable 7424 and a good swirl mark remover like 3M Swirl mark remover.
6. Apply a sealant over the top when the finish is pristine. I use a product called Kasse All In One and Klasse Sealant Glaze. These is a German acrylic sealant and works well and is durable.
7. You can then layer a Carnuba on top for depth of shine. Remember wax will only last a couple of weeks.
8. Use a good quick detailer after each washing. If you want one with wax use a product like Pinnacle or One Grand. Another good detailer is McGuires Final Inspection.

Most good detailing products will not be found at your local auto store. Go to www.autopia.org and learn everything you wanted to know about detailing.

 

One thing I forgot is the post about the front to back polishing.

This is a good process to adhere to. If you are polishing or waxing circularly any scratchs in the clear coat will be seen from every angle. It is very critical to have your surface clean with no contaminants and use a good microfiber towel. Not the cheap ones from the auto stores. Those are usually not very good quality and the stitching on the edges are polyester which will scratch your clear coat.

Remember the scratches are on the clear coat not the paint.

 

Klasse is supposed to be the $hit. Yes, Autopia.org is the **** too!

 

s4toevo8, thanks for the tips.

where do you guys usually buy your products? any particular website that you recommend?