Ok, my baby is a week and a half old, and I have washed her twice following www.showcargarage.com's free video tutorial. I cant see swirl marks in the paint yet, but can on the black A-frame pillars and inside on my piano black dash. So I figure I may be swirling the paint as well.

I have a lambskin wool mitt, two bucket method using simple green car wash (was the only thing available when I went). Have a LARGE drying microfiber towel (non waffle weave, and a pain in the butt too), two glass polishing microfiber towels and about 8 misc. microfiber towels (from target).

I wash exactly like in the video, maybe a bit rougher since I had HUGE bug issues from my 1800 mile road trip. I kinda dusted/dry polished the piano black inside with microfiber, and now can see swirls inside!! I dont know if they were there before, but are there now!

What am I doing wrong? I need some good quality drying towels I know. What can I do about the swirled A-frame pillars? Z5 zaino? do I need to PC them? What can I do about the piano black dash inside? Can I zaino it?

Arrgh.. I am not yet a detail freak, and a total NOOB. I want to do this right, but my first two washes have left me dissapointed for sure... grrrr.

I need to read the sticky again, and read, read, read, and read some more. I also need some zaino as well!

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

Well, it might not be you, man... they might have been done by the dealership then they "detailed" your car - I know several people here put huge DO NOT WASH signs on their car when they bring it in so that the dealership doesn't UNdetail the car after working on it.

Also, Zaino's site claims that not all microfiber towels are equally made, and that some (in their experience) have poor quality control and actually mark up the paint pretty bad. They suggest ONLY using WHITE, US-made, high end 100% cotton towels, with all selvages (edges) cut off so that the artificial fibers don't scratch. I can certainly attest to the fact that some microfiber can scratch - I have some small microfiber towels (bought at Autozone as "detailing cloths") that I'll only use on the dash and interior- they scratched the paint. Others I have do not. I plan to go to Bed Bath and Beyond or someplace similar the next time they have a "white sale" - basic towels like Zaino suggests are usually pretty cheap during one of those sales. Seems to me that, give their expertise, if Zaino says to use a certain towel for no-scratch results then they know what they're talking about.

Worst case, get some ScratchX and buff 'em out before it gets any worse, and keep track of which towels you're using to clean up - if the dealer didn't accidentally do it then I'd bet it was either the "dry dusting" (never do this - that's what Detailing Spray is for, to serve as a lubricant) or the mircofiber you used. Swirlies can be easily fixed is the good news.

Oh, and I wax my interior plastic when I wax my paint - keeps it sparkling and it only takes an extra 2 minutes!

 

Anathema - Congrats on getting your Mini, but chill a little . I think it is OctaneGuy who says that if something is scratching your paint then stop using it! I doubt you have done anything that can not be fixed, just don't do it any more. And imagox may be right about coming from the dealer with the swirls - mine did and I spent a whole day getting rid of them.
I like the Zaino Z-PC which is similar to the Scratch-X. You just got to rub your arm off and focus on small areas. It doesn't need to dry so once you rub it until it appears to be drying, just wipe and inspect. Still scratched, do it again and again. This is where a DAPC would be nice.
The Z-5 Pro is a swirl filler - it doesn't get rid of them. So once I got done with the Z-PC (when I could not rub any longer) I started with the Z-5 Pro for two coats then Z-2 Pro.
I did get OctaneGuy's video and it is very useful.
Relax though, no use in stressing - you'll get it cleared-up. Then you'll get more swirls (without knowing how or why) and then you'll get those cleared up as well. See how this has suddenly become a full time hobby.

Chuck

 

Make sure your mitt is REAL and not a cheap synthetic. HUGE difference. Simple Green "shampoo?" Or Simple Green? Remember that lubrication is the primary reason to use a shampoo. You want lube between your mitt and the paint. Choose a shampoo that compliments your wax. Don't mix.

Never wipe anything dry...use a quick detailer that compliments your wax. Again...this provides lubrication.

The scratches are easily fixable. You should use the least aggressive polish on these. I suggest a paint cleanser product like Zaino ZPC, P21S Paint Cleanser, Sonus Paint Cleanser, etc.

Yes, you can, and should, wax or Zaino the interior pieces. It will help protect from swirls.

There is a huge disparity of quality in towels. Every yahoo is on the bandwagon and there is a lot of crap out there. The best brick and mortar
store-bought towels, by far, are made by Viking and also sold under the Mothers label. They have many varieties.

If you have a drying towel that is not a waffleweave it isn't going to work well. The more rubbing you have to do to dry the more potential for swirls. Get a good towel or two. I would suggest you also try the new drying towel made by Viking and sold under the Mothers name...it's a synthetic absorbing chamois in-between two waffle weave microfibers. It sucks up water like crazy. One of these will take 90% of the water off your car. A single wafflweave will take care of the residual moisture. Very fast.

No sweat, you'll get there!

 

Thanks so much guys...

Chuck: I stress since she is so new!! Thanks for the tips!

 

i think my dealer's porter used sandpaper when washing my car....

should've seen the amount of swirls on the car. i was able to
remove them with the polisher though.

 

Swirls are hard to see on Pepper White--which is a good thing. You need to have the sun shining full on, and then you can see them.

Here's an example of swirls on a PW. I used a Xenon flash light to reveal them.


Here is a different PW, and I used the sun to reveal the swirls


The black roof


The A frame pillars are plastic, and easily restored with a PC and a few minutes of buffing.

BEFORE


AFTER (not perfect but better)


Your MF drying towel MAY be ok. An alternative would be an Absorber using the blotting technique--blot water away, not wipe it. Waffle weave was shown in my video, as one thing to use. I prefer the Meguiar's MF drying towels over the Absorber--that's what I use.

re: Swirls
Don't forget that swirls are most visible on a dark color. The swirls are in the clear coat. Once you make the clear coat free of swirls, and clear and glossy, your black paint will shine through swirl free. As BradB said--never dust a surface without using something to lubricate it with (Water is NOT an acceptable substitute--get a quick detailer)

Just remember on any black areas, you will have to be extra careful to prevent swirls, It's less crucial on lighter areas, though the advice remains the same.

You CAN remove swirls by hand without a PC. It just takes more time and effort, and sometimes, that extra sweat translates into lack of desire over time because it's just too much work! A PC makes keeping your MINI swirl free and shiny feasible for the busy person on the go.

Just my 2 cents.

Richard

 

^^ yikes! those picts are painful to look at!

 

I think the plastic is much easier to scratch than the paint. My plastic has scratches (swirls), but my paint does not yet have swirls.

Meguiar's has a product for plastic call PlastX that I want to look into for removing the swirls from my pillars.

 

PlastX might work but its really for clear plastics like headlight covers, windows on convertible tops, etc.

I just use Meguiars M80. Same stuff I use on my paint.

Or by hand, ScratchX
Richard

 

Get the Mr Clean washing thing and you won't have to dry. It was a life saver on our black Mini.

 

What's the best way to test if a microfiber is going to scratch the paint or not? I read somewhere to test it by rubbing it on a blank CD, is that a good indicator? I've tried it out and some MF's do scratch it and others don't... *shrug*

 

That's not actually a bad idea... although CDs will scratch when rubbed with almost anything. Still, I assume one could tell by how BADLY it scratches that the roughness of the cloth could be gauged, I suppose... I just use one cloth for a detailing or two, then look a tthe paint in the bright sun. The one I had that was scratching was QUITE noticible, so I relegated it to interior detailing duty. I'm still planning on buying a few of the US-made, 100% cotton white towels like Zaino recommends and cutting them down into polishing cloths though...