Car polish/protection

[rzanzerkia]

Hi,
I have had my MachE for 14 months now.
Few hand wash and couple car washes.
I see swirl marks (see pic).
Any recommendation on polish to remove those marks and something to protect it going forward?
Something that would last few months?

Thanks

Sponsored

 

[joebruin77]

Any recommendation on polish to remove those marks and something to protect it going forward?
Something that would last few months?

The best way to remove swirl marks is with a DA polishing machine, cutting pads, and a compound or polish. There are lots of informative videos on Youtube on how to do this. Two of my favorite detailing guys on Youtube are Brian with Apex Detail and Larry with Ammo NYC. I pasted links to samples of their videos below.

When using a DA polishing machine to remove swirls, what you are really doing is permanently removing a tiny layer of the clearcoat. The abrasives in the compound or polish along with the cutting action of the pad are in essence shaving off some of the clearcoat to make it even.

Because you want to remove as little clearcoat as possible, you want to use the least aggressive compound/polish and pad combo that still gets the results you want. I recommend taping off a couple of small areas that have swirls . These are your test spots. Try the least aggressive polish and pad combo and see if it works in the test area. If it doesn't, then try the next more aggressive compound or polish and see if that works. Once you find the combo that gets the job done, use that on the rest of the car.

Some people prefer a two-step process, where you (step 1) use a compound with stronger abrasives to get the deep swirls out and then you do the entire car again (step 2) using a finer polish to remove any marring and finer swirls and scratches. This works well but is very time consuming. The other option is to use a one-step product that will compound and polish in one step such as 3D One or Blackfire One Step.

Once you are done polishing and your paint is swirl free, you want to protect it with either a wax, sealant, or ceramic coating. For a do it yourself ceramic coating, I recommend Gyeon Cancoat Evo. If you prefer a spray wax, I use and like Griots Garage 3-in-1 Ceramic Wax.

The other thing to consider is, how did the swirls induced in the first place? Lots of commercial car washes induce swirls from contaminated sponges and towels. I suggest washing your car yourself. Make sure to use proper techniques and clean, soft materials to avoid inducing scratches and swirls.

 

[Auto Motive]

Hi,
I have had my MachE for 14 months now.
Few hand wash and couple car washes.
I see swirl marks (see pic).
Any recommendation on polish to remove those marks and something to protect it going forward?
Something that would last few months?

Thanks

Check out Chris detail on you tube.. easy and fast.

 

[joebruin77]

I just thought of one other option. If you don't like the idea of removing clear coat to get rid of the swirls, there is another option. You can use an acrylic polishing glaze to "fill in" the swirl marks. Poor Boy's makes one called Black Hole. But my favorite one is made by Xtreme Solutions and is called LVR 403. The advantage of using a polishing glaze is that you can remove swirls without removing as much clearcoat. The disadvantage is that the improvement is not a permanent fix. Eventually, the acrylic may deteriorate, revealing the swirls again.

Here is a video from Xtreme Solutions about this product:

 

[rzanzerkia]

Thank you all for great ideas. My spring project… Filler idea sounds good.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

My original black Mach-E had swirls like that when I picked it up. The dealership had a couple teenagers out washing cars on the lot with long handled brushes. So I’m pretty sure where they came from. I did a two stage dual-action polish on it and protected it with TLC2 (the last coat 2.0). It’s a spray on DIY graphene coating. But the best protection ever is to avoid car washes and use a two bucket wash method.

 

[fpasta]

Get it professionally done.

When you get it back go the touchless wash method Meaning Foam Spray which makes a sheen over the clear coat. Two bucket method wash. And leaf blower drying method. A once over with microfiber cloth for drying is the goal.

The least your car has contact with microfiber or any cloth the better.

Plastic swirls easier than steel (or shows more) They need to invent something that doesn't scratch plastic. Cause I think microfiber does even when you get all dirt off of it.

 

[Giddy Up]

I have always had good results with using Zaino products. Very straight forward application www.zainostore.com.

Sponsored