Zoomspeed

I always wax right after I wash, always in the shade and when my car is cool. I first apply the wax, then I buff it off then I go over the area with one of those cloths that remove wax residue; yet every time I wax I get swirls.

What am I doing wrong? Am I using too much wax? letting it sit to long before I buff it off?

Any ideas?

I've used zymol, and now I'm using some sort of turtle wax w/ trilicon in it. After this stuff runs out I'm gonna get some zaino and try that

kam

dont use any wax **** on the car man, i use meguires swirl remover its a lotion combined with wax, that **** is the best man use it, its called meguires swirl remover once you have used that i'am telling you the car will look like it had just been painted!!!!!! grab a bottle bro!!!!!

martini

I think you may be confusing swirls with hazing.

Swirls are actually scratches in the clearcoat/paint, and will require a mild abrasive to remove. This is usually caused by your applicator, or remover, what are you using to buff? Are you turning the cloth often? use whatever you normally use to remove the wax, but when you finish, go back over everything with a clean cloth.

Hazing is usually what you'll see when you apply on a surface that is too hot, or by letting it sit too long. Make sure you only apply the wax one panel at a time.

But, it could also just be the wax you are using, I don't like using liquid waxes, because they seem to be more suceptable to hazing.

anyways, good luck to you.

Zoomspeed

kam, thanks, I'll give that stuff a try sometime

martini, I think your right. I'm talking about hazing not swirling. I think its me and not the wax though, I've used 3 or 4 differnt kinds of wax and I always get hazing.


I don't think the car is to warm. It normally sits for about 3-6 hours after I drive before I wash and wax. I may be leaving it on to long. I always wax in sections and now that I think of it the most hazing always occurs on the hood, which I treat as one big section.

I'm washing and waxing later so I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Thanks guys.

KZ1

I have found that all those non-wax waxes, like nufinish and the turtle 2000 haze a lot. Furthermore, I havr found that meguires is just ****, really great finish but hard as hell to apply. I have the bets results and ease with Mothers.

BTW, there are two ways to get rid of swirls(if that is what is happening) you can remove them with the mild abbrasives, or you can mask them with a polish. obvisouly removing them with abrasive is much better.

good luck, I have a black car, so it is a constant battle for me.

martini

I was going to mention one more thing about applying wax to minimize swirls (won't make much of a difference on hazing though)..

Apply the wax in a front to back motion, not the circular "wax-on, wax-off" that seems like the natural thing to do. Light scratches in the paint/clearcoat are nearly impossible to avoid. But you can make them less noticeable by using the front to back/back to front method of applying wax. kinda strange that the instructions on expensive waxs will tell you this, but the cheapo mothers/turtle/eagle-1 still tell you to use the circular application method.

But try applying your regular wax, and then remove it like you normally do, then take a nice soft microfiber/finishing cloth to give it a good once over to finish. (still, one panel at a time).

I bet you are getting a similar hazing on other areas of your car, it's just most noticable on the hood.

In any case, when was the last time you stripped off your wax? Wash the car with Dawn dishwashing soap to strip off the wax. It may be the layering that is giving you trouble.

djantlive

You don't need to wax everytime you wash. That's excessive. Too many coats will cause excessive wax build-up.

3-4x a year is the MOST waxing needed. 2-3x a year is good enough for most climate conditions.

Wax is supposed to haze and then wiped off. If it doesn't wipe off easily, you've got too much wax on it.

To avoid scratching your paint, use only Made in USA towls that are 100% cotton. Pakistan made towls are never 100% cotton (they lie). Zaino is a great product but do get their scratch remover Z5 (or equivalent from Meguire or whoever) as their polish don't do much to remove any contaiminant.

RotaryKnight

Martini is right about the front to back but you should do that on flat horizontal surfaces like the hood and roof. On the sides or the car use an up and down motion....for the same reasons that Martini stated.

It also depends what products you use. On my 1st FD I used only Klasse and Zaino Bros.

Zoomspeed

How difficult is it and how long does it take to apply zaino compared to normal store bought waxes?

Chaz

I found the Zaino to be really quick and easy to use. The first time I used it, it took a little longer but the cool thing about Zaino is that once you've gone through the entire process you can get that nice deep, wet polish look again with one of their other products. You just spray it on the car and wipe it off and it looks really good again. Doesn't get much easier than that.

cash money

what i still don't get the difference between hazing and swirls, i used some meguiars wax, the kind you apply with an electric buffer, and it left [what i think are] swirls everywhere, i don't know it i put on too much, but i followed all other directions correctly...

Amur_

Well, while we're on about this... And there's been some great stuff here, btw, thanks for sharing. My electric buffer's on the shelf to stay from now on.

A friend was able to get his paws on some Liquid Glass for me. I've heard lots of wonderful things about this stuff. Is there anything that I should keep in mind when I go to apply it? I haven't used it on my FC yet. I'll plan on using the front-to-back motion. Should I wash the car with Dawn, as suggested earlier, to remove previous coats of wax and give the Liquid Glass a fresh start?

Also, my FcC's red, and has that nasty discolouration on the hood that I've heard is common. It disappears with a wash and wax, but does eventually return. Is there any way to 'fix' it or conceal it permanently, or do I just have to wait until I get her repainted one day?

ttyl,
Amur_

martini

Here is a picture of some hazing:


It's kind of a ghosting type effect. It looks like a film that bends the reflection a little, and makes the reflection look unclear, or hazy.

That picture is actually of some Zaino that hasn't been removed yet, but the effect is the same.

Here is a picture of some swirl marks:


Swirls are actually minute scratches in the paint, you'll see them on your car under certain light (flourescent really makes them show up), and if your car is black, they show up even more.

Amur: Start with the Dawn. I'd use a claybar after the Dawn as well. Then use a good body scrub/paint cleaner to try and get rid of that discoloration. A good polish after that should make a good bit of difference on it (you can use that meguiars swirl remover Kam suggested). Then apply your wax (couple coats if you have the time). Expect this to take up an entire day. It's good quality time with the car you love, though.

elliegant

great info on the waxing... i noticed that problem on my car too. i just washed my car this weekend but the hazing is still there and its been a few weeks since the last wash/wax. looks like i'll have to buy some dawn then.

RotaryKnight

Good pics Martini.....at least there are others who are in to detailing like I am. Just wish I still had my car to clean and no I'm not doing anyone elses.

KZ1

I thought I woul add this. If there are imperfections in the paint it will be very difficult to get a nice finish. every once in awhile wash the car with dawn, or dish detergent, it gets all the excess off. when I got my car the hood had all kinds of contaminants, just road grime, years of wax, etc. I wash it really well with dawn, then used a clay bar to get off all those particals that cause hazing, the difference was amazing. before I did that I would try to buff, but get little spots eveywhere where the wax woudl build up on little dirt pieces.

Amur_

Any reason why we/I shouldn't try the Mother's product?

http://www.epinions.com/auto-Care-Al..._Saving_System

ttyl,
Amur_

Amur_

Found this about the Mother's clay bar from a Motown Muscle forum (what's next? The Radio Flyer Forum? Get rotary or get lost!)

>>Clay bar is good to take out all the impurities in the paint, but the spray wax that they give you to lubricate the paint sucks. You will find upon using it that you will leave steaks of clay behind....so you will spray more lubricant to get rid of the clay and you will have a 2 hour job ahead of you. The best way I have found to use a clay bar is to get a bucket and put a good amount of soap in it (more than you would wash a car with....and make sure it's car wash soap and not dish soap). Suds it up real good. Scrub and wash one panel of the car with just soap. Re-apple the suds to the paint and start claying (make sure not to rub too hard or you will scratch the paint). Keep area nice and lubricated with soap. After the area is done rinse real good and start onto the next panel. After the car is done being clayed, wax and then polish to a show car finish (this step is important because along with impurites you also took of all of the wax with the clay bar). Finally, stare and admire the job you just accomplished.

ttyl,
Amur_

3rdGenLuvr

Someone beat me to it!

I own a MB and have seen the same marks but on the sides w/ the sun shining just right at it. I HATE THAT!

After a good wash w/ soap (Im gonna have to try that Dawn) I wld definitely suggest using a clay bar system on ANY weathered paint job. After the wash and drying run ur hand over the entire surface. Did you feel any contaminants? If yes, the clay bar is the easiest method of cleaning all that up! Back in the old days I used mild polishes to clean that up and wasted half the day in doin so.
After treating the car w/ the clay bar, take ur favorite wax to it and ur done!

My friend and I just had a discussion about waxes & polishes last weekend. He swore up & down about this Zaino stuff. I did my whole car w/ my stuff(a 10 yr old can of Ultra Finish diluted into a spray bottle w/ water, IMO same thing like those touch up detail sprayers)except for the hood saving it for the Zaino product and honestly I wasnt too impressed. The stuff does smell good tho! lol. I dont think that stuff is any different than Liquid Glass, Ultra Finish etc.......but where the others is just a one step process Zaino uses two.
Isnt it amazing on how ppl know how to catch our attention w/ these products?

They make it so damn hard to pick a bottle too! Nowadays you dont even know if some are polishes or waxes, both or either! And if thats not enough MANY are combining cleaning w/ waxing and so on!

To this day Im still not sure what Ultra Finish or Liquid Glass is. Altho I never bought a can of LG Im positive its the same type of stuff as my UF, it even comes in the same can. My UF doesnt contain any abrasives or waxes, so it says, so what is it? Whatever it is, the **** works pretty damn good.

I also like 3M stuff, they have a product specifically for removing swirls ya might wanna give it a try if none of the above works. And its pretty much what all the body shops use in my area.

The only other thing I wanted to add, after a good wax job, you do NOT need to use soap every time you wash ur car. And if you do use CAR TYPE wash soap not Dawn or similiar soaps otherwise you will strip that hard days wax job right off again!

3rdGenLuvr

Thats the clay bar system I used it works great!

Javamancer

I just had my car repainted, and the shop manager warned me against waxing, polishing, and even hand drying. He said that anytime you rub the car, you scratch it. I've been using Liquid Glass for the past few years, but he claimed that polishes work by removing part of the clear coat.

He suggested just going to the coin-operated car wash and using the hot wax there followed by the spot free rinse and then driving away.

This sounded a little odd to me considering how much I've read online about waxes and polishes, but I have to admit, the shop did a fantastic job on the paint job, giving me no reason to distrust them.

Anyone have any opinions on this? Should I stop polishing the car and stop even drying it after washing it, switching just to the hot wax at the coin-operated car wash? Or is that guy's information not quite correct?

DamonB

I find that if I keep my applicator slightly damp that the wax buffs off more easily. Not wet enough to see moisture on the car when applying though; just enough to keep the applicator from drying out.