The Final Wipe – Tips for creating a streak-free, show car finish Note: The final wiping technique is not for the initial wiping-off of the wax or paint sealant, but instead is for after the majority of product has been already been removed and now all you’re doing is giving the finish a final wipe.
Turning a diamond in the rough into a glistening gemstone
You started early in the morning by washing the car, then you clayed the paint, then removed all the swirls and scratches, then polished the finish to a super high gloss and after that you applied your
favorite wax or
paint sealant. You’ve taken a diamond in the rough and turned it into a glistening gemstone. After removing the wax or the paint sealant it’s time to give the paint one last final wipe to remove any trace residues and showcase all your hard work.
Here’s a tip to help you insure there are no streaks or smears left on the paint and a technique that on some
hard to work on paints that might be just the ticket for creating the perfect finish in any lighting condition.
The Final Wipe
After all the work is done, when it’s time to give the paint the final wipe-down before you stand back and say to yourself
it is finished, and then you take your pride and joy for a spin around the block or turn the keys back over to the owner, you usually want and need to give the paint a
final wipe-down to insure you didn’t miss any spots and to remove any trace residues off the paint that can stand out like a sore thumb in the right light at the right angle that will so easily distract everyone’s attention from the work of art you’ve created.
This technique can often times help you to remove any stubborn streaks or uneven looking areas on the paint, and it’s exactly opposite of what I’ve often seen enthusiasts and detailers do my entire car detailing life.
The Technique
The technique is to wipe the paint down slowly using your best,
premium quality microfiber polishing cloth using gentle, even pressure. Fold your polishing cloth 4-ways to provide plenty of cushion to help spread out the pressure from your hand as best as you can over the face of the folded microfiber.
Fold your microfiber polishing cloth to create plenty of cushion to help spread out the pressure from your hand and to give you 8 dedicated wiping sides.
The secret to this technique is purposefully moving your hand and wiping cloth
s-l-o-w-l-y over the paint, not like a spastic crazy guy moving his hand at light-speed over the surface.
How it works
The way this works is really quite simple but let me break it down for you into simple terms so everyone can understand. When making the final wipe, your job is to remove all trace residues from the previously applied wax or paint sealant; that’s your job. While to the human eye the surface of your car’s paint looks smooth and flat, under a microscope it’s actually a landscape of hills and valleys, (which is high spots and low spots), as well as pits and pores and interstices. (Interstices = microscopic gaps and cracks in the paint)
Trace residues remain in the lower imperfections on the surface and when you move a polishing cloth over the surface the fiber’s of the polishing cloth grab onto and removes residues off the high points the easiest. Again, your job is to remove all the trace residues and do it in such a way that you do no harm to the highly polished surface at the same time, thus you need to use a premium quality microfiber, folded 4-ways to help spread out the pressure of your hand.
Now think about it, if you’re moving the microfiber quickly over the surface how much time do the residues on the surface have to transfer to the cloth? Seconds? Milliseconds? That’s not very long.
That’s why wiping like a mad man won’t remove streaks or residues and could possibly inflict swirls and scratches back into the finish.
Slow down to speed up
Instead, how about moving the polishing cloth slowly over the surface and enabling the microscopic sized fibers to get into the low portions where once they make contact with any remaining wax or polymers, the residue will have time to transfer from the paint to the cloth?
This is called the
final wiping technique and most people would agree it makes sense. It also works most of the time for stubborn streaks that sometimes show up on dark colored paints but it’s also just a good technique when working on highly polished surfaces where your or your customer’s expectations are high.
If you’ve ever spent upwards of 8 hours and/or longer polishing out the paint to perfection on your car, or a customer’s car then you know how much work goes into,
- Washing the car.
- Evaluating the surface.
- Claying the paint.
- Taping off trim, body lines, emblems and badges as well as hard, thin edges.
- Removing swirls, scratches and other paint imperfections.
- Polishing the paint to a high gloss.
- Applying the wax or paint sealant.
- Removing the tape and carefully wiping off any left-over residues around body lines and trim.
- Removing the first and subsequent coats of wax or paint sealant.
Now it’s time for the final wipe and the last thing you want is to do anything that could potentially instill any new swirls or scratches into the now pristine finish.
That’s why as you progress through the process, after each step you have to be more and more careful when wiping off any compounds or polishes and usually as you progress through the process the quality of your wiping cloth increases along with your carefulness as that’s how show car finishes are achieved. You can’t just wipe with any old towel and do it in any old way. Show car work demands focusing on the task at hand and using your best skills and your best tools to reach the goal of a flawless show car finish.
Rushing at the very end doesn’t make sense and if you instill swirls and scratches because you’re wiping off the car like a lunatic or not using your best quality polishing cloths, then that’s
working backwards in the process.
Simply put,
sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.
That is, sometimes using a slow wiping motion, or slow rate of travel, will be more effective at removing all trace residues and enable to reach your goal versus moving your hand and polishing cloth quickly over the paint. Sure at the end of the process you’re tired and ready to clean-up and be done with the car but the technique you use for your final wipe-down of the paint needs to be calculated, methodical and precise. And after you make the final pass and you lift your hand and polishing cloth off the paint you can stand back and admire your work and then say,
“It is finished”.
Products Mentioned Porter Cable 7424XP Meguiar's G110 Lake Country Foam Pads Microfiber Polishing Bonnets Microfiber Smock Premium Quality Microfibers Mist & Wipe Quick Detailers Carnauba Waxes Paint Sealants Further Reading Tips & Techniques for using the Porter Cable 7424XP 2008 Lexus IS 250 - Pinnacle Detail What it means to remove swirls, scratches and water spots out of automotive clear coats Resources Autogeek Online Detailing Forum Autogeek Online Store 
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Re: The Final Wipe 
You're absolutely right,unfortunately Ive looked at those streaks the next day because I was rushing and tired.I guess I"II have to add this to my learning curve,this damn OCD!
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