Maintenance after a detail

[rickyong123]

Hey AGO members,

I am a new member of AGO and I have searched everywhere but couldn't find the answers to my question. I have a 2002 Mustang and have detailed it myself about 2 times within the three years of owning it. It seems as though almost instantly after detailing the vehicle, I am back at having problems with swirl marks again. I use perfectly clean microfibers and wash mitts, the two bucket method, and drying the car with a clean waffle weave. Are there any other techniques to prevent swirls and maintain your detailing finish to your vehicle that are cost efficient?

I have looked into Metro Air Force Blasters, but they are costly. I've read threads about using leaf-blowers, but leaf blowers aren't as effective in my opinion. Any other suggestions?

[Evan.J]

Welcome to the forum!

It seems there are a few things that could be wrong.

Either you have soft paint which is very easily prone to scratching easily.
Your mitts and towel are not a soft as you think.
You may have not removed the swirls and scratches when you detailed your car.

What was your process and products for when you detailed your car?

What kind of towels mitts and drying towels are you using?

Do you have grit guards for you buckets?

Just trying to figure out your issue so let us know.

[AutowerxDetailing]

Welcome to AGO!

There is nothing worse then spending your time and money to thoroughly detail your car only to have it begin to get swirled out again after the first wash.

In addition to thinking about washing techniques you should consider a hard wearing coating such as CQuartz that will actually help mitigate fine swirls. Some of the newer paint coatings actually cure harder than the paint they bond to which helps to eliminate the potential for marring and swirl marks if handled delicately.

Here are some helpful tips to mitigate wash induced swirl marks during your maintenance washes:

1. Pressure wash the vehicle to remove loose debris and road grime. Anything you can remove from the vehicle prior to touching it is going to help immensely.

2. Snow foam the vehicle to help loosen the remaining film and road grim that has covered the paint. Let the soap solution dwell as long as possible. For extremely dirty paint it would be wise to rinse with strong pressure water again.

3. Use a two bucket wash method with at least one grit guard in each bucket.

4. Use multiple wash mitts. At the minimum use one for upper panels and one for lower panels. On maintenance details I use three to four different mitts to lessen the chance for embedded dirt in the fibers to potentially mar the finish.

5. Wash in straight lines. This way if something does get into the wash media and gets dragged across the paint it will not be as noticeable until your next polishing session.

6. When drying, use forced air like from a Master Blaster (leaf blowers don't work as well and cannot get the paint 100% dry). OR use a "blot dry" method in which you blot the water beads off the paint instead of wiping them away.

Paint preservation is the best form of care for newer vehicles... especially with how thin OEM paint finishes are nowadays.

Again, welcome to AGO!

[HateSwirls]

Sometimes it's the drying of the car that gets you.
Make sure you use forced air and use a drying towel the least amount that you can and make sure it very soft and clean.
I fight this with my black RAV so your not alone.

[rickyong123]

thanks for all the useful advices and tips! if there are any other recommendations, please let me know!

[rickyong123]

Welcome to the forum!

It seems there are a few things that could be wrong.

Either you have soft paint which is very easily prone to scratching easily.
Your mitts and towel are not a soft as you think.
You may have not removed the swirls and scratches when you detailed your car.

What was your process and products for when you detailed your car?

What kind of towels mitts and drying towels are you using?

Do you have grit guards for you buckets?

Just trying to figure out your issue so let us know.


since i'm kind of new to auto detailing, i might not have as much equipment as most members on this forum. for all the details i've done so far, here's what i've done.

- clayed the car
- used a 2-step polish using meguiars m105 and m205 (swirls were pretty deep the first time i detailed my car)
- used detailer's pro poli-coat paint sealant
- used collinite #845

*everything besides m101 and m205 i did by hand. for the polishing, i am using a GG machine with orange pads i ordered from detailers domain.

after detailing the car, i am always incredibly satisfied. after routine maintenance, swirls are back. washing the car consist of CG Citrus wash with some microfiber wash mitt i bought at o' reilly's, two bucket method with each one having a grit guard, drying is a blot drying method with a cobra waffle weave, followed by microfibers just to clean it up (microfibers are brand new purchased on detailers domain)

is there anything i am doing wrong? or is it just the paint that's really sensitive?

[wdmaccord]

I think it would still be helpful if you tell us what kind of mitts you are using, towels, grit guards, etc. Assuming you are using microfiber towels and mitts, how are you washing them? Are you using fabric softener or washing/drying them with non-MF? Any of these things could cause problems.

Hondas have super soft clear coats and I haven't induced any swirls since I detailed them in the spring. Do I have a few micro scratches here and there...sure, but they are barely detectable, even in the sun. I do wash and dry my horizontal panels front to back and side panels top to bottom in straight lines. I use 2BM for wash with 2 grit guards and MF mitt, and dry with Cobra waffle weave towels. I don't have a blower yet.

When you wash, do you push down hard on your mitt, or just let the mitt glide and do the work? I barely put any pressure on the mitt while I wash, just enough to guide it.

Tell us more about your products and methods and you'll be able to help everyone here detect possible problems and give you better advice.

[wdmaccord]

since i'm kind of new to auto detailing, i might not have as much equipment as most members on this forum. for all the details i've done so far, here's what i've done.

- clayed the car
- used a 2-step polish using meguiars m105 and m205 (swirls were pretty deep the first time i detailed my car)
- used detailer's pro poli-coat paint sealant
- used collinite #845

*everything besides m101 and m205 i did by hand. for the polishing, i am using a GG machine with orange pads i ordered from detailers domain.

after detailing the car, i am always incredibly satisfied. after routine maintenance, swirls are back. washing the car consist of CG Citrus wash with some wash mitt i bought at o' reilly's, two bucket method with each one having a grit guard, drying is a blot drying method with a waffle weave, followed by microfibers just to clean it up.

is there anything i am doing wrong? or is it just the paint that's really sensitive?

If you are using CG Citrus Wash after you detail, you are probably removing your wax and sealant. Get some Duragloss 901. I don't think I would use an orange pad for the M205 either. You need to step that down to a white pad at least. With the orange pad you might actually be leaving swirls behind on the M205 step that get hidden until that first wash. Did you IPA wipedown after the M205 before you put the sealant on?

And what is "some wash mitt from O'Reilly's"? Is it a good quality MF mitt or just some crap mitt? Sorry, just trying to help you out here. :)

[rickyong123]

I think it would still be helpful if you tell us what kind of mitts you are using, towels, grit guards, etc. Assuming you are using microfiber towels and mitts, how are you washing them? Are you using fabric softener or washing/drying them with non-MF? Any of these things could cause problems.

Hondas have super soft clear coats and I haven't induced any swirls since I detailed them in the spring. Do I have a few micro scratches here and there...sure, but they are barely detectable, even in the sun. I do wash and dry my horizontal panels front to back and side panels top to bottom in straight lines. I use 2BM for wash with 2 grit guards and MF mitt, and dry with Cobra waffle weave towels. I don't have a blower yet.

When you wash, do you push down hard on your mitt, or just let the mitt glide and do the work? I barely put any pressure on the mitt while I wash, just enough to guide it.

Tell us more about your products and methods and you'll be able to help everyone here detect possible problems and give you better advice.

thanks for your reply. i just listed down most of the products i use on everyday maintenance. in the first place, i would always put a little pressure while washing the car. now, i use little to no pressure (just enough to touch the paint and get the dirt off), and still the swirls eventually come back... possibly the paint?

[rickyong123]

If you are using CG Citrus Wash after you detail, you are probably removing your wax and sealant. Get some Duragloss 901. I don't think I would use an orange pad for the M205 either. You need to step that down to a white pad at least. With the orange pad you might actually be leaving swirls behind on the M205 step that get hidden until that first wash. Did you IPA wipedown after the M205 before you put the sealant on?

And what is "some wash mitt from O'Reilly's"? Is it a good quality MF mitt or just some crap mitt? Sorry, just trying to help you out here. :)

thanks for your help, no need to be sorry! but it's one of those viking MF wash mitts. might be the problem? and no, i did not do an IPA wipedown after the 2 step polish. is that a major step i should not ignore?

[wdmaccord]

thanks for your help, no need to be sorry! but it's one of those viking MF wash mitts. might be the problem? and no, i did not do an IPA wipedown after the 2 step polish. is that a major step i should not ignore?

I don't know that it would be the mitt. If it is this one, I would get something different: Viking 855600 - Microfiber Wash Mitt | O'Reilly Auto Parts (http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/VCC0/855600.oap?ck=Search_mitt_-1_-1&keyword=mitt) get one that looks like little fingers like this: Supreme Micro-Chenille Wash Mitt, microfiber wash mitt, washing mitt (http://www.autogeek.net/supreme-microfiber-wash-mitt.html)

There are probably small amounts of fillers in M205 and using an orange pad with that could be inducing swirls. The IPA wipedown would remove any fillers and you would then be able to see if that step did in fact put swirls back in. Too late to tell now, but I would strip it down, get a white pad and re-polish with the M205 (no need to do the M105 again). Do an IPA wipedown and inspect the paint. If you don't see swirls, then put on your sealant and wax. Then see how it goes after your next wash.

Definitely get some different wash soap though. You can get DG 901 at CARQUEST by the gallon. It's actually called 902 (they change the numbers by "1" for the different sizes for some reason). Only use the CG Citrus Wash when you are stripping down for a full detail.

I would also recommend getting a blue pad for the GG6 to put on the sealant and a red pad to put on the 845. No pressure for either of those steps, just let the machine's weight do the work and use your arm to spread the product around. The sealant will need to cure for some time before putting on the 845. The directions on the sealant bottle should tell you how long to wait before putting a coat wax on top.

[rickyong123]

I don't know that it would be the mitt. If it is this one, I would get something different: Viking 855600 - Microfiber Wash Mitt | O'Reilly Auto Parts (http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/VCC0/855600.oap?ck=Search_mitt_-1_-1&keyword=mitt) get one that looks like little fingers like this: Supreme Micro-Chenille Wash Mitt, microfiber wash mitt, washing mitt (http://www.autogeek.net/supreme-microfiber-wash-mitt.html)

There are probably small amounts of fillers in M205 and using an orange pad with that could be inducing swirls. The IPA wipedown would remove any fillers and you would then be able to see if that step did in fact put swirls back in. Too late to tell now, but I would strip it down, get a white pad and re-polish with the M205 (no need to do the M105 again). Do an IPA wipedown and inspect the paint. If you don't see swirls, then put on your sealant and wax. Then see how it goes after your next wash.

Definitely get some different wash soap though. You can get DG 901 at CARQUEST by the gallon. It's actually called 902 (they change the numbers by "1" for the different sizes for some reason). Only use the CG Citrus Wash when you are stripping down for a full detail.

I would also recommend getting a blue pad for the GG6 to put on the sealant and a red pad to put on the 845. No pressure for either of those steps, just let the machine's weight do the work and use your arm to spread the product around. The sealant will need to cure for some time before putting on the 845. The directions on the sealant bottle should tell you how long to wait before putting a coat wax on top.

alright thanks a lot for all the info. can't wait for the next weekend i'm available to detail my car! now, what am i going to do with a 98% full gallon of citrus wash... hahaha thanks for all your help again

[wdmaccord]

alright thanks a lot for all the info. can't wait for the next weekend i'm available to detail my car! now, what am i going to do with a 98% full gallon of citrus wash... hahaha thanks for all your help again

start detailing your friends cars once you get the process all figured out. Or you could probably bottle it at 16 or 32oz. and find some people who would want to trade for it on here.

I've found ordering smaller bottles is best at first until you find what you like. I know it's tempting to just buy by the gallon because the price per ounce is so much better. But if you don't like something, or you use it differently or way less than you thought you would, you're kinda stuck.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes after you re-do it and get through another maintenance wash.

[wdmaccord]

Oh, and don't throw out that Viking MF mitt if you get a new one. It would be good to use for wheels/tires. I have 4 mitts: 1) the grey MF one I linked for you for my regular maint washes with the DG901 2) one for wheels/tires 3) one for decon when I use CG Citrus Wash and 4) one for iron x.