Cobweb Swirls Spiderweb Swirls and Scratches

[Mike Phillips]

Cobweb Swirls Spiderweb Swirls and Scratches

Here's some great examples of cobweb swirls, spiderweb swirls and scratches in a car's paint. Sometimes people ask how to inspect white and light colored paint and the fool-proof way is with bright, direct overhead sunlight.


Photography tip for discussion forums....
First frame-up your shot so your audience knows what the heck you're actually taking pictures of for your article. In this example it's a 2000 SS Camaro with a white basecoat/clearcoat paint finish.





Photography Tip - Use a reference point when cropping pictures
When cropping out the fluff, do it in a way to still include some type of reference point in the picture so your audience will know what section of the car you're showcasing.

In this example I showing the cobweb swirls, spiderweb swirls and scratches to the right side of the air scoop on the hood so I include enough detail so the audience can easily understand the location of the defects.






Photography Tip - Zoom in and take a close-up shot of the defects you what to share
After capturing the frame of reference shot, THEN zoom in and get the close-up shot. Without the frame of reference shots the close-ups don't has as much impact.





In the below pictures you'll see the shot framed-up and then I'll zoom in to highlight the defects.

















The power in the after shot is in the before shot
Showing pictures of a beautifully detailed car is great. Lots of people do it. The intense impact is lacking however if you don't also show your starting point, that is the before shots.

The above pictures show cobweb swirls, spiderweb swirls and scratches as well as provide some tips on how to use your camera to capture accurate examples of defects in paint when writing an article to showcase your detailing talent.

If you're in business to make money, sharing your work via before and after pictures on a discussion forum, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, your own website or blog is a great way to demonstrate to future potential customers that you can be trusted to do the job right when they hire you.

You can also separate yourself from all your competition that cannot or will not document their work using quality pictures.

Good photography skills can be just as powerful of a tool as the skills you possess to use a buffer so practice till you hone your skills and then share your work.

[Mike Phillips]

On the topic of swirls and scratches in car paint
If you're a regular member of this forum you can skip this section. If you're a lurker here on AutogeekOnline.net and found us via Google or some other Internet touch point, here's the point of the above pictures.

Swirls and scratches like you see in the pictures above make your car's paint look ugly and thus make your car look ugly. If you're not into cars or at least into your car then click away.

If you're into cars or car detailing but just learning about this topic, the goal of successful detailing or the goal of creating a nice finish is to remove any swirls and scratches to create a factory new and in some cases better than factory new appearance.

You can do this by hand, that is apply a compound, followed by a polish followed by a wax by hand polishing but it will take a lot of work on your part and a lot of time.

The better and faster way to approacher paint correction is to learn to machine polish paint and that's one of the things we do here at Autogeek.net is teach people how to properly machine polish paint using a variety of different types and brands of machines.


Educational Options
We do this via this forum, our YouTube channel with videos you can watch for free and we also offer DVD's on this topic as well as a collection of how-to books available on Autogeek.net.


Professional Detailing Classes
We also offer detailing classes 4 times a year that are intensely focused on hands-on time using the various tools. These classes are held 4 times a year and we hold them the SAME time each year to make it easier for our long distance travelers to make their travel plans.


Yearly Class Schedule


Last weekend of January.
First weekend of May
Third weekend in July
Last weekend in September



Here are the dates for Detailing Classes at Autogeek for 2015.



January 2015 Class

January 24th and 25th - Full - No more seats available.




Note: Starting in May of 2015 the classes go to three days.


May 2015 Class

Friday May 1st
Saturday May 2nd
Sunday May 3rd

Click here to sign-up for this class



July 2015 Class
Friday, July 17th
Saturday, July 18th
Sunday, July 19th

Call 1-800-869-3011 to sign up for this class.



September 2015 Class
Friday, September 25th
Saturday, September 26th
Sunday, September 27th

Call 1-800-869-3011 to sign up for this class.




All classes always fill up so plan accordingly and get registered early.

[Mike Phillips]

Here are three examples of the kind of hands-on time you get learning how to detail cars and this is just a portion of a single class.

Click the links to see all the action...

Porter Cable 7424 - Meguiar's G110v2 - Griot's DA Detailing Classes







Rupes Bigfoot Polishers Detailing Class & Extreme Paint Restoration







Flex 3401 Detailing Classes - Show Car Detailing and Production Detailing

[Mike Phillips]

The after shots.....

If after looking at all the swirls and scratches in the 2000 SS Camaro you were wondering what happened?

Fear not... we removed the swirls and scratches!


Hang tight.....

[Mike Phillips]

Here's the after shots and we only did 2 steps....
























And the full write-up can be found here....

2002 SS Camaro Extreme Makeover! - Pictures & Comments

[CDot]

WOW, looks dripping wet.

[Horace01]

Thanks for the photography tips Mike.

Will put them to use on my next correction attempt.