What is best for removing light swirls from soft paint by hand?

[B-M-D]

I have a silver 2008 honda civic si, so from what I understand, it has soft paint. I've taken very good care of it, but I bought it used in 2009 with only a few thousand miles on it, and it had very light swirls on it since I bought it.

I don't have a DA polisher. I'm going to polish by hand with a Meguiars hand pad and Meguiars yellow soft buff foam polishing pad. (Would this be an okay pad to use?)

I'm also looking at using Meguiars M205.


Would this be a good way to go for light swirls on soft Honda paint, or are there better options?

[AutowerxDetailing]

The notion of Honda paint being "soft" is somewhat misleading. It might not be as hard to polish out below surface defects as say a Benz with CeramiClear; even so, trying paint correction by hand will be a very daunting project. Not that it can't be done... it will just take a very, very long time.

Unless you have an unlimited amount of time on your hands I HIGHLY recommend picking up some type of DA polisher. M205 isn't very aggressive even with a machine polisher, I can't imaging using it by hand for even light paint correction. It will certainly clean up the surface and make the paint extra shiny but it would take HOURS & HOURS to remove swirl marks from an entire car with M205 by hand.

If you do want to polish out the entire vehicle by hand I would consider testing a spot with M205 and if that isn't doing as well as you need step up to M105. I use M105 all the time by hand for under door handles and places where my machine simply won't reach. Good luck and looking forward to your Show N Shine thread!

[ihaveacamaro]

I have a silver 2008 honda civic si, so from what I understand, it has soft paint. I've taken very good care of it, but I bought it used in 2009 with only a few thousand miles on it, and it had very light swirls on it since I bought it.

I don't have a DA polisher. I'm going to polish by hand with a Meguiars hand pad and Meguiars yellow soft buff foam polishing pad. (Would this be an okay pad to use?)

I'm also looking at using Meguiars M205.


Would this be a good way to go for light swirls on soft Honda paint, or are there better options?

Yeah I have to agree with Nick. Polishing by hands just is not a really feasible option anymore these days. Our paints are not lacquer based and single stage so it can be quite difficult to hand polish swirls out.

A DA would be really nice for you

[Benziez]

Before I have a DA, I tried to polish by hand using Meguiars ultimate compound & SwirlX. Didnt even remove a single swirl. Then I used Turtle Wax Premium Grade Polishing Compound, removed at least 40% of the swirls. If u have the time & stamina, Im sure can remove another 30%.. hehehe. BTW, my car is a Honda Civic 05

[B-M-D]

The notion of Honda paint being "soft" is somewhat misleading. It might not be as hard to polish out below surface defects as say a Benz with CeramiClear; even so, trying paint correction by hand will be a very daunting project. Not that it can't be done... it will just take a very, very long time.

Unless you have an unlimited amount of time on your hands I HIGHLY recommend picking up some type of DA polisher. M205 isn't very aggressive even with a machine polisher, I can't imaging using it by hand for even light paint correction. It will certainly clean up the surface and make the paint extra shiny but it would take HOURS & HOURS to remove swirl marks from an entire car with M205 by hand.

If you do want to polish out the entire vehicle by hand I would consider testing a spot with M205 and if that isn't doing as well as you need step up to M105. I use M105 all the time by hand for under door handles and places where my machine simply won't reach. Good luck and looking forward to your Show N Shine thread!

Well, I have been thinking about getting a DA Polisher. But the swirls are hardly noticeable, even at night under a street light at the right angle. So I figured I could save some money and get the light swirls out by hand.

But a DA polisher would be a good tool to have.

What kind of pads and polish would I need to get light swirls out of the Honda paint with a DA?

[terrangama]

I am pretty new to the detailing world so take what I say with a big grain of salt, but if the swirls are light enough I might go for some sort of glaze that contains a filler like this one: Chemical Guys Glossworkz Glaze

[TimmyG]

The notion of Honda paint being "soft" is somewhat misleading. It might not be as hard to polish out below surface defects as say a Benz with CeramiClear; even so, trying paint correction by hand will be a very daunting project. Not that it can't be done... it will just take a very, very long time.

Unless you have an unlimited amount of time on your hands I HIGHLY recommend picking up some type of DA polisher. M205 isn't very aggressive even with a machine polisher, I can't imaging using it by hand for even light paint correction. It will certainly clean up the surface and make the paint extra shiny but it would take HOURS & HOURS to remove swirl marks from an entire car with M205 by hand.

If you do want to polish out the entire vehicle by hand I would consider testing a spot with M205 and if that isn't doing as well as you need step up to M105. I use M105 all the time by hand for under door handles and places where my machine simply won't reach. Good luck and looking forward to your Show N Shine thread!

+1, this is good advice.

[B-M-D]

I am pretty new to the detailing world so take what I say with a big grain of salt, but if the swirls are light enough I might go for some sort of glaze that contains a filler like this one: Chemical Guys Glossworkz Glaze

I have Meguiar's #7 show car glaze. It works great, but I'd like to correct the swirls instead of temporarily making them disappear.

[B-M-D]

The notion of Honda paint being "soft" is somewhat misleading. It might not be as hard to polish out below surface defects as say a Benz with CeramiClear; even so, trying paint correction by hand will be a very daunting project. Not that it can't be done... it will just take a very, very long time.

Unless you have an unlimited amount of time on your hands I HIGHLY recommend picking up some type of DA polisher. M205 isn't very aggressive even with a machine polisher, I can't imaging using it by hand for even light paint correction. It will certainly clean up the surface and make the paint extra shiny but it would take HOURS & HOURS to remove swirl marks from an entire car with M205 by hand.

If you do want to polish out the entire vehicle by hand I would consider testing a spot with M205 and if that isn't doing as well as you need step up to M105. I use M105 all the time by hand for under door handles and places where my machine simply won't reach. Good luck and looking forward to your Show N Shine thread!

Well, I just ordered the PC7424xp package that includes Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover 3.0 and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 with the light cutting pad and finishing pad.

[primo spaghetti]

Well, I just ordered the PC7424xp package that includes Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover 3.0 and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 with the light cutting pad and finishing pad.

nothing wrong with wolfgang products...you should be pleasantly surprised..