Are swirls circular scratches?

[Mike Phillips]

Are swirls circular scratches?

The answer is "no".

I explain what swirls are in 2008 on the MOL forum. Here's the explanation in detail.




Cobweb Scratches or Cobweb Swirls

Actually, the term cobweb swirls or spiderweb swirls comes from the fact that when you look at the paint in such a way as to place the reflection of the sun or another source of bright light so that it's on a painted panel, you'll see what looks like swirls and scratches forming in a circular pattern around the point of light.


Cobweb Scratches or Cobweb Swirls




Cobweb Scratches or Cobweb Swirls




Now if you move around a little bit so as to move the point of light around on the panel you'll see what looks as though the cobweb swirls are following the point of light. The cobweb swirls are not actually following the point of light what's really happening is that the entire finish is so filled with random scratches that wherever you place the point of light you'll see the circular or cobweb pattern show up because the random scratches will reflect the light back towards the center of this point of light. So as you move the point of light around on a painted panel it looks as though the cobweb swirls are following the point of light.


Does that make sense?


The scratches are not specifically circle scratches, they could be a all straight-line scratches but the effect is they look circular because the point of light is circular and the light hitting the hundreds of thousands of scratches are all reflecting back to the center of the point of light making it look as though the scratches are all circular when that's not the case.

[Mike Phillips]

Also...


I think I explain this in my car detailnig books and also have it somewhere on this forum?

I'll send anyone that can find it on this forum a free bottle of something if they can find it and post the link here.

Skynet is your friend...

Just be sure to add my first and last name and Autogeekonline Auto Detailing Forum after typing in a few key words anytime you're searching for articles I've written.

Like this,

what are swirls mike phillips Autogeekonline Auto Detailing Forum

[57Rambler]

Here's my guess ...

The difference between Rotary Buffer Swirls, Cobweb Swirls, Micro-Marring, DA Haze & Tick Marks

[Mike Phillips]

Here's my guess ...

The difference between Rotary Buffer Swirls, Cobweb Swirls, Micro-Marring, DA Haze & Tick Marks

Chicken Dinner we have a Winner!


PM me your shipping address, I'll send you your prize.




Here's the pertinent portion and the time stamp for this entry is 2010

Cobweb Swirls also called Spiderweb Swirls

Cobweb or Spiderweb swirls get their name because of the visual effect created when you place a strong source of focused bright light, like the Sun or the light from a Brinkmann Swirl Finder light onto a section of paint and view the finish.

The swirls you see look as though they form a circular pattern around the point of light but that's not actually what's taking place.


The fact of the matter is that the entire finish is so filled with random scratches, both straight and circular, that wherever you place a point of strong, focused light you'll see the circular or cobweb pattern show up because the millions of random scratches are reflecting light back to the light source; this is what causes the visual cobweb effect.

You can easily prove this to be the case by simply moving your body position in a way that moves the point of light around to a different place on the panel.

As you move positions and thus move where the light is shining on the paint, it appears that wherever you place the point of light there is a circular or cobweb pattern of scratches in the paint.

The scratches are not specifically circular or round scratches and many of the scratches in the paint may be in straight lines, but with a strong beam of light shining on the paint the visual effect from the scratches all shining light back at the source creates the cobweb effect.


Does that make sense?

Long-time friend sent me the link to new car wash video. I thought the person did a great job as a presenter. I think the technique he shared for washing a car was great. I think it will use up a lot of soap but that's a consumable and depending upon which side of the equation your on it's either a good thing or a bad thing.

I still like my technique for washing cars while avoiding scratches better.

During the video he explained that swirls are NOT circular scratches and not only do I agree with him, as shown above I explained this and the time stamp document just how long ago I explained it.