The infamous swirl marks we are plagued with. Vote inside.
 

After talking to several BRZ/ FRS owners it has become obvious that our clearcoat absolutely sucks. Vote below, Provide solutions and insight.


Upona delivery of my FRS (August 2013) , I watched them rip off the travel stickers and rinse it off.
There were not swirl marks at this time.
I did not have swirl mark issues for the first 2-3 weeks. Then the dalership washed my car while I was having the HP fuel pump replaced and shortly after, I started noticing swirl marks.

I have aways used a microfiber mit, Rinced three times prior to washing and used Rain X soap with Carnuba wax beads.

They have progressively gotten worse. So what has everyone done to fix the swirl marks? I am currently considering paying a detailer to polish them off and opticoat my car, I just wanted to see how many people are having similar issues. :mad0259:

A little over 1 year and no swirls at all. Perhaps review your carwash procedures?

Rock chips, on the other hand...

Exactly why I went with white; because if I develop any, I can't see them lol.

It's pretty damn hard, if not impossible, to never develop any swirl marks.

I've had several black cars, and people always asked me, "how do you keep the swirls out". My response - I don't touch it.

After I bought it and spent about 12 hours on a full paint correction process, I would wash it when it was absolutely necessary, and even so, after a while, I would see some very light swirls.

http://www.protouchdetailing.com/9867/98459.jpg

http://www.protouchdetailing.com/9867/68958.jpg

http://www.protouchdetailing.com/9867/92556.jpg

People don't realize how counterproductive their car washing methods are to reducing swirls and marring in their paint.

2 bucket method with grit guard, high quality soap and very soft sponge, soft microfiber for drying will go a long way.

I had Opticoat on my DGM car since the day after I drove it home and got a proper correction done. I have maintained it with 2 bucket/grit guard/ONR/bunch of microfiber rags that I wash after every use. Aside from some scratches caused by rocks or other similar mishaps, the paint continues to be swirl-free.

exactly.

I use the same method, as well as one time use grout sponges, since I can get a 10 pack from HD for less than 10 bucks.

You'll see that all the cleaning and washing detailing products out there say they help reduce the risk of introducing swirls, but I haven't seen any product say it'll "prevent" swirls.

Nothing prevents swirls entirely. It's almost inevitable to a certain degree. However, yes, you can definitely limit or slow down the appearance of them with proper car washing techniques.

Once your paint is marred and or laced with swirls, then yes, paint correction via compound/polish is needed. At the end of the day though, it's pointless to spend the money on paint correction if you're just going to back and wash your car in such a way that is going to reintroduce swirls to it.

Correction is just that, correction. Proper car washing is like maintenance.

i.e. you change your engine oil as a maintenance item to prevent the need for correction or in that case, replacing a blown motor. lol.

Satin white pearl. I could see swirls on my color if I wanted to.

If this is your first dark car then it can be panicking to see the scratches, with practice people will be asking you what products you use and how you keep it nice. Swirls happen, even with the best practices...there's going to be times that you're in a rush or the wind picked up while you were washing.

Agree with others that a good polish and wax goes a long way. In my researching this forum and others, I decided to go with the following for the BRZ clearcoat: Griot's 6" DA Polisher, 5.5" Uber pads, Menzerna SF 4000, Adam's Machine Super Sealant and any slight swirls I had were corrected.

I have a small amount of swirls after more than a year of ownership.

I'd say it is an acceptable amount for self washing.

I actually just picked up a Griot's DA and 5.5" uber pads through detailer's domain deal of the day.

:thumbup:

I figure I'll run through the Adam's polish and wax I have before investing in some other stuff. I don't need correction yet but the stuff I have will be plenty for maintaining my paint for now.

How did the SF4000 finish down with the Griot's 6", or did you follow up with a light polish after it? Did you use the uber MF pads?

I've used maguiars and turtle rubbing compounds in the past for deeper corrections (bumper scrapes, a door scuff), the SF 4000 was super smooth by comparison. I started with a small patch on the hood where I saw a few scratches and it took them off in one pass (S-shape, 8 times), there was one area near the rear "hips" of the car I had to make 2 passes for, if you have just light swirls, I don't think you'll need a lighter polish but that's entirely up to you.

I used a green (for the Menzerna) and a black (for the Adam's) Uber foam buffing pad. Got them all from Detailer's Domain and the Griot's directly from them.

I would recommend you paper your windshield, I was glad I did, some got on the paper even though I was careful.

Fixed that for ya. Yes, SWP is the best color car I have had to date that doesn't show swirl marks. I also did not let the dealership wash my car and am religious with my 2 bucket wash method. So far no swirls...

Ok, fair enough it's very forgiving as to showing imperfections.

I'm sure my SWP has swirl marks. I like SWP because I can't easily see them, lol...

So true. And if you want to go a step beyond that, skip the microfiber drying towel and just use a blower to dry the car. I use my shop vac on the blow setting. I only use a towel on the jams.

Also, don't put any pressure on the mitt/sponge. Let it do all the work. If you drop your mitt/sponge/towel on the ground, don't reuse it, get a new one.

Most importantly - never, ever go to a machine wash place.

I've had problems with this issue as well. I've been using the microfiber towels from Costco when drying, but it looks like those leave swirls in the paint when scrubbing out hard water marks.

Can anyone recommend a swirl remover or polish? The scratches aren't deep at all, and I can only see them when reflecting direct sunlight. Also if anyone would recommend a really nice drying towel that you can buy online, I'd definitely be interested in picking up a new one.

I bet a ton of people are lying about not having swirls.

:needpics:

The average car owner doesn't realize how soft paint is. It's inevitable to have swirls to one degree or another. Those who are fanatical about polishing out swirl marks are continually thinning out the paint and with time they will start seeing the undercoat coming through the paint surface.

The idea is not to scrub out anything. Let the soap do the work. You shouldn't apply any pressure to the sponge/mitt, and the same is true of the drying towels.

Polish all depends on the pad selection as well as the condition of the paint. I like Meguiars 205 on a medium-soft pad for finishing/removing light scratches/swirls.

For drying towel, I really like this one:

http://www.autogeek.net/waffle-weave-drying-towel.html

My suggestion - polish the paint and apply a quality sealant once a year. Use a quality wax every three months. That will help keep the hard water spots from etching the paint.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Another thing is to not move your mitt/towel in a circular motion. You are only inducing more swirls that way. I go left/right. I voted "no swirls" because if I have any its insanely hard to tell. SWP may help, but my paint looks great and I know all too well about subaru's soft paint after owning an STi for 8 years lol.

I also always use a quality after wash wax so debris/dirt doesn't bury itself onto the paint as easy. I never put pressure down on the car.

After I did my paint correction I've been using a cross cut sponge, 2 bucket method with optimum no rinse, patting dry with DI waffle weave microfiber, and Griots speed shine to freshen up between washes.... you still get very minor swirls. VERY minor, only visible at night when the light is in just the right angle.... easily corrected by anyone with a DA and polish

It is not possible to completely avoid swirls, but there are procedures you can do to minimize them.

1. Detail your car and have it coated with either Opti-coat or C Quartz
(one last longer, and other finishes shinnier)

2. Using two bucket methods with soap if you have a place to wash your car
completely without sunlight ever directly shining on your car.
Even with two bucket method, grid guard, and soap, I would still recommend
changing your wash mitten after a certain portion of your car.

Use Gary Dean's washing method if you do not have access to free running water
or a place in complete avoidance to sun light.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kY_S-fkgrE"]The Garry Dean Wash Method GDWM Infinite Use Detail Juice Anywhere Wash Bucket Waterless Car Wash Auto Wash Rinseless Car Wash - YouTube[/ame]

Washing your car NOT in complete avoidance of the sun will cause water spots, and they are almost if not, harder to remove
that swirls induced by washing.

3. Use a blower to dry your car, if not, use a microfiber cloth and pad your car dry,
instead of dragging across the surface.

Again, you cant' completely avoid it, but you can minimize their effect.
My car still looks very similar the day it was detailed, and you can only see minor swirls when you use the sun as a spot finder.

Thanks! I'll look into picking up some of that polish.

If I'm doing this by hand, would a microfiber towel work fine or would you recommend any polishing pad in particular? The car is only a few months old, and the swirls are extremely light, I just want to keep it looking perfect for as long as I can. :)

A machine polish would be the most effective. Polishing by hand will take ages.

Unless you have lots, and I mean LOTS of free time, I would suggest you to stay away from handl polishing.

It takes forever, and the finishing surface might not be as even as machine polshed.

Check detailersdomain and autogeek often, they should have the Portacable/Griot's garage DA polisher package on sale during this time of the year (may cost about 200 dollars
package wise)


or you can hire a profesional detailer (roughly 200 bux as well) and do the job for you.