Ok so first I have a 06 stx with less than 8k on it and in the sun i have bad swirl marks. I mean they almost look like spider webs on my truck. What should i do? I used turtle wax ice and its shiny but still got swirl marks. The truck is darkstone.

 

Sorry i cannot help But a picture of your problem will help the Pros on this site to help you out

 

Turtle Wax Ice is going to do nothing for the swirls, as you've already discovered.

First, let's talk about what swirls are, where they come from, and then we'll deal with how to remove them.

Swirls are microscopic scratches. Think of them like a scratch in your countertop in your kitchen or in your bathroom. Something (be it mechanical or natural) has caused the clearcoat of your paint to become scratched. Thus, you end up with a U or a V 'gash' in the clearcoat.

These can be introduced by a number of things including brush (yes, even the soft brush) car washes, poor washing techniques, poor drying techniques, and a host of other mechanical things. In short, just about any time that you 'touch' your paint with towels or anything else, you run the risk of introducing this type of problem.

To remove, there are two different options -- one is to fill the U or V shaped scratches that are in the clear and the second is to remove them or, better put, abrade the areas around the V or U-shaped scratches to make the surface 'flat' again.

If you opt to 'fill them', this is only a temporary fix as car washing and other natural elements will eventually remove the materials that are filling the swirls to make them optically invisibile and thus, making them show up again.

Removing them requires the mechanical advantage to make the surface flat again -- think of this as sanding on a microscopic scale using a liquid type of sandpaper.

To fill, a product like Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover 2.0 (available at most Auto Parts stores) can go a long way. To remove, a product like Meguiar's #80 or maybe even a simple cleaner wax can do the trick. Many cleaner waxes actually do a very good job at concealing and removing the problems thus yielding a great end result with some protection to boot.

How much time are you willing to put in to this project? Do you already have some car care chemicals that you may be able to utilize? Lastly, how serious are you about maintaining it once you've done this process? I ask this only because it's not a simple task to keep swirls and scratches out of your finish as just about everything that you do will re-introduce problems. If you're looking for a 'quick fix' and really don't want to give it much more time than maybe an hour a month or something -- and maybe want to continue using a tunnel wash or similar -- well, we'll hold off on getting super technical and explaining some of the nit-picky details...

If you're wanting to take it to the next level, are willing to really put some time into maintaining it on a weekly basis and want to learn about how to remove and how to prevent, let us know.

-RP-

 

and your answer to this question will have a direct impact on how much free time and extra $$$ you have for the next few years of your life.

 

I recently came accross this same problem with my truck, I ended up going with Meguiars #9, it worked wonders, however it is temporary. Best of luck

 

That's no joke. Thanks to my finding this forum early in the summer, and the terrific advice here, my yard is dire need of some attention. Truck is nice and shiny, though

 

Do what I did. Hire a yard dude. I just pointed out my yard OCD ways (RockPick also is OCD about his yard) and the guy agreed to do it my way. Couldn't be happier. 30 bucks per week. Not too bad

 

I too use the #9 or #27, I forget, but Meguir's swirl remover anyways and it works great. I follow up with Eagle One Nanowax to seal the deal. It looks good for 3-4 months during the summer and then the swirls start to **** me off again. I like to clay after using the swirl remover for added smooth.

 

thanks for all the advice. Hopefully i can get this takin care of because the swirls are driving me crazy.

 

Funny...Thats a sude job of mine, an OCD of mine, and I would have out the same price on that yard of yours...

ANYWAY-- back to the regular programming--

Send me an email, and your swirl removal problems will be absolved. Read the bible that I wrote (ie: Sticky), and ye shalt have salvation in thine forcast...

RP-- When are you going to post that sticky??? Not to be pushy-- I know you are busy-- but questions like these are answered already for you... eliminating the year long posts that we seem to take turns writing...

 

Just post it. I don't care. I'm not going to have any time to look at it in the near future.

 

Whatcha mean???

If I am understanding this correctly, I should put it into a new thread, then you hit a fancy moderator button, and it becomes a sticky? If so, I will try to tonight. It will take a while.

Thanks!!!

 

Yes.

 

Cool Beans. Give me a bit...May have it up tonight....mabe not-- we will soon see...

 

Hey... I'm going through the guide. I'll add to it so, hang tight. Looks pretty darn good though.