[webwysard]

Hi guys

When i bought my AUC last month, I had seal and protect done which costed £399 + vat as the car was just a few months old.

Last weekend when the weather was great i decided to give a wash with autoglym bodywork shampoo and conditioner, there were couple of issue with the paint work which were the stone chips marks on the front of the car and little dust marks which were stuck in the paint work on different places.

For last couple of days i was seeing the build up of this fine layer of black dust on the car(alpine white) which i believe could be the volcanic dust from icelands volcanic erruptions. so today i decided to give another wash but when i finished drying the car i noticed that there were swirl marks all over the car which were not there the last time i washed it. i use lamb skin mitt for washing and chamois leather for drying.

My limited knowled suggest that embedded dust can be removed by clay bar and the swirl mark can be removed by waxing but the problem is that all those actions could do harm to the seal and protect which costed me £££.

so the question is how to get rid of the above metioned issues which are stone chips, embedded dust in the paint work and swirl mark without harming the seal and protect treament. I am not in a postion of spending money on vinyls so suggestions spart from that would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Aza

[Walesy]

It has probably been the chamois leather thats caused the swirl marks, invest in a decent drying towel. Use 2 buckets when washing the car aswell, one for soap/suds (dont use fairy liquid either, use a good quality car shampoo) and the other for fresh water which will be used to rinse out you mitt after each use.

As for the swirls, you need a polish such as Dodo Juice lime prime or Autoglym super resin polish, which has fillers in it that will fill your swirls aswell as polish them out.
You will need a good durable wax aswell, for economic sense and durablity, collonite 476 is probably you best bet.

As for the coating, I dont think this will have any knock on effect.

You an touch up you stone chips easily, I have just ordered some touch up from paints4u.

[Jon D]

I was recently very impressed with Poorboys products and they're reasonably priced as well.
My '08 Le Mans Blue E92 was covered with swirl marks; I used Black Hole Glaze to fill the swirls and followed up with Natty's Blue Paste Wax to protect.
What a difference it made - the shine is really deep and wet looking. Only time will tell how long it lasts, but I'm very pleased so far.
Note that the products I used are specifically designed for darker coulours, but they'll have appropriate cleaners and polishes for lighter shades.

[AlanQS]

+1 on using drying towels instead of a chamois - swirl maker.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

+1 on using drying towels instead of a chamois - swirl maker.

Agreed about the chamois - what do you think of silicone water blades? They make horrible squeaking noises, but they're very efficient and I haven't noticed any scratches.

[AlanQS]

The Devil's invention! Do NOT use.

Have a look at the Detailing World "Studio" forum. The number of times correction has been required because a drying blade has been used - amongst other bad practices - quite frequent.

A microfibre drying towel from CleanYourCar.com or PolishedBliss.com is the way to go.

[chris330D]

I bought a Meguiars drying towel and found it much less effective at removing water than the chamois?

[AlanQS]

But it will have given you a lot less swirls!

When I moved from chamois to microfibre towel, I found it to be so much quicker - and kinder on my hands.

[ss134]

+1 on the microfibre towel - the 'Dodo Juice Supernatural Towel' IMO is the best out there, its pricey at £22 but its much larger than regular towels and is fantastic quality and super absorbant.