Hi
i have had a go at machine polishing my black/blue bug wrx and noticed under the garage light tonight that i have got swirl marks all over it. i used a silverline machine polisher with the red pad that comes with it and meguires ultimate compound i also misted the pad with water now and again while polishing. Any one no what im doing wrong??

 

compound,polish,wax ?

 

i used meguires ultimate compound.
i didint have time to go overit with my next steps which is a zymol cleaner wax by hand then dodo purple haze.

 

I think the red pad is a soft finishing pad on the silverlines, you need a better pad, a decent light cut polishing pad like this should be ok just don't go mad, i would suggest the swirl remover polish Sonus sfx2 to go with the pad, that megs compound is too harsh if you are a beginner and best do it under a site light like this Light to show up all the swirls!

 

thanks for the replies. it seems to be my polishing where the swirls have come from.
am i right to use water? or should i just use the meguires ultimate compound on its own?

 

The silverline isnt the most powerfull machine going, are you sure it is breaking the polish down correctly? Is it going clear?
You should also start with a low cut polish and work up.

 

Subaru paint is very thin. There's a good chance you'll "burn through" the clear pretty quick if you're not sure of what you're doing. It is also very sticky and a pain to work with. I'd head over to detailing world to ask for some advice.

www.detailingworld.co.uk

 

I have dark blue bug and just did mine. I used dodo juice lime prime and machine polished. Got rid of all those spidery car wash marks from previous owners really well, however when I finished I could see odd faint swirls in the paint here and there from polishing. Put a coat of wax on and they cant be seen at all.
Maybe try the waxing now and see if that helps? I used purple haze too, the car really looks much better now for a day wasted in the sun!

 

nice one thanks for the wax idea Matt

 

Swirl marks could be one of two things; surface scratches

OR

Residual polish.

The latter can be simply sorted by going over the car with Quik detailer. And swapping to a clean 'polish off' rag after doing half the car.

 

Let us know how you get on!

I was annoyed at myself for leaving marks but as it was my first go machine polishing I wont be to hard on myself! Worth it for the end result after the wax went on though, problem now is I dont wont to use the car in case I make it dirty!

I think you can all probably guess what was on the bonnet the next morning as well!

 

POORBOYS WORLD is best for bargain prices. its got a great range of products

 

i hand polsihed the car with zymol cleanser wax then went over it with some quick detailer then waxed it with dodo Purple haze and it looks great. swirl marks seem to of gone so im well impressed. thanks for all the ideas!!

 

you have to remember the products above simply hide and fill the swirl marks, you will need to machine polish it properly to remove the swirls and marring on the paint, an abrasive polish would need to be used on a rotary for best efforts. You can however mask the swirls with products such as autoglymn SRP etc but after a few weeks of normal washing you will see them again.

also prevention is better and dont take it to cheapo car washes or use sponges.