JaDia4

when the light hits my car just right I notice tiny, thin scratches all over my car. I'm very careful with what I use on my car, at least I thought I was. So is this something the Zaino can fix?

samkws

it's easy
get the scratch remover and it will be gone

those are just stone chips

drcookie

I use Scratch-X scratch remover and it does pretty good job.

Cheers !!!

ChucksCL-S

My blue TL had the same problem, and I couldn't fix it until: I polished out the scratches, then from now on wash car with a car wash brush from top to bottom, use car wash soap not dish detergent, clean wheels with a wash mitt last ( you don't want brake dust in the wash water), dry car with a chamois or bath towel, wax as needed (wax fills the tiny scratches but doesn't remove them). Work in the cool time of the day if you can. When you are finished waxing if there are streaks don't freak - just mist the car and dry it again, it's just residue. Zaino or Meguires Gold Class are hard to beat.

Beason

what are some good scratch removers? Who makes and how much?

JaDia4

hello all,

thanks for your advice, I'm ordering Zaino today!

Jabari

typeSmaximum

With todays EPA restricted water based paints, many of the old tactics that are common and still used today will give you swirl mark City, which is really a bother on darker colored cars. Silver and white you can hardly notice even if there is a good amount. Something to keep in mind, however I and many others love the black and darker colored cars, the the ABP color is great on the TL!!

Wash your car one section at a time, from top to botom and rinse your cloth or sponge after each section. Clean in a back and forth motion, and not in the circle motion that is common. Same thing for waxing & polish, back and forth, not round and round wax on wax off. This is what gives you the swirls as well at the grit in your mit or whatever you use when you wash.

Also, wax and dry with microfiber towels! You can get small rag sized ones from your car parts store, some made by turtle wax for example, they will NOT scratch your car and give a better shine and is great for waxing. Just look for "microfiber". I heard you can get larger Microfiber towels from Bath & beyond, to dry your car. DO NOT use regular cotton ones for waxing and not even for drying if you can! Once you touch and feel these microfiber towels, you will see how its different. Millions of fibers will hold what little dirt and dust in the cloth after a wash instead of on it and scratching, and the fibers give a better shine, and is softer to your finish. If you can, a detailing spray will help when you dry, removes any water spots, and will cut out the friction between what your using for drying and your finish.

So thats how not to GET them, or get them again after fixing it, also throw in NOT having the dealer or anyone else wash your car as well, unless they know what they are doing.

To remove, use a high grade paint polish, and follow up with a good wax. 3M makes a good polish if you can get your hands on it. Meguires Deep Crystalin also does an ok job for polish. scratchX works (Comes in a Black tube), but I wouldn't recommend it on the entire car, as it will ware down your clear coat. I use it for small spots, and for the long and more visable scratches, and polish for swirls.

You might want to take 2 days, one to wash and polish the car top to botom, then another to add a high shine/reflective wax that will protect all the polishing you just did, as well and make swirls disapear even more so due to the shine it will add.

Good Luck

Beason

A corvette and a TL, and keeps them clean. My type of guy. Nice choices. But one question, I use an aplicator pad to put wax on and cotton to reomove it, Why is this bad? I do use micro fiber for Detailing spray though.

DHB

On his web site under FAQ's and Tips, Sal Zaino says the following about using 100% cotton towels:

In addition he answered an e-mail I sent asking him about using micro-fiber towels. He stated that he loved the idea behind them and was testing them. Unfortunately there seems to be a wide variance in quality where he has found some that do a wonderful job and some that definately scratch even when they were of the same brand of ones that previously did not scratch. According to Sal, the micro-fiber towels made in Korea were the worst in regard to likelihood of scratching but his testing is not yet complete. Because of this he is not recommending them at this time.

Beason

they are 100% cotton, I hand wash them so i know what goes into them.

Mr Hyde

If you do have a ton of swirls, prep the car right, and use 3M Swirl Mark Remover on the entire car before the Z. It works wonders.

My Baby is swirl free, and keeping it that way is not easy. She has NEVER been washed by anyone except me not including the initital delivery prep. The only things that touch my paint are either a microfiber or pure chenille wash mitt, the best microfiber towels out there (Check out yosteve.com), and the air of a leaf blower which I use to dry my car. I also use a porter cable polisher to apply a high quality sealant namely Klasse to my car every now and then. Thats about it.

In this case, the best offense against swirls is truely using the best defense and preventing them in the first place.

DHB

Sorry but I don't follow your logic Beason. I think Sal's point is that those cheap type towels you buy in WalMart, AutoZone, and the like do have non-cotton materials in them. Unless you manufacture your towels you have no idea what parts of them may not be cotton and those non-cotton parts will scratch you clear coat. Sal has tested a number of towels and certifies the Fairfied/Canon brands of 100% cotton towels to be scratch free for your waxed surfaces. I suspect there are others that are ok too but he made it a point to single out those cheap made-in-Pakistan brands as being harmful.