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Thanks everyone. The car looks a lot better this morning. My shop light last night was showing a lot of watermarks on rear and some areas of light towel scratches.
I want to avoid using a polisher and cutting pad. Car doesn't seem to be that bad. (Also, from what I am reading, cutting pads reduce or eliminate clear coat especially with misuse. Car may be too new to require. Will see.)
Step one: Wash and dry.
Step two: Yellow Chemical Guys clay bar and Lube. Follow directions. (wipe off with microfiber towel)
(Necessary to wash car again after the clay or just wipe off?)
Step three: Chemical Guys Black Wax. Apply with hand applicator. Wipe off.
Products - this is just a place to start. Would rather get your ideas on what to get:
Well I gave it a shot on some spots and now it looks worse. The clay left swirls. Just standing over car it looks fine. Put the light on it and whoa! Wax didn't change it. All top shelf supplies. I watched multiple videos and read the directions and followed them. I think that's just the nature of black paint. None of the scratches are deep enough to catch on a fingernail. Cannot feel them at all. Perhaps a professional can get it back to showroom. Needless to say, I am frustrated.
I wish I saw your post before you tried the clay. Clay will definitely lleave swirls regardless of what anyone says and I would only use it if you intend to polish. You can use a mild polish to remove the swirls and follow my suggestions on microfiber and you’ll be fine going forward.
Also instead of using spray wax when wiping the car down you should use a quality quick detailer which has more lubricity and will minimize risk of future swirls.
I have literally washed my Spyder twice in 7 years and 15k miles. I’ve had to polish it once using a mild single step and the paint still looks perfect.
TOGWT apologies for the slight derailing of the thread.
Sweet Spyder! Yes, I've been using quick detail spray after California duster. It's been fine. Could always be better. You won't like that I use Costco yellow microfibers, I suppose. noted your recommendation for "Cobra 530 from Autogeek or the PFM Detailing from Griots". Thank you. It just has some watermarks on rear and some swirls in some areas there. What polish would you get? Use a dual action polisher? If so, which one? Which pad? The car is super clean and you have to direct a harsh light to see this stuff. I used clay on small area to test. The paint is nearly flawless.
Last edited by pcarmanwithans; 02-14-2018 at 12:09 AM.
The only place I would and do use th costco microfibers is in the engine bay, undercarriage and wheels. I won’t even use them on the interior although I’m sure they would be fine on leather/vinyl. I learned the hard way 15 years ago that only very high quality microfibers should be used on paint and even then when they start aging you should start using them on other parts of the car. The fibers will eventually degrade to a point that they can scratch. I usually get about 6 years from mine but I never use them for anything but paint and I am careful with them in general.
As far as paint correction, Meguiars 205 using a dual action with polishing pad will remove light swirls fairly quickly. Griots, Meguiars and Porter Cable all offer reasonably priced DA’s which can easily handle what you need. Tape off the body lines to keep the polish dust out of the crevices and stay away from any creases and edges on the bodywork and you’ll be fine. TOGWT should have some detailed instructions on his post above.
02-13-2018, 02:56 PM
