Detailing question

[Ian_tdi]

As many of you seem to be keen or pro detailers I have a quick question. I have some swirl marks on my car from previous owner obviously loving a £5 hand carwash special but I was wondering if I can remove these swirl marks without visiting a pro detailer as I cant afford that or by buying a da and risk screwing up my paint work!

Any tips on technique/products that will help me achieve this by hand?

Thanks

 

[s5joe]

you wont do it by hand mate you can buy a da for under £150 with a menzerna pack and that will do the trick as i nothing else will go near vag paint as its so hard try i4detailing or elite car care for the kits

 

[s5joe]

here is the perfect kit
- Kestrel DAS-6 - Menzerna Polishing Kit Elite Car Care

 

[S3 Rav]

Polished bliss have some very good guidelines in the detailing section mate. Where abouts are you from. Someone near you may be able to lend a da polisher.

 

[Ian_tdi]

To be honest it's as much the chance of messing up my paint as i have never used a da before either. I'm from Hampshire btw.

 

[Rob2k68]

Hi, mine was a right mess with swirl marks everywhere (check out post 3889 in the pics of yours thread). Detailing is not cheap but will bring your cars paint back to life. I don't think it's something I would mess with myself as you could easily cause more harm by taking off too much lacquer at a feature line or corner. Go to a reputable detailer who's on here they will have pint depth gauges and all the equipment to do a top notch job.

 

[s5joe]

if you mess it up your really stupid just do it slow and keep the da moving on the panel you can not mess it up with a da

 

[S3 Rav]

As said its not like a rotary, da are quite easy to use on a lot less likely to do any damage. I'm mids btw.

 

[Ian_tdi]

Ok will think about saving for a da, will the polish in that kit get me started and help with removing the swirls? I have seen a da for £99 so could get that plus suitable polishes that would perhaps be easier/better to use?

 

[molly s3]

Ok will think about saving for a da, will the polish in that kit get me started and help with removing the swirls? I have seen a da for £99 so could get that plus suitable polishes that would perhaps be easier/better to use?

TBH, a da will do quite little to your car, as your paint type is hard and a da has only a light cutting action (hardly noticable). Yes it can remove very light swirl marks but thats about it. Prep is the major factor which i'm sure you know but the next major influence is the pad/polish combo. Meguires 105 (IIRC) with something like a lake country pad would be good (polished bliss website is excellent for this info) for a decent cut, but you may need to refine with a finishing pad and polish after. It takes a good 2 days to do (unless you have a shed unlike me lol). Best of luck

 

[molly s3]

As many of you seem to be keen or pro detailers I have a quick question. I have some swirl marks on my car from previous owner obviously loving a £5 hand carwash special but I was wondering if I can remove these swirl marks without visiting a pro detailer as I cant afford that or by buying a da and risk screwing up my paint work!

Any tips on technique/products that will help me achieve this by hand?

Thanks

Another nice cheap way is to hide the swirl marks. Some wax products have "fillers" in them. After washing your car in the normal way just apply this wax in the normal way and it just cover over the swirl marks. However as soon as the wax is washed off you'll be back to square 1 hope this is of help

 

[paz_b]

As above basically if you do not want to go down the machine polish route. What i've used in the past is a glaze which has fillers in too. Poorboys have a good glaze, but one thing to remember, glazes do not offer any protection, so need to be topped off with a durable wax/sealent.

Check out detalingworld.com there is plenty of info on products and stuff.

 

[cloughy]

I was in the same boat, check out my thread in the detailing section, bought a 2nd DA (kestrel das-6) for £60 and the rest I picked up along the way. I recently used megs 105/205, it did an awesome job on the hard paint

 

[Pipsqueak]

As many of you seem to be keen or pro detailers I have a quick question. I have some swirl marks on my car from previous owner obviously loving a £5 hand carwash special but I was wondering if I can remove these swirl marks without visiting a pro detailer as I cant afford that or by buying a da and risk screwing up my paint work!

Any tips on technique/products that will help me achieve this by hand?

Thanks

Have a read of this http://www.autopia.org/forum/guide-detailing/77859-**-test-swirl-removal-hand-**.html

 

[bigcheese]

Get some autoglym super resin polish this works a treat. It won't remove them completly but will reduce the visibility of them massively. Then finish off with some autoglym HD wax trust me this combo works a treat and is all avalible from halfrauds. Use polishing pads and micro fibre cloths.

 

[whitey]

if you want a quick fix, buy some prima Amiga polish, similiar to srp but i prefer and a hand polishing pad, give it some elbow grease and layer wax over once done, will mask some of the swirls and will look better until corrected.

 

[Farhan]

DAs are alot safer to use because if you apply to much pressure on them, you will notice the head will stop moving.

If you are not financially ready to commit to either a DA or a pro detailer just yet, I would say to maybe mask them up use products like autoglym SRP or Poorboys black hole glaze. Glazes contain temporary fillers which can mask up the swirls by hand.

 

[Ian_tdi]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think my dad has some autoglym srp so will get some HD wax and give that a pop!

The thread posted by pipsqueak also very useful for techniques on how to apply as well so thanks very much for that!

 

[Doug_m]

TBH, a da will do quite little to your car, as your paint type is hard and a da has only a light cutting action (hardly noticable). Yes it can remove very light swirl marks but thats about it. Prep is the major factor which i'm sure you know but the next major influence is the pad/polish combo. Meguires 105 (IIRC) with something like a lake country pad would be good (polished bliss website is excellent for this info) for a decent cut, but you may need to refine with a finishing pad and polish after. It takes a good 2 days to do (unless you have a shed unlike me lol). Best of luck

Not entirely true...
The new meguiars microfibre system for the DA has near rotary cut but still keeping the DA safety...
used mine for first time the other week and very impressed with compared to normal foam pads.
Quick search on detailing world will show some good reveiws

 

[Juicy Jen]

It is possible to correct Audi paint work using a Dual Action polisher IF you have the correct polish, pad, technique and most importantly time and patience.

As a DA oscillates rather than going around continually in one direction like a rotary they do not generate as much heat. This means that the panel area takes longer to heat up, thus polishing take longer, however on a plus side for newbies means there is less chance of burring through the paint.

A brand new Dual Action Machine can be picked up for £79 including 2 different size backing plate so it is possible to keep your budget low.

I am planning on doing a special offer on DA's soon so keep an eye on the Juicy Detailing Section in the Trading section.

Once you have a DA you have a couple of choices. 1) using the appropriate pad with a glaze or polish that has filling capabilities this will mask the swirls and also allow you to gain confidence using the machine without the danger of damage to your car. The end result will be much better than what you can achieve by hand. 2) use a one stage polish with again the appropriate pad which will remove some swirls again better result than before or by hand and you may still need additional glaze to cover any remaining areas. 3) use a 2 or 3 stage polish correction system to enable you to complete a 90 to 95% correction on the car.

You will never get a 100% correction on a vehicle even using a rotary and even on a brand new car as there will always been some imperfections that cannot be safely corrected.