wazzup everybody! I have some bad news. I driving around and realized my gas tank was on E. It's hard to keep track when I never hardly refuel. I stopped at this gas station and saw a sign that said "Car Wash $10!" For some reason I jumped at that chance even when my car wasn't that dirty. These dudes cleaned my car and cleaned my wheels really good. He asked if I wanted them to dry it and I said yeah. That apparently was a HUGE mistake. When I got home I realized I had scratches ALL OVER my car. It looks like my car has spider webs all over it when the sun hits it. It's like those swirl scratches from the scratchy towels they used. I wanted to go back and tell them but it was just some dudes at the side of a gas station and they would probably beat my ass for yelling at them. Can I ever get rid of these scratches or are they there forever? It's an 09 Fit Sport Blue Sensation Pearl. I felt like crap when I found out. I never let anyone else wash my car before and don't know why I let these guys do it.

 

sometime swirl remover polish will get them out, sometimes.

 

No worries, you can buff it right out with a machine polisher and swirl remover polish.
You can get advice and tutorials here. To remove the swirls, it is really important you follow the steps and have the right materials and tools.

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Swirl marks often caused by wrong drying technique or pre-wash. It's possible those men were using rough sponge when shampooing your car..that can cause swirlmarks too.

CMIIW but i think the best tools you need to wash are :

1. Wash mitt not chamois!
2. Microfibre drying towel or meg***rs Water magnet
3. Proper car shampoo that has Ph balanced on it
4. 2 buckets
5. Grit holder

I wash my car with these tools and my car looks okay ( although you cannot prevent swirlmarks, you just can minimize them )

Use cleaner wax to get rid of minor swirlmarks, or compound or scratch x.
Just becareful, you know those products are abbrasive right?

 

Damn that sucks bro my mum took mine thew a drive thew one because she knows I keep me car clean and she wanted to say thanks for letting her barrow it she drove up and my jaw hit the floor took 4 hours with turtle wax scrach remover and got most of em but man I gotta do it agin

 

thanks guys. man i love these forums. imma try to buff it out. maybe i can go to a detailer and see how much he'll do it for. imma wait till pollen season is over.

 

Any professional detailer should be able to fully permanently correct the paint. I've corrected my fair share.
Just fyi its going to probably be $150-$200 to fix it though. It is a lengthy process to remove deep swirls.
Here is an example of a NHBP TSX I corrected. Not the best pics...but at least you can see the proof of concept.




If I were you I would search for a local detailer for you on Autopia.
There is some good paint correction specialist on that site.
Good luck.

 

$10?! You can get a deluxe brushless auto-wash for $10 around here....the sketchy car wash places are $2.50! I just saw one in N. Philly...$2.50 AND open 24x7! Scary...

 

Or come to here in Orlando, and go here "Baywash" girl-friendly car wash
$10 + tip and you don't care if they scratch the crap outta ur car
PS: I've been going ever since they opened the business and it is fun hanging out while ur car get's washed. And THE ONLY PLACE IN THE WORLD hope the line is long as hell lol

 

That's sexist, disrespectful, and completely distasteful. Sounds like an awesome place...I wish we had one. I'd be their best customer lol.

 

No one washes the Fit but me! That is the rule because even doing everything right you can still get light swirls. I ended up washing, claying and doing two coats of Next Gen 2.0 wax and it did a great job in making the paint look great. Very reflective, this is the only picture I took of my own car -


Still looks pretty nice for a DD, grocery getter and nearly 3 years old. Hope you can get the scratches out. Check out Meguiars forum -lots of good videos and how to get your paint back to show room shine.

Cat :x

 

LOL that's hilarious. All my high school friends moved down to Florida. Now I know what I'm missing.

 

wow that's a really good job. yeah imma go on autopia and check some people out. what do you think of like a local detail shop like a place called Simoniz. they are a detail shop in my area. I talked to the guy and he said it would come out but it takes a couple times.

 

Thanks...its amazing what a dual action polisher, M105, M205 polish and some med. cut / jeweling pads can do. Make sure they seal the polish in with an lsp. That will help protect the paint up to 6 months.
I've never heard of Simoniz so I can't say anything about them. Best thing I can say is do your homework on Autopia and learn the proper process to remove swirls and then talk to the people at Simoniz and see what process they use.

 

I've taken my car only twice through the drive thru car washes. The first time I thought that maybe, just maybe it wasn't them who scratched it. The second time changed all that when I saw new scratches. Will never go to another one again!

 

Do the "touchless" car washes leave swirls too? I have often thought about using those for a quick wash. They seem safe since nothing really rubs anywhere on the car.

 

No not as bad.

Swirl marks can be inflicted to paintwork by a variety of means:
Poor Washing Techniques - washing using a sponge traps grit between the surface of the sponge and the paint, dragging sharp grit across the paint and scratching it.

Using the Wrong Buffing Towels' - using the cheapest cotton stockinette will inflict swirls to the paint as the material is hard and unforgiving, itself inflicting scratches without even the need for grit particles. Using microfiber towels helps. Microfiber lifts the dirt off the paint and away from the surface of your vehicle.

If you want a quick clean wash a touchless is the best...but not perfect.
Now if your car is really dirty...High pressure washing can sometimes embed contaminants such as brake dust, industrial fallout...etc further into the paint. This gives the paint that rough feel. A clay bar detail should probably be done at least once a year to decontaminant the paint. Especially before any waxing/polishing is done.

Sorry for the book.

 

This may just be me, but I never dry my car after a drive-thru wash. The car is not totally clean and wiping will leave swirl marks.

 

SHEET! You are a detailing guru! Wish you lived in socal. I've checked some of those detailing places on line, and yeah their prices are around 150-200 bucks. But at least they drive to your house. haha.

 

But remember water if it comes from a hose or the sky has minerals in it. Not removing the water causes water spots from these minerals which can build up on your paint/clear and leave stains that are a mess to remove down the road. Not drying is a safe way not to inflict scratches/swirls but other negatives can ensue.
That's why if you do dry do it lightly blotch drying or pat drying with a microfiber towel or some detailers now use touchless blowers to blow dry cars.
Here is one for example
The Metro MasterBlaster is Metro's most powerful blower/dryer at 8hp! Blow dry your motorcycle & your vehicle with this big blower.

Swirls/scratches are going to happen it sucks... The key is to learn to properly wash/dry to minimize these unsightly blemishes as much as possible.