You may rest confident that I receive a lot of correspondence as an online auto care expert with about six devoted readers. My inbox constantly overflows with junk mail. Not my inbox, but rather the mailbox outside my house, which is currently overflowing with opened, rotting cans of Spam.
If you’re the one doing it, please quit.
Anyway, while I’m not using Chlorox to clean out my mailbox, I’m writing pieces about car maintenance for folks who share my passion. Many people ask me how to wax and shine their cars. You’d think they’d seen “The Karate Kid” when Daniel-san demonstrated the wax-on/wax-off technique used by Mr. Miagi. People who don’t want to put in the effort to watch a movie write to ask me when is the best time to polish their vehicles.
Dwayne Hebert from Waldo, Florida, writes, in fact:
Yo Mac
When is the best time to wax or polish my car, and why? Okay, man, you’re fantastic.
Waldo, Florida’s Dwayne Hebert
My editing included capitalization, grammar, and a change to the spelling of “Waldo.”
Yes, Dwayne, I know exactly when you should wax and polish your car.
The SWIRLS Phenomenon: An Ever-Returning Curse
Do you ever ponder the origin of the tiny swirl marks peppering your car’s paint? Even though you take great care of your vehicle and have never used an automatic car wash, swirl marks have begun to form on the hood, trunk, roof, and sides.
Why are there whirlpools there?
Sure, why not?
As the brushes of an automatic car wash work their magic, they collect dirt and other hard particles that, like a gang of filthy little rascals, swirl your paint. That’s why, despite how shiny and spotless your automobile may appear, it has more swirls than a Dairy Queen on the weekend.
When washing a car by hand, most people employ a circular, or “swirling,” motion with their wash cloth, mitt, or even a soft car brush. With that washcloth or mitt, you are using the dirt, grime, dried bug bits, and bird dung as abrasives to swirl the paint. The situation is identical when you dry the vehicle.
How revolting.
Professional detailers utilize a second rinse bucket and a back-and-forth washing and drying motion to minimize the risk of swirl marks. They rinse off the soap with water from a separate pail and then use the mitts again. This prevents dirt from getting into the soap and protects the water from clouding up. Detail-oriented people are tricky.
But assume you have swirls in your paint and want them gone quicker than a cheating spouse. Which goods do you recommend? Here are some easy pointers:
Always read the wax’s label before using it.
Solvent-based treatments, such as many waxes, include a little abrasive that will assist in removing bugs and tar from your paint. They do this by using mineral spirits to soften the color slightly. (You’ll understand if you’ve ever used baby oil to get paint or grease off your skin.) Some of these waxes may have sufficient polishing power to eliminate minor swirling, and the wax will fill in any remaining imperfections.
Don’t forget that the wax is only temporarily hiding those residual swirls. Like a lousy ex, they’ll return as soon as your wax wears off. The best technique to prevent scratches from reappearing is to periodically refresh your wax job with a spray wax containing carnauba. (Why do I go for sprays made with carnauba? Because carnauba wax is a more durable and thicker wax covering, it can be applied over an already-established wax layer.
Make use of a nonabrasive polish.
There are a plethora of quality polishes available on the Internet if you’d want to knock down those deep swirls before waxing. Surprisingly, I have not found a good polishing product at big-box retailers or automotive mega-chains. I’ve seen that polishes are either excessively abrasive, too pricey, or can only be applied by a professional using a buffing machine.
Find a polish that is abrasive enough to get rid of the swirls but not too heavy for a Weekend Warrior like yourself by doing some study. Most wheels can be removed by hand with some effort and perseverance. Do not assume that a single treatment will eliminate the swirls. Put forth the effort to apply a second or third coat of polish if you want your car to shine as brightly as the day it left the factory. If you do this, you and your car will be happier than Brad and Angelina at the fertility clinic.
How to hone
Although the manufacturer’s instructions for applying and removing polish are straightforward, here’s the gist:
Please give the bottle of polish a good shake. Don’t leave your automobile out in the open sun; find a garage or shady spot. Put some polish on a clean, folded cotton cloth or polishing pad (about the size of a quarter). Use a back-and-forth motion to apply to an area 2 feet by 2 feet. If at all possible, avoid going in circles. (The explanation for this is elementary; scratches in opposite directions only reflect light in half the directions. Only from certain angles will any scratches you make while polishing be visible.
Once the polish has dried (or almost dried), buff it with a soft terry cloth or microfiber towel for about a minute. Make more sweeping, back-and-forth gestures. When applying, don’t be hesitant to buff at a 90-degree angle.
Always vigorously snap the towel in the air (away from the car) after each buffing operation to release the built-up, dried shine. Swirl marks can form when the polish dries on a towel.
If you want the most outstanding results, you should do this technique twice in the exact location. Use a small amount of overlap into the buffed area(s).
It should take about 1.5-2 hours to buff a midsize car, such as a Camry or Malibu. Because of this, I suggest you file on day one and wax on day two. If you invest in a high-quality polish, however, you may wax as you go, thanks to the formula’s inclusion of wax or synthetic polymers. Until you have the time to wax your car correctly, this will do nicely to keep it protected from the elements.
You’ll be delighted with the results once you’ve polished your automobile and applied a layer of warm, moist carnauba wax. You can expect compliments and admiring glances directed toward your car.
Take pride in your vehicle and yourself.
Author: Keith MacDonald/Mac’s Wax Year: 2009
Keith MacDonald owns Mac’s Wax Car Care in Vero Beach, Florida. He has written two books about automobiles that have been released to the public.
He suggests his purple Laser Buff vehicle polish for minor scratches and swirls. To eliminate moderate to heavy surface flaws, use an aggressive polish like Laser Buff, which starts functioning like a compound. Buffing reduces the unique abrasive system to ever-tinier particles until the final product is a mirror-like finish. With this transformation, a professional user may do compounding, polishing, and protecting all at once.
Laser Buff and other high-quality waxes are available at.
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