How To Safely Avoid Swirl Marks

How To Safely Avoid Swirl Marks

Changing your wash technique and using the right products is the easiest way for you to minimise those pesky swirl marks.

 

Picture this, you've just spent hours cleaning your car, the sun is shining, you stand back and admire your car and it looks absolutely fantastic. Good work! But hold on. You take a few steps closer and then all you see is your paintwork covered in fine scratches/swirl marks.
This is all too common - so don't put too much pressure on yourself. We're here to help. All it takes is to know how to wash your car correctly and utilising the correct products, in the right order to significantly reduce those horrid swirls. So read on and check out these simple steps to help you master the reduction of swirls.  

 


CLEAN WHEELS AND TYRES FIRST

 

Why does it matter where I start? Well, let us explain. Your wheels and tyres are likely to be the dirtiest part of your car. If you left these until last, you risk the high possibility of flinging the dirt back on to your freshly washed paintwork - nobody wants that. 

It's an easy mistake to make, but by starting with your wheels and giving them a thorough wash first, you're able to stop the spread of these contaminants to freshly washed panels.

Don't be fooled into using 'colour-changing' or iron removal alloy wheel cleaners too frequently. The reality is, that these are strong chemicals to be used on your wheels week-in week-out. Yes they're great for your Instagram pics, but think about your wheels. 

A non-acidic wheel cleaner like our Ocean Blast is ideal to safely remove grime and break dust effectively.



PRE-WASH - ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP
Our best shot at not inflicting swirl marks on our paintwork is doing a thorough pre-wash. The thought behind a good pre-wash is to remove as much dirt and grime from the car before we start a contact wash with our wash mitt.
Apply to all areas, not forgetting those hard to reach areas like door shuts, behind door mirrors, door handles, grilles etc. These tend to be the areas where grime builds up most. We also like to spray the lower areas of the car. Start on the most contaminated areas first, so it gives the most time to allow Zest Citrus Degreaser to work. Agitate with a brush around the smaller areas mentioned above and then blast the product away with the pressure washer before it dries.
You can use Zest Citrus Degreaser on all areas of your car, including glass and paintwork. Spray the dirtiest areas first to give the most dwell time. Rinse away, then move on to using Alaska Bubblegum Snow Foam.
SNOW FOAM FOR EVERY WASH
Alaska Bubblegum Snow Foam is hugely important in any detail. It's a thick, pH neutral foam that loosens and lubricates all type of soiling on your car, making it easy to rinse away without you having to make physical contact with your car.
 Snow foam is an absolute must if you're serious about mastering your wash stage. Spraying it onto your car allows it to get in-between panel gaps to clean away any dirt you may not have known was even there. If left un-noticed, these contaminants could later appear at the worst time - like the polishing/waxing stage.
Use a foam lance bottle and add about 100ml of Alaska Bubblegum Snow Foam into the bottle before adding water to top up the bottle. Spray on from the top of your car down to the bottom. You'll get a nice thick coating of foam that'll look like a blanket of snow. Depending on your weather conditions, you can leave it for around 5 minutes to do its thing. You'll start to notice a change in colour when the foam pics up the dirt and falls off your car. 
Don't let the foam dry out on your paint as it could leave marks that will need to be washed again. Rinse it away fully with your pressure washer. Focus on the panel gaps too and make sure you're rid of all the foam that's sitting in the areas you can see.
DOUBLE UP ON YOUR BUCKETS

 

The safest way to start is using the two bucket method (one bucket for your shampoo and another for rinsing out your wash mitt). Using this method will help avoid creating swirl marks to your paint.

We'll use one bucket for our shampoo mixture. In this instance we're using our Very Berry Gloss Shampoo. Your second bucket is used as a rinse bucket. Simply fill it up with water - nothing more. The idea here is once you load up your wash mitt with shampoo solution and clean away on your car, you then wash off the mitt in the rinse bucket. This will help keep your wash mitt clean and your shampoo mix clean too.

Very Berry Gloss Shampoo is a highly concentrated pH Neutral car shampoo that will gently wash your car. It contains a high grade lubricated formula which incorporates added carnauba wax, which leaves a stunning gloss to your paintwork.

 

DRY OFF SAFELY
Ok, so by now we should have a freshly washed vehicle with the knowledge that it's been done the right way to help stop incurring any damage to our paint.
With the shampoo being rinsed off completely, we still have a wet car.
Letting it dry natural isn't a great idea, as water spots are likely to appear on your paint when it fully dries. 
Bin the chamois. Materials like chamois leather are extremely rigid and not necessarily safe for our paintwork. Get yourself a good drying towel. Our XL Drying Towel is the ideal candidate for the job. Being a massive 60x90cm in size with a thick microfibre pile, you'll be hard pressed to find a better towel for the job
It's all in the technique here to soak up the water safely. Don't just scrunch it up in a ball and drag it on your paint. Fold it neatly until you have a small enough working area to be able to control. The last thing you want is for the towel to be dragging on the floor - to then pick up grit to then drag all over your paint. Once folded, start at one end of a panel and then drag it slowly across the panel in a straight line. Our drying towel can hold up to 10 times its own weight in water, so you'll be finished in no time at all.

  

 

 

 

TOO LATE?

Don't worry. If your car is already covered in swirls, why not take a look at our Vanity Swirl Concealer Polish to help reduce and minimise their appearance?

Vanity is an advanced, swirl concealer polish, containing sophisticated polymers and ultra-fine abrasives to reduce and fill in fine swirls in your paintwork. It’s packed with gloss enhancing agents to create a superior, high gloss to any car. It’s perfect for hand or machine application to reduce the visibility of swirl marks, leaving a glossy, wet-look finish.

 

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