How to get rid of small scratches all over car?

[monkeydust]

Ok, so I had a little accident yesterday. I washed my car and then used a couple of microfibre towels to dry it. Well, after I was done (it was dusk so I couldn't see that clearly), I noticed some white swirls on my windshield. I look at my towels and I notice one of them has a Bounce drier sheet stuck to it. Yeah, I dried my car with a scratchy fragrant fabric softener stuck to my towel.

So, looking at my car in the light, I see all these tiny scratches all over it. This is only a couple of months after I had the majority of my car painted.

What's my best bet to get these micro-scratches out of my car?

I guess on the bright side, my car smells good! B)

Edited March 12, 2008 by monkeydust

[White987S]

Dude, no static cling either! :)

I am going to bet you had these small scratches prior to your sofener sheet episode.

My Advice:

1) Don't buy another black car ever again

2) Try Zaino Z5. May need 2-3 coats

3) You may need to get more aggressive, with the likes of an orbital buffer, and that whole regiment

[whs]

If you are basically talking about "swirl" marks, I would say a normal buffing process would take them out. Wash, clay, buff. There are many threads here as to preferred processes both hand and machine. Good luck...at least your wife didn't wash you key in your pant pocket!! Mine did.

[monkeydust]

Yeah, my socks no longer get stuck to my car! :o

Well, the reason that I don't think the scratches were really there is because like I said, it was repainted back in January.

So, I wasn't sure if just a normal turtle wax would get rid of the scratches or if I need to buy an orbital buffer. I live in a condo so I really don't have a convenient power source to plug one into.

[2Fast996]

I love black cars ......... I hate black cars ......... I love black cars ........... **** black car!!! AAAHHHHH!

The antistatic effect will make your car faster and less vulnerable to radar :thumbup:

Other ways may work however, my experience has been to clay the car then wax and polish using a Porter Cable buffer.

Zaino and Poor Boys have worked great for me. This may be overkill but will usually give you the best outcome.

You may want to check with whoever painted the car to see what they would charge.

[Orient Express]

The Zanio stuff is just fine, and another swirl remover that I found easier top use and gave better results was the Meguires Swirl remover. It works best with an orbital buffer, but you can get good results by hand as well.

After you do the swirl remover, give the car a good coat of Rejex, that will help you keep the paint surface looking good longer.

However with that said, over time you will end up with the same surface microscratches from just the natural ablation of driving through the dust and grime that is in the air.

[MY996TT]

Check out this website...

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/

I used the swirl remover product (applied three times like the instruction) with a Porter Cable buffer. Most swirl marks were gone except for those deeper one. I have a dark red car and the production is especially for darker cars. This product doesn't remove clearcoat but to fill it. It came out really good.

Remember to wax it after, or the swirl marks will show up again after a few months. There are instructions on the website too.

[summoboy]

Check out this website...

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/

I used the swirl remover product (applied three times like the instruction) with a Porter Cable buffer. Most swirl marks were gone except for those deeper one. I have a dark red car and the production is especially for darker cars. This product doesn't remove clearcoat but to fill it. It came out really good.

Remember to wax it after, or the swirl marks will show up again after a few months. There are instructions on the website too.

Like MY996TT writes, get a porter cable or equiv. polisher. And check out that website. I have tried all sorts of products on my black 997C2S - the only brand to fill or remove clear coat scratches pretty quickly is Griots machine polish 3. I've tried zaino, p21s, sonus, mothers. meguires (sp) and others. Nothing worked as well as griots. And you must wax after the polish or use a detail spray..

[monkeydust]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! :)

[Long Islander]

The Zanio stuff is just fine, and another swirl remover that I found easier top use and gave better results was the Meguires Swirl remover. It works best with an orbital buffer, but you can get good results by hand as well.

After you do the swirl remover, give the car a good coat of Rejex, that will help you keep the paint surface looking good longer.

I hope I'm not too late to this thread, but aren't all these "swirl removal" products merely silicone-based fillers that don't remove the scratches and swirls, but just fill them in so that you don't notice them? The significance of that is that the silicone eventually washes away, and your scratches and swirls come back. In addition, I spoke to the manufacturer of Rejex, and they said that any silicone-based polishes limit the ability of Rejex to stick to your car, so your protection is not as long lasting. They recommended either Menzerna Final Polish II or 3M Imperial Glaze to polish and remove light scratches. I've been using Menzerna for some time now, and I like the results. It has a mild abrasive that's just enough to get out minor surface scratches in the clearcoat without any silicones.

[KevinMac]

I have had some success with a clay bar, then a good coat of wax.

[Orient Express]

You can never really remove the micro-scratches from any finish, plus every time the car is driven, the paint picks up more ablation from road dust and debris in the air.

The best that you can do is smooth out the really big scratches with polish etc. and fill the small ones with using a swirl remover product.

Yes, all fillers will eventually wear off, and a new application will be required, as will top coat materials such as waxes or polymers such as Rejex.

I view it as just a characteristic of the process. With any car, especially if it is driven daily will need to have its surface coating redone periodically. The more the car is driven, the faster it will need to be recoated.

The idea of glazes or fillers is that the surface is smoother, so that light is reflected off the surface evenly which will give the illusion of "depth".

Unfortunately there is no "magic bullet" that will allow you to wax your car and never do it again.