My black Prius has tons of swirl marks! HELP!!!

I have a similar situation. I also have a black Prius and it has these hairline scratch marks on the doors. I am thinking of getting it waxed in a few months when spring arrives, hopefully they will dissapear.

 

I have the seaside pearl color so I'm also keeping an eye out for swirls and micro-scratching. I don't trust those hand wash places to take proper care of my car's paint - swirl marks are caused by bad or dirty tools, poor technique or a combination of the two.

The good news is that you can get them out and a good place to start would be HERE. It is a large thread with multiple posts by the author so just scroll to the part that you need (Swirls) or read the whole thing.

I hope you get your baby shiny again soon

 

Just start with a high-quality wax and see how she looks. This is why I bought my Prius in silver, but my last two cars were black and they both looked fantastic after a couple hours of work.

 

Any time you touch the car you scratch it. If you are not aggressive they are shallow enough you can't see them. Public car washes sometimes don't take enough precautions - the cloths they use can pick up particles and even if they are gentle, will scratch the paint.

The solution is multi stepped:
1. Never wipe in circles. Any scratch you leave can be seen at any angle (and will be called "swirl marks"). Wipe horizontal surfaces fore/aft, and vertical surfaces up/down.
2. Use the "correct" media - I prefer a mit for washing, and I rinse it often (every time I go for more wash liquid). I use a hose to blast the dirt out of it. For drying use pure cotton towels (I prefer smaller hand towels as larger "bath" size can touch the ground and pick up particles), or use a "drying towel", the ones made of microfibers. You have to wring them out often, but they work well. Never press hard, just enough to touch the surface. When you are done, put both the mit and the towel in the laundry.
3. A good coat of wax will make it more difficult to scratch the paint. I recommend Zaino (not actually wax - it's a polymer). They have a product that will hide swirl marks you already have - it fills the tiny groves with polymer hiding them. Check them out at Zaino.com. You have to follow the correct procedure to apply this stuff, and it can take a day or two to finish, but it's worth it!

 

unfortunately that is the one big downside to black, you can see EVERYTHING!

 

Unless you plan on taking your car to a detailer, try reading

How to remove swirls by hand.

I live in SoCal and the Prius Club SD and Orange County Prius Club spent a Saturday at the Meguiar's Garage Class learning how to remove swirls by hand, correctly wash the car and other maintenance. I bought some products at discount and have been detailing my car myself.

Just because they're hand washing doesn't mean a thing. You have no idea where that rag has been or what it's made of. Use a dirty old towel to wash a car by hand and you'll get swirls.

(And never let the local High School kids wash your car. Just give them the money and drive away.)

If you don't like Meguiar's, use a comperable product. But the techniques are the same.

Here's the 5 step paint care cycle.

I own a dual action polisher and I use Meguiar's. I'm happy with it. But use what you like. The five step paint cycle is the same no matter what products you use.

 

I worked at a detail shop for a while. Yes, black does show everything. On an exterior detail we would start by running the car through the wash to get the dirt off, then we would clay bar it to remove deep down dirt that regular washing can't remove (not recommended for beginners, a claybar can scratch the paint severely if used improperly). After that we used a high-speed electric buffer/polisher with compound, then polish (also not recommended for beginners because you can burn the paint). On black or some other dark colors when swirls are easily visible we would go over once more with a "swirl remover" that was similar in viscosity to polish. I don't know exactly how it works but it gets the job done. After that, a nice coat of wax and it's good to go. Yes, the scratches could easily be caused by the car washes you go to, even if it is hand washed. The kids at the place I worked at would even use the big brush that looks similar to a push broom on hand washes and one time we had a Corvette come back because the customer had "special lighting" in his garage and the car was covered in micro scratches from the brushes (looked like spider webs all over the car), so he got a free detail. Try reading through some of the information on the "Exterior Detailing" link in this thread to get in the right direction for reducing scratches and swirling in the future:
http://priuschat.com/Detailing-Your-Vehicle-t24455.html
Practice with some of the products mentioned in that link until you feel comfortable washing your car while causing minimal scratching and swirling and remember to keep everything as clean as possible. If you drop a towel on the ground, go get another one and make sure to wash them later. Once you get a technique down then try taking your car to a reputable quality detailer or body shop for an exterior detail. If you can't get any referrals or testimonials from any shops then ask if you can have a "tour" of the shop or have a look around and see how clean the shop is. The better they maintain their shop and tools, chances are the better they'll take care of your car. Look for things like towels all over the ground (bad), tools products and bottles organized, clean floors, etc. Good luck, we want to see some pictures of a shiny black Prius soon!

 

I have been very pleased with the results of using Zaino products on my black Prius.


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After the initial wash and polish application, I have just washed the car when time and weather permit. The plan is to do another polish application in the spring. Just plan for needing several hours when using the first time.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(StarBrite310 @ Dec 25 2006, 03:47 AM) [snapback]366464[/snapback]</div>

You dust the outside of your car?

 

I think about the best advice posted here is this:

There are only a couple things I'd change. I no longer use terry cloth towels. Microfiber towels are MUCH softer, they have much more ability to entrap dirt particles to keep them from marring the paint. I'd delete pure cotton towels and suggest ONLY microfiber ever touches the car.

Also, no product that hides swirls is going to do it for long, and they'll keep coming back. I suggest you either get comfortable with the use of at least a random orbital polisher to REMOVE the swirls yourself, or pay a competent, referenced professional to do it for you.

They will come back though if you don't change your washing practice. First step is to stop using that car wash. Either wash it properly yourself or pay a professional to.

Good luck!

 

I would echo the votes for Zaino - its absolutely stunning on a black car. However, if you have more than the usual (and unavoidable) swirl marks which really show up on black, you need to take care of them first. Zaino makes a swirl remover, which I haven't tried but have heard good things about, that might make sense. Its specially formulated to prevent paint burning or other damage which is possible with any abrasive cleaner.

Also, you may want to try a random orbital buffer. It won't remove deep swirls, but it won't cause real damage like a rotary can either.

I'd suggest that your touchless place is not as touchless as you think. All it takes is a bit of dust in the drying towels they use and your paint will be branded.

 

The key to maintain nay paint is to wash regularly, use a good cleaner on the finish and then a high quality wax monthly if possible. I try to wax mine monthly, sometimes it goes every other month.

 

Zaino is not going to fix the issue of the swirls. Once thats taken care of, then whatever paint protection you like can be applied (I dont like Zaino on dark cars but thats me).

The Z-PC swirl remover does get good reviews, but you'll need a random orbit polisher to take advantage of it. I also disagree that you can't get deep swirls out with a random orbital polisher. You can, it just takes some time, patience, and skill.

 

Also, make sure you're using a good car soap that can 'float' the particles off the finish and better keep them in suspension, causing fewer swirls.

I think the reality of most gloss finishes is that, if you angle the light just so, you're going to see flaws...whether it's smoked plastic or the black paint on your car.

 

After 30 months of using only Mr. Clean Autodry, and laundering the cotton wash mitt after each use, my silver has no swirls. Yes, light colors hide swirls better, but even inspecting the finish at low angles in Sunlight reveals nothing but smooth. I must conclude that air drying is the best possible method.

 

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the two-bucket washing method yet. Using a rinse bucket to rinse the dirt off your cloth before you get it soapy again will keep all that dirt from being scratched around on your car's paint.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Dec 29 2006, 12:26 PM) [snapback]368242[/snapback]</div>

A grit guard in the rinse bucket helps too.

I put a grit guard in both.