Help needed ! blurred patches appeared on my car body.

[trogen]

Hi,

I have this problem with my car paint work. It usually become visible about 1 or 2 day after a carwash. Blurred patches started to form up and become visible on the car body, usually on the top surfaces (like the bonnet and roof.). It appeared like condenstation on the mirror surface.However, the patches apparently are soothe build-up (from the air). The patches are not uniform on the surface , more like random patches which can be easily visible.

Till recently, I have been waxing my car very often, almost once every week or 2 weeks. I'm wondering is this the result of my car body suffereing from an overdose of waxing ? :verysad:

I would like to resolve this problem . Can anyone offer me good advice ?

By the way, my car body colour is black, 4 mths old and the paintwork is 100% original.

 

[louis]

trogen,

i assume u give ur car a thorough wash before waxing? if so, sounds like the wax. either its not suitable, contaminated or u're not following the instructions closely enough.

it should be able to come off with a thorough polish. check out this thread: http://bmw-sg.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3084

u can drop by and let us do a free assessment of ur problem if u want. polish, then apply wax and sealant and ur car should be as good as new again.

louis

 

[trogen]

hi Louis,

I tot you are a medic student. Is this your family business or are u partnering with someone in a new venture ?

 

[louis]

trogen,

coz Mae never give enough discount mah, so need to moonlight to pay for the Z...

seriously, i'm a med student, but i've my greedy fingers dipped into other honey pots as well because its always good to have a plan b, and even better to have a plan c.

my family is in oil and gas engineering; this car grooming business doesn't involve family. although i'm new to the set-up, they've been around for a good many years so don't imagine it to be some fly-by-night-charity-carwash kind of thing. we'll take good care of your car.

louis

 

[russo]

patches are caused by insufficient curing time. Either when the weather is too hot or when it is raining. It is more obvious on dark colored cars. I do get a little of those patches.

Go get yourself a quick detailer like Meguires or mothers or Zymol, mist it over the area and wipe down with a terry cloth. You won't see the patch again.

 

[totoseow]

hey russo why never askhim to go to ur shop ..Bronze carmen? its the best mah! ok i will go c u once my current package finishes..

 

[Puny]

Could be due to inadequate buffing off too?

You can see the wax application patterns, and it's usually noted that certain areas where the application is thicker/not buffed off well enough will have these marks - which become quickly apparent in certain weather.

Quite certain too that some waxes tend to have this problem more than others. So far, it's more apparent for a hard-paste wax that I've tried, whereas some others do not have the same problem at all.

2 cents.
Alvin.

 

[trogen]

Could be due to inadequate buffing off too?

You can see the wax application patterns, and it's usually noted that certain areas where the application is thicker/not buffed off well enough will have these marks - which become quickly apparent in certain weather.

Quite certain too that some waxes tend to have this problem more than others. So far, it's more apparent for a hard-paste wax that I've tried, whereas some others do not have the same problem at all.

2 cents.
Alvin.

Definitely not due to inadequate buffing. The blurred-out only start to appear about 2 days after the wash and wax. I used hard paste by the way.

 

[trogen]

patches are caused by insufficient curing time. Either when the weather is too hot or when it is raining. It is more obvious on dark colored cars. I do get a little of those patches.

Go get yourself a quick detailer like Meguires or mothers or Zymol, mist it over the area and wipe down with a terry cloth. You won't see the patch again.

Detailer can meh ? I though detailer conceal the underlying layer whithout first removing it. A polishing process seems more appropriate to me. correct if I'm wrong.

 

[Winston]

like to hijack this threat for a quick question, will machine waxing casue swirl marks on a dark colored body.... tks...

 

[littleblackalfa]

i don't like waxing... it's expensive to maintain, and doesn't look as good as the original paint job. After a while, things look cloudy unless you go back for another wax. I'd propose using a good paint sealant on your original paint job, and thereafter, simply use LOTS of water to rinse and wash everytime you clean the car. avoid most soaps too, since the soaps you get (like Black Magic) are wax based. Because of the waxing layers, you get lots of swirl marks after using a cloth with not enough water. I drive a black car, and I know what a pain it is to maintain.

I like ToughSeal. no wax. (I don't work for them... :laughlik: )

If u go to Toughseal, he'll just coat your paint after removing the wax on the car. Afterwhich, all u need to do, it wash it, and one a month, bring it back to him to do a proper wash. He'll give you something called "Dry-Guard" which is used to clean up your car and restore the shine...

It's cheaper in the long run...

 

[littleblackalfa]

Also, my dad has NEVER sent his cars for waxing or polishing. it's always been simply wiped down regularly with water, and cloth. After 6 to 7 years, when he sells it, it still shines...

 

[louis]

Winston,

do u mean machine polishing or waxing?

anyway, a rotary machine, when properly maintained, cleaned and applied, will not cause swirl marks.

swirl marks are caused by dirt and other particulates caught inside the cloth/sponge/rotary machine etc, so they will occur, whether its hand polish or machine polish, if the contacting surface is dirty.

that said, a dirty rotary macine will cause more swirl marks than a dirty cloth used for hand polishing due to the sheer number of rotations produced.

i have never heard of machine waxing though. :thinking: Puny, have you?

 

[Winston]

ok thanks for the info, i meant using a machine polish, but those guys at teh workshop, don't they do machine wax? pardon if i'm ignorant.

 

[Puny]

Louis

Not sure if I interpreted your question correctly, but do you mean to say that it's uncommon for the rotary grinders to be used for polishing and not waxing (traditionally done by hand)?

I thought that rotaries/portal cables can be used for all 3 polishing/waxing/buffing. keke. Although some would rather use hand application of wax because it's actually easier and with less cleanup required. Correct me if I'm wrong!

- If I can recall my last attempt, machine application of any cream/paste is very messy. It splatters all over the windscreen etc. Waxing is usually the final layer to be applied. Using a rotary can be a bit "overkill" in this sense as you have to clean up again. Also, even distribution of wax is much better by hand.

Winston
I think Louis has already highlighted the main issue with regards to machine polishers and that's possibly one of the worser scenerios (the dirt bits causing swirls).

Or the pad or polishing compound used is too strong, the surface will be hazy/marred and it'd be necessary to finish off with a milder polish.

Also, there's the possibility of burning the paint/clearcoat by using incorrect speeds (fast!) and not moving the rotary constantly on the paint surface - but most paint/polishing houses would already be very seasoned in using rotaries compared to the hobbyist detailer.

However, these are *exceptions*. In most cases, the results are usually quite satisfactory. Used properly, polishing via machine can accomplish results that otherwise would not be possible by hand (such as removing bad swirls, scratches).

It's just unfortunate that darker cars expose the swirls much easier.

 

[Puny]

Detailer can meh ? I though detailer conceal the underlying layer whithout first removing it. A polishing process seems more appropriate to me. correct if I'm wrong.

Trogen, quick detailers usually contain mild solvents to remove dirt, etc. In some cases, these solvents may rid of excess wax (that is picking up soot?) which may correct the problem - assuming that the marring is due to insufficient curing time that russo has highlighted.

 

[louis]

Puny, Winston,

sorry, it was me who was blur. i was once told that waxing should be done by hand so i assumed it was the same for every other company. but after checking out other forums, i realised that some do use it for waxing and buffing as well. my mistake.

 

[Winston]

louis, no prob. Have a good weekend!

 

[bfd]

Re: Help needed ! blurred patches appeared on my car body.

Any good Sealant/Waxing shop to reccommend esp for black car int he east area? Thks in advance.