[W5]IntoTheWRX

iTrader: (3)

i admit im pretty new to exterior care. but the car im waxing im pretty sure its never been waxed in its life. right now i just washed the car, soap, washdown, the usual. now the car feels like a dish that just came out of the dishwaser, kinda squeeky clean.
i was wondering what those squirl marks are. im pretty sure the previous owner did that from unproper care. i think its the clear coat or something. i just gave it a 1 layer wax on one section and it helped just a little bit. but is there something i can get rid of those swirl marks?
-ps i got clay bar if thats what i need, and this car is 10months old

Kean

Claybar will not remove scratches/swirls. It is used to remove surface contaminates and is a useful tool in preparing your paint before polishing/waxing.

With wax, you are merely covering the imperfections. ......some products actually do this quite well (i.e. Z-5 polish from Zaino). However, if your goal is to "remove" those ugly swirls/scratches, you will need to use something more aggressive. .....this is where things can get ugly if you don't do it right or if you use the wrong products/tools. I would strongly suggest you read the articles contained on the following website:

www.autopia.org

You will need some insight before you can evaluate your situation and determine a course of action.

btw, you may also want to consider the services of a professional detailer. Nothing compares to the result you can achieve with the proper products and equipment. I broke down a long time ago and purchased a dual-action polisher (Porter Cable). Coupled with the Sonus pads I purchased online, I will never attempt polishing by hand again.

1reguL8NSTi

Bikini waxing really hurts. Stay away from that. Never again.

case1

If its just the clear coat that looks to be damaged than either polish by hand or do what Kean did and buy the buffer yourself.

When you get the car from the factory, the paint job always has "orange peel", which is caused by overspray in the clear coat that is sprayed and it is not cost effective for manufacturers to polish out every car they build, so its left up to the owner if you want your paint to look like a sheet of glass.

The swirls or spiderwebs in your paint are caused by weather damage from not being protected (waxed) from the elements, if your car is black you will be battling this for the life of the car, but just get it polished and waxed and you should be good.

Kean

Orange peel is more a result of solvent ratio, paint flow, air pressure, etc.
...I would have to disagree here. I don't see how swirls and/or spider webs would result from weather. They are generally caused by improper techniques used in washing, polishing, etc. I've owned black cars for the past 20 years. The trick in maintaining a lasting swirl-free shine is all in the technique(s) used.

case1

Well actually, orange peel is natural in any clear coating, you'll never be able to paint a whole car without alot of orange peel, you just need to polish (polish = wet sanding, then polishing) it out when the job is done.

The spider webbing is generally caused when people just wash and don't wax, if you proplerly take care of a new car and its paint from the get go, you will have no problems with the "swirls and spider webbing", which is a round about way of saying it is caused by weathering, so in a way we are in agreement here.