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Hi, new user here. PLEASE HELP!

Cutting to the chase, I put swirl marks in my dark metallic green camry. They are not the usual "swirl" marks that look kinda like spiderwebs, but they kind of have a octagonal look to them.

I have read a wealth of knowlege from you guys here and I wanna thank you. I have always thought of myself as a "car guy" and taken decent care of my cars over the years. However, after reading posts from this site, I decided to make my monthly wax jobs a bit easier and went and purchased a PC 7424. I bought the velcro backing plate and a Finishing pad (no cut, according to the detailing shop). I washed the car first using all microfiber, then I applied Mother's carnauba wax. (not the cleaner wax, the finishing wax) I applied like PB illustrated in his posts. I applied to the pad, rubbed it in, and used the PC @ about #3 speed. Buffed off with clean microfiber towel.

What the heck did I do wrong? Do you guys think something got on the pad that was on the paint to make the scratches? Now I'm scared to use the PC on my 4runner which is my baby!

Thanks in advance guys




Hard to say for sure. If you washed the car thoroughly you should have been fine, but you may have gotten something on the pad. You don't mention anything about claying, so you may have had some contamination on the paint that the pad picked up and held onto.

Are the swirls more like individual swirls, like you had a piece(s) of grit on the pad, or are they bunches of swirls that look more like the whole pad was scratching?

Did you prep the pad with a pad conditioner or quick detailer? If you just just put the wax on a dry pad and waxed with that, you may have gotten some dry pad abrasion. You should always lube the pad with pad conditioner or qd.

Also, you didn't mention anything about polishing before you waxed, so are you sure these swirls weren't there before you started waxing? I know, stupid question, but sometimes when people start getting more seriously into detailing, they start noticing paint flaws that they never noticed before.
Hard to say for sure. If you washed the car thoroughly you should have been fine, but you may have gotten something on the pad. You don't mention anything about claying, so you may have had some contamination on the paint that the pad picked up and held onto.

Are the swirls more like individual swirls, like you had a piece(s) of grit on the pad, or are they bunches of swirls that look more like the whole pad was scratching?

Did you prep the pad with a pad conditioner or quick detailer? If you just just put the wax on a dry pad and waxed with that, you may have gotten some dry pad abrasion. You should always lube the pad with pad conditioner or qd.

Also, you didn't mention anything about polishing before you waxed, so are you sure these swirls weren't there before you started waxing? I know, stupid question, but sometimes when people start getting more seriously into detailing, they start noticing paint flaws that they never noticed before.




Thanks for your response. Didn't use any lube on the pad before I applied the wax on the pad. I didnt' clay the car because i did it 6months prior. The car has been regularly detailed by me. The only thing i'm changing now is the method of application (PC 7424). I clay once a year, wax about every 4 weeks. There shouldn't have been anything on the car that the pad would pick up. But like I said, i didn't lube.

It's really hard to explain the abrasion marks. They look like regular spider web swirl marks, but they have straigt lines in them instead of the normal circular / oval marks.

Oh well, I guess I'll try to lube the pad next time.
I'll also suggest some contamination got on the pad, and you may have been using a little too much pressure.

Detail the trim, clay, and try polishing with an orange light cutting or yellow cutting pad by Lake Country or equivalent, and something like PowerPolish to polish themout. Some experimentation may be required.

Generally you'll want to use a polish once in a while, followed by the wax, so you're probably due a polishing.