impossible or not?

[marypoppins]

Have spent a little bit on time reading various forums inncluding this one with reference to cleaning and drying your cars. It would appear that everybody has their favourite proven methods, certainly when it comes to drying.

I washed my newly aquired gleaming zed for the first time this weekend having followed what seems to be a common format ;;; two bucket system etc.
The car is BLACK! an immaculate 06 model, however try as i might i still ended up with a small number of surface scratches when i had finished and i am getting increasingly frustrated about it .

Am i asking the impossible?? to be able to clean my pride and joy without marking it or not, or am i going a little overboard?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

[pvr]

The issue is most likely with the drying part. I no longer dry the car but use the DI vessel which filters the water so no pollution when it has dried up.

I also see then the bits I did not clean properly, but if I had dried with a towel, that would have scratched.

[Nosa]

It could be that the scratches were there already, Buying a proper drying towel will help, and give the car a good going over with a swirl remover or light compound polish should show an improvement.
My car was covered in swirl marks when I got it and being a tight fisted scot I refused to pay to have them taken out, but over a period of time using good quality polishes I have managed to eliminate at least 90% of them.

[Nova2k7]

Firstly what are you washing with? a wash mitt? a sponge?? you want to be washing with something microfiber and ensure that you clean a panel at a time, in terms of drying you want to using a drying towel! designed for the job!

and yes btw it is impossible, scratches are always going to happen whenever something touches the paint, all you can do is try minimize it! and polish to remove them!

[Adamski]

Cleaning is as important as the rinse and dry. Two buckets (or more), wash mit, and correct pre-wash are all vital.

[marypoppins]

It could be that the scratches were there already, Buying a proper drying towel will help, and give the car a good going over with a swirl remover or light compound polish should show an improvement.
My car was covered in swirl marks when I got it and being a tight fisted scot I refused to pay to have them taken out, but over a period of time using good quality polishes I have managed to eliminate at least 90% of them.

Thats the problem, no swirls on this car and its highly polished so i can soon see very easily any additions that i have created. I patted the car dry with a towel to remove excess water gently wiping with a drier towel

[marypoppins]

Firstly what are you washing with? a wash mitt? a sponge?? you want to be washing with something microfiber and ensure that you clean a panel at a time, in terms of drying you want to using a drying towel! designed for the job!

and yes btw it is impossible, scratches are always going to happen whenever something touches the paint, all you can do is try minimize it! and polish to remove them!

I had two wash mitts one for the lower and a megs one for the upper. I used megs gold shampoo however i dont think i diluted it correctly i.e i did not use enough. I rinsed, rinsed again patted dry with a towel and then used another towel to lightly wipe of any excess, hence my frustration.

[pvr]

I trust you hosed the car off first before the two bucket method?

[marypoppins]

Cleaning is as important as the rinse and dry. Two buckets (or more), wash mit, and correct pre-wash are all vital.

Thanks what pre- wash do you recommend?

[marypoppins]

I trust you hosed the car off first before the two bucket method?

I did, until i created at water shortage

[Maniac]

My car is going for a Pro detail and expect the paintwork to be very good when I get it back. No doubt I'll scratch it too, but I've invested in a foam lance which works very well to take off all the larger stuff leaving just traffic film, which using a two bucket method should be a reasonable approach to mitigate more damage, but you'll never have perfect paintwork, certainly not on a black car, its always going to require the utmost care and further work.

[pvr]

I trust you hosed the car off first before the two bucket method?

I did, until i created at water shortage

Could you close the tap please, we are drowning

[Kryton]

I solved the problem of getting scratches (that I could see from 6' away) on my DSB E89 after owning it for 14 months.................................................I sold it and bought a silver car

[andysat]

I solved the problem of getting scratches (that I could see from 6' away) on my DSB E89 after owning it for 14 months.................................................I sold it and bought a silver car

-There must be cheaper ways!

[Blue]

My money is on the car having had a filler polish before you bought it, this very quickly wears off and you start to see marks.

I'm a swirl OCD nutter, I hate them and have a decent eye for them, I helped my friend buy a black Astra and commented to the salesman tfat it was really glossy for a four year old car, after three weeks and one wash all the gloss was gone and the car was swirl city, it was only after some weathering and a wash that the fillers disappeared and I had to machine polish the whole thing