How do I get rid of those fine scratches in my clearcoat from washing it?

 

Check in the car care section and search a few threads. Lots of good info there. It's a lot of work to remove them.

 

The best thign to do is not to dry it with a regular towel. Dry it with a micro fiber towel. And to get rid of them just wax it by hand.

 

I tried some of Meguier's "Ultimate Compound" on my wife's '06 GT vert...that stuff works GREAT!

 

I just did a little scratch and swirl remover on my wife's black Miata. I had some Kit Color Back and some Turtle Wax Scratch Out. (I think those are the names.)

Both of them did a good job on removing light surface scratches. If you check at WalMart they have a lot of Meguiar's products designed specifically for scratch and swirl removal. Meguair's makes a #2 Polish that might give you some improvement on the look, however, it's not designed for deep scratches.

Good luck. Be sure to post anything you find successful so the rest of us can be aware of a good product.

 

Clay bar, u can find it at napa or wherever, and if that doest work take it to a body shop and they will have a compound that works awesome. The people even did it for free on mine!

 

I don't think a claybar is going to do anything to clearcoat swirls. It's designed for picking up imperfections or pollution on the paint surface.

 

Meguiar's sells a whole kit at Walmart. You can buy a walmart buffer as well. Meguiar's also sells a kit at auto shows (WOW) that has all the steps, materials, and a Porter Cable dual action polisher. Videos on their site help as well.

1) Wash
2) Clay Bar
3) Rinse
4) Fine cut cleaner
5) Glaze
6) Yellow Wax

It took me 14 hours. Car looks perfect and lasts a whole season with fewer washes and the occassional quick detail.

 

Moving to 'Car Care' section, but will leave a link for today . . .

 

Welcome to the world of enthusiast level detailing.

The answer is polishing. Polishing is the action of using fine abrasives to remove trace amounts of clear-coat which results in a completely level or near-level surface. No scratches or swirls (swirls are shallow circular scratches) means light properly passes through the clear-coat, and reflects off the base-coat (the actual color coat). When scratches and swirls are present, incoming light is refracted around leaving the finish looking less intense and transparent. This often gives a more dull and grey appearance, but the good news is that it's often something you can fix.

Proper polishing could mean removing somewhere between 2-5 microns depending on how deep your scratches are, and there's no way to truly know what's needed without trying different polishes+pads. Some people are willing to learn how to do this themselves and don't mind spending the money in supplies and taking the time to polish their own vehicle. Others prefer to leave it to a quality professional that is much more experienced and knowledgeable, but be warned not all pro's are the same. Some are so bad that you're better off doing it yourself, others will amaze you in their ability to transform a car to better-than-new condition.

You'll have a lot of research to do, but you're heading in the right direction. Good luck!

 

We use 3M Ultrafina 3000 liquid when buffing, and then a swirl mark remover if needed, if you use the right pad and touch no swril mark remover is needed.
If you are not confident enough to use a high speed buffer, suggest a Porter Cable orbital or one of the other makes out there and the right combination of compound and pad.