The truth about the origin of scratches and swirls

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The significant industry research presented in this report has been brought to you with the assistance of our sponsors.These industry leaders are a key resource for professional car washes and details.Please refer to and contact these suppliers and manufacturers for all your professional car care equipment, tools and product needs.
Professional Carwashing & Detailing is the premier car wash industry magazine, providing car care professionals, primarily car wash owners and operators, with the information they need to manage and grow a thriving business.
Professional Carwashing & Detailing is the premier car wash industry magazine, providing car care professionals, primarily car wash owners and operators, with the information they need to manage and grow a thriving business.
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Based on my experience as a car wash operator for over 17 years, running three flex-serve automated car washes with detail centers and handwashing carts, I think operators need to understand whirlpools in order to educate customers and know what to look for.This article reveals the truth about where swirls come from and the risks that come with different washing methods.
All cars have tiny scratches and swirls.The vortex starts to form in the manufacturer’s factory, and it gets worse over time from the dealership to the season with every mile driven and parked outside.We call them swirls because they look like circular scratches that become noticeable in sunlight.Actually, they are not swirls, but random scratches of varying size, shape, and orientation that cover all cars; since the light source (the sun) is circular, the random scratches are reflected in a circular pattern.As your eye moves over the paint, the swirls move with the light and are always circular.
The swirls on some cars, like the black ones, become very noticeable, while the silver and pearl paint hides the swirls better.Different brands of paint are also soft and tend to swirl at a faster rate.
Some people blame automatic car washes for the appearance of circular scratches because the brushes rotate in a circular motion.While automatic car washes may be to blame, the cause of scratches comes from between car washes while the car is getting dirty.It is only after the car is cleaned that the swirls become more visible and customers mistakenly blame the car wash.
Automatic car washes do not create swirls.The size and direction of the swirls are random.If automated car washes cause vortices (even a little over time), then at any given car wash, there will be a mechanically consistent pattern in every customer’s car.While old car washes have a history of using abrasive cloths to damage paint, modern car washes use neoprene closed-cell foam that feels like a lightweight yoga mat that won’t leave marks.The swirling neoprene is constantly sprayed with high-pressure water, and even as a muddy SUV drives past, the mud and grime is instantly washed off the brushes and down the equipment to the pit and clarifier.
Proper maintenance and regular cleaning of equipment is necessary to effectively clean a car, but dirt, rocks, and leaves won’t get stuck on the neoprene and damage the next car.No matter how many times you wash your car, the whirlpool doesn’t get any worse.
If you shine a detail light on a brand new black car in the dealership, there will be sporadic scratches.Over time, the environment causes random marks to appear all over the paint, and year after year, the marks become denser and the swirls become more pronounced.
Watch a dirty car pull into a car wash and check for random patterns of how the dirt settles on the paint.The environment is constantly attacking the clear coat with dirt, wind, snow, dust, tree droppings, handprints, clothing brushed on vehicles, UV light that bakes dirt into the clear coat, and more that damages the surface.
The vortices don’t form all at once, but they get progressively worse over time.The best way to slow down the whirlpool is to park in the garage and keep the vehicle washed and waxed.Cars in garages with automatic weekly car washes suffered less damage than similar cars parked on the street and exposed to inclement weather.
Most people never think about or pay attention to swirls, but autobots and detailers have some understanding of imperfect paint.Detailers are diligent, meticulous, and enterprising people with a deep passion for cars.Unfortunately, some people also believe that automatic car washes are a major source of micro-scratch and swirl.Many believe that the friction of the equipment, combined with washing several dirty cars without cleaning the equipment, will cause damage to every car that passes by.I’ve heard some detailers call the carwash “slap and scratch” and “vortex city”.As a result, they only use hand sanitizer to wash the car.
However, the truth is that hand washing is more likely to scratch a car than an automatic car wash.
Handwashing primarily uses one or two buckets—one for soapy water, one for fresh water—and a porous handwashing glove made of lambcloth or microfiber gloves.The problem is that when the laundry mitt is rubbed over the paint, it picks up dirt, which immediately rubs into the clear coat.Car wash gloves were dipped in a bucket, and the bucket got dirtier after the car was washed.Even with impeccable hand washing, there is a greater risk of micro-scratching than with an automatic car wash.
Drying a car also carries a high risk of towel scratching, which increases the whirlpool.Abrasives or dry towels with too much elbow grease may remove stubborn dirt, but also leave marks on the clear coat.The mass production of microfiber greatly increases the safety of drying cars and leaves less lint than terrycloth towels, but microfiber requires more care and a proper laundry routine.Even with microfiber, experience is required to understand what it feels like to apply pressure without damaging the clear coat.
No matter which cleaning method is used, swirls are inevitable, but in order to slow them down, it’s important to keep your car washed and waxed.
Maintaining a car’s clear coat and paint and minimizing swirl and damage requires washing the car more than once a week; keeping the varnish waxed will keep the paint safe from the elements.Ceramic technology is taking paint protection to the next level, and the future trend is ceramic coatings.
Once the paint swirls, the details can be made better with paint corrections, but it’s never perfect and the swirls will reappear once the wax is washed off.Even if the car is washed and waxed every day, there can be noticeable swirls in the sun.Ideal for weekly car washes; seasonal hand waxes; and annual full exterior details including clay, buff, and wax.
Swirls are a natural part of owning a car, and accepting these imperfections is better than frantically trying to own a perfect car, which is impossible.While all cars have swirls and blemishes, they form with an automatic car wash, not because of it.
Greg Paul is president and co-owner of Valencia Car Wash and Canyon Car Wash, and general manager of Fashion Square Car Wash, both of which are located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.Follow him on TikTok @carwashmanager.


Post time: Jan-19-2022
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