Hi guys,

made the mistake of using a local jet wash and my panther black focus last week,

the brush scratched the paintwork,

so I brought some t-cut for black cars thinking this was the answer.

its left me with thick circles of dull paint where it has been rubbed in.

anyone know how I can remove these marks and restore the shine please?

Machine polish will probably be the way forward. It's difficult to say without seeing pictures

Machine polishing is really the best way in removing the marks. I'd love to learn how to use one!

Machine polishing is really the best way in removing the marks. I'd love to learn how to use one!

Your best bet would be to buy a kit including (for example) auto finesse revitalise kit, and then a das 6 or das 6 PRO. With this you'll have polishes, pad prime, pads, instructions and a Dual action polisher.

This would give you a good introduction into the world of machine polishing, whilst maintaining the safety of your paintwork.

This is how i started off when I first founded my business. I have now moved onto menzerna and 3M polishes and what can I say... It's a VERY useful skill, and tool to have!

Once you've got the basic DA skills.. you need a challenge for yourself to home in those skills and develop them. for me, I got given the "privelage" of working on a battle scared Audi a3. Took me around 10hours to get it to an acceptable swirl free finish using the auto finesse kit. Alot of the deep scratches were still intact, but being that audis generally have very hard paint, I feel the polishes and pads used faired pretty well!

Yeah that sounds good...ideally I'd like to learn before I get my car next spring.

I'll keep it in mind for a Christmas present. Was it that difficult to use etc?

Yeah that sounds good...ideally I'd like to learn before I get my car next spring.

I'll keep it in mind for a Christmas present. Was it that difficult to use etc?

Its hard work.. it gets to your back and your arms, and if your technique isn't right you'll know about it. Your hands will end up numb after a matter of minutes if you're extremely wrong. If you get your stance right then you've then got to worry about the polisher itself. Is the pad flat on the surface? Am I applying enough pressure? Too much pressure? Moving fast enough? Too fast?

You'll quickly get the hang of it once you've done a few panels. Horizontal panels are usually easiest to begin on.

If you don't think you'd be confident teaching yourself, inspired automotive do training sessions from £150 a day & they're more than worth it! I haven't personally done one yet (going to get it done to become an approved detailer of theirs) but alot of people local to me have completed them and their skills have taken a Huge leap!

If you wanted to get some practise in before the new car, buy all the required tools/consumables, and then take a visit to a scrap yard and ask for some body panels. you want the most swirl ridden paint possible ideally, but off a car no older than 2000 to ensure paint quality.. try to avoid dented panels

Don't want to hijack the OPs thread, but I'd be happy to give you some advice over PM if you'd like?

Yeah please!

Yeah please!

Just let me know what you'd like to know and I'll do my best to help

Ok thanks I'll have a look around and PM you soon. :)

Hi guys,

made the mistake of using a local jet wash and my panther black focus last week,

the brush scratched the paintwork,

so I brought some t-cut for black cars thinking this was the answer.

its left me with thick circles of dull paint where it has been rubbed in.

anyone know how I can remove these marks and restore the shine please?

Go over it again with the T-Cut and then go over it with a good polish such as Autoglym Super Resin. It sounds like you havent buffed it off enough hence the dull circles. T-Cut is hard work as it is stripping all the crud off. It will look worse before it looks better.

Go over it again with the T-Cut and then go over it with a good polish such as Autoglym Super Resin. It sounds like you havent buffed it off enough hence the dull circles. T-Cut is hard work as it is stripping all the crud off. It will look worse before it looks better.

+1 on the hard work!!!

T-Cut is very abrasive, may be better with a good compound, something like Meguairs Compound from Halfords.

Bought a 09 Focus last Friday, was destroyed in little scratches and swirls.

Used my DA with Meguairs cutting compound and Chemical Guys finishing polish with 2 layers of Collinite and the paint looks great again!

It's really hard to get a picture that shows them now as I've given it 3 or 4 coats of turtle wax colour magic, they have faded and only show in certain angles , can anyone recommend a product that will eliminate them totally?

It's really hard to get a picture that shows them now as I've given it 3 or 4 coats of turtle wax colour magic, they have faded and only show in certain angles , can anyone recommend a product that will eliminate them totally?

The only way to totally eliminate them is as already stated with a rotary buffer and various stages of pads and liquid buffing compounds unfortunately.

Hand polishing will only remove the lightest scratches and dullness. From your initial post though it did sound like you had caused dulness by not buffing off properly. Dont apply anything in direct summer sunlight as it will be a nightmare to buff off.

Thanks for the advice, I've used some autoglym paint renovator and added more polish, more or less totally invisible now. I've brought some simoniz colour restorer and some turtle wax original for after to see how it comes up

Bare in mind that alot of those products contain glazes, so they'll wash out in time and the swirl marks will become visible again

Go too the Gtechniq website and get some p1 nano composite polish and a try foam pad. This will get rid of the swirl marks by hand or you can use a DA or rotary polisher. This contains no fillers or glazes so the finish won't drop back.

Seem to have polished them out by hand. Used autoglym paint renovator, then turthe wax colour magic, then simoniz paint renovator polish, followed by turtlewax original wax, I'm totally amazed by the results, I don't think the car was this shiny on the forecourt. Hopefully it all doesn't wash off now! Thanks for all your advice

Go too the Gtechniq website and get some p1 nano composite polish and a try foam pad. This will get rid of the swirl marks by hand or you can use a DA or rotary polisher. This contains no fillers or glazes so the finish won't drop back.

Just to put it out there.. I can provide gtechniq products slightly below RRP to anybody interested. these products are not listed on my website but are available through myself. Just a little perk of you guys being a member of the forum! :)