Anyone knows the cause of fine scratches?

[Jj5599]

My ride is black and every now and then I spotted new mysterious fine scratches appearing on the body. I am quite sure they are not done by vandals as the scratches are really very light like from a cat's claw,but I don't think there are any cats roaming inside my condo estate. Anyone got the same problem? Could it be my car washing method? Each time I make sure I spray off debris and dust before washing with microfiber wash mitt and drying it with microfiber towel.

[Aeromania]

Got picture? Sometimes maybe is caused by some personal belongings like bag, something u hold on that went pass ur car. But those are removable... ...usually.

[Xspace]

IMO, these are inevitable... No way you can keep it without scratches...

 

It could be cats, birds, your MF cloth, etc, etc...

[Nzy]

Probably caused by the way u wash ur car. When washing ur car u should use 2 buckets and a wash mitt. Try to rinse away all the loose dirt first then start washing. One bucket with soap and the other bucket to rinse the mitt after washing the car. When drying try to pat dry rather than rub.

 

And another thing that causes swirls is when i see people using a cloth to dry their cars after the rain. Sure have alot of these small scratches cuz u are dragging the dirt over the paint.

[Nzy]

IMO, these are inevitable... No way you can keep it without scratches...

 

It could be cats, birds, your MF cloth, etc, etc...

 

I had a customer that managed to minimize the scratches by alot. Even after one year he asked me to polish his car again I could not find much scratches on his car. Its the washing technique.

[Rev2redline]

Sometimes it's the fine dirt and sand particles embedded in the paint.. they scratch the surface when you wipe the body dry.. you can try clay bar on the paint finish to remove some of these fine particles on the paintwork..

 

As some has pointed out, it's quite difficult to avoid these fine scratches..

 

always wash the car thoroughly and try to wipe the car dry without much force.. the more force you apply when wiping, the higher the chances of fine scratches and swirls on the paint finish..

 

one point to take note, if your microfibre cloth drops to the ground, it may pick up a lot of sand and other particles on the ground.. these will cause nasty swirl and scratch marks on the paintwork..

 

 

[Jj5599]

Or how about not wiping it dry after washing?

[Rev2redline]

It'll leave water marks.. beats the purpose of washing and not drying the car..

[Nzy]

Or how about not wiping it dry after washing?

 

U can try using those leaf blower to dry the car. Blow the water off. I have used it before. But too troublesome to bring it around.

[Zuoom]

That's probably the clear coat getting scratched.

 

Can be fixed. The detailing guys will literally cut the top most layer of the clear to have an even surface to work on. Ie: polishing.

 

However, as with any removal of material. There's a limit on how much one can take off to fix the scratched n swirls. In time, the clear will be too thin for the cut n polish fix.. Another layer of clearcoat whould have to be reapplied. And then yhr cut n polishing starts all over again.

[Good-Carbuyer]

My ride is black and every now and then I spotted new mysterious fine scratches appearing on the body. I am quite sure they are not done by vandals as the scratches are really very light like from a cat's claw,but I don't think there are any cats roaming inside my condo estate. Anyone got the same problem? Could it be my car washing method? Each time I make sure I spray off debris and dust before washing with microfiber wash mitt and drying it with microfiber towel.

You are lucky, Just added many of them going 'off-the-road' doing Deepavali joy-ride in Johore

[Carpinion]

it's inevitable even with the utmost car in washing the car.the only difference is how fast the scratches accumulate before the next professional polishing is done. Dark coloured cars are even more obvious.

[Jj5599]

Are you serious? haha, where did you get it from?

[Xspace]

I had a customer that managed to minimize the scratches by alot. Even after one year he asked me to polish his car again I could not find much scratches on his car. Its the washing technique.

 

Yeaps, u gotten the word I was thinking of "washing technique"

[Nzy]

That's probably the clear coat getting scratched.

 

Can be fixed. The detailing guys will literally cut the top most layer of the clear to have an even surface to work on. Ie: polishing.

 

However, as with any removal of material. There's a limit on how much one can take off to fix the scratched n swirls. In time, the clear will be too thin for the cut n polish fix.. Another layer of clearcoat whould have to be reapplied. And then yhr cut n polishing starts all over again.

 

But in Singapore I guess its ok. Cuz usually if u take care of ur car properly at most need to polish once a year. Most people don't drive their cars for more than 10 years in singapore so the clearcoat more than enough to polish once per year.

[Kiadaw]

Likely the washing method/technique, especially so if you wash your car at those manual car wash at petrol kiosks. Thats why I stopped going to petrol station car wash to wash my car now. Prefer to do it myself. I do send for professional car wash every couple of months for sealant.

 

I am quite ok with fine stratches, they most likely can be covered up by polish, its those stone chips & dents (cause by inconsiderate drivers/passenger) that get me pissed off.

[FTML]

I used to own 3 black car. Till now i'm still prefered my ride to be in Black Color. It has these fine scratches is because:

1) Sands trapped in the washing cloth/technique of washing= roof first then side doors etc

2) Cats

3) Some1 placed some documents to sign/read etc on ur car

4) Jeans/clothing buttons while parking near pathway.

5) Ur work place might be near to sandblasting shipyard or industrial.

6) Parking near -welding sparks areas might cause these fine line works scratches on your car.

 

Most importantly, u have to wax/polish thick layers of wax monthly. these scratches will disappear then later run of wax-scratches appear again. :)

 

My personal experience is that black colors is the hardest to maintain these perfect glossy looks. I"m a lady driver thou, i love Black still....

[Kiadaw]

Not to sound like Captain Obvious, but one should never use the same washing towel for wheels & bodyworks. Best still to have separate towels for windows, tires, bodyworks, wheels, interior, leather.

 

Wash off your wheels before bodywork.

 

Anyway, those certain colors like silver & metallic paint work, stretches are less obvious. But metallic paintwork will never get the shine of flat paintworks.

 

I have black (flat paint) car before, very hard to maintain. Now I drives a scarlet (almost Ferrari) red (flat paint again) car, it also hard to maintain (but not as bad as black), but really shines when you put effort to maintain it.

Edited November 7, 2010 by Kiadaw