OK, here's the thing. I own a 2008 Dodge Ram pickup. I wash the truck every couple of months and usually just use that Turtle Wax spray on wax afterwards. I think once or twice before I used the Turtle Wax liquid wax. Just wipe it on and then hand buff it off - that's me. Never had any problems, it always came out looking great. So my wife ordered some of this "Meguiar's Synthetic Sealant 2.0" and I applied that just as I did the Turtle Wax liquid wax - wipe on, hand buff off. The instructions said you could do that. But now whenever the truck is in direct sunlight, I notice swirl marks all over it.

So, how big a deal is this? I really hate the thought of having to strip the wax off or use some chemical/method to remove the swirl marks... and then have to wax the truck all over again. Will the swirl marks just disappear over time as the wax fades? Will the swirl marks just disappear the next time I wash the truck? Help!

 

The sealant is not a wax and the swirl marks were there before you applied the sealant. Wax will cover up minor swirl marks so that is probabaly why you did not notice them before. Let the sealant cure for 12 hours then appply a wax on top. The sealant should last 6-12 months and the wax may last 1-2 months at best,
FF

 

The Turtle wax may have been hiding the swirls. Do you wash the truck yourself?

 

I hand wash the truck myself, on avg. every couple of months. I only run it through a car wash during the extreme winter months and even then, I make sure it's a touchless.

I washed the truck again, applied a coat of turtle wax and it looks much better now. Thanks for the advice!

 

If I understand correctly this is a spray wax that you use after washing correct? Are you sure your not seeing what looking like to be swirl halograms but that is actually just some of the spray wax product you didnt totaly remove?

If it is actually swirls I would use meguiars swirl X with an buffer of your choice, if that doesnt knock them down to a acceptable level/all the way then move on to meguiars scratch x 2.0. Then you will want to top that of with meguiars nxt gen 2.0 tech wax, good luck!

 

Synthetic Sealant 2.0 is Meguiar's M21 2.0. It is almost identical to NXT 2.0. It is not in any way a wipe on, "buff off" product. It needs to dry before it is removed for starters. You just want to wipe product off; not sit there and "buff". If you buff on dry paint, you run the risk of instilling swirl marks. If you needlessly wipe the uncured product, you are going to remove some of it which will in turn reduce its life.

That being said, there is no guarantee that any wax or sealant will last ____ months. There are way too many variables.

 

I pretty much just always washed it, spray waxed it and that was it before. Every 6 months I'd use some liquid wax instead of the spray wax. I always used the Turtle Wax car wash stuff, and then either the Turtle Wax spray wax or liquid wax. Just wiped on/wiped off (or lightly buffed by hand with the liquid wax). I always used clean auto detailing towels. My truck always looked great, didn't even know what a swirl mark was back then.

But then my wife decided I needed to use something better, so she bought me this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product

So, I tried it. I washed it with the "Hi-Tech Wash" stuff, applied the Synthetic Sealant 2.0 and lightly buffed by hand using a clean auto detailing towel. Everything looked fine when I was done but the next day... BAM... swirl mark city. So I took the advice of the "fascistfaction" and washed it again, but this time I used my good ol' Turtle Wax spray wax. Now everything is back to normal.

I'm thinking maybe the Synthetic Sealant 2.0 needs to be buffed using a machine or something. Even though it says right on the label that you can apply it and buff by hand.

 

Meguiar's products do not contain fillers. Some companies put them in their product so it appears you have a swirl-free finish (or less swirled) without actually fixing the problem.

Did you use the cleaner in that kit?

 

It depends on your definition of fillers. I would say Meguiars pure polishes like Deep Crystal System Polish contains fillers.

The description: "Deep CrystalŽ system Polish is a pure polish specially formulated for dark-colored cars. The formula creates a dazzling, high gloss finish by conditioning and nourishing the paint, making dark colors darker and eliminating fine hairline scratches for perfect swirl-free reflections."

This polish is non-abrasive so it is not removing the scratches.

There is nothing wrong with fillers if that is what you want or need. The negative aspect is when some misrepresents the work as removing swirls when in fact they used a glaze (polish using Meg's terminology) to reduce them since they will come back.

 

Everything fills to some degree. They mean that it is not like, let's go with, Poorboy's Black Hole or White Diamond. There is also a 3M Hand Glaze and E1 Nanowax that do the same, and I'm sure many more.