Ok, I finally washed my car with Dawn and used Clay Magic to remove all the bumps on the paint. The claybar did a wonderful job and made the surface very smooth. I put on Zaino Z-2 Pro with ZFX mixed. I only had time to do one layer and took pictures around 7:30pm. The sun went down already but still had enough light to get some pics. Tomorrow, I will put on Z-6 to make it even more shinny. I ordered Optimum Opti-Seal and I should get it soon. I want to put it on top of Zaino. I hope those two products work together because Opti-Seal sounds very much like the Z-CS. With Opti-Seal, it should last me through the winter. I will take more pics after I put on the Opti-Seal. [attachmentid=11105] [attachmentid=11106] [attachmentid=11107] [attachmentid=11108] [attachmentid=11109]
Your car looks beautiful! I too, have a black Prius. I have tried to be carefull with the paint. I waxed it for the first time with Klasse, and ended up with a swirl marks all over. I have since rewaxes and am still left with swirl marks. I used new, washed once microfiber clothes from the "pak shack". I am frustrated, and thinking of trying Zaino. I know Zaino is the best, but I thought Klasse was good too. I have never had a black car before. I am willing to go the extra mile to be carefull with it. I actually thought I was doing everything right. Oh well.
Thanks. Mine has swirls too. Next time, I am thinking of getting Z-5 to remove those swirls. I guess that will be the next spring.
I've been following the Zaino site's recommendation to not use swirls to wash/wax/dry. Straight line wipes, down the hood, down the sides, and the length of the car on the roof. I do go across the bottoms of the doors (the textured part), and on the way low part of the front and back bumpers. So far, so good.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Winston @ Sep 4 2007, 11:21 AM) [snapback]506846[/snapback]</div> The paint was probably already swirled before you started, unless you applied sealant to a dusty/dirty car. Most sealants will make swirls more visible. Four or five coats of Zaino Z-5 Pro will hide very minor swirls. To fill in swirls with a single coat, try Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax, it's loaded with fillers. Personally, I prefer to remove swirls by polishing with a rotary polisher, but I might feel differently if I owned a black car, given the amount of effort required to keep a black car looking perfect.
I purchased the car brand new. There were no swirls when I purchased it. It is all my fault. I just am not sure what I did wrong.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Winston @ Sep 4 2007, 05:17 PM) [snapback]507012[/snapback]</div> Some black paint is so soft you'd swear just looking at it causes swirls. A few precautions you can take when washing your car to help avoid swirls (I'm assuming you already know the basics, if not, check out detailing web forums like detailcity.org, roadfly.org, or autopia.org). 1) Use a second bucket filled with clear water to rinse your mitt off before you put it back in your soapy water, or use a grit guard in the bottom of your bucket. This helps prevent paint swirls by insuring you aren't re-depositing dirt back onto your wash mitt. 2) Absolutely do not allow anything that has touched your wheels to go into your wash bucket until you're finished washing the car, and even then, make sure to rinse the bucket out thoroughly. Even though you might start by spraying wheel and tire cleaner on the wheels, and agitating it with a brush, don't let that brush touch your wash water until you're finished with the paint. 3) Do a final rinse of the car with a stream of water from the hose with the nozzle removed. This will cause most of the water on the car to sheet off, and you can finish drying your car by drawing a microfiber drying towel across the cars surface (no need to wipe back and forth to dry the car). You'll also find that a small (12" x 18") microfiber towel is plenty big enough to dry a Prius if you rinse your car this way.
An update. The following two pics were taken after I put Z-6 on top of Z-2 Pro. [attachmentid=11172] [attachmentid=11170] The next two pics were taken after Optimum Opti-Seal on top of Z-2 Pro and Z-6. [attachmentid=11171] [attachmentid=11173] Looking at the pics, I couldn't tell the difference until I looked at the side windows!! The reflection off the window glass is much brighter than top two pics. I may have forgotten to put Z-6 on the windows. I say Opti-Seal is as shinny as Z-2 Pro and Z-6 and definitely more shinier than just the Z-2 Pro alone.
I added another layer of wax today (can you believe it, my paint is already covered in crud. I could feel that the surface is rough.. ugh). It's only been.. what 2 months? Anyway, did that and shined the tyres... nobody in my family noticed when I picked them up today ....
It has been 2 months since you inspired me to wax again? It felt like less than a month. I bet your wax stayed on and the difference was minimal. Well, mine was dramatic because the last time I Zainoed was over a year ago. People from work noticed too. hehe
