Is turtle wax really better than the rest ?

Dark Knight GT · Feb 27, 2004

I know that sounds strange, but today I tried some Turtle wax color magic polish on my car. My car is black and like most black cars has problems with swirls. Well, I tried everything else and nothing would remove the swirls. 3M swirl mark remover did OK, Meguiars gold class wax did nothing, 3m rubbing compound did nothing, but the Turtle wax color magic did pretty damn good. Naturally since I used an orbital polisher with a cotton polishing bonnet I had a few swirls left but it looked much better on the sections I used it. I have to say I was surprised. Anyone else noticed this ?

DJsZincGT · Feb 27, 2004

Dark Knight GT said:
I know that sounds strange, but today I tried some Turtle wax color magic polish on my car. My car is black and like most black cars has problems with swirls. Well, I tried everything else and nothing would remove the swirls. 3M swirl mark remover did OK, Meguiars gold class wax did nothing, 3m rubbing compound did nothing, but the Turtle wax color magic did pretty damn good. Naturally since I used an orbital polisher with a cotton polishing bonnet I had a few swirls left but it looked much better on the sections I used it. I have to say I was surprised. Anyone else noticed this ?

The color magic will wear off. In my opinion Turtle Wax would be the last product I'd buy to put on my car. If the 3M swirl mark remover didn't work, no offense intended, but you weren't using it correctly. It's designed more for a high speed polisher rather than an orbital buffer. I use 3M polish all the time with a high speed buffer to remove imperfections and it works beautifully. Hey, if the TW worked for you, congrats.

rjstaaf · Feb 28, 2004

As has already been said, the color will wear off. The swirls have not been removed, just covered. You are lucky in that black is easy to match with that stuff. The products you have used so far have very mild cleaners in them. You may need something more agressive to remove the swirls. The problem is more agressive products generally aren't available on most store shelves. You may have to do some searching at body and paint supply stores.

How many applications did you do with the 3M SMR?? Can you tell me how you applied it?? I have found a lot of people apply a swirl mark remover like wax in that they just wipe it on, let it haze and then wipe it off expecting it to do something. Actually they should be applied kind of like a cleanser on a kitchen counter. You rub it in like you are trying to scour a mild stain away and then you wipe it off. You may need to repeat the application several times to remove swirls.

Dark Knight GT · Feb 28, 2004

rjstaaf said:
As has already been said, the color will wear off. The swirls have not been removed, just covered. You are lucky in that black is easy to match with that stuff. The products you have used so far have very mild cleaners in them. You may need something more agressive to remove the swirls. The problem is more agressive products generally aren't available on most store shelves. You may have to do some searching at body and paint supply stores.

How many applications did you do with the 3M SMR?? Can you tell me how you applied it?? I have found a lot of people apply a swirl mark remover like wax in that they just wipe it on, let it haze and then wipe it off expecting it to do something. Actually they should be applied kind of like a cleanser on a kitchen counter. You rub it in like you are trying to scour a mild stain away and then you wipe it off. You may need to repeat the application several times to remove swirls.

I applied it using an orbital polisher and then slowly wiped and buffed it off being sure to work it in as I went. The turtle wax black car polish did better. I know it didnt remove the swirls and only masked them but still I was shocked. Today I went and picked up some wax applicator bonnets and Im going to do a straight heads up test between the 3m and turtle wax. We'll see now straight forwardly which is the best. Im still just in shock as to how well the turlte wax worked.

rjstaaf · Feb 28, 2004

To be honest you will probably have better luck with the 3M SMR if you used it by hand rather than the orbital. Orbital polishers really are not very good for swirl removal. It all comes down to what you are happy with. If the Turtle Wax makes you happy then go with it.

Dark Knight GT · Feb 28, 2004

Well, I finished earlier today with my test. I applied both the 3m SMR and the Turtle wax polish using soft wax applicator bonnets. Now, I admit the 3m removed lots of the swirls and only the larger ones remained. It also left a smooth clearcoat look and a gloss. Now, the polish on the other hand filled and masked all the swirls. However, it doesnt remove them permanently, only masks them. Do you have any advice for good polishes to follow the 3m swirl mark remover with to mask those last few swirls ?

aceman65 · Feb 28, 2004

You should have used Meg. Scratch X not gold wax. Wax goes on after the Scratch X.Just for the record I am no expert- I have just read this but I used it on my truck and it seems to have helped.

LouisianaZJ · Feb 28, 2004

turtle wax is one of the crappiest lines on the market that only survives on name recognition. Same goes with armorall.

As said above you just filled the swirls in. if you get 3m swirl mark remover, it is alot like the colored wax, in that it will lightly polish but also fill in swirls with a dark filler.

you should try something like 3m fine cut rubbing compound. A proper job should take 30-45 min per panel by hand or orbital polisher or 10-15 min per panel with a random orbital heavy duty polisher (like the porter cable)

Dark Knight GT · Feb 29, 2004

LouisianaZJ said:
turtle wax is one of the crappiest lines on the market that only survives on name recognition. Same goes with armorall.

As said above you just filled the swirls in. if you get 3m swirl mark remover, it is alot like the colored wax, in that it will lightly polish but also fill in swirls with a dark filler.

you should try something like 3m fine cut rubbing compound. A proper job should take 30-45 min per panel by hand or orbital polisher or 10-15 min per panel with a random orbital heavy duty polisher (like the porter cable)

Ive already tried the 3m rubbing compound with an orbital polisher. I also tried by hand with a foam applicator pad. It didnt produce any results whatsoever. I was aware that the turtle wax didnt fix the problem and only masked it. However, Im sure if you follow it with a good wax(Meguiars 26) it will give longer lasting protection. Believe me, Ive spent countless dollars and hours going through product upon product to figure out whats best for my car. So far, this has done the best for a single application. I know turtle wax has gone to crap over the years but I still think for now this stuff has at least some potential.

Marine One · Mar 5, 2004

Meguiars makes a Fine Cut cleaner (I can't remember the product number) that I really liked for removing imperfections. It used to be available everywhere (Autozone Advance Auto, etc.) but I haven't seen it in awhile. I do know that it's still available online directly from Meguiars.
Might be worth a try.....

Is turtle wax really better than the rest ?

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