How to avoid/remove swirl marks?

[JRL]

This is why I like white cars...no swirls!



Anyhow ny wife's BLACK 2000 VR is essentially swirl free and has been for 10 years.
Both owners before me obviously took decent care of it but I have managed to make it look almost as new.
I DO take it to the car wash at times especially during the winter (the horror) and that does give it some light swirls but nothing deep and nothing that cannot be buffed out.
I use an inexpensive 10" orbital buffer (Pep Boys, $35 IRRC) and most of the time I start with Mequiars 2.0 swirl remover, then Meqiars #7 (the original!) then Mequiars NXT wax ALL using the buffer.
3M commercial polish for dark colors in the black bottle also does a terrific job

[Detailed]

a) improve them or eliminate them, and how do I
b) ensure I don't create new ones?

Improving or eliminating them requires polishing. Period.
I would not recommend going to hand polishing route. Very tedious and results are so-so at best.
Machine polishing is safe regardless of you may read/hear. I'd ask those who claim its dangerous to show you examples of what they used, how they used it, and what the damage looks like.
I personally like to avoid products that contain fillers. Many of the OTC available product contains heavy silicones and fillers. these simply fill in the voids (scratches) in your paint. To check if a product has fillers, after using it on your paint, spray the area with isopropyl alcohol and wipe dry with a microfiber. One or two shots of this should remove any product left behind.

A must have and extremely easy to use polisher is a Porter Cable orbital polisher. These can be had for about $100 and are worth their weight in gold.

So now you have a polisher, now what? You need pads and polish! Yes, the spending has just begun!

For pads, I like Lake Country. They come in different colors to identify their level of aggressiveness. As all paints are of different hardness, condition, and you'll likely be working in a different climate than I, (yes, humitdity effects polishing) its tough to make a solid recommendation. A common choice is the Orange pad. You will need 2 or 3 or these per car to start. Pending how soft the paint it, you will need a softer pad to finish. I like the Black pads for finishing.

Polishes are an easy call for me. I loved the high end Menzera line for a long time, but switched over to Meguiars about 2 years ago. The M105 / M205 have been extremely cooperative and versatile for me. I just picked up the new Optimum spray line, Im going to polish a car with them soon, looks promising.

So how to polish...

[Detailed]

How to polish -

Some people and product manufacturers say you can do it in the sun, I dont like to. Do it indoors.
I used halogen lighing for years, that huge yellow 2 head 1000 watt halogen light you can buy at Home Depot. I just moved to handheld LED's. I do not think its possible to correct paint under fluorescent lighting. I tried and tried, but have massively better results using LED or halogen.

The technique is best viewed via a youtube video.

After polishing you have to seal or wax!


Preventing future swirls....

[dtropnevad05]

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/

Go here and you will find out everything you ever wanted to know about auto detailing along with how to videos and hundreds of helpful members just like we have here.

Don