Swirl Marks & Wash Marring
The spiderweb of fine circular scratches you see in direct sun — almost always caused by poor washing technique, automatic car washes and dirty microfibre.
Melbourne · Richmond Workshop & Mobile
The old school called it cut and polish. We call it paint correction — a measured, multi-stage process that removes defects while preserving as much clear coat as possible.
Paint correction is the art of removing swirl marks and paint defects while maintaining as much clear coat as possible. The old school term is 'cut and polish'. Correction is a more thorough, multi-step process aimed at getting paint as close to perfect as it can physically get — without removing more clear coat than necessary.
That last point is the one most people miss. Your clear coat is finite. Every polish removes a little of it. A detailer who chases 100% correction on a 15-year-old car with thin paint isn't doing you a favour. We take paint depth readings, we test panels, and we tell you what's sensible.
The spiderweb of fine circular scratches you see in direct sun — almost always caused by poor washing technique, automatic car washes and dirty microfibre.
Light scratches, bird dropping etches and water spot rings. If your fingernail doesn't catch in it, there's a good chance we can remove it entirely.
Cars that have lived outside go flat and chalky. Correction cuts back the dead surface layer and brings the colour and depth back.
Left behind by rotary polishers in the wrong hands. Common on cars 'detailed' cheaply before sale. We refine them out properly.
Paint depth gauge readings across every panel, plus inspection under multiple light sources. This determines what's safely achievable.
Wash, iron fallout removal and clay. Polishing over embedded contaminants just drags them across your paint.
We find the least aggressive combination of pad and compound that achieves the result. Always the least aggressive that works — never the fastest.
Compounding stage to remove defects, then refining stages to restore clarity and gloss. Then it gets protected — with a ceramic coating or PPF, so it doesn't need doing again.
We have different packages depending on what we think your car really needs. Correction starts from $700 + GST — take a look at our car detailing packages for the full picture.
We can top off the work with a wax or a ceramic coating, depending on how the car will be used.
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Send us a few photos and we'll come back with honest advice and a tailored quote — usually within one business day.
Tell us about your car and what you'd like done. We'll come back to you with honest advice and a tailored quote — usually within one business day.
Prefer to talk? Call 1300 758 403 or email [email protected].
Paint correction is the art of removing swirl marks and paint defects through machine polishing, while maintaining as much clear coat as possible. It's a multi-step process — far more thorough than a traditional cut and polish — aimed at getting paint to near-perfect condition.
A single-stage enhancement polish typically starts around $600–$900. Multi-stage correction on a car with significant defects generally runs $1,200–$3,000+ depending on size, colour, paint hardness and condition. We quote after inspecting the car under proper lighting.
It removes anything that hasn't penetrated the clear coat — which is most swirl marks and light scratches. The fingernail test is the rule of thumb: if your nail catches in the scratch, it's likely too deep to remove entirely, though we can usually improve how visible it is.
Any polishing removes a small amount of clear coat — that's how it works. The skill is removing the minimum necessary. We take paint depth readings before and during the process, and we'll refuse to chase perfection on a car whose clear coat can't afford it.
A single-stage polish is generally one day. A full multi-stage correction on a mid-size car typically takes two to three days. Large SUVs, hard paint and heavily defective finishes take longer.
We'd strongly recommend it. Correction is the expensive part; a coating is what stops you needing to pay for it again in two years. It also protects the paint from the washing that caused most of the swirls in the first place.
Matte paint cannot be polished — polishing adds gloss, which is precisely what you don't want. Matte finishes are maintained with specific products and protected with a matte-safe coating or film instead.
Wash technique, mostly. Two-bucket method, pH-neutral shampoo, clean microfibre, and never an automatic car wash with brushes. We'll walk you through it when you collect the car — a coating makes it all far more forgiving.