Ok. I'm a a little crazy when it comes to detailing and swirls. I HIGHLY recommend this product
Adam's Rinseless Wash Combo | Wash Without A Hose I've used it for over a year, you won't swirl your paint if you use it correctly. I suppose that is the case with any of the rinseless products out there. I just use this one from Adams
If the car is filthy, spend two bucks at the local pressure washer to get the major stuff off if you don't have a pressure washer at home. I have an electric Karcher so I do the following.
1. Hit the car quickly with the pressure washer if its filthy, if not you can skip this step
2. Have two buckets, fill one with the rinseless wash, the other stays empty and is used for the dirty microfiber towels.
3. Put about 8 quality microfiber towels in the rinseless buck and get them soaked
4. Take a towel out, fold it into quarters, and then over again. See the video
5. Make only one straight line pass per panel per side of the towel.
6. Flip to the other side of the towel, repeat. When folded correctly you get 16 passes per towel using both sides and you are never putting a dirty side of the towel on the car after its initial pass.
7. Dirty towel in the other bucket. RESIST the urge to use the any side of the towel for more than one pass, don't rinse or reuse a dirty towel either.
This is the key to no swirls
8. I dry when I have completed two panels. Then return to washing. Avoid the edge of the clean panel that borders a dirty panel with your clean drying rags.
Do this for the entire car one panel at a time, wheels last. The key here is never introducing dirt to your clean rinseless solution nor are you ever using a dirty towel on your car, every pass is done with a clean folded sided of the towel. Any leftover rinseless can be saved if you have a bucket that seals for the next wash. This saves time the next time you want to wash too. Pay attention to your clean drying rags, I use white ones, if you see dirt on them you are missing spots. That should be the case, if they get dirty replace them so they don't introduce swirls. I am able to dry the whole car with 2-4 drying rags, only changing them if they become too damp.
I know it sounds complicated but after you do it a few times you will have your whole car done in 20-30 minutes. I did my car last night in my garage in 20 minutes with my son drying behind me. I love this product, I love my cars clean and with rinseless I get that because its so fast and easy that I wash my car more often. I do still do the typical two bucket wash routine as well, just depends on time, weather, how dirty the car is etc.
If you don't like it Adams offers a money back guarantee. No risk in trying. And no, I do not have any affiliation with Adams, just a big fan / user of his products.
