Polishing question for the paint pros

Finally the sun has come out and I'm washing and waxing all my cars.
I'm curious to know, how do you guys remove the little microscopic scratches in the paint?

All 3 cars have dark paint, Tahoe in fire mist red, an 04 GTO in Phantom Black. I'm using non-abrasive wax, brand new micro fiber cloths yet when the sun hits the paint at an angle there's a circular halo affect that hides the true paint color.   How do I remove this and get that "wet look" factory painted black is black look, not this sort of almost black finish under a clear again?

Getting the same effect on the Bonneville, color sanding the finish, 800, 1500, 2000 grit then polishing compound on a wool buffer, followed by, swirl remover on a fine foam pad, followed by the non abrasive wax and I'm getting the same effect.  

Swirl marks in daylight on dark clearcoated colors are always a challenge. You sound like you've done your homework and given it an honest go. But I know what you're talking about.

I don't claim to be an authority on buffing and waxing, but I have been put in the position of having to make it happen and I'll share what I did. At the time, I was doing new car make-ready on Mercedes and others. This was my $100,000+ black car method:

After buffing ... Oh well I guess I'll throw in something about buffing too, hang on.

When using your final foam pad polish, be sure to clean off ALL traces of the last polish or compound. Very important.

You want your pad loaded, but not overloaded, with polish before you spin 'er up.

"Stretch" the polish farther than you might think you should. The final stage of it's action will go beyond when it looks like the polish is gone. This is touchy, and I like to use an electric buffer on high speed. When the pad starts wanting to squeak I know I'm about done!

Most guys want to buff slow and safe, I guess because the old polish was abrasive whereas modern stuff is "chemical-cut". Meaning it melts and smears the surface rather than milling it down. Heat is required for this to work, and air buffers rarely go fast enough so you end up unable to heat a good sized area with the pad. Appropriate caution is needed around panel edges and contours, but I like to spin the buffer fast, and keep going a little after the polish appears to be used up. This really melts it down level and its when your swirls go away.

Now- about that wax technique:

Wax clean paint with cheap liquid cleaner/wax. Take it right off and don't worry if you don't get it all.

Now get out your paste carnuba wax and apply two coats back to back.

Use a soft, clean, not new terry towel to rub that off. Be thorough around the edges but just wipe off the rest.

Grab a water hose thats hooked to a water heater. Melt the wax with the hot running water, be patient and think about heat distribution as you hose down the hood . Stay off the glass.

Pull the car out in the sun, chamois or (preferred) water blade it off.

Now use a white cotton T-shirt or cloth baby diaper to do your final wipedown. No wrinkles or seams in the cloth may touch the paint. Stop as soon as all the haze is gone.

Should look great, worked for me!  

Sounds like ole junk knows his stuff. One more thing if your cars are exposed to this road deicer crap. Wash 'em and clay bar that stuff off each spring or you can wax your a** off and it still won't look right. Our son worked in a detail shop for awhile and they had to increase their prices to get a vechicle ready to detail by first getting that crap off and they have all the tricks.  

+1 PMD the clay bar treatment is the only solution for stuck-on buildup sometimes. There are a lot of different brands and grits, some even come with special lubricant. Wait, that last part didn't sound right, lol.

 

A clay bar is a must down south in pine tree country.  This pollen sticks to cars like glue.  

Theres a cypress tree in my yard that drops sap you can't touch without rubbing alcohol.  

I miss Phoenix, there the only worry was a cactus falling over and crushing your car.  

Polish with liquid ebony by hand with a fine cloth to remove swirl marks