The insiders guide to getting your car looking sparkly, without swirls on your paintwork, from the folks at McCarthy Cars:

If you're anything like me, seeing swirls on a car's paintwork isn't an attractive sight. You know the ones I mean, they appear as a result of not washing a car properly.

If you're with me on this one, here's some advice on making sure your car never looks like that again:

Wheels, Arches and Door Jambs Don't start with washing the body of your car first, begin with the wheels, arches and door jambs as they're most often the dirtiest parts of the car. You may also want to use a different or specialised type of cleaner for these areas, so that's another reason to start here - you don't want  any wheel cleaner solution splashed onto newly cleaned paintwork as it just means washing it all over again!

Pre-Rinsing Direct a gentle spray of water onto the paintwork of your car with your hosepipe at a shallow angle. Don't use a strong jet from a hose pipe or a power washer because of the risk of forcing grit into the paint and cause scratches. Just wet the paintwork with a gentle spray and soften up the grime and dirt. A watering can with a rose fitted to the end will do the trick if you can't use a hosepipe.

Shampooing Use two buckets with shampoo and water and two washmitts/cloths to minimise scratches. One bucket should be used for the top of the car (bonnet, sides, roof, windows and above the level of your wheels) and the other for all the other areas. This is to minimise the risk of transfer of dirt and grime between areas. The best way to minimise this is to start from the top down. Also, don't give the shampoo a chance to dry on the car as this can cause soap spots and streaks.

Rinsing Use a gentle spray again to rinse the majority of the soap off and then follow up with a stronger flow of water ie. your regular hosepipe, powerwasher or your watering can without its rose. Rinse from the top of the car down and keep going until all of the soap is removed. 

Drying  This is another area where scratches can occur so take care. Instead of sweeping a towel across your paint, pat the car dry to prevent the towel from picking up stray grit particles. Your towel should absorb almost all of the water when you use the technique of laying your towel on the wet paintwork, gently patting the towel, lift off and squeeze the water out. Repeat.  If there is a thin film of water left on the car, don't worry as this will quickly evaporate to a shiny, streak free finish.

And voila - your car looks gorgeous without any streaks and swirls.

Follow these tips and you can't go wrong!