Hey Everyone!

I am a bit perplexed and very very very concerned at my new bike purchase.

I bought a Twin Six Rando Steel bike in black about a month ago, and finally got the chance to take it out and ride some gravel. After the ride I took the bike out for a wash, and went through my normal washing routine (single bucket, scotch brite sponge, dishwasher soap, etc) - the same washing routine I have used countless times on my Carbon Fiber Specialized Roubaix.

Everything seemed to be going well until I took a soft drying cloth to the bike, and to my absolute horror - it looks like the sponge has left long spindly scratches all over the frame! (Basically wherever I washed it - which is everywhere!) I originally thought it was just soap scum or something similar - but I am now convinced that this is actually hundreds / thousands of small very light scratches in the clearcoat.

So my question to this forum is:
1) Did I do something wrong while washing? I know I used both the soft / scratchy side of the sponge - but I have always done that and it has never been an issue - is this something that should be avoided?
2) How does this speak to the quality of the paintjob on the steel frame? Is this something I should be concerned about / reach out to the manufacturer about?
3) HOW DO I GET RID OF THE SCRATCHES ON MY NEW BIKE! I am thinking of using ScratchX after a ton of searching the forums / googling - but wanted to get your input first.

I will add pictures to this thread once I can get home and take them - I just wanted to put this out there to see if anyone had had similar experiences.

Thank you!