Polishing Your Car

Burroo 67 · April 8, 2015

Can anyone recommend an electric/cordless car polisher/buffer to get good results on the car paintwork. Unfortunately due to a damaged right shoulder and tennis elbow I am incapable of doing the polishing by hand.

Any recommendations on decent polish and wax would be greatly appreciated also, thanks

Burroo

April 8, 2015

HI, there will be lots of differing opinions on this subject, Very subjective subject . I favour Autosmart Evo 3 New Restore Car Polish Compound. Use with care and use a variable speed polisher. I have a light low speed 240v polisher and a pro version for serious rework. There are some cheap polishers at Halfords / Lidl and eBay. Autosmart Evo 1 FINISH Car Polish for a regular finish. Recommend you watch several You Tube videos from Professional vehicle detailers for best instruction. What ever you do take your time as its very easy to wreck the paintwork. I am not in any way an expert and enjoy prepping my own Lexus.

is200 Newbie · April 8, 2015

I gave mine a good clean at the weekend by hand and noticed it produced a lot of static

Can these polishing machines create a dangerous amount of static on the car considering the amount of electronics it has?

F.A. · April 9, 2015

I gave mine a good clean at the weekend by hand and noticed it produced a lot of static

Can these polishing machines create a dangerous amount of static on the car considering the amount of electronics it has?

Highly unlikely a polishing machine will damage any electronics on the car.

I use and highly recommend the Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher. It randomly orbits so is less likely to cause a hologram effect if used incorrectly. The only downside is that you may have to import it from the USA

rayaans · April 11, 2015

I use a DAS6. Best polish in my arsenal is Sonax Perfect finish It's perfect for Lexus paint using a soft pad and can even cut through audi paint with a tough pad. It's a great 1 step polish.

As for wax, Soft99 Fusso is one of the best out there lasts ages, like a wax should. Don't be fooled by the more expensive ones, they just smell nicer and come in fancy packaging But won't beat Fusso for protection

Ideally what you'd want to do is wash, dry, decontaminate, test polish with finishing pad and if that doesn't work as well as you want, use a denser foam, then use the finishing pad at the end, wipe down with IPA and then 2 coats of Fusso. Should be good for 6 months atleast

I only polish my car once a year using sonax.

Otherwise I use Autoglym SRP with a white pad as it won't remove any paint. Too much polishing isn't good!

bluenose1940 · April 11, 2015

+1 for the DAS6.................although I went for the pro version

IS200D · April 11, 2015

Too much polishing isn't good!

Too right. I know someone who wore out the merc badge on the front of

his vito, after polishing it too much - and he was a professional

valeter!(supposedly)

rayaans · April 11, 2015

+1 for the DAS6.................although I went for the pro version

I've had my basic one since I first got into polishing. It's never let me down and has no trouble polishing so never been tempted. Although, when it packs in, I think I'll get a rupes

Mouser · April 15, 2015

I have a DAS6 Pro, but technique and taking your time is what's going to determine the results more than the equipment you have.

Take a look at Junkman2000's series on Youtube:

Burroo 67 · April 16, 2015

Right, decision made folks.

I contacted various companies for recommendations and taking everything into account- especially the very helpful comments above - I plumped for the DAS6 Pro as it was the same price as the 500w version on the i4detail site. I went for a kit that includes polish, sealant and wax and the plan is to do the car over 3-4 days finishing off with a good coat of wax. I do not intend to polish more than once a year from what I have been told about car care, but will wax a few times to get a decent coverage.

Many thanks again for the input

rayaans · April 16, 2015

Right, decision made folks.

I contacted various companies for recommendations and taking everything into account- especially the very helpful comments above - I plumped for the DAS6 Pro as it was the same price as the 500w version on the i4detail site. I went for a kit that includes polish, sealant and wax and the plan is to do the car over 3-4 days finishing off with a good coat of wax. I do not intend to polish more than once a year from what I have been told about car care, but will wax a few times to get a decent coverage.

Many thanks again for the input

Which polishes come in the kit?

Burroo 67 · April 16, 2015

Rayaan,

Here's the link to the kit I bought...

http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/shop/Deltalyo-kestrel-das6-850w-power-plus-britemax-polish-seal-and-wax-kit.html

To be honest I do not know how good or bad this kit is but it will get me started with detailing and I have a good Carnauba wax at home in any case, unused - bought it two years ago and never been opened. I have just fitted parking sensors and I am in the process of fitting a decent hands free kit so money was a tad tight. Hope i've done Ok with my purchase?

Burroo

Mouser · April 16, 2015

That's a decent kit. Do you have some way to clay your car, and do you know how to was it properly as well?

You've got enough time to watch the video series I linked, it's worth your time.

rayaans · April 17, 2015

Yep kit has good stuff in it. The lake country ccs pads are the best imo.

I was confused as to why there's no white polishing pad in the kit. It turns out that the Black Max is actually a glaze which means it boosts paint depth and shine, fills in most swirls and gets rid of very minute swirls. So really you could use this as much as you want as it doesn't actually remove any paint.

stick the extreme elements on top. I've only heard good things about it. 2 months durability I think.

Max shine is a funny one. It's a polymer based protective liquid but I can't see why you would put it on top of extreme elements. Seems a bit pointless.

And the spray shine, you could just use that just to top the protection up and add some shine

Burroo 67 · April 17, 2015

Mouser, thanks for the link. I fully intend watching these YouTube clips before getting started (probably next weekend) and thanks for the advice Rayaan.

One wee question guys....I am having to carry out this detailing in the street so will have to be careful of debris/dirt/dust blowing onto the car. Do you recommend washing and drying between the three stages (I intend polishing the car over one day, sealing over the second day and waxing on the third day)?

rayaans · April 17, 2015

Mouser, thanks for the link. I fully intend watching these YouTube clips before getting started (probably next weekend) and thanks for the advice Rayaan.

One wee question guys....I am having to carry out this detailing in the street so will have to be careful of debris/dirt/dust blowing onto the car. Do you recommend washing and drying between the three stages (I intend polishing the car over one day, sealing over the second day and waxing on the third day)?

Id try and get the Black Max and the sealant put on in the same day if I were you. Reason being is that the Black Max is a glaze and the fillers will be removed if you wash the car after putting it on. Its polymer based so no need to use IPA or wash as there wont be any bonding issues.

Stick 1 coat of sealant on top, should take 15 mins. Key is to use very thin layers (use a damp applicator, helps alot in thin layers)

Wipe off and then you can leave overnight. Wash the car before you put the wax on. Again, damp applicator and thin layers. Only put 1 layer of the wax on as at this point you will have 3 layers on your car. Glaze, sealant + wax. There's no point in doing more than 3 layers on any car as it wont help durability after this point