How do you polish your car?

[Conor]

While reading the "What Waxes and Polishes do you use?" thread, I began wondering how people actually apply the various polishes and waxes to their cars.

So, do you use various cloth combinations or a machine polisher to apply / work on the paint?

I remember on my previous car, I gave it a good seeing to with claybar, wax, polish combo - by hand. It was pretty gruelling to be honest and kind of took the fun out of it if I am honest.

This time around, I'm thinking of buying a machine polisher so I can perform the various tasks at ease.

I'm interested to hear if anybody uses a £50 pound polisher as all the good brands seem to cost hundreds.

 

[Auto Addict]

I use a clay glove once a year, not quite as efficient as a clay bar, but a lot easier.

 

[JBell]

Have a look in this section, tonnes of info

https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?forums/autocare-detailing-valet-product-reviews.160/

 

[DSK]

A £50 ish will do the job for polishing but, for applying them you only need a lower speed so decent speed control is essential. Sounds like a simple DAS6 is what you need. You will find with detailing too many people get sucked into the hype without using their own common sense. As with everything, not everything that is cheap is rubbish and not everything that's expensive is good.

The detailing sites do offer some good kits and the items are usually the same as cheaper ones with a different label unless you start looking at 3M, Rupes, Bosch etc.

How about this : https://www.amazon.co.uk/100371-Pol...tion+polisher&qid=1557745549&s=gateway&sr=8-3 (Sealey do an identical ones in red for about £80) couple that with decent pads like 3M, LC etc and you're away. (I have the sealey one, same thing only I paid more, to replace a £90 ish pound Kestrel item).

To step it up a notch I have the following;

DAS12 and Bosch Rotary (both are Gem's are wipe the floor with others I have tried after my 3M rotatry was stolen)

 

[AnthonyUK]

I picked up the Argos DA polisher (identical to the one DSK linked to) when it was on offer and it is OK for general low-level correction such as removing the tiny scratches from car wash use. MAny people on Detailing World use it just for applying polish and there are some very knowledgeable people over there.

Once your surface has a decent finish you only need to keep on top of it which for me is the occasional polish/wax/QD by hand as it is relatively quick.

Point to consider - My 203 is getting on a bit, is silver and the paint is not perfect but I enjoy keeping it looking OKish.

 

[Donald McPherson]

Have you seen "Karate Kid"

 

[rorywquin]

While reading the "What Waxes and Polishes do you use?" thread, I began wondering how people actually apply the various polishes and waxes to their cars.

So, do you use various cloth combinations or a machine polisher to apply / work on the paint?

I remember on my previous car, I gave it a good seeing to with claybar, wax, polish combo - by hand. It was pretty gruelling to be honest and kind of took the fun out of it if I am honest.

This time around, I'm thinking of buying a machine polisher so I can perform the various tasks at ease.

I'm interested to hear if anybody uses a £50 pound polisher as all the good brands seem to cost hundreds.

Are you planning paint correction or just cleaning and applying a protective coating?
If you are not doing paint correction try a good modern sealer/coating/wax ....there are loads of good easy on / easy off products on the market and you will get 100s of opinions on which is best. Lots of information about - suggest you do a bit of research in some of the already very long threads on the subject.

I have a DA polisher but with the products I use, it is easier doing it without the machine.

 

[DSK]

Based of the original post, clay/polish/wax, I read it as just final polish and waxing.

 

[Conor]

Based of the original post, clay/polish/wax, I read it as just final polish and waxing.

Yes that is effectively it..but I wouldn't mind trying out some paint correction if I was confident enough I wouldn't completely mess up the paint. But to be honest, I think I would be happy with what clay/polish/wax would provide.

 

[LostKiwi]

I generally just use microfibre cloths from Halfords for normal polishing.

 

[DREAMER NO2]

Nothing special for me , no special polishing tools just arm and a duster job, and bottle of Turtle Original wax . Though the years i have had a lot of polish types , this type and that, as they came on to the market .But in the end i go back to the old Turtle . You ask the veterans what polish they use .They stick to the old type polish .I like to see the beads of water after a shower of rain .New polish just can not take the pace and are protective less after a day or two and no beading up . If you want extra protection just try Johnston Original Hard Wax if you can find one .Hard to apply and even harder to polish off after, but the finish is very good .Every one wants things easy to-day, but polish finish takes time.

 

[LostKiwi]

Nothing special for me , no special polishing tools just arm and a duster job, and bottle of Turtle Original wax . Though the years i have had a lot of polish types , this type and that, as they came on to the market .But in the end i go back to the old Turtle . You ask the veterans what polish they use .They stick to the old type polish .I like to see the beads of water after a shower of rain .New polish just can not take the pace and are protective less after a day or two and no beading up . If you want extra protection just try Johnston Original Hard Wax if you can find one .Hard to apply and even harder to polish off after, View attachment 51360 but the finish is very good .Every one wants things easy to-day, but polish finish takes time.

Agreed on the old tech. I use Simoniz.
Gives a great finish.
I have a bottle of ceramic in the drawer which I keep thinking about using but given it's been there 2 years now I can't see the next year being any different...

 

[rorywquin]

Agreed on the old tech. I use Simoniz.
Gives a great finish.
I have a bottle of ceramic in the drawer which I keep thinking about using but given it's been there 2 years now I can't see the next year being any different...

Probably past it's use by date. I have some Carpro stuff and it has a very short shelf-life.

 

[rorywquin]

Agreed on the old tech. I use Simoniz.
Gives a great finish.
I have a bottle of ceramic in the drawer which I keep thinking about using but given it's been there 2 years now I can't see the next year being any different...

I use the Carlack (est 1958) range - reasonable price, easy on / off and it lasts about 6 months (although car is garaged) and I don't mind applying it 2x a year as it is so easy to use.

 

[DREAMER NO2]

Nice polish to use is Autoglym it leaves no residue, but its only for show cars that sit in the garage most of the time .It dose nothing to protect the paint if outside in the rain .

 

[Craiglxviii]

I wash with Meguiars Gold Class shampoo, then polish with Meguiars Quik Wax spray. Simple spray on and buff off; I use Costco microfibre cloths @ 50 for £12

 

[Conor]

I'm beginning to get the feeling I will probably get satisfactory results with just elbow grease and no power tool.

Probably better off spending money on a power washer before polisher..

I had an idea in my mind that I wanted to build up to a nice finish then put some ceramic protectant on there to keep it in good shape.

I also have to content with some pretty deep stone chips on the bonnet.

 

[Capra]

I'm beginning to get the feeling I will probably get satisfactory results with just elbow grease and no power tool.

Probably better off spending money on a power washer before polisher..

I had an idea in my mind that I wanted to build up to a nice finish then put some ceramic protectant on there to keep it in good shape.

I also have to content with some pretty deep stone chips on the bonnet.

I looked at this as a newbie last year, and when you start looking you realise how big the detailing world is, and confusing. Big difference between making the pain look nice and paint correction. If you paintwork is ok just cleaning and waxing will be enough. But if you were to apply some initial slight pain correction with a polish and then wax you would probably see a difference! If I have the time I really enjoy the process, but don't bother if time is limited.

 

[rorywquin]

IMO there is a lot of smoke and mirrors in the "detailing world" and the range of products is out there to confuse the buyer and over complicate the process. Products like this https://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk...MIp8DQqbe24wIVibPtCh3iAgU1EAQYASABEgLZFfD_BwE
are ridiculous.

I've always pressure rinsed and got all the big dirt off, then foam lance (not sure if there is any real benefit but as I have the gear..) shampooed with a good quality product that does not strip the sealants / waxes (once I've used up my Carlak shampoo I'll go back to "DodoJuice Born to be Mild" using a microfibre mitt (actually I have recently started using a lambswool mitt and it is really good) using one bucket with a grit guard. Good rinse with the pressure washer and then dry (I use filtered water as my final rinse to avoid hand drying as I'm very lazy and hate drying cars). I use Carlack 68 & Carlack Longlife - reasonable price, and very easy to apply.

I have a DA polisher, used it once with Carlack and found doing it by hand was easier. I have a sample of one of the Autofinesse waxes to try and will see if I prefer teh DA with that.

 

[Conor]

I agree guys. The detailing world seems to be at a point in it's evolution where there are seasoned pros chasing marginal gains for "the best possible finish".

For me, I am enjoying learning all about this (because there are only so many mechanical repairs I can do).

Hear me out for a second, I have been mildly entertaining the idea of spraying parts of my bumper that have some mild damage, which would be solved my some light filling and sanding. I think that for the spray to match up well against the other panels the, those panels would probably want some level of correction. I am wayyyy off this for this simple reason that I don't have a structure to house the car while I do this level of work.


My car is very much a project car, which I paid a relatively small amount of money for, so I am enjoying this process and even more so, the fact that I know I can take the odd chance to learn something new on it. If I had splashed out significant cash, that wouldn't be the case.

It's all for fun really, and if the paint starts to look bad i'll just get it really dirty and never clean again