Cheap alternative to machine polishing
Discussion
Wanted to get my car machine polished, but local rates (Nottingham) are around £140. I'm not looking to turn my car into a show car, but want to invest some hours in getting the paintwork looking tidier. Can anyone recommend a decent polish / or kit as an alternative to forking out £140? Thread for my car is here: http://www.pistonheads.com/GASSING/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Buy some kit, do it yourself.
You can get a DA polisher called a kestrel for ~ £100 or so, gran one of those.
Then get a nice soft pad, chemical guys hex logic (white) does me well.
Now find a polish with fillers in, you could use autogylm SRP (the red label stuff) but I find it a bit awkward on the polisher. I forget exactly what polishes have fillers in now, do a bit of research on DW.
Wash and clay the car and then use the machine to apply polish, do 2 or 3 layers.
Find a nice, easy wax to finish off (I've got one of the soft dodojuice waxes).
The fillers in the polish will hide some of the swirls/marks etc. You should always test an inconspicuous area but you should find its pretty difficult to actually do any harm to the paint as you aren't really going to cut the paint/lacquer. If you let the wax wear off the rain/washing etc will knock all the polish out, but you can start again.. , but you'll have all the kit to do it. Potentially if you got a bit braver you could start doing some correction with it.
I find 3M Ultrafina really easy to use, this does cut and apparently does not contain fillers but I quite like it. Lots and lots of polishes out there, I would ask on DW (detailing world) for a suitable polish for your car/paint type.
Look out for secondhand DA machines - I've got an old porter cable I paid £20 for, works fine.
You can get a DA polisher called a kestrel for ~ £100 or so, gran one of those.
Then get a nice soft pad, chemical guys hex logic (white) does me well.
Now find a polish with fillers in, you could use autogylm SRP (the red label stuff) but I find it a bit awkward on the polisher. I forget exactly what polishes have fillers in now, do a bit of research on DW.
Wash and clay the car and then use the machine to apply polish, do 2 or 3 layers.
Find a nice, easy wax to finish off (I've got one of the soft dodojuice waxes).
The fillers in the polish will hide some of the swirls/marks etc. You should always test an inconspicuous area but you should find its pretty difficult to actually do any harm to the paint as you aren't really going to cut the paint/lacquer. If you let the wax wear off the rain/washing etc will knock all the polish out, but you can start again.. , but you'll have all the kit to do it. Potentially if you got a bit braver you could start doing some correction with it.
I find 3M Ultrafina really easy to use, this does cut and apparently does not contain fillers but I quite like it. Lots and lots of polishes out there, I would ask on DW (detailing world) for a suitable polish for your car/paint type.
Look out for secondhand DA machines - I've got an old porter cable I paid £20 for, works fine.
Try some Poorboys Black hole followed by Natty's blue paste wax. I got them on ebay together. I used them with a DA machine, but you can do them by hand. The Black hole made my black cars so much blacker, I was really impressed, I could even do one of those half/half photos! The Natty's blue can also be used on a wet car, which is handy if you are short of time.
(nice car BTW)
(nice car BTW)
Edited by FakeConcern on Friday 27th February 18:49
Forget polishes with filler in them, what you need to do is remove scratches/swirls before anything else. A good combination is Farecla G3 followed by G10 then use 3M finesse it which is an ultra fine cut, follow up with R222 concours carnauba wax then use AD Hellshine paint sealant and you'll have something approaching a concours finish. Hellshine is around £60 a tub but goes a very long way. Although having a flawless paint finish to start with using the above products ive amassed 11 concours de elegance first places..
You can get the silverline rotary polisher for about 50 quid. Invest in some decent compound like Menzerna or 3m and some nice pads eg 3M or sonus (not the silverline ones they're rubbish). Read the rotary pyramid method guide on detailing world and off you go. Finish off with some proper wax like Collinite or the brands mentioned above and you're car will look stunning.
People are scared of rotaries but if you don't go mad with them and keep moving they work very well indeed.
People are scared of rotaries but if you don't go mad with them and keep moving they work very well indeed.
"Polishes" with loads of fillers in them will be a bit of a waste of time, as you'll be back to swirl city after a few washes.
It'd be worth having it done properly, or investing in the kit to do it properly yourself (definitely worth doing on something of little monetary value, no offence).
It'll cost more to kit yourself out, but it's all reusable, and be warned, it's addictive!!
It'd be worth having it done properly, or investing in the kit to do it properly yourself (definitely worth doing on something of little monetary value, no offence).
It'll cost more to kit yourself out, but it's all reusable, and be warned, it's addictive!!
The point about using a filler polish was that the OP wouldn't do any harm to the paint, I assumed that he was a bit wary of doing it himself and potentially causing damage.
If you put a wax over it no reason why it wouldn't last a while.
If you aren't concerned about doing damage by all means use something with a cut, to be honest unless the paint is very soft or you use an agressive pad something like ultrafina or menz is unlikely to do damage and would tidy it up.
If you put a wax over it no reason why it wouldn't last a while.
If you aren't concerned about doing damage by all means use something with a cut, to be honest unless the paint is very soft or you use an agressive pad something like ultrafina or menz is unlikely to do damage and would tidy it up.
95Aero said:
Wanted to get my car machine polished, but local rates (Nottingham) are around £140. I'm not looking to turn my car into a show car, but want to invest some hours in getting the paintwork looking tidier. Can anyone recommend a decent polish / or kit as an alternative to forking out £140? Thread for my car is here: http://www.pistonheads.com/GASSING/topic.asp?h=0&a...
imho that's far to cheap for a decent return. A pro using half decent materials and minimum of a days work, your in the ball park of 2-250 to include labour rates consumables and all the stuff people don't think about.. premises costs(if applicable) insurance, running costs.£140 would probably get you a final stage machine polish (half day) that's gonna last till it rains.
7even said:
£140 would probably get you a final stage machine polish (half day) that's gonna last till it rains.
Agreed, I get asked to do a full correction job on cars with the promise of a few drinks, cost alone in materials with all prep, clay, etc etc typically wearing out a pad or two soon mounts up, before factoring in time. Can easily buy cheap products to do a cheap job but it doesn't last long and is effectively a waste of time, unless want it doing quick just to sell the car.I get snorts of derision when I say it takes three days to valet a car properly !
There is no quick or easy or cheap way .
Use what the pros use where you can , they use it for a reason .
Rotary polishing is the best IMHO but can cause a lot of damage if you don't pay attention , burning the paint or wearing through is the most common .
G3 and finesse it was my preference then a good polish then a quality wax .
Taking a grubby ,faded and scratched shed and ending up with a showroom ready car always gave me a lot of pleasure .
Warning !!!! It does get addictive .
There is no quick or easy or cheap way .
Use what the pros use where you can , they use it for a reason .
Rotary polishing is the best IMHO but can cause a lot of damage if you don't pay attention , burning the paint or wearing through is the most common .
G3 and finesse it was my preference then a good polish then a quality wax .
Taking a grubby ,faded and scratched shed and ending up with a showroom ready car always gave me a lot of pleasure .
Warning !!!! It does get addictive .
grumpy52 said:
Taking a grubby ,faded and scratched shed and ending up with a showroom ready car always gave me a lot of pleasure .
Warning !!!! It does get addictive .
Totally agree, did a black Audi R8 last week, took me two solid days just correcting the paint let alone doing anything else to it, but it was a good work out and the end results are good to see compared to what started with, now where are those pain killers for my bad back.............Warning !!!! It does get addictive .
Gassing Station | Bodywork & Detailing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff