Machine polishing.... for a novice

[Podie]

Reeso said:

Podie.....why didn't you speak to me at silverstone! You berk!

One of the guys I was with is a detailer.

Trying to cram 5 years of conversation into 5 minutes was a fairly tall order anyway!

[Fastra]

I'm no expert, but I'm sure these machines have been mentioned on here before:


http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/machine-polishing-pa...

For £50 what do we think?

or A complete kit for £110:

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing-machines/s...

?

Edited by Fastra on Friday 8th March 14:38

[nickfrog]

No point in claying and moping if you haven't done any decontamination first. Cars are unsurprisingly covered by (often invisible) tar residue and iron from the brakes so even claying without decon will inflict damage, not to mention mopping.

Tardis for tar and IronX for iron (for instance) should be used prior to claying.

The entire process is very long if you want to do it properly.

You can't even hope to start moping on day 1 and if you're a careful beginner you might not have finished by the end of day 2.

Sorry if I sound a bit negative and anal !!

[r129sl]

Like anything, you can spend as little or as much time and money as you have; and, like anything, there is a diminishing return.

If you enjoy keeping your car clean and polished, then a machine polisher is really worth having because it makes the job of polishing and sealing the paint so much quicker and so much more effective (especially the polishing).

I have the Meguiar's G220. I find it very good and easy to use. In my hopeless hands and under pressure of time, it will remove most (not all) swirl marks using Meguiar's Dual Action Cleaner Polish (look, before anyone tells me I'd be much better off with XYZ, this is just what I happen to have in my garage). I then use Speed Glaze. And finally I seal the paint with Synthetic Sealant. The improvement over a single stage, hand-applied wax job (with for instance Auto Glym Super Resin Polish) is not incremental: it is a massive improvement.

I would highly recommend buying a good tar remover. I have been impressed by Tardis. Spray it on. Leave it. Sponge it off. I would also recommend you obtain a good tyre cleaner and dressing. I clean the tyres with Auto Glym Clean All. Spray on, pressure wash off. Then I dress them at the end with Auto Glym Vinyl and Rubber Care. Spray on, leave awhile, buff off. Spray the tyres when the sealant is curing on the car, then you don't get over spray on the paint.

Everything else just brings incremental improvement.

My use of the polishing machine has improved with time but I enjoyed a benefit straight away. I do find that the biggest improvement in appearance comes from paying attention to the little details: the gaps between panels, the grilles and grids, the nooks and crannies, the contrasting bits of trim, the lights.

[Mr2Mike]

Fastra said:

I'm no expert, but I'm sure these machines have been mentioned on here before:


http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/machine-polishing-pa...

For £50 what do we think?

£44.78 including postage from Amazon. I have the standard Silverline polisher which is £38.14, not sure what the difference is to be honest (same power, similar speed range).

The bundled kit is probably more convenient than it is good value.

[JackP1]

Podie yhm