Car polishing - orbital polisher questions

MrBrindle

Hi all, I'm doing some work on our black car. My missus has to use it on some country lanes, and due to some close hedge driving there are quite a few light scratches across the sides. Tbh if it ever has to be sold in a car dealer again it will probably need respraying. Some patches are quite bad.

I'd just like to lessen the damage somewhat and get that sheen back on the paintwork.

I was given an orbital car polisher for xmas last year, but I don't know if I'm using it right. It's not the most expensive piece of kit, 110W, single speed. I usually spend around 10-15 min working on a door panel for example, and then when I switch to the polishing pad as per the instructions, the paintwork never polishes to a sheen! Even after 10 mins of polishing it still has a thin haze of polish on it, and I then have to revert to polishing up by hand.

The stuff I've been using is Meguiars UC, which I bought because of great reviews.

Am I doing something wrong? Not polishing long enough?

neilmcl

You're using a cutting compound polish so you need to finish off with a finishing polish. I'm also assuming you use the standard polishing pad that came with the machine. TBH, you're never going to get good results with a cheap, single speed polisher and in fact you could probably do more harm than good.

MrBrindle

neilmcl wrote: »

You're using a cutting compound polish so you need to finish off with a finishing polish. I'm also assuming you use the standard polishing pad that came with the machine. TBH, you're never going to get good results with a cheap, single speed polisher and in fact you could probably do more harm than good.

Oh dear, my MIL bought the stuff for me and she said the bloke at wherever she bought it from suggested UC. Yes using the standard polishing pad that came with it. Lucky I've only done the one panel. Why do they market it as a polisher then? This off amazon:

'STUNNING FINISH: Exclusive micro-abrasive technology leaves a "like new" finish and adds gloss in one easy step'

Any methods, products you recommend? I don't mind doing it all by hand if needs be.

mchale

Have a read here:

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/91484/product-awards-2019-the-winners

neilmcl

Don't misunderstand me, UC is a very good polish but as the name suggests its a cutting compound primarily and you need to finish off with a lighter finishing polish to get good results, particularly if you've been a bit heavy handed with it, either manually or with a machine. I could recommend all sorts of products and a better polisher but as I suspect you don't want to spend loads more then I'd advise using some Autoglym Super Resin Polish to finish off.

Also, you can only do so much with polishing to correct scratches, if the scratches are deep enough to go all the way into the paint surface and beyond then no amount of polishing will fix it.

neilmcl

mchale wrote: »

Have a read here:

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/91484/product-awards-2019-the-winners

I wouldn't use any of them for serious paint correction, they're mainly used for light filling of scratches.

The best all in one imo, especially when used in conjunction with a machine would have to be Scholl Concepts S20 black, or by hand Adams Revive Hand Polish.

mchale

neilmcl wrote: »

I wouldn't use any of them for serious paint correction, they're mainly used for light filling of scratches.

The best all in one imo, especially when used in conjunction with a machine would have to be Scholl Concepts S20 black, or by hand Adams Revive Hand Polish.

Never implied they were for serious paint correction, but as OP said "light scratches" I was just trying to help OP with some options.

Scrapit

Try detailing world for a wealth of knowledge

googler

1001 videos on YouTube with advice, guidance, suggested techniques relating to "detailing" as the Yanks call it.

Very watchable are those by "AMMO NYC", so I would suggest starting there, he has whole videos on selection of polishing pads, techniques, etc.

EDIT - 31 mins on "Polishes vs Compounds vs Buffing Pads"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqaB_DD10n8

debtdebt

I don't think you're doing it right.

A polish isn't the final stage of the detailing process. A polish, especially with an orbital sander will take a very thin layer of clear coat off the paintwork hence why it will remove light scratches.

Once you're done with the polish, you need to leave it to cure or dry and then buff off by hand with a microfibre cloth.

Once you've done that, the paintwork needs protection from a wax. The wax can be applied by hand and once again needs to be buffed off by hand.

Are you presuming that polishes or waxes don't need to be buffed off? They do.

Also, be careful when using the orbital polisher. Novices can easily burn through paint with those things if they don't know what they're doing.