I’ve been detailing cars for a few years along with the quantity of questions people email me about how exactly to get it done themselves, I thought I’d just create things i tell people. I mostly cover how you can polish a car, many people already realize how to clean and dry their very own cars, so why let them know how you can do that? Well , actually, there are is proper way to get it done, however i will cover that in another article.
First, I want to say that you must start with a clean car. I don’t wish to go into a lot of details, but basically you need to wash and dry it all by hand. Then you should definitely go over the vehicle having a Clay Bar. A Clay Bar is simply that, I bit of clay that you will get in a kit with a bottle of spray. Which is an automotive quick detailer spray most of the time. Wartrol is used as a lubricant around the paint while you rub the clay bar over the paint to clean off all of the contamination and grit that accumulates on your paint finish. Once this is accomplished, then its safe to polish the scratches from the clear coat or paint surface.
The first step in polishing the paint is determining the amount of damage you have. Have you got any scratch that you could feel and catch with your finger nail? if you dot, then you have a deep scratch that’ll be hard to take out. This gets worse if you’re able to see through to the undercoat. if you can see metal, then it went throughout the clear coat and paint. I will not cover single stage paint, this is less frequent and that i will discuss base / clear coat painted cars ( most common ). For those who have a scratch that is this deep, you will need to repair the scratch first, you will get scratch repair kits from various auto detailing supply companies, either online or locally. First, fix the scratch, then follow the polish from the paint. The next level of damage could possibly be fine scratches. You will see this as many small, short scratches all over the paint. Normally, this is created from using rough drying towels, or taking your vehicle with an automatic carwash that utilizes brushes. Do that only one time and your paint is ruined. The easiest method to begin to see the damage is by using the sun’s reflection from the paint surface. The next level would be swirl marks, these are usually brought on by previous polishing attempts and therefore are most noticeable as extremely fine lines as a circular type pattern. They are simpler to correct too. The final degree of damage is basically the oxidization and discoloration from the paint. This is caused by the sun and helps make the paint look dull. Red paint is the worst, but it occurs on all colors.
Use a power polisher or do it all by hand ( takes longer ) to fix all the above issues. You will want to begin with a great selection of polishing products, with respect to the severity of the damage. Begin with huge cut compound for the deep scratches ( that you ought to have already corrected with a scratch repair ). Then a medium or mild cut compound for the fine scratches and lastly a swirl remover for that swirl marks. These can be applied by hand too. If you decide to use a machine, make sure that you begin with a lighter polish and pad first, if that doesn’t work, then go to some more aggressive compound or pad. The last thing that you want to do is burn using your clear coat or paint. Once you do this, there isn’t any going back and you will need to repair or fix the region you burnt through. Begin with the type of compound that suits the worst damage you’ve on your paint. You’ll need all the remaining products to complete the job too. If you possess the fine line scratches ( most typical ), with the odd deep scratch, then you will need all 3 types.
You will have to select the following items. A pack of 20 or even more micro fiber cloths, the compounds you need for that damage in your paint, a polish that is really light duty, mostly known as glaze. Meguiar’s constitutes a polish called speed glaze, with a cut power of just one or 2 I think , this is exactly what you need to use as the last step. This will really enhance the gloss of the paint. Once that step is complete, you will need to wax it or put a sealant on, so pick up a Meguiar’s wax, or something like that.
You steps is going to be the following. we’ll assume that you have some deep scratches on the car and mostly fine scratches everywhere. To properly detail the vehicle you will need to proceed as I note here
- wash and dry
- clay bar the vehicle to remove all contamination at first glance
- fix the deep scratches with your scratch repair kit
- polish manually ( or machine ) with a medium or fine cut polish, whether it does not remove the scratches in 1 or 2 passes, then proceed to a heavy or medium cut. Proceed to heavier cut compounds until it removes the scratches
- polish the vehicle again using the lighter polish from the previous step, this removes the swirl marks you may have put in the paint should you used huge compound. This step could be skipped should you started having a fine cut compound
- Polish the car with the swirl remover, this can remove all the fine line and swirls in the paint
- Polish the vehicle a last time having a speed glaze type product. This step will brighten and richen the paint color.
- last step would be to wax or seal the surface.
That’s about this. While you use the polish be sure you do it in a shaded area, the UV in the sun will make the removal and work a lot harder. To check you progress, use a bright light, like a halogen work light. Consider the paint directly into the reflection of the light and you’ll begin to see the lines, scratches, swirls, etc, very easily.