Machine Polish tips

[div]

Hi,

well with the continued mountain of detailing products i seem to be amounting, i had a Halfrauds polisher brought for me http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_189810_langId_-1_categoryId_165640 not my choice i have to say but it was a present so beggers cant be chosers. i have never used a machine polisher before have only ever used elbow grease and as .. so far i think i have done pretty well with the new car and not put any swirl marks into it (or very little anyway) i dont want to go maknig a pigs ear with the polisher and go making swirl marks left right and centre.

Any tips for this type of thing would be useful, ill be giving it a good clean at the weekend, snow foam/ rinse/snow/rinse two bucket, then some wax or polish so any tips?

[alexandjen]

After the wash stage I'd de-tar the lower panels/bumpers and clay all of the paintwork to remove embedded contaminants before starting the machine polishing.

What polish are you going to use?

[div]

After the wash stage I'd de-tar the lower panels/bumpers and clay all of the paintwork to remove embedded contaminants before starting the machine polishing.

What polish are you going to use?

yes sorry missed the clay off the list of things i was going to do first then of course a good rinse afterwards. i will probably use some turtle wax liquid ice that i have left over or megs gold class, for a wax i will use collinite 476 which i am guessing is fine to buff off with the machine polisher?

[Leodhasach]

Probably the most comprehensive machine polishing guide you'll ever see:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=63859

[alexandjen]

yes sorry missed the clay off the list of things i was going to do first then of course a good rinse afterwards. i will probably use some turtle wax liquid ice that i have left over or megs gold class, for a wax i will use collinite 476 which i am guessing is fine to buff off with the machine polisher?

Get some tar remover for the lower panels as it'll save your clay bar getting dirty to quickly.

Collinite 476s is applied by hand, thinly with a damp sponge applicator, not buy machine, but I suppose you could buff it off with your polisher.

The polishing stage is to remove defects from the paint, i.e. swirls and light scratches, usually for machine polishing the 3M, Meguiars, Menzerna and Sonus polishes seem to be the most popular with detailers.

Gtechniq P1 nano polish is becoming very popular also, followed by their C2 sealant.

I personally use the 3m range with a rotory polisher and have finished off with 2 coats of Collinite 476s for the winter but am swaying towards trying the Gtechniq range

As said above, have a read through Dave Kg's excellent guide

Edited 10 December, 2010 by alexandjen

[div]

thanks guys some good info on the link hopefully i can have a read over the weekend and if it at least stays above freezing have a go on sunday