What is Polish?
A good quality Polish can make the world of difference to any vehicle. Do you remember that deep shine a car has when its gleaming in the show room? Or when your car is wet and the reflection is like a mirror?
Well, a good polish will give the same effect. In fact polishing your vehicles paintwork isn’t just one of those things that needs doing often. If done properly, and sealed in with wax (more below) a polished finish can last for YEARS!
But, How do you do it?
Well to put simply. There are a few things to consider when buying your polish, like:
Do i need to cut out surface scratches?
Do i want a deep shine?
or both?
Corse cutting polishes
Corse cutting polishes work great on cutting out those pesky hedge scratches. They also give a nice fresh layer of lacquer to your vehicle.
This is because Polishing the Lacquer literally cuts down the lacquer on your car. No really, polishes contain tiny granules that lightly shave
the top coat down and reveal a nice fresh finish. Obviously, be careful. You could end up polishing through your clearcoat. We recommend not doing this as the only rectification method is to repaint the panel. If you do this fill out our contact form for a free quotation here, https://pnsmartrepair.co.uk/contact
Once you have polished each panel we recommend going over with a fine polish.
Fine cutting polishes
Fine cutting polishes work very much the same as course polishes. However there are less and smaller cutting granules in the paste.
This can remove any swirl or hologram effects that can be extremely unsightly. Fine polishes can give that super deep shine you may desire. This is achieved by removing surface scratches even the naked eye may not see up close. After all your hard work, you must apply a coat or two of wax.
What is Wax?
Wax, Well its a beautiful thing. Many people don’t understand the seriousness of a good quality automotive wax. Wax can range in price starting from around £3 per 250ml if your on a budget. But it probably wont last longer than 3 weeks (or 2 car washes)
A decent wax can cost around £6 per 250ml and goes much higher! Some waxes can last up to a year. However in real-world conditions its probably more like 7 months.
Imagine applying a wax and as a result, dirt doesn’t stick to your vehicle anymore! Or, Minor hedge scrapes don’t leave a hairline scratch down your vehicle. Sounds incredible right?
And its true!
So what do i need?
Well this list below should help get you started. We will also list a few tips to help:
Note. We do not use any affiliate links.
Need:
Microfibers(at least 2) Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/MTS-Microfibre-Cleaning-Dusters-Bathroom/dp/B019OS1Y4Y
Corse cutting polish Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/3M-Perfect-Fast-Plus-Extreme/dp/B07B9DC4CW/
Fine cutting polish Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/3M-Perfect-Ultrafina-Polish-50383/dp/B01AG0FSZ0/
Wax Link: https://www.supagardshop.co.uk/365-gloss-enhancer/
Optional:
Masking tape Link https://www.jtape.com/product/premium-masking-tape/
Tips
- Dampen your microfiber cloths for the polish and wax application.
- Move in a circular motion (Wax or wax off) and not too fast.
- If using masking tape, we recommend masking over any textured trims or rubber seals.
- Never attempt in direct sunlight or rain.
- Be very careful on vehicle swage lines and edges.
- Don’t use too much product. A 1cm blob usually works a treat for a section around an A4 piece of paper.
- Do one panel at a time. This helps with keeping your hard work in a controlled manor.
- Try and avoid polish getting on textured plastic trims. This can be really awkward to get off.
- Take your time. A full machine polish takes a professional around 3-5 hours on a small car!
Example
Before
After
