I need a polishing thingy.....pour on the abuse!

[murph2309]

OK - I have put off posting this for quite some time as I know the general view of tarting your car.....but.....

I really, really like it when my car is shiny and I have put some swirlies in my paint through inept use of polishing products (oh and wiping the rain off my car at Le Mans last year while it was dirty, with a chamois, in the dark, when I was a bit pi$$ed)

So.....I would like to buy a power polisher and have done some research on the detailing sites, but frankly there's a level of geekery there that staggers even me and I'm finding it difficult to make a choice.

I want to wax the car properly and I want to have a lovely deep, shiny, swirlie-free finish on the car.

Can someone help me edit the choices out there and recommend a polisher and some polish(es)?

There. Done it now. Outed. Phew, feel better for that.

R

[Bootsy]

Ban button at the ready

[964RS]

Defriended.

[camperco]

Full re-spray

[murph2309]

I'm going for the 'outlaw look'

Please indulge my OCD....

[Tosh]

GALMI

I mean, if you're only going to do it once (which you are for fear of being banned), why go through the pain of the man maths and recommendations when one of the geekerers off Detailing World will come along, do you car and post pictures of it on DW afterwards? Everyone's a winner: You get de-swirled, no clutter in your man-cave and some pretty pics of your car get posted elsewhere by someone showing off their prowess with a clay-bar on a car which is not a silver BMW

[8bit-ash]

I've got this (https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/prod ... -060310185) one only used a couple of times i'll sell you for £50 which is great for burning through your paint.

[mycar]

Those rotary polishers do speed the process up but it's important to use a light touch, it's easy to go through the top coat.

[Bootsy]

Bet Rich is glad he started this thread

[TDK]

Don't get a rotary if you've never used a machine polisher before! Have a read of this basic guide on how to detail/machine polish a car first... http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... hp?t=63859

The basic process is wash your car, clay the surface to remove contaminants, machine polish, pre-wax cleanser and then wax. You don't need to spend a fortune on kit and chemicals to do this, nor should it take huge amounts of time (unless you want it to!) - I can usually do my car in a full day and then only spend that much time on it every couple of years. If you then wash the car carefully (two bucket method) you shouldn't need to machine polish for quite some time and only have to re-wax every 6-12 months depending upon how often you use/wash your car.

There is a LOT of different kit and manufacturers of chemicals on the market and many people will have their own favourites. I've made some basic recommendations below, based on what I've used in the past that offer good performance and good value. You can spend a fortune on all this stuff, but this should get you going as a good starters kit... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing ... d_525.html

Shampoo... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-a ... d_165.html
Wash mitt... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-a ... d_984.html
Clay bar... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/detailing ... od_83.html
Pre-wax cleanser... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/index.php ... ductId=441
Wax... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/dodo- ... d_397.html

You'll also need some microfibre cloths...http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/microfibr ... d_185.html and http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/microfibr ... d_185.html
Drying towel... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/microfibr ... d_304.html
Wax applicators... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessori ... d_177.html

In-between waxes you can use a detailing spray just to bring the shine on the paintwork back up... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/zaino/zai ... d_471.html

Just to be clear, I've no affiliation to the website above, other than having bought from them in the past. I hope that helps.

Simon.

[roadiesean]

Use your hands ! That way exhaustion will control the level of burning through paint you do !!!

[hot66]

before you're banned and stripped of your honoury northern badge ....

try a mild hand polish 1st . I've juts used some on the 964 just to see, and it took out all the swirls in the decklid. Admittedly, a proper rotary polish by someone who knows what they are doing would make it perfect

Then you need to protect the paint etc and learn to wash it in the future

fill ya boots

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/

I've just been using some dodo juice wax , cleaner , polish etc that I won last year & im pretty impressed
EDIT : posted whilst the above did too

[MdR]

I haven't cleaned my T for about 3 years. Mind you it is in bits somewhere behind the Ghia

[markm]

Wax On, Wax off Daniel son

[majordad]

Why would I need a thingy, could good old elbow grease not do the job ? That way I'd be in more control , or would I ? . I'm talking about waxing not polishing.