As one of the most misunderstood steps in automotive detail design, polishing is often confused with waxing. While car wax and car polish may seem like similar products, they play very different roles in keeping a vehicle's appearance pristine. Car polish can help remove defects in paint, such as scratches, dullness, swirl marks, and oxidation, while car wax helps prevent these problems. The polish is abrasive and removes a small amount of clear coating, helping to remove blemishes and enhance shine. Here's how to do it correctly.
Pre-polishing inspection
Before you start using car polish, you need to make sure the paint on your vehicle is as clean as possible. We recommend using pre-wash snow foam, then car shampoo, then microfiber towel drying, and then clay sticks to remove any bonding contaminants from the painted surface. Only then can you proceed with the polish, knowing that there is nothing on the paint that will further damage the car after you start.
Hand and machine
You can apply automotive polish using microfiber pads or machine polishers, depending on your preferences and the degree of correction required. Most people tend to start with a manual approach and build the machine, but the principle is much the same. Polish is applied to an applicator/polishing pad, which must then be machined into the paint, working in a circular motion panel by panel (hand-polished) or even using a machine polisher. This is a faster and more effective method, but harder to master.
Polish/type of compound
Which type of car polish you use will determine the overall finish of your car. They range from very rough compounds to very fine polishing polishes, and which one to start with should be determined by the degree of defect in the paint. As a rule of thumb, always aim to use the least aggressive car polish to get the job done while removing as little finish as possible.