There is one comment that comes to mind, That is amazing!!
im thinking of starting up my own valeting company and doing paint restoration. seeing the pro's do their job is a real education.
thank you for the lesson.
Colin

Colin Smith | 05.18.06 - 6:35 am | #

You are very welcome.

Danny | Homepage | 05.23.06 - 1:43 pm | #

Where can I buy the polishes/compounds that you mention in this article?

I live in the U.K.

Thanks,

Ian

Ian | 05.04.07 - 4:49 pm | #

http://www.touchuppaint.co.uk/st...2/polish-- waxes

Danny | Homepage | 05.05.07 - 8:19 am | #

that looks great! I always wanted to learn how to use a buffer. I think your pictures with the paragraph are very helpfull. I detail cars and i'm trying to get some buisness going and buffing will do just that. Just learning the pads and how to use them is the hardest thing if you have any more tips, or ways that i could get some experience please let me know. thank you.

mario williams | 06.23.07 - 1:13 am | #

I am interested in opening a small business over here in Kenya of buffing and polishing cars. Can you please recommend me the machines required. Also let me know their prices

M Valli | 09.04.07 - 7:01 pm | #

great job! i own a black car which i have buffed but when doing the finall polish with an 8 inch black foam pad i have found the polishing cloth ive been using to wipe away any excess polish is leaving tiny scratches. should i be using a cloth and what type is recomended for a black car. thanks

steve | 06.05.08 - 9:31 am | #

Ah, this is the problem isn't it. We know it well. The paintwork on some cars is so soft that it's a never ending battle trying to keep the swirls out. It's for this reason that we have stopped doing full paintwork correction on cars under one year old, after this time we find most of them harden a bit but new cars can be often especially soft.

We use various microfibre cloths. Most good quality ones will do... but if you get this problem and if even high quality cloths are leaving slight swirls, then there is little point going to the enth degree because you'll probably find that whatever wash kit you are using will but slight swirls in anyway.

Do you get where I'm coming from? I know it would be nice to complete the job with a perfect finish, but it will only last to till the next wash. So what you have to do instead is cheat! Use a wax product that hides swirls.

As you probably know, most liquid products are going to have some fillers and diffusers, so with any luck, most will hide these marks when seen from a distance. In fact, some of the polishes and compounds (which are far from being finishing products) contain enough siloxanes and oils which are there for lubricants, to hide holograms -- and this is why you will see that on some US sites, they recommend wiping the panels down with alcohol between each pass with the buffer (We find that bodyshop Panel-wipe does the same job).

So anyway... my advice would be to get a couple of microfibre finishing cloths... the AutoGlym one is okay although you'll need to fold the edges in. Look after them well, change them regularly. But the best solution is probably just to try and hide these marks and keep your fingers crossed that you paintwork hardens over time.

Danny | Homepage | 06.06.08 - 9:06 am | #