First time polishing with DA Random Orbital

[antonini311]

Hi,

This weekend I took my first stab at polishing my wife's car with a DA. I have to say that in every video I have watched, be it Chemical Guys or Pan The Organizer...whomever, they make it seem very simple to apply the polish, work it in at a higher speed, then simply wipe away the excess. I didn't find this to be the case. spreading and polishing was fine, but I had to put in quite a bit of elbow grease to remove some of the excess (near the bottom of the door). Aside from the fact that I don't think it removed some swirls/light scratches like I had hoped, I found this excess I had to try and buff away was very hazy. Which made me nervous I somehow screwed up the clear coat.

I eventually got it all off, but like I said, it took some work. And the microfiber cloth felt like it was getting a lot of resistance from the car body. Like what I was doing was bad for the paint.

A layer of wax at the end helped make it all smooth again.

But my question is: did you use too much polish maybe...or not enough? I tried to work in 2'x2' sections with pretty much the same amount I see in every video (5-6 dime-sized drops on the pad). And tried to take care to condition the pad with QD first (2 light sprays). The pads I have were stock ones that came with my polisher and aren't grooved at all like the Chemical Guys ones...so maybe I have crappy pads too.

The whole experience made me nervous and I didn't even polish as much of the car as I wanted. Meh. Bad first time, I'll say.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Hi,

This weekend I took my first stab at polishing my wife's car with a DA. I have to say that in every video I have watched, be it Chemical Guys or Pan The Organizer...whomever, they make it seem very simple to apply the polish, work it in at a higher speed, then simply wipe away the excess. I didn't find this to be the case. spreading and polishing was fine, but I had to put in quite a bit of elbow grease to remove some of the excess (near the bottom of the door). Aside from the fact that I don't think it removed some swirls/light scratches like I had hoped, I found this excess I had to try and buff away was very hazy. Which made me nervous I somehow screwed up the clear coat.

I eventually got it all off, but like I said, it took some work. And the microfiber cloth felt like it was getting a lot of resistance from the car body. Like what I was doing was bad for the paint.

A layer of wax at the end helped make it all smooth again.

But my question is: did you use too much polish maybe...or not enough? I tried to work in 2'x2' sections with pretty much the same amount I see in every video (5-6 dime-sized drops on the pad). And tried to take care to condition the pad with QD first (2 light sprays). The pads I have were stock ones that came with my polisher and aren't grooved at all like the Chemical Guys ones...so maybe I have crappy pads too.

The whole experience made me nervous and I didn't even polish as much of the car as I wanted. Meh. Bad first time, I'll say.

Thanks for any thoughts.

The polish should break down to the point where there isn’t that much to remove. Probably used too much.

I start with me guile’s ultimate compound (clear safe) to remove most scratches. Then you in the machine polish.

it would take a lot to screw up (too fast, too hard, dry pad, debris- like a pad hitting the floor and reusing).

 

[nhcowboy28]

The polish should break down to the point where there isn’t that much to remove. Probably used too much.

I start with me guile’s ultimate compound (clear safe) to remove most scratches. Then you in the machine polish.

it would take a lot to screw up (too fast, too hard, dry pad, debris- like a pad hitting the floor and reusing).

Another thing.

Only use virgin microfibers. Always.

 

[SilverNitr8]

Some thoughts from my first experience....

I used the Chemical Guys polishing kit with the Torq polisher and waffle foam pads. I went with the foam pads since they are supposed to be easier on the paint especially for a newbie. I definitely followed the instructions from chemical guys with 5 pea size polisher and a couple of spray for lubrication. I also used the least aggressive polish and work my way to more aggressive depending on the severity of the paint so that I don't cut too much on the clear coat. I started with the V38 then V36 after until I got the result I wanted then switched to a finishing foam pad for waxing. I dabbed the polish on the area I will work on and then set my polisher to the lowest setting to evenly spread them in the paint then slowly increase the speed as I work the section. I don't put pressure on the polisher and just let the polisher do the work. Don't expect to get perfect results the first pass, with scratches some are harder to remove than others so go with least aggressive to most aggressive. Every time you are polishing the car, you are taking a layer of clear coat so if you go too aggressive right away you can burn through your paint and there is no going back. Too much polish is not good since you won't actually "cut through" and polish the car and too little polish is bad as well as you can burn through the paint if not add more swirls on your paint. I think 4-5 is a good medium. After you polish wipe it right away, don't wait for it to haze. I also use a detailer spray to remove any excess polish on the paint easier. Polish and wipe off one panel at a time. When done, switch finishing foam and wax.

Last tip....make sure you clay bar your car before polishing. You don't want your pad to get gunk up with contaminants and put more scratch on your car.

 

[antonini311]

Some thoughts from my first experience....

I used the Chemical Guys polishing kit with the Torq polisher and waffle foam pads. I went with the foam pads since they are supposed to be easier on the paint especially for a newbie. I definitely followed the instructions from chemical guys with 5 pea size polisher and a couple of spray for lubrication. I also used the least aggressive polish and work my way to more aggressive depending on the severity of the paint so that I don't cut too much on the clear coat. I started with the V38 then V36 after until I got the result I wanted then switched to a finishing foam pad for waxing. I dabbed the polish on the area I will work on and then set my polisher to the lowest setting to evenly spread them in the paint then slowly increase the speed as I work the section. I don't put pressure on the polisher and just let the polisher do the work. Don't expect to get perfect results the first pass, with scratches some are harder to remove than others so go with least aggressive to most aggressive. Every time you are polishing the car, you are taking a layer of clear coat so if you go too aggressive right away you can burn through your paint and there is no going back. Too much polish is not good since you won't actually "cut through" and polish the car and too little polish is bad as well as you can burn through the paint if not add more swirls on your paint. I think 4-5 is a good medium. After you polish wipe it right away, don't wait for it to haze. I also use a detailer spray to remove any excess polish on the paint easier. Polish and wipe off one panel at a time. When done, switch finishing foam and wax.

Last tip....make sure you clay bar your car before polishing. You don't want your pad to get gunk up with contaminants and put more scratch on your car.

Thanks for the advice. Yep, I clayed the whole car first (a minivan...talk about a lot of labor). And the couple areas where I couldn't seem to easily buff away excess polish, I used some QD and that helped. But still took more effort than I would have thought. So entirely possible was just using too much.

What I really should do is go to a scrap yard and get an old panel from a car and practice on that. I'd bet most places would just give it to you.

 

[oddball]

Was the panel hot, or were you in the sun?
My first time polishing - at 17 - on my girlfriend's car, I totally wrecked the paint. Texas summer day in the driveway. Oooops!
What polish did you use?

Waffle vs smooth doesn't particularly matter, but there are different "grits" of foam. That will just affect how aggressive the polish works.

A 2'x2' section should go pretty quick, like maybe a minute, so the any extra polish should still be liquid-ish. If it totally dried then you worked it too long, it's too hot, something.

 

[antonini311]

Was the panel hot, or were you in the sun?
My first time polishing - at 17 - on my girlfriend's car, I totally wrecked the paint. Texas summer day in the driveway. Oooops!
What polish did you use?

Waffle vs smooth doesn't particularly matter, but there are different "grits" of foam. That will just affect how aggressive the polish works.

A 2'x2' section should go pretty quick, like maybe a minute, so the any extra polish should still be liquid-ish. If it totally dried then you worked it too long, it's too hot, something.

Was inside a garage, panels were not hot to the touch. So it may be that I used a little too much and worked it too long. Probably just need to do a couple passes horizontally, then a couple vertically and be done. Just glad it didn't ruin the paint at all, and it's always a learning experience. I was using the pad strength recommended by the manufacturer.

 

[eflyguy]

Residual polish should wipe off like dust or pollen, no effort at all.

If it didn't, that also likely explains why it didn't remove swirls, as it never got dry enough to actually do any abrading.

 

[Kimberly Lazarski]

The polish should remain wet as long as you are buffing, and before you touch the buffer to the paint, you should "prime" the pad, smearing some compound across the whole surface as well as put 3-4 dabs of compound on the pad, otherwise the bulk of the first load will be soaked up by the pad, and you risk overheating the paint. Also, avoid buffing the car in the sun unless you're doing it on a cool day and the paint is cool to the touch, otherwise you'll mar it badly.

That said, it's otherwise actually quite difficult to damage paint with a DA buffer. I have an aggressive 21mm buffer and brought life back to our Saab 9-3's paint job last year, and cleaned up our 2016 Forester and ceramic coated it. I did find that the Chemical Guys hex pads break down all too quickly though, but as far as I am concerned it is the final result that counts. I'll be doing our 2020 Forester Sport this spring.

The compounds I used were Griot's Complete Compound followed by Griot's Complete Polish. I enjoy the process but I might have the Stinger buffed and ceramic coated professionally when we buy the Stinger, because I don't want to deal with the two days of prep work then three days of applying multiple coats of ceramic coating followed by the 4-day cure time of the DIY kits. I'd rather it be buffed, coated, and cured under IR lamps in one day.