ScoobySteph

Hi guys

quick question... a friend of mine said that polishing my car will damage it!?

he said that because my paint work has sparkly bits in that polishing it will take them off

should i listen to him???

thanks Steph x

whoppy do

polishing it will make your paint doll so try washing it and leathering it off and then wax it insted

brocks

iTrader: (3)

Polishing, by hand will not cause any damage normally.....machine polishing removes microns of clearcoat each time, and in extreme cases can "burn" through to the metal....though this is not common if the machining is done by anyone with a degree of competance....hmmmmm

The "sparkly" finish on your paint is a metallic or metal flake, mixed into the colour coat, which is then sealed with a layer of lacquer or clearcoat.....

Normal polishes will NOT remove your sparkle....

Try and remember that the car only needs POLISHED 2 -3 times a year, but WAXED regularly, weekly if possible, as this builds up a protective layer beyond the clearcoat.....

johnson12

If you take care when washing it and use the 2 bucket way then the car will be fine.

ScoobySteph

lol my gosh, before have just cleaned my cars with sponge and soapy water

ermm this may be a bit of a blonde question but... whats the difference bettween waxing and polishing?

BlueBugEye

iTrader: (12)

Polishes take a thin layer of the top coat off, they are basically a very fine abrasive. True waxes contain no abrasives and just cover the surface with a thin film of wax. Many off the shelf waxes from Halfords etc. do have some cut to them so be careful!

Check the Polished Bliss website for more detail and a good webstore.

V4JDMSTi

iTrader: (2)

Ignore this. Completely the wrong advice. Polishing your care does the opposite of making it dull when done correctly. Don't let a leather anywhere near your car it'll funk your paintwork and over time will inflict swirling and damage making the paint's surface less reflective and look flat.

Don't want to frighten you but polishing by hand can damage your paint if you use the wrong polish and don't take care. Just the same as machine polishing. Something like T-Cut for example. It's incredibly harsh on your paint. The only thing i'd ever use it for is cleaning the tarnish off of my kitchen bin!

On the whole though hand polishing is a lot safer than machine polishing as it takes longer to remove the same amount of paint that machine polishing does. Hand polishing generally doesn't build up anywhere near as much heat as machine polishing does. Machine polishing done by someone who knows what they're are doing will be fine. It's when you get muppets pretending to know what they're doing that can cause damage such as strike through and even burning right through your paint. Less severe damage is buffer trailing, marring, hologramming etc. These can all usually be rectified providing there is enough paint to play with.

Polishing only needs to be done when the paint has built up sufficent defects to warrent polishing. With the correct care when washing, this can be every couple of years. Generally once a year is all that will be needed.

Waxing or LSP (Last Stage Product) is your protection. I generally say that you should get a couple of layers on the car over the first 2 -3 weeks then only top the wax / lsp up when it needs it. This varies on the product used, the amount of miles you do, where the car is stored, the weather and wash technique etc. In general a good wax / lsp will last 6 - 8 weeks of everyday driving and parking on the street / drive before it needs start to break down and needs topping up. The need to wax every week means you are either using a poor product or you end up with a huge build up of wax that can turn cloudy where the bottom layers can't breathe and you'll need to claybar it all off and start again.


Good advice. Yes the 2bm should be adopted. It's quite expensive to get all the kit together but will pay for itself in the long run.

Best advice on this thread so far. True protective products contain no abraisives. If something says polish it generally has no protective qualities either. The reason why most of the off the shelf products in halfords contains abraisives is because 99.9% of the people that buy kit from halfords just want their car to "look good" in their eyes. If you want a flawless finish and better protection for your pride and joy then spend a few more ££ on quality kit from the likes of PB.

To the OP, read through the guidelines that PB have as sticky at the top of the section. If in doubt give them a call. The guys are always happy to help

If anyone is in doubt about polishing their car and if they have enough paint they should call a professional detailer and ask them to carry out a paint report on their car. There's usually a small charge for this, usually 1 hours labour, but one worth their salt will let you know if you have any low spots on your car, if there are areas that you need to watch out for etc. Most will also happily talk through with you how you should go about getting your car's paint looking spot on

ukdave

Hi Steph Your friend "could" have been on about t-cut which in some cases if not used correctly can damage paint-theres different grades of abrasiveness when it comes to polishes/compounds down to polishes that chemically remove oxidisation.


Probably the most harsh polish i use that is pretty much foolproof is poorboys professional polish(£12.95 ish)only use this about 3 times a yr-it wont be needed much.

follow that with einszett metallic polishwax (£9.99)to bring the shine bk

Go over with a coat or 2 of sonus SFX4 paint sealant(bout £12.95) sit down with a cuppa admire ya car + smile


Buy 99% of my stuff from shinearama.co.uk as its free delivery over £25