Your top tip for a machine polishing noob

zmcnulty

zmcnulty

New member
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
Hey, guys. Before the end of the summer, I plan on polishing my car for the first time with an AIO.

I’m wondering: What’s your top tip for a noobie machine polisher?

I’ve got the polisher in hand and I’ll be ordering a backing plate, pads and other supplies soon. I’ve watched/read several of Mike’s videos and articles, so I know what I’m getting into generally, but what did you Personally learn from your first time machine polishing a car?
 
zmcnulty said:
Hey, guys. Before the end of the summer, I plan on polishing my car for the first time with an AIO.

I’m wondering: What’s your top tip for a noobie machine polisher?

I’ve got the polisher in hand and I’ll be ordering a backing plate, pads and other supplies soon. I’ve watched/read several of Mike’s videos and articles, so I know what I’m getting into generally, but what did you Personally learn from your first time machine polishing a car?
Click to expand...

That all my worries were completely unfounded.

About 2 minutes into your first machine session, you'll be laughing at yourself for overthinking it. :)
 
The biggest mistake I see noobies make is moving the machine too fast and doing to big of an area. 2'X2' area and move the polisher one inch per second.

Mike's idea about counting your passes out loud is a good idea. I too find myself losing count because your mind starts to wonder. All those unnecessary passes do amount to a lot of loss time.
 
So far you’ve gotten some great top tips!

Count out loud every pass
Your worries will be unfounded
Slow your hand speed, about 1 inch per section and keep in a 2x2 foot area

What polisher do you have? What supplies are you picking up?

I’ll add

Be sure to have about 6 pads ready to go
Don’t be afraid to use full power on the polisher
Don’t squeeze the polisher in your hands
Make a mark on your backing plate with a marker so you can see it’s rotating

-David
 
My tip would be to always start a fresh pad off with a healthy circle worth of polish... Not no measly 3-4 pea size drops, and don’t worry about patting down half the car with those 3 drops worth before turning the polisher on either. Lol.

22158f0d0fe040ee59a91c2b7d31a03e.jpg



Start things off like you mean it. From then on forwards you’ll only need 3-4 drops.

Tip #2: Make sure to get yourself one of these pad brushes and use it immediately everytime you take the polisher off your paint. Make a habit of it being the 1st thing you do before setting the polisher down and before reaching for your towel to wipe off the polish...

By doing so you’ll always work as clean as possible and you’ll also have your pads stretch farther as opposed to them loading up prematurely which means you’ll have to change pads more frequently and also see your results diminish at a faster pace, which makes for a double wammy of bad news.

7fc5818d78ed620bb652eadb1b2280b2.jpg



Working clean makes for a much better experience. Waiting even a minute or 2 to clean your pad makes a big difference. Clean them immediately!
 
Thanks for the tips, everyone. I’m really looking forward to this project.

As far as products, I was looking at Blackfire Onestep, a pack of 6 polishing pads, and a pad brush. I can tell that pads get expensive quickly, so I figured the AIO approach would keep costs down and not be overly daunting as a beginner. I’ll be using a Porter Cable polisher.

I’d have to say, one of my biggest concerns is what to do in areas where a 5.5 inch pad won’t fit, like the details on the front bumper. How do you guys handle those areas?
 
zmcnulty said:
Thanks for the tips, everyone. I’m really looking forward to this project.

As far as products, I was looking at Blackfire Onestep, a pack of 6 polishing pads, and a pad brush. I can tell that pads get expensive quickly, so I figured the AIO approach would keep costs down and not be overly daunting as a beginner. I’ll be using a Porter Cable polisher.

I’d have to say, one of my biggest concerns is what to do in areas where a 5.5 inch pad won’t fit, like the details on the front bumper. How do you guys handle those areas?
Click to expand...

The PC polisher is a little beast. Great first choice, and that was my first machine as well.

Do you have any pics of the smaller areas you are concerned about?
 
zmcnulty said:
Thanks for the tips, everyone. I’m really looking forward to this project.

As far as products, I was looking at Blackfire Onestep, a pack of 6 polishing pads, and a pad brush. I can tell that pads get expensive quickly, so I figured the AIO approach would keep costs down and not be overly daunting as a beginner. I’ll be using a Porter Cable polisher.

I’d have to say, one of my biggest concerns is what to do in areas where a 5.5 inch pad won’t fit, like the details on the front bumper. How do you guys handle those areas?
Click to expand...

if you haven't already, pick up this backing plate. very solid, not to mention it will most likely be discontinued (if it hasn't been already) since the G9 has replaced the GG6..

Griots Garage 3 inch HD Backing Plate

griots-garage-3-inch-hd-backing-plate-coming-soon-13.gif


here are some pads to choose from too...

Griot's Garage 3 Inch BOSS Foam & Microfiber Pads

Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 3.5 Inch

Lake Country 3 Inch Flat Foam Pads
 
Great suggestions by VISITOR, I actually have the same exact set up on my Porter Cable and it’s been great for spot correction.

If you don’t go with that you can still get the larger areas done and then use a microfiber hand applicator for the tighter areas. The microfiber material in itself is an abrasive and will help work the AIO that little bit better than your typical foam applicator.

Another thing to keep note of is BIG picture detailing. Being your first time using a polisher it may be a lot more work than anticipated. This will change as you become more experienced, honestly you’ll be much faster the second time around and by the time you’ve done it 3 or 4 times you’ll be much more proficient. As you go around the vehicle take this time to learn the “art of polishing” and really enjoy yourself.

What I mean by BIG picture is that you don’t necessarily need to focus on polishing out every nook and cranny. A 5.5” pad will still allow you to polish out 95% of the vehicles surface give or take a few %.

Keep us posted, you’ve got a great kit to start with that you’ll get great results with!
 
All great advice so far.

Just to add something different, I’ll say: Hearing protection. These aren’t the quietest of tools, and you’ll be running it at arms length (or less) for hours.

I’ve got a pair of Bluetooth ear plugs (actual earplugs, not earbuds) that have been awesome for detailing/mowing/snow blowing. You don’t realize how loud that stuff is until you shield yourself from it. Maybe if I’d figured that out sooner, I wouldn’t have tinnitus in my 30’s...
 
Find a good liquid and good pad combination. I swap around different ones but always end up going back to the one manufacturer.
 
More pads. Keep the polisher moving at all times. As previously mentioned a pad brush and 2x2 passes.

Good mf towels for removal


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
From my experience, most unexperienced users will typically expect the results they desire too quickly... It actually takes a bit more effort than they anticipate. Don't be timid.

If after you're first set of section passes you're not seeing much improvement, then you're probably not being aggressive enough. If that's the case try again with a little more pressure. See how much pressure it takes to stall the pad and then back off a little from that point. Once you are satisfied with the correction then finish with a few more "light pressure" passes.

Experiment a little with the amount of product you use until you find the sweet spot. Initially you should error on the side of too much, rather than too little, product.

As for the small/tight areas that the machine can't get, unless you're doing this for a living and time is of the essence, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a little elbow grease and hand polishing.
 
Tape off all trim and anything else you don't plan on polishing BEFORE grabbing the buffer. Nothing worse than finishing up the buffing process only to have to spend another hour trying to clean up the mess you left on the trim.
 
zmcnulty said:
Hey, guys. Before the end of the summer, I plan on polishing my car for the first time with an AIO.

I’m wondering: What’s your top tip for a noobie machine polisher?

I’ve got the polisher in hand and I’ll be ordering a backing plate, pads and other supplies soon. I’ve watched/read several of Mike’s videos and articles, so I know what I’m getting into generally, but what did you Personally learn from your first time machine polishing a car?
Click to expand...

IMHO, i would skip an AIO and use a medium polish like sonax perfect finish, there are many others.

And apply a decent LSP. AIO's are junk for enthusiasts in my opinion. Definitely for me. That said a coating primer has a finishing step is a great idea. But if your going to polish a car just has well to get some decent correction and apply a more durable LSP.
 
Griots yellow bottle polish is a nice, easy to work with polish for a newb.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top