Polishing—the best way to get a deep, glossy shine
Washing your ride gets out the loose dirt, dust and other problems. Waxing fosters a deep shine and protects. In between these two steps is polishing—an entirely different step that's needed infrequently to preserve a top-quality gloss.
Many car owners confuse waxing and polishing as the same thing. While both do bring out a shine in your paint, waxes and polishes are made to accomplish entirely different tasks.
Waxes lay over your paint for both protection and shine. They can also bring out incredible depth in the color of your paint. Whether paste or liquid, waxes are generally smooth for easy application and designed only to be applied on clean and pristine paint.
Polishes are abrasive, which isn't a bad thing. Over time, microscopic particles, swirl marks, spot rings and other tiny damage can cloud or otherwise undermine the shine of your paint. Polishes even the surface and remove tiny imperfections, leaving a completely smooth surface. Polished paint is healthier and ready to produce a deeper shine than an un-polished surface when waxed.
Polishes vary by abrasiveness and preferred method of application. They range from light polishes, which are sometimes dubbed as cleaners, to gritty substances and rubbing compounds. The various solutions also differ in texture if the polish is being done by hand or by machine.
Most owners will only need to use the lightest, least abrasive polishes on their paint finish. Fine polishes do just enough to remove common blemishes in the paint, setting up nicely for a full wax job.
Heavier grit polishes are more often for spot treatment of problem areas in the paint—not for full-body use. These polishes act like sandpaper on the paint, which is a necessary step to correct deeper damage. These heavy polishes must be followed by a finer polish to smooth the resulting abrasions.
- For this mission, you'll need a couple of clean microfiber cloths, a pair of clean foam applicators and a container of fine polish meant for hand use.
- Apply the polish directly to the foam applicator. Use the polish sparingly—a little goes a long way. Rub from front to back on a less visible area of the paint as a test. Buff the area lightly with the microfiber cloth, making sure to strip any excess or clouded polish from the surface. Never buff in a circular motion—it's a good way to cause more of the imperfections you're trying to remove.
- If the test results are pleasing, you can graduate to polishing the rest of the vehicle. Unlike wax, most polishes don't need to dry before you can buff them out. Apply the polish, buff, and move on to the next area.
- Only venture into machine polishing territory if you have experience with power buffing of wax finishes and feel comfortable. To polish with a machine, you'll need machine-specific fine polish and a couple of clean pads.
- Apply a thin ring of polish to the outer rim of your pad, not directly to the paint. Test the polish on a less visible area of the paint. Don't use extreme pressure with your polisher—this can burn your paint and cause permanent damage.
- Use enough pressure and passes to get the polish out without overbuffing—wait for waxing to buff to a deep shine. Making too many passes to chase a deep shine while polishing will strip depth off your clear coat and cause premature paint failure. Use waxing to get the deep shine—not polish.
You can polish your vehicle too much or too often. Because even the finest polishes are abrasive, each polishing job takes off some of the top coat of your finish, which may be clear coat or color coat. The ramifications of over-polishing can be serious.
On paint finishes with a clear coat top, which most modern vehicles have, over-polishing removes some of the clear coat. In fact, using a coarse polish or buffing too hard can remove the clear coat entirely. This damage may not be evident until paint begins to oxidize, bubble or otherwise deteriorate without the protective clear layer.
Polishing your vehicle shouldn't be done as frequently as waxing, as too much of your paint layers will be eaten by the process. The consensus among finish pros is that polishing should be done 1-2 times per year, not more. That's how long it takes for a sufficient number of imperfections to develop that would justify a full polishing job. Spot problems can be taken care of individually without having to fully polish your ride.
One school of detailing thought eliminates the need for polishing altogether. If you're strict about your washing routine, careful to choose only safe materials, regular with waxing and use a car cover to prevent surface damage, polishing shouldn't be necessary to achieve a perfect shine. Most people, though, will find it difficult to avoid all of the factors that necessitate polishing, especially micro scratches and swirl marks. Still more obsessive finish care nuts are just hooked on the look of a newly polished and waxed ride.