Car polishing

[dynamicq]

Hey there,

I am relatively a new car owner. Young, unexperienced. I am struggling to understand how car polishing services work. Spent some time on the internet and made it even more difficult for myself, so I will try to explain what I want. What I understand, and maybe someone can help me to get things back in place.

What I have and need:

Fairly old C Class. 2005. The bodywork is not as shiny and the colour is not so deep as other cars of its age group. What I want, is completely opposite. What I understand I need is some sort of colour restoration by metal paint polishing by buffing. Please correct me at any point.

What I have found:

Some sort of detailing and valeting services which I still don't understand how they work. They include a lot of extras and cost a substantial amount of money for the price of the veichle. Is there any organization who provide just bodywork restoration/paint correction. What sort of price should I orientate on.

Thank you!

 

[def90cars]

Unless very very bad - I would have a go by yourself for very low cost.

Clay Kit from Autoglym £30
Autoglym HD wax £40
Autoglym Extra Gloss Resin £10

Set aside a nice Sunday to do it.

 

[Sanke]

I would add autoglym Super Resin Polish after the clay.

However I think you should.
Snow foam
Decontaminate
Hand wash
Clay
Autoglym SRP
Sealent
Wax
Last stage/sacrificial protection, something like Sonax Brilliant shine detailer.

It'll be a full day, but make sure to wax and seal as early in the day as possible as with the current moisture content of the air you'll be chasing vapour build up on the car.

Steve

 

[def90cars]

I would add autoglym Super Resin Polish after the clay. Steve

Yes of course - good point - I know you get some in the kit

 

[J LAD]

A new cars paint looks deep and glossy because, it is at this stage basically free from defects ( ah ah!), there is nothing in the paints surface to stop the light reflecting back at you, its the reflection of light, in any surface that gives the deep gloss and finish you are after.
A surface that is perfectly flat and free from any obstruction will reflect the light better.

Your cars paint is now relatively old, it will have contaminants embedded in its surface, such as brake dust, tar, tree sap, road traffic film etc, it will also have scratches both minute and large. All of these things are stopping the light reflecting from your paint, SO! we have to remove them, one way or another, and heres where the hard work begins.
And believe me it is always hard work!

1st Stage - Paint decontamination.
Removal of all of the above out of your paints surface. Usually achieved by " claying" the car, or by use of chemicals to break down the substance or a combination of both. This stage cannot be rushed!.

2nd stage - Polishing. By machine or hand?
The cost of this stage will depend on how many of the swirls, scratches etc you want to remove from the paint surface. Full paint correction for example, as the name suggests, should get your paint back to showroom condition or better, but expect to pay for this service as it could take 2 to 3 days work, even more in some cases.
If you dont want that level of finish, then maybe a stage 1 or stage 2 paint correction detail will surfice, it will be cheaper but your paint will still have some minor defects in the surface.
Machine polishing is bloody hard work, again it cannot be rushed, thats why it costs so much to have it done by an expert.
You can get good results by hand, but i would not suggest this route, due to the time needed.
Note - machine polishing does not allways mean removal of paint, you are simply refinishing or burnishing the paint or lacquer here. Of course, if deep scratches are present then expect some removal of paint, but most of all as with anything dont expect miracles, you only have a certain depth of paint to play with!

3rd Stage - Protection.
Now we have your paint free from blemishes, its got that deep gloss look to it. So to keep it that way we need to coat the surface in some form of sealant or wax.
These are basically split into 2 types - Synthetic sealant or wax / natural organic waxes, typically containing carnauba wax.
Once again, the level of protection can vary in cost, dependant on what you want.

You can do all of the above by yourself, as many people now do, myself included, or you can pay someone else to do it, but those 3 basic stages need to be completed to achieve a perfect result, to what stage you take each of them is down to cost and personnel preference.

 

[dynamicq]

Wow, thank you so much! That is more information I could even wish to get! It makes a lot more sense now. I imagined it being a little bit more simpler. Now it actually makes more sense!

 

[PhilLinda]

Having just done this to my S212 I can vouch for how long it takes

Wash & dry the car
Tar removal with Autosmart Tardis
Sonus clay bar & dry car
Machine polish with Meguiars Ultimate Compound & Hex Logic green pad
Seal with Carlack 68 Nano
Clean windows

All in about 10 hours!!

Now on to carpet cleaning [emoji3]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Alex225]

All good advice above and it won't cost you fortunes at all to get your paintwork looking loads better.

Wash and dry it (wash mitt/two buckets/drying towels)

Polishing will give you a nice shine so Autoglym Super Resin Polish will cost you about £10 and make a marked difference.

Once you've polished you'll want to protect the shine so go for a wax or sealant. Autoglym HD wax is meant to be very as a wax although not cheap as such. As far as off the shelf products go, Simoniz Gold Wax is actually very good (sub £10 a tin). Just don't over apply or let it bake on but once applied it'll make your car bead water for a good 4 months.

There are other steps you can take such as de-tarring, removing Iron fall out, claying etc but to begin with go for a good wash, polish and then wax. You'll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

P.S - I opted to recommend off the shelf stuff you can pick up in Halfords. There's loads of brands out there if you want to order online (Collinite, Sonus, Bilt Hamber, Dodo Juice, Gyeon, Gtecniq....literally loads) but you won't go far wrong starting off with the likes of Autoglym or Meguiars.