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Hand polishing - waste of time?


luka761

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So I haven't got a machine polisher and to be honest I'm struggling to rustle up the motivation to spend £100+ on a machine I might use three times a year. In addition I'm in the army so I can't afford to have loads of possessions, I live out of a single room and these things are bulky. Having said all that I get the strong impression that polishing the car by hand is largely a waste of time, I have tried with some Meguire's and also Autoglym SRP (a contraversial product I know). Could anyone give me some tips or alternatively confirm my suspicions that I just need to pony up for the machine?

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I always wax mine by hand! As long as you got the elbow for it go for it! Its never gonna be as good as a rotory polisher but it still looks better!

 

There is a difference between Polish and Wax though! They are not interchangable.

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Polishing by machine isn't entirely necessary, it's just better.

 

The soft paint of Z's will yield far results if you put the effort in by hand but you need some proper compounds and pads to do that. SRP is just full of fillers and will offer absolute minimum cut no matter how you use it, so it'll never correct.

 

Get some Scholl compounds and the Lake Country cutting pads (not the machine pads) and you'll get better results.

 

Get a DA and you'll get even better results still, and quicker, but it's not essential. Like everything it's about using the right products for the job. SRP ain't the right product!!

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Rare is it that I disagree with ilogikal but I'd personally say you can never compare cutting with a machine vs hand application.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

Oh no, I agree with you, you can't compare the two. But you can get reasonably good results by hand... You just get better results with a machine. :thumbs:

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Polishing by hand, then sealing by wax will give a nice result - but its almost impossible to correct paint by hand with the stuff you mentioned. I got a DA with menzerna polishes and its amazing, not just better than doing stuff by hand, its an absolute country mile different.

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http://vid272.photobucket.com/albums/jj181/andyten/Mobile%20Uploads/20160422_135737.mp4

 

This was done by hand in 5 minutes using SOFT99 SCRATCH CLEAR WAX

 

Door on the left scratched and swirled.

Door on the right polished with a filler heavy wax.

 

May not be permanent but at £18 a pot delivered it may be your answer considering cost and storage space.

 

 

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I'll have to resort to elbow grease for now!

You can still get pretty decent results with just good old fashioned muscle power. My effort today on my Audi S3's bonnet using the Meguiars 3 stage crystal system. This stuff fyi: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meguiars-3-Step-Crystal-System-Cleaner-Polish-and-Wax-all-473ml-Brand-New-/191870800466?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

022_zpsl41ye6vn.jpg

 

:thumbs:

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I'll have to resort to elbow grease for now!

You can still get pretty decent results with just good old fashioned muscle power. My effort today on my Audi S3's bonnet using the Meguiars 3 stage crystal system. This stuff fyi: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meguiars-3-Step-Crystal-System-Cleaner-Polish-and-Wax-all-473ml-Brand-New-/191870800466?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

022_zpsl41ye6vn.jpg

 

:thumbs:

Light it up ......I can make a dirty car look shiny when the Halogens are out of the equation.

 

No lighty.....no likey

 

7427e6f2068dafab626c845bb8ad5e36.jpg

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

 

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Light it up ......I can make a dirty car look shiny when the Halogens are out of the equation.

 

No lighty.....no likey

Well as I'm not a professional detailer or a night time road worker or an emergency responder I don't actually have any work lamps to do that with. :p:shrug:

 

Still I'm happy enough with it although I know it could always be better. ;)

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Light it up ......I can make a dirty car look shiny when the Halogens are out of the equation.

 

No lighty.....no likey

Well as I'm not a professional detailer or a night time road worker or an emergency responder I don't actually have any work lamps to do that with. :p:shrug:

 

Still I'm happy enough with it although I know it could always be better. ;)

I josh.

 

If chappie is asking about correction then I reckon hand is a total waste of time.

 

But you're right you can get decent shine by using the right products and elbow grease.

 

Guess it all comes down to what does the OP want to achieve.

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

 

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