Thinking of getting a Dual Action polisher

[ostego]

So when i had my old hyundai coupe.... my idea of a car was was putting £2 in the jet washers at shell every 2 months and calling it there.

 

With the zed, I've found myself spending 2 hours every 2 weeks hand washing it, then waxing it

 

Want to start polishing it as well, as there are a couple of light circular marks in the paintwork (probably from me waxing it so much!) that show up in certain lights.

 

Figure for waxing and polishing, a dual action machine would be the best bet, especially seeing as i have little experience

 

was thinking of going for a kit like this

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TecTake-Professional-Eccentric-Polishing-including/dp/B008ZCR2VA/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1393510202&sr=1-2&keywords=dual+action+polisher

 

what else would i need if i bought that? or would that pretty much have me all sorted for the "low" price of £95

 

Is there much risk with DA machines of damaging the paintwork in the hands of a novice? That also scares me a lot

[delz0r]

Dual action polishers are pretty safe, you should be fine.

 

You wouldn't want to be machine polishing the car often though maybe once every 8-12 months depending on the condition of the paint. I still think applying wax by hand is the best but for sure DA is the way to go for polishing.

 

Have a read of this first:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=63859

 

If I were you, I'd spend the little extra and get a DAS6 Pro(They're tried and tested):

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing-machines/das-6-pro-dual-action-polisher/cat_81.html

Edited February 27, 2014 by delz0r

[Tinyflier]

You would need to be ENORMOUSLY ham fisted to do any damage with a good DA. I had the same concerns when I used one for the first time but they really are easy, safe and give a great result - it is rotary polishers that can burn through the clear coat really easily as they don't have the same elliptical type of orbit.

 

Whether the one you are looking is any good or not I don't know - I use a DASPro6 - with Menzerna compounds and Lake County pads - based on recommendations from Detailing World and some suppliers on there.

 

The circular marks (swirls) are more likely due to the washing process rather than the polishing/waxing process - def suggest you visit Detailing World and have a good read about washing techniques as well as some great info on DA, compounds and pads.

 

David

[ostego]

Will go for a DASpro6 then.... what is an extra £50 when you're talking about a £3,000 re-spray!!

 

Would be surprised if it is my washing causing the swirls, as all i use is a sponge and shampoo! But maybe I have been using something too rough, or pushing too hard.

 

Have read up about polishing, and would i be right in saying it will get rid of these marks.... but in the process will be removing some of the clearcoat?

 

With the frequency I like to wash my car.... I'll have no clearcoat left if polish chips away percentages of it each time!

[Jay]

Don't use sponges!!!!!!!

[clockwize]

People say sponge is what causes swirls as it gets tiny bits of dirt on the spongey surface, then you rub them in to your paint work. Everyone raves about microfibre mitts and stuff.. I've had my z about 3 weeks and haven't washed it yet lol

[ostego]

Bought a microfibre kit as well but i only use that for waxing! DAMN IT!!!!! I was raised around people who used sponges to wash their cars..... i just thought it was the done thing!

 

Now I feel really guilty for what I put my zed through

[Bems]

Das 6 pro is a good choice. Another thing you should look into is a clay bar kit. Very easy to do. If your going to polish the paint you want the surface to be as free of contaminants as possible. If not then these can get picked up during polishing and give fine swirl marks.

 

It's all in the detail BOOM BOOM

[delz0r]

To minimize swirls when washing-

 

- Use the two bucket method with grit guards.

- Use a separate bucket and mitt for washing the wheels.

- Use a high quality lambswool wash mitt not a sponge.

- Use microfiber cloths/towels for drying and use a quick detailer as a drying aid to lube the surface.

- If you come across a missed dirty piece while drying then put your current microfiber in the wash a use a fresh one.

 

If you want to go to more extreme levels then use a pre-wash or snow foam before beginning the standard wash.

 

Have a look at this video:

[HaydnH]

+1 for the Das6 Pro, easy to Polish with even for a beginner like me.

 

I like the Yeti's and Wookie's fist:

 

[pallett]

A DA should be fine for what your after mate, they can cut through some pretty serious paint defects aswell. I would highly recomend doing some research over on detailing world to learn a good technique to get you started aswell.

This was one of my first attempts learning on my dads accord.

As you can see the paint was very scratched in places and full of swirls.

 

 

Using one of the starter kits from CYC posted above i managed to get to this in around 2 hours.

 

 

Not perfect but a great improvement from before and relatively easy as long as your patient.

[Lexx]

Polished Bliss sell swirl removal kits which consist if a DA polisher and the correct pads and products.

Have a look at their website. I think it's about £160 for a kestrel DA6 and the other bits.

[:RedZed:]

People say sponge is what causes swirls as it gets tiny bits of dirt on the spongey surface, then you rub them in to your paint work. Everyone raves about microfibre mitts and stuff.. I've had my z about 3 weeks and haven't washed it yet lol

 

I just wanted to expand on this a bit. Sponges are crap, they induce swirls because any left over dirt on the surface (normally that you can't even see) gets trapped between the sponge and the top coat. When you push the sponge around these tiny bits of dirt create the swirls. Swirls are tiny scratches in the top coat which reflect the light at different angles to the rest of the unscratched paint, this is why the scratches can be more obvious under certain types of light.

 

A wash mitt is designed to trap the dirt in its fibers instead, keeping them away from the paint to reduce the risk of inducing swirls. Some other stuff can also be done (such as the two bucket method, various pre-cleaners, eg, snow foam) to reduce the risk of the dirt in the first place and thus the likelihood of inducing swirl marks.

 

All that being said, swirls will always come back! It doesn't matter how good you are or how much care you take, they will always return, it is inevitable. If you follow a good routine you'll definitely reduce the frequency and depth of the swirls making them easier to remove. I'd honestly be surprised if you needed to fully machine polish a whole car more often than once every two years.

[HaydnH]

I'd honestly be surprised if you needed to fully machine polish a whole car more often than once every two years.

 

I've got a neighbours cat who loves sleeping on my car, especially after it's just been waxed... however it seems to slip off leaving slight claw marks down the side. I need to polish more often.

[Tigerzed]

Stange that Paul Dalton uses sponges if they're that bad for paintwork! Check his videos on YouTube. I think he knows best

[Scootg]

I have the Meguiars DA, and it works well, though I'm not 100% sure on storage of the pads..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk Pro.

[Stutopia]

Stange that Paul Dalton uses sponges if they're that bad for paintwork! Check his videos on YouTube. I think he knows best

 

Interesting to see a pro use a sponge.

 

 

He seems pretty ambivalent about using either a sponge or a mitt.

[Tigerzed]

Stange that Paul Dalton uses sponges if they're that bad for paintwork! Check his videos on YouTube. I think he knows best

 

Interesting to see a pro use a sponge.

 

 

He seems pretty ambivalent about using either a sponge or a mitt.

 

I was surprised too mate and that's the clip I saw. He's one of the best too

[Bems]

He doesn't look like a pro to me

 

Just looked at his website, I'm surprised

Edited February 28, 2014 by Bems

[gareth29]

There is another solution - just leave it dirty, mine's been washed once in 12 months and currently looks beautifully grimy after a blast across filthy wet moorland roads in north yorkshire the other day. I like the inside clean though!

 

A little article on P'heads that I just stumbled across:

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=27561

Edited March 1, 2014 by gareth29

[KyleR]

Are you sure thats a DA and not a rotary? I had a quick look through it and couldn't see Dual Action mentioned anywhere.

 

As for the sponge debate. I brand new couple of sponges every time you wash your car will maybe be ok if you do it right, but personally I use a mitt. You can feel the difference with your finger as how much softer the mitt is.

[ilogikal1]

Stange that Paul Dalton uses sponges if they're that bad for paintwork! Check his videos on YouTube. I think he knows best

 

Interesting to see a pro use a sponge.

 

 

He seems pretty ambivalent about using either a sponge or a mitt.

 

I was surprised too mate and that's the clip I saw. He's one of the best too

 

The car isn't exactly dirty when he starts though, is it?!

 

Closed cell sponges are the issue because they trap any dirt between the surface of the sponge and the surface of the paint causing it to drag along the paint. An open cell sponges reduce this unless you're applying a lot of pressure (in the same way as a lambswool or microfibre mitt). I didn't notice him mention this but there are various brand which offer open cell sponges for washing cars (none of them being 3M though, which is probably why he didn't mention that ).

 

There's also no mention of whether he planned to carry out any correction work after the wash, for all we know he just caused himself another hours worth of polishing on that one single panel he used the sponge on...

 

There's nothing wrong with using the correct type of sponge if your technique is good but for the most part you're much more likely to inflict fresh marring with a sponge than you are with a long pile mitt.

[ilogikal1]

Are you sure thats a DA and not a rotary? I had a quick look through it and couldn't see Dual Action mentioned anywhere.

 

As for the sponge debate. I brand new couple of sponges every time you wash your car will maybe be ok if you do it right, but personally I use a mitt. You can feel the difference with your finger as how much softer the mitt is.

 

It's definitely a DA, it just uses slightly different terminology to say that though;

The polishing machine is characterised by its orbital, eccentric motion

 

 

OP, I'd recommend this; http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/pb-soft-paint-polishing-kit-cat1.html

If you wanted to you could add in a finishing pad, but that would be all you'd need to keep you going for a while.

[GIXXERUK]

here's some reading matter

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/images/misc/dapolishing.pdf

[Jimmyflo]

I was looking at a da about a year ago but I was persuaded to get a rotary, I was scared of damaging the paint with it as I'm sure you've heard horror stories about rotary polishers yourself. I took the plunge and had a practice run on my track car and found that it wasn't difficult at all, as long as you keep it moving and use a good pad/compound combo you shouldn't have any problems and it is a lot quicker to get results than a da.