We have put together a small package with all the products you need to polish your car. Starting with the cleaning of the paint and ending with the sealing with wax and coatings.
The varnish must be clean
Of course, before a polish we need to clean the paint as well as possible. There are a few tools that will make the job easier.
For a cleaning or. The washing of the vehicle, we need a bucket (better two) and preferably a washing glove. Sponges are not so good, because the dirt is not absorbed into the sponge, but is pulled in front of it. So we scratch the car paint unnecessarily. washing the car with two buckets is optimal, because in the first bucket (which is filled with clear water) you rinse the dirty wash glove and then in the second bucket (which is filled with detergent and water) you make the wash glove nice and wet again. So you do not drag the dirt unnecessarily over the car and cause no new scratches and especially no swirls.
For the buckets there are special inserts that hold the dirt at the bottom of the bucket, while you take the water and detergents in the washing glove on top. In our opinion, you don’t really need something like that, because the dirt usually sinks to the bottom anyway and stays there.
The washing glove should be as thick as possible and it should have enough space between the fibers for dirt and particles. In the list below you will find a suitable one.
The water must foam well to catch dirt particles in the foam, therefore we need a cleaning agent (best without carnauba wax ). The dodo juice born to be mild has a little carnauba wax, but the amount is negligible. On the other hand, the shampoo foams very well and thus catches the dirt particles very well.
Below you will find a list of a few products that we can recommend.
The drying of the paint
After washing we have to dry the varnish. For this we use a leather cloth for windows. With it the discs can be dried without streaks. Make sure to start at the top of the windshield and wipe the windshield in one long swipe without turning dry off. If you turn the cloth during the process, it will leave streaks that will dry and look unattractive. After you have finished with a disc, you can wring out the leather cloth and then turn it over.
For the paint and the rest of the car, use a large microfiber cloth or a large soft towel. With the microfiber towel we dab the car paint dry. We always start at the top of the roof and slowly work our way down. Optimal is not to pull the microfiber cloth over the varnish, but only dabs. If the microfiber cloth were to be pulled over the paint, new fine scratches would appear, especially on soft and sensitive car paints. Scratches do not occur so quickly on glass panes, as car windows are very hard. By the way, there are special polishes for car windows that are a little sharper to polish away all the scratches on the window.
Including. 19% vat.
Here we go: car polish
We need a polishing machine or a polishing aid for the hand. For a polishing machine, an eccentric machine is recommended for beginners, as it is difficult to drive "clouds" or holograms into the paint. With a rotary machine you can achieve good results even faster, but the danger is great that you also "burn" the paint.
An overview of good polishing machines you can find under this link. We also explain how to get the most out of a polishing machine.
In addition, we need pads that are applied to the plate of the polishing machine. In the same way there are smaller pads for the polishing aid. Here I recommend a little harder pads, this shortens the time for polishing and thus the effort.
The polish is applied to the pads. Good polishes that we can recommend can be found in our large car polish test. There we have different polishes listed with all their advantages but also disadvantages. Look for you best the suitable one. Note that there are special polishes for glass (glass polish), plastic (headlight polish), chrome (chrome polish) and metal (metal polish).
Depending on the condition of the car paint, the appropriate car polish must be chosen. The company menzerna has a fine gradation of car polishes for polishing machines. For very light scratches and swirls, we recommend menzerna PF 3500 or 2200.
The higher the number, the finer the car polish.
For car paints that are more weathered and have deeper scratches, we can recommend menzerna FG 400. For a perfect result you can work in 3 steps. First menzerna FG 400, then PF 2200 and then PF 3500.
For hand polishing and light scratches you can use meguiars swirl remover. For deeper scratches or heavily weathered car paint meguiars ultimate compound is very suitable. by the way, both car polishes also work wonderfully with a polishing machine. It doesn’t matter if it’s an eccentric or rotary polisher.