# The time logistics of polishing a car



## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

Hi

I'd like to have a go polishing my car once the weather improves a bit. I've just got into 'detailing' a few months back but am yet to buy a DAP etc.

What I have noticed is just how time consuming and tiring the washing process is. By the time I've snow foamed, washed with two buckets, dried and waxed I'm absolutely knackered. It takes about 2.5 hours and thats without clay baring which I presume one has to do prior to polishing.

So to do a one step polish after full wash, prep and finished with a wax I'm assuming I'd need about 10 hours?? (And a hell of a lot of energy!)

I know some people recommend doing one panel at a time. My issue with this is that it will take months to get the whole car as I tend to wash the car every two weeks or so.

Any suggestions/thoughts appreciated.

Thanks very much


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## graham1970 (Oct 7, 2012)

I set aside 2 days to decontinate, clay,polish,seal and wax mine.... Am itching now the sun's out lol

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## cossiecol (Jun 29, 2014)

You can't rush correcting a car, it will take as long as it takes. If it's your first time then allow at least a full day as you will naturally be going slow.

The very first car I corrected took a total of something like 11 hours to do as I wasn't rushing and focusing on not making a mistake.

Break, food and water intake and also some stretching (as you'll be in all sorts of positions), as well as a plan on how to intend to approach the car with the DA would be worth considering to ensure to complete the car without exhaust yourself.


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## graham1970 (Oct 7, 2012)

Also just to add....enjoy it!😀

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## Smanderson117 (Jan 19, 2015)

I find I can (once everything is out so not account for time taken to do that) clean wheels, foam, wash and dry in under 1 hour. I find wheels take around 10-15 mins, foam 5 mins, wash 10 mins, rinse and dry 10-15. If you need to do a panel at a time however, you could do this but make sure you've fully completed the panel and sealed it so it stays corrected and then it wont matter if you take a while.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

If you're really pressed for time, just wash, decon, clay etc the panel(s) you're going to polish, plus the edges of any surrounding panels to make any masking off safe. When it's done, seal or wax it.

As has been said, rather than rush it and do a half arsed job, enjoy the process of revealing the glory of properly polished paint


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## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

If you have a garage or closed off nook where you can park the car to keep it from the elements, makes a bit of difference as you can go in after the washing process for 30 mins and then get to it.

If not I'd do your standard wash with clay bar and then wax it off one week, then the next week after the next wash you can start about polishing.


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## AndyN01 (Feb 16, 2016)

+1...2...3....for the advice that it takes as long as it takes.

It's your time and your call but consider...

Prep is a good 90% of the end result.

You can put mega bucks wax on your supermarket car washed car and it'll look maybe a bit better than average.

Or

You can take it nice and steady, enjoying the experience, developing your skills and knowledge and turn out something that makes you happy and proud of your work.

I know which camp I’m in :thumb: 

I've come across an informed opinion that it takes 10,000 hours to become truly proficient at something.

Now there's a challenge. :lol:

Enjoy yourself.

Andy.


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## neilmcl (Mar 26, 2010)

I usually make it a 2 day process.

Day 1: Pre-wash, wash, decon
Day 2: Rinse, clay, polish, wax

I try to ensure I've not used the car in between.


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

sam1970 said:


> Hi
> 
> I'd like to have a go polishing my car once the weather improves a bit. I've just got into 'detailing' a few months back but am yet to buy a DAP etc.
> 
> ...


I suggest you practice first on a scrap panel before you go ahead on your car
Then this will give a ruff time how long it takes.:thumb: what are you looking to remove from your paint, i.e. Swirls scratches Last thing you want to do is make a mistake on your first go.


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## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

Thanks for all the advice, very helpful.

I'm ashamed to say that I might wimp out and get it done professionally. It won't be cheap at £600 odd quid but at least I know the job will be done well. I can see myself spending a few hundred quid on kit and quite a few days of my time and still not getting it right.

It should be a once in a lifetime cost as I'll continue to wash and detail it weekly myself to avoid any further 'cobwebs' on the car.

Cheers


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## Coupe25 (Feb 11, 2017)

sam1970 said:


> Thanks for all the advice, very helpful.
> 
> I'm ashamed to say that I might wimp out and get it done professionally. It won't be cheap at £600 odd quid but at least I know the job will be done well. I can see myself spending a few hundred quid on kit and quite a few days of my time and still not getting it right.
> 
> ...


Clay mitt: £12
Gold class shampoo:£9
Fusso wax: £25
ASDA microfibres: £2
Towels: £8 for 2
Polish: £20
Applicator pads: £4 for 8 or so on Ebay

Just with that it will look better than average.


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## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

Coupe25 said:


> Clay mitt: £12
> Gold class shampoo:£9
> Fusso wax: £25
> ASDA microfibres: £2
> ...


I already have good quality shampoos, foams, wax, mitts, MF cloths etc and wash my car every week.

I was thinking of the £100 + I'd need to spend on the DA polisher. Still a lot less than the £600 needed for a professional to do it though I suppose....


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

It's worth noting that your DA can be used to do things like apply polishes and paint cleaners that are not paint correction as such, but can really add to the look of the car.

It's also not an all or nothing proposition. Consider the following:

If you buy say, the Argos DA polisher, plus a 5 inch polishing pad, and a bottle of Bilt Hamber Cleaner Polish, that's not going to set you back more than £100. Now, just pick one panel, give it some fallout remover and clay it. Then apply the cleanser polish, using the DA and the polishing pad. The difference in gloss and shine will likely be very considerable. At this point, you'll either think "this was not worth the effort". At which point, sell the DA, and you'll be very little money down. (I'd keep the Cleaner Polish, it's ace, even by hand )

If you think "ooh, I like the look of that" you can do the rest of the car (applying CP to a car with a DA doesn't take ages) and enjoy.

Then if you want a bit more, if you've got some heavier swirls that are annoying you, you could get yourself a "one stepper" polish eg Scholl S20 Black, Sonax EX 06-04, and a suitable set of pads, and have a go at "proper" paint correction, panel by panel if needs be. Again, you need not buy 5 different polishes and 20 pads to have a crack - it all depends how far down the rabbit hole you wish to go.

I bought my DA 18 months ago - I've had it out maybe 5 times since. But I'm in no rush, and I get plenty of time to think about things each time and decide whether I need to change technique, or whether I actually need to buy eg some new pads or whatever.


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## AndyN01 (Feb 16, 2016)

+1 For everything above.

Thanks SG

Andy


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## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

steelghost said:


> It's worth noting that your DA can be used to do things like apply polishes and paint cleaners that are not paint correction as such, but can really add to the look of the car.
> 
> It's also not an all or nothing proposition. Consider the following:
> 
> ...


Thank you.

Is the BH cleaner polish a 'corrective' compound?

Cheers


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

sam1970 said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Is the BH cleaner polish a 'corrective' compound?
> 
> Cheers


It does have slight cut to it, but it's only really effective by machine on softer paints, and even then it's just a light gloss booster. Mostly the abrasives are there for cleaning purposes (a bit like the Cif or whatever in your kitchen cupboard).

It is however a very effective paint cleaner and filler of marring and light swirls, and an LSP in its own right. So if applied (by hand or by machine!) to a decontaminated panel, allowed to haze for 10 minutes and buffed off, the results are very pleasing  but can also be topped with any other wax or sealant you like.

Equally important though, is that something like this lets you get used to a DA with very little risk to your paint (the only real risk is if you somehow lost your grip on the DA and dropped it on the car!) It delivers a real boost to the appearance, not as good as "true" machine polishing but enough for you to get an idea.

There are plenty of other products you could use instead of BH CP - Britemax BlackMax, Dodo Juice Lime Prime, Prima Amigo, Wowos Show'n'Go Polish, the list goes on (and on) - I just picked CP as it's a product I'm familiar with and know will do the business when used in the manner I've described.


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## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

steelghost said:


> It does have slight cut to it, but it's only really effective by machine on softer paints, and even then it's just a light gloss booster. Mostly the abrasives are there for cleaning purposes (a bit like the Cif or whatever in your kitchen cupboard).
> 
> It is however a very effective paint cleaner and filler of marring and light swirls, and an LSP in its own right. So if applied (by hand or by machine!) to a decontaminated panel, allowed to haze for 10 minutes and buffed off, the results are very pleasing  but can also be topped with any other wax or sealant you like.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I'd be happy to try the BH CP as I use their snow foam already. Here are a few pics of whats annoying me about the paint. Some of the pics almost make it look worse than it is. I took those after I stupidly waxed the car in direct sunlight and let it cure for too long.
As a result there's a sort of hazy white residue on some of the pics.

The last pic shows how it looked after a wash and a coat of Meguiars quick wax spray.

Do you think BH CP (or similar) would help?


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## AndyN01 (Feb 16, 2016)

Hi Sam,

The short answer is yes.

There doesn't look a huge amount of correction needed my only thought is how hard is your Porsche's paint but it's filling properties may get round that anyway.

Give it a go and let us know how you get on.

You can always go more aggressive with the polishes...........or maybe go a slightly different route with glazes or even use Glare.

Andy.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

CP will certainly help to reduce the appearance of the paint defects in your picture, mostly by filling rather than actual paint correction.

It looks like the kind of thing a few passes with Glare Spider + Pro would make a big improvement to - or given Porsche's reputation for hard paint, you could try some S20 Black on a Scholl Blue spider pad.

Have a look at the example of what CP can achieve on the Bilt Hamber product page.


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

CP will only fill them swirls you have, your better off using a medium polish not a one step polish, something like KochChemie M2-01 on a polishing pad like a green or white chemical guys new quantum hex pads.

Don't always judge a make of vehicle as having soft or hard paint because in some cases you can be caught out, so always do a test spot with the least aggressive approach then you can either step it up or if your happy carry on with your first step. I2Detailing are selling KochChemie kits in 250ml.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

OP, chongo has the knowledge when it comes to "proper" machine polishing, the question you need to answer to yourself is if you want to jump straight in to that, or try some of the non-correcting polishes on a DA (or just call the whole thing off :lol. 

To be honest, you could just buy a bottle of Cleanser Polish or AG SRP and give that a go by hand. All depends how much the paint bothers you vs how much time and money you want to put into fixing it.

Or as you suggested above, you can just pay a pro to do it - no shame in that, plenty folks on here wouldn't have jobs if it wasn't for people not having the time or inclination to do their own machine polishing!


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## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

Thanks very much.

I'm going to be really busy at work for a few weeks so won't have time to get stuck right in straight away even if I wanted to. This will give me some more time to have a think and do some further reading.


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

sam1970 said:


> Thanks very much.
> 
> I'm going to be really busy at work for a few weeks so won't have time to get stuck right in straight away even if I wanted to. This will give me some more time to have a think and do some further reading.


Positive thinking mate:thumb:


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## chrisc (Jun 15, 2008)

Wash 30 mins
Clay 30 mins
Speed buff with rotary about 2 hours


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

sam1970 said:


> Thanks very much.
> 
> I'm going to be really busy at work for a few weeks so won't have time to get stuck right in straight away even if I wanted to. This will give me some more time to have a think and do some further reading.


You don't have to do your whole car in one go. 

Many people do only one or two panels at a time, as and when time permits, and the whole car can be completed over a month or even longer. :thumb:

Don't worry about it being finished in only a few days - enjoy the process and the transformation - it's supposed to be a hobby. 

Alan W


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Alan W said:


> You don't have to do your whole car in one go.
> 
> Many people do only one or two panels at a time, as and when time permits, and the whole car can be completed over a *year* or even longer. :thumb:
> 
> ...


There, fixed that for you :lol:

(Referring to my own experience of getting a new (to us) car just before my second kid was born - trying to dedicate time to a new hobby ie detailing, whilst dealing with the shock of Small Person #2 entering your life - let's just say that it's only now two years down the line that I really feel I have the knowledge and time to start really getting stuck in :thumb


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

steelghost said:


> There, fixed that for you :lol:


Thanks! :lol:

Alan W


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## stealthwolf (Sep 24, 2008)

steelghost said:


> If you're really pressed for time, just wash, decon, clay etc the panel(s) you're going to polish


This. I haven't polished the car since moving in to my new house but I used to detail the car on a main road. I'd get up and early to do it. I would machine polish the car slowly and in sections. The car would get a SF, rinse, 2BM, rinse and towel dry. One section eg bonnet would get tar remover, iron fallout, clay and machine polished. It would then get paintwork cleanser and LSP. It might take me a few weekends to do, a couple of times a year.

I would normally start with the roof and work my way down.

Even when I did maintenance washes, I would then do something extra each week eg dress the tyres, or clean the glass, so the car was always clean.


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## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

chongo said:


> CP will only fill them swirls you have, your better off using a medium polish not a one step polish, something like KochChemie M2-01 on a polishing pad like a green or white chemical guys new quantum hex pads.
> 
> Don't always judge a make of vehicle as having soft or hard paint because in some cases you can be caught out, so always do a test spot with the least aggressive approach then you can either step it up or if your happy carry on with your first step. I2Detailing are selling KochChemie kits in 250ml.


Thanks, I've decided that I am going to take the plunge. As a complete newbie I'm absolutely paranoid that I'm going to damage the paint on my beloved car.

So I'd really like to start with the absolutely least aggressive approach first. You've classified the KochChemie polish that you recommended as a 'medium' polish. Would I be better off starting with something even less aggressive?

Thanks very much.


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

I have a Nissan Juke and does have the stereotypical soft Japanese paint.

I use Koch Chemie M2 on a white pad and it removes 95% of my swirls 
If I wanted to go to a green it'd prob remove more like 99%. 
I don't think it'd hurt getting the Koch Chemie and a few pads and do a test area and see where you go.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Going on the description on the KC site (http://www.koch-chemie.de/en/Detailing/Paintwork/), M2 is not an aggressive polish, especially if used with a light polishing pad.


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## sam1970 (Jan 21, 2017)

Thanks very much.


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