Machine Polisher on Black Paint

Top 5 Reasons For Polishing Your Car

If you’ve ever asked yourself (or Google) why you should polish your car and aren’t too sure, this article is for you. The following five examples are in no way absolute “should polish” situations, but are the most popular reasons that we detailers polish cars. Every car owner will have their own opinion on when they like to polish or how often they do it, but for the most part, the following list applies to everyone who cares enough about their car enough to want to keep it looking good.

Why do you polish your car?

#5: Yearly habit

A lot of detailers swear by a yearly polishing procedure. I, for one, think this is a great idea because it means you’re planning on protecting your paint in between procedures. You see, limiting your polishing to once a year will help to establish a proper car care mindset. A good amount of enthusiasts will over do it and polish monthly or even weekly because they think polishing is good for the paint. In reality, they should be waxing more and polishing (much) less.

#4: Car show

A great pre-show preparation is a nice polishing procedure for a number of reasons. Most importantly, polishing takes the finish to a whole new level of depth and clarity. The only thing to look out for here is that you really don’t need to use a high speed rotary buffer. You can get nearly as good a result with a more gentle orbital machine and stop digging so deep into your show car’s clear coat at the very same time.

#3: Fix scratches around door handles

Polishing (by hand) is a great way to remove those hideous scratches around your door handles caused by fingernails, rings, and keys. The whole process can be done in about 30 minutes and when you’re done, your car won’t look like some prankster has been trying to crack off the handles with a crowbar.

#2: Bringing sexy back

Neglected paint can be pretty darn ugly. The second most popular reason people polish is to rejuvenate the appearance of their faded, dull paint that looks cloudy and/or hazy. The majority of car owners get this done by a professional, but if you know how to work a machine you can easily get this done from home in no time. If you don’t want to use a machine and you’ve got some time on your hands, you can polish with a foam pad and have your car looking spectacular, too.

#1: Remove swirls and holograms

Everybody hates swirls and holograms, but what most people don’t know is that both are caused, in part, by machines. Ironic isn’t it? Well it’s true. Swirl marks are often caused by improper procedure and holograms are essentially buffer trails (or the wrath of an automatic car wash). The fact remains, most people polish their paintwork to remove them because they look straight up gross. Most people turn to the professionals, but even then you can never guarantee the swirls wont come back. The best advice I can give when it comes to polishing is to do so sparingly. Use the machine when you need it, and avoid it when you don’t. And, most importantly, always protect after you polish. The more you protect, the less you’ll find you need to polish… and trust me, that’s a good thing. At least for your clear coat. Shalom. Photo from: www.blackbetsy.com/shoeless.html

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