Author Archives: Mike Phillips

Beginner's Guide to Polishing Cars
09
Aug
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, How To, Paint Correction

Beginner’s Guide to Car Polishing

Posted on by Mike Phillips

TRANSCRIPT Over time your car becomes filled full of swirls, scratches, water spots, and oxidation. And if you’re a beginner—you’ve never machine polished before—trying to fix this can be kind of intimidating. Let me show you how, and I’ll make it easy. In this video, I’m going to show you how to remove swirls and […]

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Close-up of hand holding clay bar with imprint marks showing contaminants removed during car detailing with header text that reads "what are clay bars?"
11
Jun
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Guides & Tips, How To, Paint Correction, Professional Detailing

What Does a Clay Bar Do? Detailing Clay, Explained

Posted on by Mike Phillips

A clay bar removes above surface bonded contaminants off the surface of your car’s paint to restore a clean and smooth surface. However, there is some confusion over the topic of how a clay bar works, why you should use one and what it does for a vehicle’s paint.  Let’s take a deeper dive. Myth […]

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Guide to Rupes Polishing Pads
12
Dec
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Guides & Tips, Paint Correction, Videos & Media

What are the Different RUPES Polishing Pads?

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Transcript When you hear the word Rupes—and by the way, that is the correct way to pronounce the name—the first thing that comes to mind is normally their amazing tools, like the long-stroke polishers, the Scorpio sanders, and also the Rupes Nanos. But something that a lot of people might not know is they also […]

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How to Clean and Restore Black Plastic Trim
17
Jun
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, How To

How to Clean & Restore Black Plastic Trim on Cars

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Most modern cars have some amount of black plastic trim as function of the body design or for beauty accents.  Over time, with exposure to the sun and inclement weather, these black plastic trim components will fade, oxidize, and lose their original factory appearance.  Besides aging from exposure to the sun and the elements, the […]

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Wet sanding with 3M Trizact system
08
Nov
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To, Live Detailing Classes, Videos & Media

How to Wet Sand Paint Using 3M Trizact System

Posted on by Mike Phillips

The 3M dry sanding system is actually what I consider like one of the safest sanding systems out there and especially if you’re brand new to sanding. One of the cool things about this system is you can use it by hand or machine. They make these in sheets. This is the 3000 six-inch disc, […]

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How to use a paint thickness gauge
30
Apr
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Guides & Tips, How To, Paint Correction, Professional Detailing

How to Use a Paint Thickness Gauge

Posted on by Mike Phillips

A paint thickness gauge (PTG, also known as a coating thickness gauge) is an electronic device used in the auto detailing industry to accurately measure the thickness of a car’s paint and/or any protective coatings applied to it.  In this article, I’ll explain what paint thickness gauges are used for, how they work, when to […]

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Comparison of cordless rotary polishers from Flex, Harbor Freight, and Milwaukee for car detailing
24
Jun
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Guides & Tips, Live Detailing Classes, Paint Correction, Professional Detailing, Videos & Media

Which Cordless Rotary Polisher Is Best? Flex vs. Harbor Freight vs. Milwaukee

Posted on by Mike Phillips

There are so many cordless (battery-powered) rotary polishers on the market today versus 10, even 5 years ago. With all these new options comes analysis paralysis, and I’m here to help YOU make an informed decision before investing in a new tool. It’s all here in this clip from one of my recent LIVE monthly […]

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How to Polish Aluminum Diamond Plate
29
Oct
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To

How to Polish Aluminum Diamond Plate

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Aluminum diamond plate (also called tread plate or checker plate) is used on a variety of surfaces where durability, slip resistance, and corrosion resistance are needed such as stairs, walkways, or in this case, the top of the trailer hitch portion of an AeroVault car hauling trailer. Like regular aluminum, aluminum diamond plate is typically […]

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Close-up of hand polishing aluminum diamond plate with pad, illustrating how to polish aluminum by hand with “hand polishing aluminum” header text
28
Oct
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips

How to Polish Aluminum by Hand

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Aluminum is found on a variety of different vehicles and vessels from trucks and cars to trailers and boats. When aluminum is properly polished, it shines like chrome: Over time, however, the surface of aluminum will oxidize and turn dull. Accumulating oxidation, contamination and scratches erase the brilliant shine and leave behind a dirty haze: […]

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How to Change Backing Plate on Bauer DA
13
Mar
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Guides & Tips, How To, Paint Correction, Videos & Media

How to Change Backing Plate on Bauer 8MM Short-Throw Random Orbital DA

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Sometimes when you’re using a buffer to polish paint on a car it helps to have a smaller pad for smaller sections like A-pillars. But what if you only have one polisher that can only fit big pads? Here’s something you may not know — you can adjust the size of a Bauer 6” DA […]

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