Maniac-Auto Tutorials: DAS-6 PRO Polishing.
DETAILING STEP 4: POLISHING
Why do it?
Polishing a car body is the one and only step that will allow you to eliminate defects caused by time or poor washing techniques. What we call defects are: micro-scratches, clear coat dulling, holograms, shallow scratches, orange peel.
It is the longest step of a restoration, but the one that delivers the most results. Indeed, you can very easily see the defects being removed as you progress through your restoration. You can eliminate in a few passes up to 80-90% of defects that can be corrected by machine.
In what situation(s)?
Polishing is worthwhile when you have marked defects on your clear coat, whether micro-scratches or otherwise. It also allows you to prepare the surface for the application of a protection. Polishing must only be carried out on a completely clean and decontaminated bodywork. To carry out a proper polish, simply follow the advice given in this video carefully. Here are the most important steps.
Step 1: Masking
It is very important to mask the parts of the vehicle that can be damaged by polishing: lights, windows, rubbers, plastics. Polish dust gets everywhere during polishing and takes a very long time to remove. It is better to mask carefully to avoid adding several hours of work.
Examples:
3M 3434 Masking Tape 25mm
3M 244 Masking Tape 19mm
Step 2: Choosing the products to use
It is important to choose the right products to use with your DAS-6 PRO (or other machine). Maniac-Auto has developed several kits that allow you to polish any clear coat. Depending on the initial condition of your bodywork, you can determine which polish to use. We generally use 2 to 3 abrasives for a complete restoration. Here are the different types of abrasives.
- Compounds: highly abrasive polishes designed to remove the maximum number of major defects in a minimum number of passes. In return, they will themselves leave minor defects (swirls, holograms) that can be removed with the use of a finishing polish.
Heavy Cut Compound 1100, Menzerna
Correction Compound, Meguiar's
Cut, Fictech
V32, Chemical Guys
- Intensive polishes: relatively abrasive polishes, able to remove medium to major defects depending on the brand of your vehicle. To be used after a compound or on regular defects (or on soft clear coats).
IP 2000, Menzerna
V36, Chemical Guys
Scratch, Fictech
P3000, Alchimy
- Finishing polishes: polishes with low abrasiveness in their composition, often oil-enriched, in order to leave a finish of great brilliance. They are also designed to remove defects left by more abrasive polishes.
Super Finish 3500, Menzerna
P7000, Alchimy
Swirl, Fictech
V38, Chemical Guys
Step 3: Choosing the polishing pads to use
It is essential to use pads suited to your machine and the polishes you have. It is very simple: for compounds we recommend yellow or orange pads (Lake Country or Hex-Logic), for intensive polishes orange, green, or white pads (Lake Country or Hex-Logic), and for finishing polishes white or black pads (Lake Country or Hex-Logic).
There are also wool pads called "Wool Pad" or microfiber pads such as those from the Meguiar's Correction Compound range for major defects. To be used with the appropriate polishes.
Step 4: Polishing
To learn about all the things to do and not to do during polishing, we recommend you refer to the tutorial above.
And the alternatives?
For those who want professional results, Maniac-Auto offers Rupes polishing kits. Rupes is an Italian brand manufacturing professional-quality polishers. The most popular machine is the BigFoot 15mm. The Duetto is the equivalent of the DAS-6 PRO.