Should I wax or polish my car?

[anxious]

Hi guys, My paint is over 7 months old now. Although I've tried my best to take care of it there is the inevitable swirl and light scratches. I also have some stone chips marks. I have been considering waxing the car. I still have 3/4 of Meguiar Gold Class Wax bottle left. I am also thinking of getting the Black & Decker orbital polisher( 40000 points Citibank credit card). Anyone tried this? My Q is should I wax it now or just wait until June and send the car for a polish job to a shop, thinking of Beyond Car wash @ Arratton Road, Penang? Any comments.

 

[AlexNg]

Wash the car weekly and wax it monthly using the right methods will make your car shiny and shiny!!!

the most expensive doesn't means its the best, the cheapest doesn't mean the worst,

usually, pay more get more from a better brand with the CORRECT method

 

[Mouse]

Hi guys,

My paint is over 7 months old now. Although I've tried my best to take care of it there is the inevitable swirl and light scratches. I also have some stone chips marks.

I have been considering waxing the car. I still have 3/4 of Meguiar Gold Class Wax bottle left.

I am also thinking of getting the Black & Decker orbital polisher( 40000 points Citibank credit card). Anyone tried this?

My Q is should I wax it now or just wait until June and send the car for a polish job to a shop, thinking of Beyond Car wash @ Arratton Road, Penang?

Any comments.

touch your paint, got any sandy feeling? if yes, clay your car, then polish and follow by wax

 

[budakbarublaja]

clay it???wat is it means bro????how much aaa if all done????sori a very2 stupid question...hehehee....new with car

 

[anxious]

What do u guys think of Black & Decker Polisher/Waxer KP600, I know its basic but is it ok. Will waxing with it cause swill marks?

 

[Mouse]

clay it???wat is it means bro????how much aaa if all done????sori a very2 stupid question...hehehee....new with car

bro, yours is new car/paint, i dun think u need to clay it or polish, just wax every month is good enough. till u find your car have sandy feeling or alot of swirl mark, then only clay and polish. u can buy the clay in Enous, its like plastercin.

 

[AlexNg]

Clay is actually a piece of very-clay-like thingy that u rub on your car paint after u wash it and dry it using soap / quik detailer / water as lubricant.

i have the B&D kp600. hehe, its ok but not powerful, not agile enough. i would strongly suggest go for a Bosch GEX270 AE. get the bonnets from Meg's during the clinic. get also M83 (match with W8006 pad) and M80 (W9006 pad), M21 / M16, quik clay, NXT car wash, microfibre cloths, and drying cloths.

 

[wan520i]

anxious, I have the same problem like yours, to my understanding, swirl marks are caused by micro scratches on the paint, you can use wax to temporarily cover them, the result may looks perfect but after few washes, the micro scratches will re-surfaced. I would look for a good polishing shop to polish away those swirl marks first, then regularly wax it as mentioned by AlexNg.

AlexNg, you sems to know a lots of car polishing..., do you own a car detailing shop? or do you do part-time car polishing? hehe..looking for one to help on my car paint lah...ok ke?

 

[AlexNg]

hi wan520i,

i actually have a passion for car detailing only, not skilled enough to open own shop yet. hehe... i'll be glad to help out with the limited knowledge that i have.

 

[absidian]

I have an electric Orbital Polisher, it is ok for keeping the car shiny regularly at consumer level but won't remove scratches or swirls effectively.

I find it is more for simplifying the regualr polish/wax/seal process, but don't expect it to carry out paint correction like a Rotary Polisher. Especially since BMW paint compound is known to be hard as F*** to correct. I'm not saying it won't improve the final outcome, but there is only so little that it will really do ... tho' if you put in some decent effort, it will definitely be miles better than by hand.


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[wan520i]

AlexNg, hehe..so when can we start the project on my car??

(soli for hijack mr.anxious thread...ciao).

 

[Daniel]

The best advice is simply to log into www.meguiarsonline.com for advice/tips/techniques for car detailing.

 

[anxious]

My paint is actually is quite good condition.

You can check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/15095079@N05/

I wash my car myself almost every week since I repainted it.(Apart from 3-4 times when it was sent to the car wash by my mechanic ).

However as the pait is over 7 months old I can see some stone chips.

Recently I got some swrill marks too and one or two minor scratches.

I have yet to wax the car. In fact my painter said no need to wax. He recommended washing with water only and sending it back to him annually for polishing.

I got Meguair's Scratch X recently but I think I made it worse as the surface wasnt very clean.

B4 I send the car for its annual polishing, I was just thinking of waxing it with the Meguairs Gold Class Wax when I still have 3/4 bottle left.

I am only afraid that my black paint may get more swrills on them.

I am also thinking of getting the Black & Decker polisher machine by exchanging my 40000 Citibank points( I saw it selling for RM199 at Tesco today). I was just wondering whether the machine is ok or I should just use my hand to wax it.

I have a old XL polishing machine that I bought from Parkson for RM50 some time back but I dont want to risk using it on my new paintwork.

Arghhhh. Decisions.

Comments/Advise is most welcome to an inexperienced "detailer" like me.

 

[anxious]

Ok guys

Done some research and it reveals that this Black & Decker machine isnt very good for removing scratches etc.

Well I only want to wax the car with it. In fact I'll apply the wax with Meguiars applicator pad.

I just want to ensure that removing it with the Black & Decker wont cause more scratches.

Anyone care to share ur experience with this machine?

I plan to exchange my reward points for it soon.

Thanks

 

[maxxsp]

Ok guys

Done some research and it reveals that this Black & Decker machine isnt very good for removing scratches etc.

Well I only want to wax the car with it. In fact I'll apply the wax with Meguiars applicator pad.

I just want to ensure that removing it with the Black & Decker wont cause more scratches.

Anyone care to share ur experience with this machine?

I plan to exchange my reward points for it soon.

Thanks

Any type of orbital polisher will be more effective than hand polishing.
wax should never be applied or removed by machine, use an applicator pad to apply the wax and a good quality microfibre cloth to remove it instead.

 

[AlexNg]

try organizing a detailing TT la guys.. hehee

 

[astroboy]

In experience use of orbital can harm or burn the paint. Be very cautious!

 

[AlexNg]

RB (rotating buffer - means it only rotates) can burn paint

ROB (rotating orbital buffer - it oscilates) can't burn paint

DA (mix of both - less likely to burn paint but still can)

 

[way2go]

Also lots of info in www.autogeek.com, www.autopia.org etc.

Machines like Porter Cable 7424 (Dual Action), Flex 3401 VRG (Dual Action), UDM1000- Random orbital, Makita 9227 Variable speed rotary are quite the top of the line.

Meguair's have the most comprehensive car care products, Malaysia online shop www.klasse.com.my

 

[guru]

i use a black and decker too(can't remember which, got ABS like brakes). polish with 3m finesse-it II, then any popular carnuba wax. quite good, def better than any shop can do. the 3m is expensive but the results very good, it preps the paint(makes it super clean) and ready for carnuba. finish job looks like water.