Today we're gonna talk about polishing,
specifically: one step polishing.
What is a one-step polish?
In a lot of our other videos, we talk about removing swirls and scratches using a machine polisher
but using two to three steps to achieve 99% defect-free results.
Oftentimes, a professional can spend 20-30 hours polishing a vehicle to achieve these results.
It can take days to get the best look.
But what about your daily driver?
What if you did not want to invest 20-30 hours in your polishing routine to get good results?
Then you go for a one-step.
The one-step is removing as many swirls and scratches as you can with one step.
Oftentimes, you can do this and achieve very good results
if the car has minimal damage.
Today I'll show you how a one-step can be effective on heavily-neglected paint.
Right here I have a hood that we got from a junk yard.
It's black, it's neglected, it's got swirls and scratches and holograms all over the hood.
I'll show you how to one-step polish using one polish, one pad, and one machine
to achieve results that you can on a Saturday afternoon just hanging around the garage.
Today I'll use a few products to get those good results.
I'm gonna use V36: our Optical Grade Cutting Polish.
This is a medium-grade cutting polish that cuts well, and finishes good
to get good results on this black paint.
Next I'll use a Flex 3401 Dual Action Polisher.
A lot of people call the Flex polisher the "Mercedes Benz" of dual action polishers because
it's extremely smooth to use, and gets professional results.
I'll team that with a 5.5'' Hex-Logic Orange Pad.
This will do all my cutting and give a nice finish
that most people would be satisfied with--
especially seeing the change from this muted dull surface
to a nice shiny surface that everybody wants to see.
We're also gonna use some quality microfiber towels,
these are silk-lined blue 16 x 16 microfiber towels.
And to show you a difference between the before/after, I'll use some blue painter's tape.
This hood is neglected, it's full of swirls, scratches,
and holograms as you can see in the pictures.
We're gonna get started and show you how to polish.
I'll put some tape down the middle and show you what one-step polishing is all about!
Now we've got a nice 50/50 tape right down the middle of the hood
so I can show you a good before and after of what we're polishing.
You might be asking why I chose V36 as my polish
when V32 and V34 are stronger and can remove heavier defects.
As you can see from the video, this hood is very damaged!
On a scale from 1 - 10, I'd say this is in the 9 - 10 range.
There are some extremely bad defects that you may not even see as a professional detailer.
I chose V36 because as you're machine polishing,
you don't want to start with the most aggressive polish.
You want to start with the least aggressive, then use heavier polishes as needed.
I grabbed V36 because it is a medium grade cutting polish,
it will remove swirls and scratches, but finish out nicely.
When you're doing a one-step, you need to pick a good balance between cutting and finishing ability.
And that's what V36 is good at: it finishes well, but removes swirls and scratches
for a nice, even finish.
Doing a one-step is about compromise;
if you use too light a polish, it will not cut through all the swirls,
scratches, holograms, and defects,
and if you use too heavy a polish, you'll cut through the defects, but you'll leave
marring, and it will not finish to perfection.
V36 is a great compromise.
Find the best compromise for your paintwork!
We're also compromising with the Orange pad;
it's not a heavy cutting pad like the Yellow pad,
and it's not a white polishing pad like the White pad.
It will help remove all these swirls and scratches and leave a nice fine finish.
Once you see the 50/50 difference, you'll be shocked!
It really will remove all the swirls and scratches and give a nice finish.
I'll grab my 3401 dual action polisher equipped with a Chemical Guys 5'' backing plate
which is perfect to use our 5.5'' Hex-Logic pad with the Chemical Guys logo on the back!
I'll slap this on the machine, and get started with the polishing.
I'll take my V36 Optical Grade Cutting Polish, shake it up,
and start out with five small dots.
That's just enough to get started polishing.
I'm also gonna grab some water and spray my pad with two light sprays.
I did this because I want lubricity as I start polishing
because this is a brand new pad
and I don't want any dry friction on the surface.
Let's get started with polishing.
If you're unfamiliar with polishing, we have several videos online that go into detail
on how to set up the polisher, how to polish, and the proper technique.
Hopefully this will give you a basic understanding on how to do a one-step polish.
This is what most people would want to do on their daily driver, work truck,
or maybe on a car you're looking to buy, detail, then sell on the side.
Let's go ahead and polish this hood.
I'm gonna polish this side of the hood,
and leave this side unpolished
so you can see the difference between before and after.
Let's go ahead and get started and polish this hood.
We're already seeing a big difference between the old and the new.
V36 on the orange pad is removing all the swirls and scratches giving a nice bright finish.
that's clear with optical clarity.
That's what's cool about V36:
it's designed to restore optical clarity to any color finish.
But as you know:
black is the true test for any detailer out there.
I'll go ahead and throw some more V36 on my 3401 dual action polisher,
and I'll polish out the rest of this hood so we can see the final result,
and that great 50/50 difference.
Let's get back to polishing,
and show you the awesome results!
Now I've finished polishing the last section of this hood,
and it brought back all the gloss we were looking for.
It removed all the swirls and scratches and for a one-step,
did an amazing job restoring the finish!
You need to wax the surface after you polish it
because once it's polished it has no wax and no protection.
I grabbed the best wax I could think of for this surface,
and it's Black Wax, because from the darkest of places,
shine the brightest lights.
I'll open up Black, and apply it to this black surface.
Black has synthetic polymers built in to the wax that help protect it longer than
a traditional carnauba wax.
I've got a little Black on my pad, and I'm gonna go ahead and wax this entire hood.
Make it look real crisp and bright.
A little bit of Black goes a long way.
Apply Black in lines, not in circular motions.
You'll get the best coverage over the entire hood.
I'm using one of our European black foam applicator pads for this job.
I like this pad because it fits easily in my hand, and it gives me good control.
As you can see just one swipe of Black was enough for this whole hood
without going back to the pot for more product.
That's the best part of Black: it goes a long way.
You can get well over 100 applications out of this one pot.
It's a great way to protect your vehicle and your investment.
I'll grab a little more to hit the spots I missed...
and get that nice fresh look.
There we go.
I've got a nice even coat over the entire surface,
but I've got to wait 20 minutes for Black to dry.
I'll wait 20 minutes, and then I'll come back to remove Black.
See ya in 20!
We've waited 20 minutes, and Black is dry to the touch.
I'll take a black microfiber towel and remove the Black Wax to show you the result.
Now that we've got Black Wax removed, I'm gonna pull off the tape
and show you the 50/50 difference.
Now we'll see where all the polishing got us, and show you the nice bright finish.
Let's pull off the tape and show you the power of one-step V36.
Let's remove this tape.
There we go.
This is the result of all the polishing.
We've got the old side over here, which is neglected and rough.
Years of oxidation, scratches, improper washing..
This was sitting in a junk yard for years.
We went and picked it up to polish it and show you the difference.
Now we have this side: a nice crisp black hood with no swirls and scratches.
It removed a good amount of swirls and scratches.
When you're doing a one-step, you're not concentrating on removing all the swirls and scratches,
just in improving the paint work.
To go from this side to the polished side is a drastic difference.
Anyone can see this is a huge difference, and that's the power of one-step polishing
V36 really impresses in the one-step polishing range,
it took the paint from this side to this one.
Let's take a few minutes to just look at the difference.
Now you've seen the true polishing power of V36.
We took this junkyard hood that was neglected and abused
and took it to perfection in a matter of minutes using a machine polisher, and V36.
It's a great way to restore the finish on your daily driver or old car
in your garage on a Saturday afternoon.
That's the power of V36: It finishes awesome, and removes defects quickly and easily.
If you have any more questions about Black Wax or V36,
you can check out our YouTube account, Facebook,
or you can find me and all these cool products hanging out at
ChemicalGuys.com