Swirl marks and scratches are some of the worst problems to occur to any painted vehicle!
Swirl marks and scratches bring down the look of any vehicle,
making them look neglected, uncared for, and can bring down their value.
You can spend months polishing a car by hand...
Endless hours trying to achieve the look professionals achieve...
But today I'm going to show you how to remove swirls and scratches from a vehicle using machine polishing.
Today I'm going to do that using the Porter Cable 7424 Dual Action Polisher.
With today's dual action polisher technology,
anybody can easily polish paint with perfect results every time!
So today I'm going to use our V-Line of polishes,
which we call the "Optical Finish Polish Line."
First up is our V34.
This is our hybrid compound.
It cuts through paint really fast, and get the look everybody loves
quickly and easily.
This is for heavily-oxidized, scratched, and swirled paint
that needs extra time and attention with a wool pad, or heavy cutting pad.
Next up is our V36 Optical Grade Cutting Polish.
This is a medium swirl remover that helps remove minors swirls and scratches
that you might get from daily driving.
Our next step is V38 Optical Grade Final Polish.
This is a true jeweler's polish that brings out the deep luster of your paint,
removing any buffer holograms or marring you may have left over.
To use our polishes, I'm going to pair them with our Hex-Logic series pads.
I'm going to cut the paint using V36 on an orange cutting pad,
that's gonna give me a nice cut, and remove all the heavy swirls and scratches on the paint.
The car is not extremely swirled or scratched, so I can skip the V34 and go straight to V36.
Next I will use V38 with a white Hex-Logic polishing pad.
This will bring out the deep luster of the paint, and help the metallic fleck pop!
Lastly, I'll use the Hex-Logic black finishing pad to seal the paint with JetSeal, or a wax.
That will give us the ultimate protection to preserve our newly-polished finish.
First I'm going to inspect the paint with this Halogen/LED inspection light.
With just one look, you can see the paint has been washed improperly several times,
and have marring and vertical scratches all over the vehicle.
These scratches come from using improper wash mitts or dirty towels.
There are also some swirls from wiping in circular motions.
We should be able to take care of those today using our V-Line of polishes
to cut through and get the finish everybody loves.
To show you how easy it is to use the "Optical Finish Polish Line,"
I'm going to put a piece of tape down and make a square right on the hood
so you see an exact 50/50 difference before and after.
I went ahead and put down the square
to show you the proper techniques to use when polishing your car
with a dual action polisher.
This is the exact work area size you should polish when moving across the whole hood.
If you can finish this area correctly, you can do the whole car perfectly.
I'm going to grab my Porter Cable 7424 dual action polisher.
The 5'' backing plate accommodates 5.5'' pads,
perfect for this surface: not too big, not too little.
Our Hex-Logic pads use a hook-and-loop backing system,
so all you have to do is press it to the machine itself.
Nice and balanced for good rotation, and good polishing technique right on the vehicle.
I also placed some Sharpie lines on the backing plate itself.
These shows you that you're getting proper rotation of the machine.
When the machine is rotating properly, the pad will spin.
When the machine is not rotating properly, the pad will just vibrate side to side.
Let's start the polishing process:
First thing we grab is our pad conditioner. This softens the pad, especially this new, dry pad.
We don't want dry friction rubbing on our paint, causing more marring.
We want to eliminate the scratches, not cause more!
All we need is two light sprays of pad conditioner right on the pad.
Then I'll grab our V36 cutting polish.
To use V36, give it a good shake,
then go ahead and place 5 dots
right on the pad itself. The dots need to be no bigger than the size of a pea
because we don't want too much!
If you too much polish, you're not going to get the right technique, and you're not gonna get
the right results out of your polishing job.
First thing, place the cord of the machine over your shoulder
so you don't bang the cord across surface, causing more scratches.
Next we dab the pad across the surface to spread the polish out across the surface of the panel.
We do this so we don't get any splatter once we turn on the machine.
Next, turn the machine down to speed setting 1.
This is just to spread out the polish and get the process going.
So let's go ahead and spread our V36.
We now have a nice even spread across the hood to ensure a nice work area.
Next, since we're removing swirls and scratches with a cutting pad,
we're gonna bump the machine up to speed setting 6.
We need that power and that cutting capability to remove all the swirls and scratches from the vehicle.
So: Let's start polishing! I want you to observe that I polish in a 50/50 overlapping pattern
going left to right, down a row, then right to left.
After I finish the whole area, I change my pattern to up a row, then down a row.
So: Let's go ahead and start the polishing process!
I'm gonna place my left hand on the top of the machine and put 5 - 7 pounds
of pressure on the machine itself.
This gives me even control and enhanced cutting ability
on the painted surface.
I want you to take notice that as I'm polishing the vehicle
the polish is turning clear. That means I use the proper amount of polish
and the abrasives have broken down to start fine cutting the paint.
This clear area right here means that I'm doing the job properly and I'm getting great coverage
and even paint removal over the surface.
For my last few passes, I'm going to release pressure
from my left hand and let the machine free spin more.
That will give me a nice luster and bring out added depth and pop to the paint
after the cutting capability. So let's finish our last couple rounds of polishing.
We removed all the swirls the scratches from the paint using our V36 cutting polish,
now we're gonna go ahead and remove the excess polish from the vehicle.
Some people might choose to wait a little while
before the polish the whole car to remove the polish, but I personally recommend that
you remove the polish right after polishing. The way the oils in the polish help remove it and get a better look in the end.
I'm going to grab a clean microfiber towel, but before I place it on the surface,
I want to make sure that it's folded into 4's.
Fold it one way long, then the other way in half.
And now you have a nice square that will give you a cushion to put your hand on as you remove the polish.
Let's go ahead and remove the V36.
V36 takes little-to-no effort to remove because we used so little--only 5 dots.
Remember we only used five pea-sized drops
on this small panel. That surface looks real fresh!
So now I'm gonna go ahead and grab my machine
and remove my orange cutting pad
and grab my white polishing pad.
This is what I will use to brighten up the finish using our V38 finishing polish.
I'll give it a good shake...
and once again I'll place five small dots
right on the pad. You want to be careful with V38 that you don't place too much on there
because too much can go way too far very quickly.
One thing you'll notice when I start polishing with V38
is that V38 has a lot of play time. What I mean my play time is the working
capability for the polish to work over and over and over again in multiple passes
to get even, and very fine paint removal.
This is what details like to call a "Jeweler's Polish."
That way you keep polishing a vehicle and brighten up the finish
without removing that much paint for the best result possible.
So just like we polished with V36 on an orange pad, I'm gonna use V38
and the white to achieve that great finish. let's go polish.
Just like before, I'm gonna place our polish
all over the paint, that way when we turn on the machine, we don't get any sling
of the polish spraying all over myself or the camera man.
Go ahead and place my machine back on speed setting 1,
and go ahead and spread over the surface.
Now I'll grad my machine, and
turn it back up the speed setting six, and I'm going to start my polishing.
So, let's go ahead and make this finish look amazing!
As you may have noticed on the camera,
the polish has started to become clear, and that means the polish has reached
the end of its work cycle.
That means that the finish a perfect and the polish has done its job. I'm gonna go ahead and
make two more passes
applying light pressure machine to finish out the surface.
Then we're going to inspect it, and apply some protection. So let's finish out this V38 polishing.
So now we finished our V38 polishing, I want you to notice as as I turn the machine off,
I left the machine on the surface before I turn the machine off. This way I don't
get any splatter,and I I also don't wear out the bearings on the machine
and keep a nice long life to our equipment. I'm gonna take my machine off the surface,
and reach for a brand new microfiber towel once again, fold it in fours,
and simply remove all the V38 from the surface.
So now that we've completed the process
of refining the finish with V38 finishing polish,
we want to place some protection on the surface.
After you spend a lot of time and energy restoring your paint, you want to protect it against
water spots, overspray, and contamination.
And also can help prevent against any light scratches that can occur back on the paint.
To do that today I chose to use Lava: the luminous glow infusion.
That way we have the best protection and the best look on this black metallic Audi paint.
To use Lava, I'm going to spread it with a machine. You can spread it by hand,
but since we're using a machine to polish,
I feel it will be quick and easy with a Porter Cable.
I'm gonna remove our white polishing pad,
and reach for a black polishing pad. This will be the perfect pad to apply our Lava right on the paint.
Now we have the pad secured right onto the backing plate.
I'm gonna grab our Lava, and simply scoop
a nice amount right from the pot...
I'm gonna place this directly right on applicator pad.
This way we get a nice
even spread of Lava all over the surface. So to spread Lava I'm gonna put
the cord right over my shoulder,
I'm also going to take the machine and turned down the speed setting 2.
That way I have a nice coverage without having any abrasive
machine power which could instill any swirls in the paint. Let's go ahead
and wax the car!
Just like before the polish, I'm gonna go ahead and spread the wax
and I might go and turn the machine on and spreading evenly,
making about two or three passes.
There we go! Now the Lava is applied, and all we gotta do is wait 20 minutes
before we remove the Lava to ensure a good bond to the surface.
I'll grab a drink water, and we'll see you in 20 minutes.
So we've let Lava dry for 20 minutes to ensure a great bond.
Now we're gonna grab our third microfiber towel
fold it into fours, and remove the Lava to reveal the true beauty of
the metallic black paint. Let's go ahead and remove it!
Now we're gonna remove the tape to show the 50/50 difference between the
old and the new.
Now I'm gonna take my inspection light
and inspect the differences. Now you can see we have a clear side on this
side
and the old side which has scratches and swirls all on. We have a crystal-clear
side on this side,
and a hazy side right here.
What a great finish! now we have swirl-free and
scratch-free finish that's really gonna look great in the sun.
We can see all the metallic and sparkle color inside the paint, and it's really gonna
stand out once we take the car outside.
So now you know exactly how to remove all those pesky swirls and scratches
from your paint, and make your finish look great and awesome just like the day you
bought it from the factory,
or from the dealer. So, if you have any more questions about polishing
or removing swirls and scratches, check out our website
CheicalGuys.com