Car detailers…what pad for machine polisher?

I have a couple of pads by the same people that make the wax I’ve got. Farecia? G2 orG3 I think. I use them by hand as I’ve not got a machine. Think they’re compatible though. Bought from Halfords.

Do you rate the clay bar thing? Thinking of trying it on my old golf.

https://www.farecla.com/products/g3-professional-applicator-waffle-pads/

Green hexlogic is my 'one and done' pad.

It's got just about enough cut to remove random scratches, take swirls off easily, but it's fine enough to use for a final finish also. I use it with Scholl S20 Black which is really good one-step polish. As you work it, it gets finer and finer so as you go over the panel a few times it does both the cut and refine.

eta- the above advice is for a dual action polisher, i have no experience with a rotary. If it's one of those be extremely careful because you can easily damage or hologram the paint.

hexlogic green or orange. get 2 one for each side

sholl s20, or perfect finish.

then your wax of choice.

I bought a Halfords dual action polisher last year, but it doesn't seem to get swirl marks out of the Merc, either that or I'm taking them out and putting them back in at the same time.

I used the hardest one of the three pads it came with, can you re use them or do you need new? I thought the pad was just a vehicle for the polish?

Do you rate the clay bar thing?

Clay bar for removing stuck-on stuff, along with a detailing spray. After you wash and lovingly caress it with spray you will feel all the little blemishes even if you can't see them, then you can get them off with more spray and the clay bar.

If you can get it as clean as that Dawes then you'll have done well!

molgrips
Full Member

I bought a Halfords dual action polisher last year, but it doesn’t seem to get swirl marks out of the Merc, either that or I’m taking them out and putting them back in at the same time.

I used the hardest one of the three pads it came with, can you re use them or do you need new? I thought the pad was just a vehicle for the polish?

Probably your car has hard (good quality) paint. I'd forget the halfords pads and replace them with an orange hexlogic and a green hexlogic so you have a known quantity to work with. Then use the orange with a more aggressive compound e.g. meguiars cutting, followed by a finishing polish like megs #205 ultimate on the green pad.

This may also be the case for the OP, as mercs do tend to have harder paint, but it varies a lot.

Good timing! I've bought the Argos version of the Halfords dual action polisher (looks like it's the same unit), but have never used one before so had the same question re pads and was going to ask this same question.

I've a new car arriving in a couple of week and have asked the dealer to not wash it and leave "as it came out of the factory" so I can clean it carefully myself then give it a light machine polish if it needs it then ceramic coat. The dealer was more accommodating than I was expecting and will deliver it with the transport protection film etc still on it, so should make the initial clean quite a bit quicker !

DA or rotary polisher?

Advice appreciated @multi21 ta.

I rarely wash cars but when I do I actually enjoy going to town on it. Also saw a car like mine, same age and colour the other day but with flawless bodywork and it looked amazing, so I'm now jealous.

Well I balked at spending £45 on hex logic pads so I tried again with the Halfords ones (cleaned) and some Meguiar's Ultimate which should be more of a cutting compound than what I was using before. It did take most of the swirl marks out but there are still some random light scratches here and there, and you can see some swirls when the sun is on it, around the suns reflection. Things I've learned:

1. The more you clean a car of course the more you notice loads of little scratches and nicks. Especially on the front bumper. 95,000 miles is a long way and that's a lot of stone chips and branches brushed by on country lanes.

2. It takes ages, all day in my case.

3. Don't let the polisher run when it's not on the car, even if you think all the polish has rubbed in, When it's not touching the car the dual action turns into a single action high speed spin which evicts extra polish from inside the pad and sprays it everywhere.

4. If you're using Turtle Wax Graphne or similar and it says for step 2 to 'remove the product with a damp cloth' you really need to rub it all clean otherwise step 3 which is buffing will be impossible.

5. When you finally get to a super smooth buffed slippery car you'll keep buffing for ages cos it feels so nice to rub your cloth over the finished product.

I'm pleased because I also attempted some scratch repairs and I managed to get a couple of actual invisible repairs with the Halfords pen set. There are a few that need more buffing, I'll come back to those next time. There's also a common problem on these cars where the external B pillar trim panel loses its paint and looks crap. Last week I managed to remove them from the car and spray them in the garage and got a great finish. So all in all the car looks significantly better than it did.