Tips on How to Buff a Car

Rinse the whole vehicle. Beginning from the top and then all the way down, to wash one section at a time while rinsing the entire vehicle per section. If your car is already clean, do one last rinse and use the chamois to dry the car starting from the top all the way to the bottom again.

Masking it

The usual RPM of the rotary buffer is 1000, which can emit a large amount of heat on the surface being currently polished. The masking tape should be used to protect anything that you should avoid burning or scuffing. These are the head lights, badges, tail lights, moldings, and others. If it is plastic, put the mask on it. A lot of cars use vinyl or painted pinstripes, so put a mask on those to keep them from being damaged by the buffing pad.

Buffing it

Put a lot of buffing compound to any surface that’s been heavily scratched. Buffing works by removing a find layer of paint to expose the fresh paint, and the compound will become a paint stripper. Putting wax on your car right away will change the protective properties of the original coat.

The next thing to do is to spread the compound evenly on the whole area while using the buffing pad to make sure that the compound does not splatter on the adjacent surfaces. Do not allow the compound to reach the chrome, glass, or rubber. Turn on the buffer and do circular motions on the area, while completely holding the pad flat the whole time.

The buffer needs to be rotated at an angle or the paint surface can burn if you apply too much pressure and you will start to see swirling. Work one-quarter of the panel each time until you achieve a bright gloss. The surface needs to feel smooth so it will look new and fresh. If the paint’s condition is still good and needs only a bit of freshening up, do the same method, but instead of buffing compound, use car polish.

This way, you won’t need the same amount of polish like the buffing compound because the polish covers a bigger area and will only remove a little paint. Go with the process across the whole surface of the car until the paint has been fully restored.

It is recommended that buffing should only be done once every year. If you store your car in the garage and the paint is in excellent condition, apply polish instead of a compound. If you are residing near the coast and your car is left outside, you might need to buffer the car more often.

This is because of the high salt content of sea air, and this causes the paint to oxidize quicker than usual if the climate is dry. Cars that are parked under a tree will normally be covered in tree sap and droppings from birds, which causes damage to the paint. You might need to buff your car twice or thrice a year if this happens.

Waxing your car

You need to use a clean buffer pad to apply the wax. Spread it evenly, while pulsing the trigger buffer gently. This will make sure that the wax will not stay evident on the surface. Cover a quarter of the panel before removing the wax. Some waxes will need a set time before removal, so follow the directions as indicated on the bottle.

A microfiber cloth should be used to remove wax from the surface, using circular motions so that it will be glossy. Do this again across the whole surface of the paint since it is recommended that the car should be waxed every three months, waxing the car is an important skill to have because it makes the car look awesome and you will save money.

Polishing it

When you have been polishing for a while, apply more pressure. Just make sure you don’t overdo it because the paint might get damaged. Do not lift the polisher while it is turned on.