How to Polish Car:
Learn how to polish like a pro!

Any Internet search on how to polish car will deliver a mind-numbing amount of results. Most of which will come from either companies built and run by people who have never polished cars for a living, or "YouTube Detailers" who actually have no real-world experience polishing cars!

And with today's age of social media and technology, it is almost impossible to verify any persons actual professional experience.

how to polish car

This means you will be buried with endless opinions from people or companies that really shouldn't be attempting to teach you are anyone else how to polish a car.

And polishing a car is way more than just choosing the best car buffer, or the best car polish and going to town on your car. While it can be simplified in many ways, there still remains many parts to the process of creating a shine to your car paint that promises to turn heads and make you the envy of your neighborhood:

  • How to choose the best car buffer
  • What type of buffer is best for a beginner?
  • Do you polish a car by hand or machine?
  • What is the best car polish?

All these questions are important and play a roll in to the process of how to polish a car. But within these questions is what I consider the most important question or part of the equation, and that is finding the best car polish.

I am of the opinion that there are two factors that are the most important thing to get right when thinking about polishing your car for the first time:

  • Definitely start with a random orbital car buffer
  • Use what I consider as the best car polish

Since I have a few dedicated pages on choosing the best random orbital buffer, I will reserve the car polishing tips of this page by focusing on the actual car polish itself.


How to Polish Car:
The industry has you chasing your tail

Welcome to the world of cosmetic car care and detailing! An industry built on bad information, endless hype, and people with little experience.

Chances are if you are reading this page trying to figure out the best way to polish your car, you are already filled with enough fear to keep you from every moving forward.


car polish and compound to polish your carThis is just one example of what this industry wants you to believe you need to polish your car. All these products and polishing pads might look really cool sitting on your garage shelf, but do you really want to buy four different pads and four different types of car polish?

But this industry and the companies that sell car polish really want you to polish your car.

Actually what they really want is for you to have just enough motivation to buy all their hyped up car polishes and compounds so you think you can polish your car, and are willing to buy into their hidden agenda of selling you various compounds and car polish that you actually don't need.


The Only Car Polish You Will Ever Need



CSI Ceram-X Car Polish 62-203-8 (8 oz) Single Product Polish (SPP) Superior Single Polish Replaces The Countless compounds/Polishes You Think You Need

  • Say good-bye to multiple compounds and polishes
  • Body shop safe
  • Beginners to seasoned professionals
  • Easy clean up with basic tap water
  • Controlled Abrasive Technology

Darren's Tips: The industry wants you believing you need multiple grades of compounds and polishes to go from defect removal to a swirl free finish. Which is perfect if you are a car polish company that would like to sell you more products, nit less products.

The idea of multiple steps of compounds and polishes is based on outdated thinking and outdated technology. The reality is that most of these companies that sell multiple compounds and polishes now hove a single product polish like the Ceram-X.

This means these companies want to play both sides of the fence: sell you multiple compounds and polishes, yet also sell you their version of a single product polish. If their single product polish actually works, then why do they continue to sell the multiple stages of compounds and polishes.

Or maybe their single product polish does work, but they don't have the integrity to stop selling all their other products so your life can be simpler.


The Original Single Product Polish

Ceram-X was developed over twenty years ago. The idea that you could go from heavy defect removal to a swirl free finish was truly revolutionary at the time and has only recently begun to be embraced by the rest of the detailing and professional world.

But the industry wants to sell you more products not less products. So the concept of selling a single polish goes against their agenda and means they would have to kill their extensive line-up of multiple grades of compounds and polishes.


Waterborne Technology

Ceram-X is engineered as true waterborne technology. Instead of the traditional heavy solvents used in outdated compounds and polishes, this car polish is formulated with the water molecule being the carrier of the other ingredients and abrasives.

This means numerous benefits to you as the user:

  • Can be used in direct sunlight on hot paint (the water molecule acts as an insulator)
  • No-more rock hard compounding residue (cleans up with basic tap water)
  • No heavy solvent smell (actually has virtually no smell at all to this polish)
  • Won't "swell" paint if left on paint accidentally

How to Polish Car With Ceram-X

Polishing your car with Ceram-X is going to make your life easier than ever. While the industry wants you to buy multiple compounds and polishes, Ceram-X can be used on any car, any paint color, in any situation.

Whether you are a first time car polisher looking to polish your car in the driveway, or a seasoned industry expert, say good-bye to outdated technology that wants to separate you from as much of your money as possible in the form of multiple compounds and polishes.

Can Be Used By Hand: Ceram-X can be used like you would any other traditional car polish. If you don't know how to polish car with a machine and want to polish car by hand, simply apply a small amount of the Ceram-X to an applicator pad of your choice and rub back and forth as aggressive and hard as needed to remove the paint defects while restoring shine and depth to to your car paint. Whether you want to use by hand or machine matters not. A little goes a long way so large amounts of polish are not necessary with Ceram-X.

Heavy Defect Removal: From sanding marks to other types of paint defects, Ceram-X performs like a compound, but does so without the damage associated with compounds. Compounds are so aggressive and damaging that they require you to follow up with finer polishes to correct the heavy swirl marks and micro-marring these compounds put into the paint during initial defect removal.

Because Cerma-X is engineered with Controlled Abrasive Technology, you can eliminate the need for multiple compounds and polishes.


polishing car paint with random orbital car polisher

Swirl Free Finish: If you are performing heavy defect removal use a cutting pad for the initial "cut". Place a small amount of Ceram-X in the center of a wool pad if you are cutting with a wool pad, or apply about 8-12 pea size drops onto the face of a foam cutting pad if you are polishing with a foam pad. (you will need to make adjustments based on your working conditions with regards to air temperature, direct sunlight, and the hardness of the paint type you are polishing on)

Once you have removed any paint defects that can be removed, switch to a finishing pad and apply a small amount of the Ceram-X polish and finish to a swirl free finish. No more transitioning through multiple stages of compounds and polishes.

Polish Using Machine: There are various types of car polishers to choose from. For beginners I recommend a quality random orbital car polisher. These polishers are as safe as safe can get and it would be almost impossible to damage your car paint using a random orbital along with the Ceram-X car polish.


Choose a cutting foam or micro-fiber polishing pad for your initial heavy lifting of paint defect removal by placing 8-12 pea sized drops of Ceram-x on the face of the pad. Dial your random orbital to a speed you are comfortable with and while keeping the pad flat against the paint surface, work a section approximately 2' x 2' until you have defect removal.

Then switch to a foam or micro-fiber finishing pad and repeat using the same amount of polish, and keeping he pad plat against the paint surface. Work a 2' x 2' section until you have complete swirl removal.

What Can You Polish With Ceram-X

The obvious reason most people want to learn how to polish car is really leaning how to polish their car paint. But not all paint is created equal. Officially you will be polishing clear coat, not what many would label or understand as car paint.

how to polish car tips

Think of clear coat as simply car paint with no color added to it.

Due to the unique chemistry of the Ceram-X car polish, it is not only safe to use on all types of paint, but can be used to polish many types of other materials you will come across:

Different Types of Car Paint:

  • Acrylic enamel
  • Lacquers
  • Clear coats of any kind (including ceramic clears)
  • Soft and hard clear coat

Different Types of Materials:

  • headlights (typically poly-carbonate plastic)
  • Gel coat (CSi does have a dedicated marine line of compound/polish)
  • Fiberglass resin materials
  • Epoxy floors
  • Clear coated wood veneer trim
  • Plastic bug deflectors
  • Carbon fiber (clear coated or non-clear coated)

How to Polish Car Summary

Let me end my reassuring you that there really is a simpler way to polish your car. Endless so-call experts will gladly tell you how to polish car in a way that is less than simple and using outdated car polishes.

Just know that the Ceram-X is the last polish you will ever need and you be certain you are using a car polish that can perform at every level of requirements:

  • Absolute beginner
  • High-end car restoration
  • Body shop facility
  • Mobile detailing
  • Driveway detaler
  • Car hobbyist

I hope I have helped open your eyes with a product that goes counter to what the industry wants you to believe. By goal with you is two fold:

  • Show you a polish that can work in any situation
  • Make your life simpler

I hope I have helped and I wish you much success as you learn how to polish car.

Sincerely,

Darren Priest




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