I’ve written a few articles on polishing tools and products, such as My Favorite One Stage Polishing Routines, My Favorite Two Stage Polishing Routines and Polishing Supplies for Experts and Beginners. Those are great informational tools, but all of those articles assume the reader has a good amount of knowledge on the available supplies and possibly even owns a polisher of some sort. With this article, I wish to provide a more beginner-like approach to shopping first time for some polishing supplies. Well, let’s get to it…
I have come to find out there are three types of “beginners” shopping for polishing supplies, machines, etc and I’ve listed them below along with a polishing kit that I believe best resembles what they’re looking to purchase.
Apply Wax/Sealant by Machine
First off are the readers who have probably done a lot of washing, waxing, vacuuming and wheel cleaning, but have never needed or bothered to look into buying a machine, until now of course! Usually these guys are looking to only start by applying sealants and/or waxes by machine to make it a bit quicker and possibly get some better results. This is a great way to get used to machine polishing and where many enthusiasts started. It’s extremely safe, so while making the job of protecting the paint more efficient, it also helps in teaching how to control the polisher and keep the pads flat.
Recommended Kit:
- Porter Cable 7424XP
- Lake Country 5″ Backing Plate
- Lake Country Blue Fine Finishing Pad (buying 2-3 might be a good idea for applying protection to larger cars)
- Blackfire Wet Diamond Paint Sealant
Minor Polishing with an Actual Paint Correcting Polish
Second in line are those that have experience with a polisher and possibly want to start correcting swirl marks on their own or maybe just getting better results. The products below are capable of making a major improvement in basically all paint types, but are also safe enough for inexperienced detailers or for working on sensitive paint. Rupes is a much better machine than the Porter Cable, so if it’s within the budget I’d probably recommend the Rupes. Both will greatly improve any paint finish so if Rupes is not within the budget, there’s really no need to wait a while for one. The PC 7424XP also holds its value, so when the time comes, you can always sell the PC and get most of your money back before purchasing the Rupes.
Recommended Kit:
- Rupes Big Foot Random Orbital Polisher or Porter Cable 7424XP
- Lake Country Orange Pads
- Lake Country Crimson Pads
- Meguiar’s D300 Correction Compound
- Optimum Hyper Polish
Advanced DIY Readers Looking for Quicker and/or More Consistent Results
Lastly, we have those detailers who have owned some sort of machine polisher and did minor polishing with good results. As car guys though, we all know good is never good enough, so the kit below contains polishes and pads that will allow an enthusiast to really make the paint pop.
Recommended Kit:
- Flex XC 3401 VRG or Rupes Big Foot Random Orbital Polisher
- Meguiar’s DA Microfiber Finishing Pads
- Lake Country Orange Pads
- Lake Country Tangerine Pads
- Lake Country Crimson Pads
- Meguiar’s M105 Compound
- Meguiar’s D300 Correction Compound
- Meguiar’s M205 Polish
- Optimum Hyper Polish
I believe the kits above will help everyone greatly reduce shopping around endlessly for products, but I am in no way saying they are the “carved in stone” type products and nothing else works. I always encourage experimenting and finding what works best for you, but the kits listed here will be a great starting point.
Buy Products From This Article
Purchase the products used in this article individually or in one convenient package here!