Always detailed my cars by hand. I use a foam apllicator to apply and microfiber cloth to remove. Excellent results. I heard that a PC tpye polisher can bring out a more brilliant shine than hand waxing... is this true? Are you guys using it to aplly and remove the wax or a combo of both? What are the best techniques here? What speed setting are you using and do you have to keep the polisher in a 45 deg. angle. Finally how combersome are they i.e. dangling cord, weight, and size?
thx, tk2

 

I use an orbital buffer sometimes. I prefer to do it by hand but sometimes i accidentally get too much polish or wax in one area and can't rub it out by hand. The only thing i don't like about the orbital is that the pad sucks up your polish/wax and causes you to use a lot more than you have to and it vibrates the crap out of your hands and they hurt for a long time afterwards.

 

I use both a rotary and a Dual-action buffer for working on cars.

The rotary is probably the best. You can polish cars quickly with it and get the best shine the quickest. It is also the hardest to learn how to use. It is very easy to swirl up your paint badly. And if you get careless you can burn through your paint.

The Dual-action is great. If you have a good one then the vibration isn't really that bad. I can use mine for hours on end without any problems. I have a DeWalt DW443. The operation of a DA is pretty much fool proof too. It is easier to operate than a orbital and is pretty hard to get swirls with.

 

So is the only advantage the polisher has would be speed? Is there no difference in shine quality between hand vs machine? Thanks for your replies, tk2

 

tk2,

I've never noticed any difference between the machine polish/wax and doing it by hand. I only use the orbital for applying the polish/wax, not removing it.

Even if the only difference is speed, it saves a ton of time on our trucks, an orbital is well worth the price. Especially if you use wax.

BOB

 

Yes, Using a buffer such as a rotary on your truck to polish will produce a awesome shine quickly and take out scratches. To do it by hand would take a lot of time.