Are you a hand or a machine polisher?

This is just one opinion of a guy who can't afford the Spousal Rationalization Factor it costs to purchase the orbital. I do everything by hand, for my dolphin-grey 02A4 TQMS.

For polishes and/or glaze, I use a sponge wrapped in microfiber to apply, and a microfiber cloth to remove. Then I apply and remove Klasse products the same way. For the final coat (and I repeat this step every two weeks), I apply Pinnacle Souveran wax with a foam applicator (the round yellow thing), and remove with a microfiber cloth. The microfiber removal is probably not critical for the first few steps, where a well-washed cotton cloth may suffice. However, I switched to microfiber after a year and I noticed a significant difference in the last (organic wax) stage.

--Seymour

I happen to have spoken to a guy who used to own and run his own valeting company the other day and asked him about the same thing. He mentioned the machine polishers and said that they're ok but nothing you can't do by hand. As for the professional ones, he said there is a fine art to using one and had stripped bodywork and fingers several times before mastering it.
I've used the big mains run halfords one and to be honest it's more work than hand polishing as you still have to re-polish round door handles, trim, wing mirors etc by hand. the only thing i'd consider using it for would be a final buffing.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I can only tell you about the Meguiars one as I sell them and have one myself.

Firstly, the Meguiars one is for putting polish/wax onto the car. You still remove the polish by hand. I dont know if people are getting confused with the term buffer? Maybe thats where the comparisson to the halfords £20 one is coming into it.... The Halfords one is a diffrent product I believe for getting polish off.

The Meguiars consists of The buffer, 2 batteries, Polishing Pad and a charger. Oh and of course the lovely case it comes in! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif The pad that the buffer comes with is polishing pad for applying the polish. It says on the packet it removes swirl marks too, which I can vouch for. There are other pads you can buy which are diffrent grades for diffrent jobs but the one it comes with is an "all rounder" really. Its also worth noting if your thinking of using more than one polish on your car to get some spare pads as once you get polish/wax on it you wont really want to mix them. The pad will last for approx a year if "cared" for correctly and replacements are about a tenner

There is a pad called the "Ultimate Bonnet" which is for removing polish but to be honest as Berkshire Flipper says you cant get right into the door handles so its just as easy to use a towel for removal which is what I do.

Using the buffer is simple, you put polish onto the pad and then work it into the body work, I found that the polish goes on very evenly and it seems easier to get it off for some reason /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It does not vibrate your hands off either. The other thing I have noticed is that it would be very difficult to mark the bodywork of your car with it as the pad is about an inch thick and hangs way over the edge of where the velcro attaches which is of course a good thing!

The question your all asking probably is - Would I buy one if I wasnt selling Meguiars? Well the answer would have to be YES my Ming Blue T Sport had swirl marks on it and using the buffer on it has sorted them out so I am a happy bunny /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Im in the Camberley area so if anyone does want to see what the buffer is like and in my area pm me an we can meet up I am more than happy to demo!

Regards,

My old man purchased me one as a gift last week.(not Halfords or Meguiars) - some mail order 240 volt job.

In fairness it doesn't do a bad job, but as already said, if you are a dedicated polish nut like me then you will get a better result by hand as you can get in the awkward bits.

Verdict: Good gimmick, has a weighted wheel so it doesn't spin in a perfect circle and leave round marks, you end up doing most by hand anyway.

Toby /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile_smoking.gif