Car Polishers

I'm going to get straight to the point here. When it comes to car polishers and buffers you get what you pay for and there ARE solid well established brands out there... not a lot of marketing hype in that regard.

What Makes a Good Polisher

If you do decide to go this route make sure you know what you are doing. If you end up using sub par pads or compounds you will irreversibly damage your paint! Also, you're going to want to get good equipment. The cheapo Wal-mart or Canadian Tire stuff won't cut it! if you like you can read the customer reviews on their respective websites. Please ignore the 5 star reviews as they are bogus. Nobody would actually rate any of those things a 5 star and If they did, they really have no clue what they are talking about to begin with. If you read any of those polisher reviews you'll notice that the major complaints that keep cropping up are lack of power. To get the best results possible on your car it's important to have equipment capable of maintaining a decent RPM. That means a good strong motor and that means its going to be a little heavy. If the car polishers you're looking at seem light it's because they are made of cheap plastic and even cheaper small motors. Just like car wax you want a smooth even application and that means smooth constant power delivery.

One of the best and well known brands are Porter Cable. They offer a wide variety of polishers, buffers and applicator pads. See what kind of deals you can find online. Being so well known and respected their product doesn't come at a bargain price so don't expect any killer deals unless someone is having a going out of business sale or something!

A Word on Car Polishing Pads

Lets assume you've found a decent polisher. Good job, but just because you have a good polisher doesn't mean that it will get the job done properly everytime and right from the start! You still need to find the right polishing compound and applicator pads. Again here too, you get what you pay for. The cheapo pads are just that, cheap. Stay away from them. Get quality natural or synthetic ones and treat them well. Clean them after every use so the compounds don't try inside the pad. Use a mild degreaser soap and hand wash in warm water. Treat these pads well because they in turn will treat your paint well. Any bits of sand, dirt, or dried up polishing compound will cause nasty swirl marks all over your car. I personally trust the natural fiber pads a lot more and stick to wool and cotton. Plus they are better for the environment and that makes anyone feel good right?

The Final Say on Car Wax and Polishing

After you're done polishing you still need to wax your car. Car waxing and Car polishing are two closely related things that work together to form a fantastic finish and shine on your ride. Polishing helps remove the scratches and imperfections in your paint caused by weather and time. Waxing coats your handy work with a protective wax that seals and shields your paint from further wear and tear. You now have a brief overview of what to look for when shopping for your tools of the trade. Search up a storm on how to apply the polish and wax - YouTube is your best friend for this. The more practice you get the better you'll be and don't forget to ask experience friends for tips. Most of all though, be careful! You can do a lot of damage if you aren't meticulous and diligent with your prep, execution, and clean up. Car Care takes time and patience and a lot of people use this time as a bit of a mental escape from daily life.

The Best Car Wax!

Car wax plays a pivotal role in preserving the look and integrity of your paint! It protects your paint from the sun's harmful rays, it gives your car a nice deep shine, and it even helps prevent light scratches and paint chips!

If you're not waxing your car consistently you ARE doing damage to the paint. Tradition carnuba isn't enough unless you apply it very frequently because the sun's rays and heat deteriorate and remove the wax between washings and applications. In my eyes, when someone asks "what's the best car wax?" I think of my favorite two brands that apply easily, last up to two years depending on conditions, and don't need special tools to apply!

Car wax woes.

Everyone has heard the marketing before, we all know this wax does that, or this car wax lasts this many washes... the fact is between all the marketing hype involved in automotive detailing it can be very difficult to find an unbiased review on the products you seek. If you're like me you just want to know what product WORKS, and works easily... in this instance, The BEST car wax. Everyone seems to have their own opinions on the matter so in the end its up to you to decide.

A number of things to consider include the purchase price. Generally speaking you will find the best deals online. The product is small and doesn't weigh much so the shipping isn't very expensive on the whole. Besides it being cheaper there are usually a better selection available on the internet than at your local auto store. There are specialty brands and small time niche brands you'd never hear about otherwise. Nevertheless there's also a lot of crap! Look out for the really cheap stuff, you usually get what you pay for despite the odd exception.
Other things to consider are if you're looking for a short term show room type wax that you apply before going out for a Sunday cruise or the alternative. The long lasting hard wax that will endure a couple washes before another coat needs to be applied.
Ease of application plays a big role for a lot of people as well. I've used car waxes in the past that just about threw my back out and the end result wasn't that good because I just didn't put in the physical effort to apply it thoroughly. Not to mention the countless other times where the conditions weren't right.. too hot... too cold... to much sunlight.. to wet... Luckily there have been major advancements in car wax technology that allow for extremely easy application with very good, long lasting results.

So what goes into the best car wax?

Well a lot of the longer lasting car waxes that go on easily and have fantastic shiny results unfortunately are silicone based. Why is that bad?? Well the silicone based car waxes impregnate your paint with silicone... right down to the primer and even the metal. If you ever need to repaint your car from a small fender bender, or even a scratch, you're going to have problems. The silicone car wax impregnated primer and metal will resist new paint. That will cause small bubbles in your paint and over time those small bubbles will help the paint completely release from the vehicle as well as *encourage rust*!!!! That's no good at all!

The better alternative, although pricier is well worth it. There are acrylic based car waxes on the market that last even longer than the traditional silicone based ones. They're a little tougher to apply and as such generally require special instruction or a professional touch. BUT NOT ALL. in fact there are some the average Joe can apply on his own without any special gear. They don't come cheap but the results are well worth it. Any professional auto detailer knows the product I'm talking about. The source I used to get it from was located -Broken Link Removed-

The adverse effects of cheap car wax.

You might not think it, but the cheapest car waxes can actually do just as much damage to your car as not waxing at all. Look to the above silicone car wax example. In that instance the silicone impregnates your metal and interferes with any paint you might need to add for repairs or repaint. The residue from the cheaper waxes can also be a pain to fully remove from the corners and tight spots on your car. Furthermore the residues from the car wax can actually stain your plastic and black trim pieces PERMANENTLY! Nobody want's that!

So, the question at hand... What IS the best car wax??

well.. honestly its a secret. :) or at least its not well known and its hard to come by unless you know the source used by professional auto detailers from the likes of high end auto detailing companies that deal specifically with BMW's, Porche's, Mercedes Benz's, and ferarri's. In upcoming posts I can show the sources I know of for some decent car wax brands that work well for the money. They might not be the best car wax but they ARE pretty good.

So stay tuned and keep checking the main site What's the best car wax? for updates.