Over time, your car paint can lose its shine and develop imperfections, such as swirl marks, scratches, or a dull finish. Factors like road debris, stone chips, and pollution all contribute to the wear and tear of your vehicle’s exterior.
A professional Car polishing and detailing service can help restore its appearance and bring back that showroom shine.
A Complete Car detailing service is a cost-effective way to restore your vehicle’s finish. It is not just a basic wash, it is a thorough process that includes deep cleaning, polishing, and paint correction. It can make a big difference but it is not a magic fix for serious damages, like deep scratches, rust, or totally faded paint.
It is important to manage expectations. For the best result, a professional assessment is recommended to know for sure about what kind of results you can expect with the car polishing and detailing services or if a repainting is required to get your desired results.
What is Car Polishing & Detailing?
Car polishing is a process to help remove light scratches, swirl marks, oxidation, and surface imperfections. It uses specialised machines and polishing compounds to restore the surface to its smooth and shiny appearance.
Car Detailing is a more detailed process of cleaning and restoring. It includes the polishing but also covers the deep cleaning, restoring, and improving the car’s exterior and sometimes interior as well.
Professional Car body repair shops offer both of these services to restore your vehicle’s bodywork without the need for expensive paint jobs.
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Steps Involved in Car Polishing & Detailing
Here’s how polishing and detailing professionals restore your vehicle’s paint to its original look. Each step in this process builds upon the previous one, helping you to understand how car body shop technicians eliminate imperfections and create a flawless, glossy finish that protects your car’s paint.
1. Inspection & Paint Assessment
Before any work begins, trained technicians inspect the vehicle’s paintwork. They assess the condition of your paint work and clear coat to identify areas that need correction. This helps determine whether a single-stage polish will do or if deeper, more detailed correction is needed.
2. Washing & Surface Prep
After inspection and determining what service you exactly need, technicians start to prepare the car surface for further work. A pre-wash foam is applied to break down heavy grime, followed by a contact wash using the two-bucket method. This method uses one bucket for soapy water and another for clean water, allowing technicians to rinse their mitt (glove) in clean water after washing a section, preventing dirt from scratching your car’s original paint.
3. Decontamination
After washing off all the dirt, a detailed decontamination is required, most car body shops use chemical fallout removers and tar removers to eliminate bonded contaminants. A clay bar is then used to remove remaining particles, to make sure paint of your vehicle is perfectly smooth and ready for correction. Here’s a breakdown:
- Chemical fallout removers: These are used to dissolve and remove iron particles (like brake dust, rail dust) and other bonded contaminants that have embedded into the paint surface.
- Tar removers: These are specialized chemicals that break down and remove sticky tar spots that can’t be removed by normal washing.
- Clay bar: This is a physical method to remove any remaining fine contaminants bonded to the surface even after the chemical treatments. The clay bar gently picks up particles stuck on the paint, making it very smooth.
This multi-step approach is standard practice to ensure the paint surface is clean and smooth before any paint correction or polishing is done.
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4. Car Paint Inspection
After the decontamination, a detailed paint inspection is done.They identify the depth of these scratches and the overall condition of your car’s clear coat. This allows technicians to determine precisely which compounds and pads to use, tailoring the approach to your car’s specific requirements for an effective paint correction process.
5. Compounding Stage
Following inspection, technicians begin the compounding stage by using a firm pad to safely remove deeper imperfections like pronounced swirl marks, moderate scratches, and oxidation.The compound contains the abrasive particles and it works like a fine sandpaper to cut a very thin layer of the clear coat from the car surface, removing the imperfections.
For any car, the compounding stage could take anywhere from 2-6 hours depending on vehicle size, paint condition, level of technicians’ expertise and the tools they use.
6. Polishing Stage
The compounding process removes deeper defects but can sometimes leave behind micro-scratches and haziness. That is why polishing is a must after the compounding process.
The polishing process uses light abrasive compounds to remove these scratches and restore the paint’s gloss. It eliminates imperfections and light swirl marks left by the compounding process and is usually the final step in paint correction services.
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7. Protection Layer Application
The polishing removes the defects and brings back the showroom shine but it is unprotected and it can fade again quickly. To protect the finish, a sealant, wax, or ceramic coating is applied on your freshly polished car. These layers protect the paint from ultraviolet rays, drying marks, and any swirl marks for a professional look.
Waxing is cheaper and usually lasts for about 2 to 3 months, it sits on top of paint and protects the paint layer. The ceramic coating is more expensive and it chemically bonds with the paint and it lasts for about 3 to 5 years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Swirl marks, light scratches, paint dullness, fading, and oxidation are some common signs that your car needs polishing.
Detailing is a more comprehensive process that involves deep cleaning and protection of your car’s interior and exterior surfaces. It’s normally performed every 3-6 months to maintain your car’s longevity and value.
Polishing is done to remove any dullness or minor imperfections from the clear coat, while waxing is done to maintain your car’s shine and protect the paint from UV damage, bird droppings, etc. The best practice is to polish your car first, then apply wax to keep your car looking its best.
Why AVX Is the Right Choice for Your Car
At AVX, we specialise in professional car polishing and detailing for all vehicle types. Whether your car needs a light refresh or full cosmetic correction, our experts use the right tools to offer a range of car body repair services to restore your vehicle’s original finish with precision.
