How to Buff a Car?

Brandon Trenton

How to Buff a Car

Introduction

The car you drive defines your style. Taking the latest model which possesses the classic look on the roads is what a driver lives for. Well, it doesn’t matter if you have an old one, it’s obvious that you are still going to love it. However, driving one with dull paint and the unfinished look is a turn off for sure. You would always want to move in a vehicle keeping it in good shape as long as you can. Just like you go to a saloon daily, you cannot take your car to the mechanic to keep its trendy look on. Although you may wash your car daily, it needs more than that.

What Causes Car’s Color to Fade?

Rain, sun, snow, or other extreme weather conditions, all of them contribute to that faded look of your car, which doesn’t go with your personality. With the weather like that outside, it’s not so easy to keep up that shiny look. Not to mention the dirt, mud, and bird dropping, which doesn’t only ruin the glossy look but also results in scratch marks. This also damages the car paint, which keeps the contaminants off your car surface. A regular car wash in a week or so can’t simply be a solution to all of this.

To get that glossy look back and give it a look as good as new, car owners go for polishing, waxing, or buff. Buffing can help you in getting rid of those stubborn scratching, which destroys your car’s look and makes it shine again.

All You Need to Know About Car Buffing

You must have heard about polishing a car as this term is used interchangeably with buffing. You can say that polishing is one of those steps involved in buffing. You can do it yourself with the help of a manual buffing machine and high-speed buff done by the experts, or you can go for an orbital buff that uses a handheld circular buffer.

If you are worried about paint imperfections and a lot of scratches on your car surface, then buffing is the answer you are looking for. Mostly, the outer layer of the paint is the one involved in such scenarios. Buffing removes this damaged layer, bringing up a newer and finer one. Buffing doesn’t only work bets for the paint solution, but it also gives a longer life to your car’s finish. After buffing, you don’t have to worry about annoying scratches and light scrapes any longer.

Easy Steps to Buff Your Own Car

First off, you need to go and get a polish. With that, you will need a high or orbital speed buffer.

1. Park Your Car

To begin with, park your car where it is safe. You might not give this step another thought, but it’s really important to take it at a secure spot. Find a place that is away from direct sunlight or where it is exposed to any damage. Sort out your schedule, get some time out, and prepare yourself for the labor.

2. Clean the Car

After parking it, you have to clean the car surface to remove dust particles from it. It also makes those swirl marks and imperfections clearly visible, so you have a better idea of where to work on. This is how you prepare it for buffing.

Products That Can Be Used:

You can do it with a bucket of soap water with the sponge. Rub the car surface from top to bottom in a circular motion to cover every spot and get rid of the spots much faster. After this, use a microfiber towel to dry it.

3. Choose the Right Polish for Buffing

To move forward, you need to decide what you would need, polish or compound. Using a polish is quite common; however, if your car surface has deeper scratches or marks, then you should go for a compound.

High-Speed Buffer

Now, the next decision is about the kind of buffer to use. The best one in line is a high-speed buffer. This is just like a polishing machine. You should go for this one as this is the recommended one. Most importantly, it is less messy, and you can easily do it with your hand. You can do it much faster, as the name indicates. However, speed and wrong move could make other disasters so get your hands on it before you give it a try.

Orbital Buffer

Another option is the orbital buffer, as we discussed above. You will need to make more efforts, but it is much easier to control hence safer for your car surface. If you don’t spot any imperfections at the start, then the orbital buffer is the option you should go for. But obviously, nothing could replace high-speed buffer for a better shine.

4. Make Sure the Car Is Completely Dry

All you need to make sure is that the car is completely dry with no wet areas left behind. Microfiber towel makes it a lot easier to do so.

5. Apply the Polish As Per the Instructions

After this, apply the polish you have selected as per the steps listing on the packaging. You can apply a small amount at one time and keep the leftover for later use.

6. Buff Your Car Surface in Circular Motion

Start buffing your car surface with the selected buffer using a strong grip. Continue this in circular motion guiding the buffer gently to the right areas. Hold on it to avoid any wrong movements. Keep doing so until you get the desired results.

Note – Avoid overdoing it as it may result in further damage. If you have steady hands and some skills to work out with, then buff your car on your own otherwise, get someone who can do it for you. Still, if you want to try it yourself, then we will say first practice because practice makes a man perfect. It’s better to learn to take care of your car on your own.