Polishing - why do they do it ?

[Dave3066]

take the Rover P6 for example

Hi GN

As a P6 owner I resemble that remark

I think there's nothing wrong with polishing the bits that should be polished but of course you have to use the term "polish" in the correct way. Polishing paint for example is all about correcting imperfections. The final finish and shine is usually done with a quality wax or synthetic alternative (wax is best though). If it's supposed to shine then I'm going to make it shine as much as I can, but you'd never catch me polishing brake lines etc. My car is for driving, not for show. The only bit underneath that I do polish is the stainless steel back box because it doesn't look good when it's dirty. The other add-on items are more down to individual taste. My car came with a vinyl roof, fog lights, boot mounted spare kit etc so I didn't have any choice in that one, but I've added the ROStyle wheels, full set of ET headrests, Lucas dipping mirror etc. The front spoilers (better known as police spoilers for obvious reasons) are a very sensible upgrade that improves the stability of the car at speed. Here are some pics of my polished car....





This is my daily use car but I do like to keep it looking good and after all the time I've spent on the mechanicals and chassis I thought it was about time that I spent some time on the external finish.

Dave

[Morrisand944S2man]

Polishing, or more accurately, waxing of the paintwork and chrome will protect those parts of the car from rust and dulling and keep the car looking good.
If someone wants to take that even further and polish the inside of their exhaust pipe, then good luck to them

[FrazzleTC]

I like to keep the car looking as good as it possibly can. It's washed at least twice a week, and waxed once a week, roughly. It gets a full works clean fairly regularly too, but since my car isn't, and won't be a show car, I don't go to obsessive lengths. I am very fussy though, and always like to have the tyres dressed. I admire any well-kept car at shows, but, it's nice to see that some cars aren't excessively clean.

[Amy]

I like to keep the car looking as good as it possibly can. It's washed at least twice a week, and waxed once a week, roughly. It gets a full works clean fairly regularly too,

Bloody hell, how on earth do you find the time?! I did both my Mazda and the Jupe before we took them to Goodwood (just a wash and wax for each) and it took me most of the day. That was without doing any daft detailing stuff. There's no way I'd ever have time to do that more than once ever-so occasionally And of course, since I've been shown how to properly clean, polish and detail my cars, there's no way that the Bulgarian blokes at our local car wash are getting their hands on either of the cars, so I have to do them myself....

That said, I think the furthest I've gone is polishing the tailpipe on the Jupe and the front of the exhaust pipe as it's very visible where it comes round the front of the engine. Oh, and wiping odd sprays of oil off the engine. But I definitely draw the line at taking autosol to the heads...

[Dave3066]

I like to keep the car looking as good as it possibly can. It's washed at least twice a week, and waxed once a week, roughly. It gets a full works clean fairly regularly too, but since my car isn't, and won't be a show car, I don't go to obsessive lengths. I am very fussy though, and always like to have the tyres dressed. I admire any well-kept car at shows, but, it's nice to see that some cars aren't excessively clean.

Fraz

There's no need to wax every week. A good wax should last several weeks without the need to re-apply. You can follow that up with a spray of quick detailer after the weekly wash to refresh the wax but waxing every week is overkill and will probably dull the wax quicker over time. Also less is more with wax. All you need is the thinnest, almost imperceptible, layer of wax you can apply. You can tell when the wax is going off because the water will no longer form crisp beads on the surface and it won't sheet off as well when rinsing. Also best to use a shampoo that complements the wax, usually from the same range as they are designed to work together.

As you say though, the car's not clean until the tyres are dressed

Dave

[Morrisand944S2man]

A good Carnauba wax will last up to a couple of months. Although waxing every week won't do the car any harm, the danger is many folks still confuse "wax" with "polish".

A true wax contains no abrasives and can be applied to paintwork and chrome as often as you like, a polish often contains both abrasive and wax and each time you use it you are removing some of the car's paint.

I use Blitz wax from Frost. It is a pure Carnauba wax and does not remove paint. If I need to revive dulling paint then I use Farecla G3, Autoglym paint renovator (mild and fine abrasives) and a clay bar. This will remove the dulled paint - the fresh surface then needs to be protected with wax.

[Aar0sc]

I like to keep the car looking as good as it possibly can. It's washed at least twice a week, and waxed once a week, roughly. It gets a full works clean fairly regularly too, but since my car isn't, and won't be a show car, I don't go to obsessive lengths. I am very fussy though, and always like to have the tyres dressed. I admire any well-kept car at shows, but, it's nice to see that some cars aren't excessively clean.

Fraz

There's no need to wax every week. A good wax should last several weeks without the need to re-apply. You can follow that up with a spray of quick detailer after the weekly wash to refresh the wax but waxing every week is overkill and will probably dull the wax quicker over time. Also less is more with wax. All you need is the thinnest, almost imperceptible, layer of wax you can apply. You can tell when the wax is going off because the water will no longer form crisp beads on the surface and it won't sheet off as well when rinsing. Also best to use a shampoo that complements the wax, usually from the same range as they are designed to work together.

As you say though, the car's not clean until the tyres are dressed

Dave

It doesn't matter what you say, he's not going to stop polish 'dat Rova!