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Looking for a bit of advice from detailers on here.

I have a load of swirls on my car and want to get rid of them and have a nice paint finish. I know the best way to do this would be machine polishing but I don't have a polisher and want to know what would you guys recommend for doing this by hand and can it be done successfully this way???

I realise this will be a long hard slog but am more than willing to do this.

Thanks in advance.

Alex

autoglym super resin polish

It's hard work by hand!

Buy a Meg's dual action polisher and some scratch X, will set you back around £100 but you will get a cracking result and will have the tools for doing it again

D_K wrote:autoglym super resin polish

I've used SRP before but they only mask them for a while.

gilford wrote:It's hard work by hand!

Buy a Meg's dual action polisher and some scratch X, will set you back around £100 but you will get a cracking result and will have the tools for doing it again

I've never used a polisher before but getting the correct pad and compound seems to be a minefield. Not really keen on practising on my RS. Would love to find someone to allow me to watch how it's done though.

Alex

Alex,

it's hard work but Gtechniq do a hand polish called P1 which is excellent.

daytonamart wrote:Alex,

it's hard work but Gtechniq do a hand polish called P1 which is excellent.

Thanks for that mate. Had a bit of a search for reviews on the internet. Looks good.Just ordered some.

Will keep you posted

Alex

I'm sure its been said before but give detailingworld.co.uk a go. There is a shed load of info on there and it should give you all the info you need and before you know it you'll be swirl free.....!

Hope that helps.

Navylynx wrote:I'm sure its been said before but give detailingworld.co.uk a go. There is a shed load of info on there and it should give you all the info you need and before you know it you'll be swirl free.....!

Hope that helps.

If you have a good look on there you will find out when the next polishing classes are and can go along and practice. It's not even that expensive either but you have to get in quick cause they fill up fast

I would say that by hand you will struggle with Audi paint but its not impossible....it will though be hard work and time consuming....super resin polish will hardly touch the swirls will make them appear slightly less noticeable due to the fillers....abrasion of SRP on a sliding scale of 1 to 10 would be about 0.5 ....which should give you an insight into the amount of cut it has....there are other polishes out there and I/we can suggest loads but you would be none the wiser....

If you attend a course over on DW you will no doubt spend a fortune afterwards on machine and products....therefore I would suggest getting a Pro detailer to do the work for you and you just look after it....yeah it may cost a few hundred quid but by the time you are done spending buying the stuff yourself you will most likely have spent more....

Russ,

I would be willing to get a pro detailer to do it but having never used one locally i'm a bit apprehensive to try one to be honest. I know Audi paint is notoriously hard so i also think it will be a bit of a slog but i have some time on my hands at the moment.

I have been signed up to Detailing World for a while now but the reason i posted the question here rather than on there is because i would get a simple answer on here. If it was over there then it would have been a more complex reply IMO, which would have confused me even more. One day i would like to feel comfortable using a machine polisher. I was also thinking about contacting any local members on DW when the better weather starts to find out if i could just go and spectate whilst they machine their car.

Thanks for all the replies.

Alex

Be very careful who you let loose on your RS4 through DW! There are so many young lads on there who think they know what they are doing!

I put a colleague of mine on to there as he had to handover his lease car and it had a few scratches on it. He found a local "detailer" who came, fleeced him of £400 and wet sanded the bonnet of his Astra.............

What a mess

As I said in the PM, get yourself a Megs DA and some fine cut polish, you won't do any harm and the result will be great

^ That's the reason I only go with premises-based detailers. The fact that they've invested in their business to that extent is reassuring; plus they can't ignore you if you're unhappy with somat.

For me Im used to leaving the car to get wrk done (mechanical/otherwise), I see no difference with detailing wrk. My guy actually offered me a runaround whilst they had the RS (a f***ing smart car, can you belive it!!)

Nothing wrong with mobile detailers mate....I am from Sheff and very little by way of work for me around these parts so a unit at this moment in time would be wasted outlay....what good is a unit when i am more often than not in Notts....Derbys Leeds or even further a field like Gloucester and Penrith....

The whole DW thing though is a PM minefield....only ever get a supporter as you know where you can find them and will be rest assured they will have all the relative insurances....

Reflect Russ wrote:Nothing wrong with mobile detailers mate....I am from Sheff and very little by way of work for me around these parts so a unit at this moment in time would be wasted outlay....what good is a unit when i am more often than not in Notts....Derbys Leeds or even further a field like Gloucester and Penrith....

The whole DW thing though is a PM minefield....only ever get a supporter as you know where you can find them and will be rest assured they will have all the relative insurances....

Russ,

Totally agree mate and that's why I would merely be a spectator while they work on their own car rather than my RS.

Alex