Fact or Fiction??

[Dust2Glory]

I was taught that you can only high speed buff a car 3 times total, otherwise you'll take off too much clear. True or false?

sorry guys should of been more clear... using a rotary.

[Pauly6401]

Do you mean with a rotary? Or any powered buffer/polisher?

[dontsleeponit]

I was taught that you can only high speed buff a car 3 times total, otherwise you'll take off too much clear. True or false?

thats just ridiculous, think of all the variables involved...

type of car (clear coat thickness and type)
type of polish used
type of pad used
machine used
severity of the imperfections trying to be removed

theres no way you can generalize something like that and have it be true

[2KLS1]

While that may be possible to do, like dontsleeponit said there are a lot of variables. I doubt that any good competent detailer will remove a third of the available clear every time they polish the same car. A noob with a rotary possibly but its nothing definite.

[Gary Sword]

I think there are more factors involved then just the number of times you high speed buff. Factors like type of pad, polish and paint would also effect how much clear your taking off each time. If your a professionel polishing a car that you don't know the history on you should really be using a paint thickness gauge.

[BILL]

Hi speed, Med speed, You can remove clear coat, many variables depending on what PRODUCTS you use.........And severity of the flaws............

[ScottB]

maybe with a rotary as offered ...

[TOGWT]

A yellow cutting pad, 2000 RPM +, a heavy cutting compound and very slow linier movement = possible but very unlikely that someone would do this without realizing something was wrong (lots of surface marring and loss of shine) to say nothing of bare metal showing through

I would hope that anyone attempting to use a rotary for the first time would read a few How-to's, and / or DVD, practice, practice and practice some more on a scrap panel

[Junebug]

Some time back, Mike Phillips from Meguiars did a series of buffing with a rotary - he started with a base measurement with a paint thickness guage and proceeded to wet sand, buff with wool and heavy compound, then polish. I think the result was less than a tenth of the clear removed. But, every car is different, some clears are harder and thicker than others.

[trlblazer3]

Someone call the Mythbusters....

[Nica]

I don't consider this to be a mith but if you really want to know if it's okay to plish a vehicle all you need is a paint gauge you can see how much clear coat you are removing. Afterall there are industry standards as to how much clearcoat/paint should be on a vehicle...I can't recall what that number is but there is anumber that you are not allowed to go below...well I just can't remember what the number was.

[makdaddy626]

It seems everyone is in agreement that the 3 polishes rule is questionable at best due to all of the variables at play, but...

It does make me wonder - whose paint will last longer? Person A who washes and waxes pretty regularly but never polishes and ends up with some etching and swirls, or Person B that polishes 1 or twice a year. I know Persons B will LOOK BETTER but is he shortening the life of the paint?

[dontsleeponit]

It seems everyone is in agreement that the 3 polishes rule is questionable at best due to all of the variables at play, but...

It does make me wonder - whose paint will last longer? Person A who washes and waxes pretty regularly but never polishes and ends up with some etching and swirls, or Person B that polishes 1 or twice a year. I know Persons B will LOOK BETTER but is he shortening the life of the paint?

my guess would be neither, it would be person C who washes and waxes often, using good techniques and products that won't induce swirls/paint problems, and polishes only when necessary. If you kept up with good cleaning habits, there would be very little correction to do, and the few occasions you needed to polish, it would be very light and mostly for the nice look of a freshly polished finish.

Of course we all dont live in this perfect world, and many DD vehicles would need a more then average cleaning schedule to take care of contaminants and whatever else may occur. My car is garage kept and doesnt see alot of bad weather, sometimes I tend to forget that not everyone has this luxury.

just my 2 pennies.

[Nica]

my guess would be neither, it would be person C who washes and waxes often, using good techniques and products that won't induce swirls/paint problems, and polishes only when necessary. If you kept up with good cleaning habits, there would be very little correction to do, and the few occasions you needed to polish, it would be very light and mostly for the nice look of a freshly polished finish.

Of course we all dont live in this perfect world, and many DD vehicles would need a more then average cleaning schedule to take care of contaminants and whatever else may occur. My car is garage kept and doesnt see alot of bad weather, sometimes I tend to forget that not everyone has this luxury.

just my 2 pennies.

:iagree: with this statement. Polishing once a year won't ruine your vehicle or remove the clear coat....if you learn how to properly care for your vehicle you should only need to polish it once a year. Well at least that's what I've noticed with my very own vehicle.

[Totoland Mach]

I think it depends on whether you are "cutting" paint (heavy compounding and possible wetsanding), or polishing paint.

The BMW dealer said he estimates 4 paint cutting process is about the limit for him. I use a paint guage all the time and most times can't tell if a paint has been cut only once. Twice+ I can tell from the reduced thickness the guage is reading.

A properly polished car might go through 1-2 cuts in the life of the car. Yet it might be polished 2 times per year for a long time. My wife's Pathfinder is 12+ year's old and has been polished at least once per year for the past 7 years. It shows no thin readings on the guage.

Toto