The Art of Polishing Paint - When you add the human elements of care and passion polishing paint becomes an art form

[Mike Phillips]

The Art of Polishing Paint - When you add the human elements of care and passion polishing paint becomes an art form



Years ago I wrote and self-published my first how-to book called,

The art of polishing paint
(Picture of book goes here)

And the reason I gave it this title was real simple. After years of buffing out other people's toys, and by toys I mean usually cool stuff, I found that as a normal course of working on other people's toys I kind of mentally adopted the car as my own and then simply worked on it as though it were mine. What this means is I did everything to someone else's car that I would have done if it had been my car and that means using the best products and literally pouring my heart and soul into the job.

And here's the deal... when you invest hours of you own sweat and hard work into a car there's a portion of this time that isn't muscle work but brain work, by this I mean you have to focus on the task at hand, you have do delicate work carefully, like surgeon operating on a patient. One slip of the hand and you have a disaster. But if you power through the job and don't a make any mistakes, the end results are nothing short of a rolling work of art.


Making other people's car dream come true

Over the years I've met a lot of people and worked on their cars. Their story is usually the same, see if you can relate?


Jim works hard all his life and finally either builds his dream car or buys his dream car. The thing is the paint is jacked-up. By jacked-up I mean it's dull and hazy or it's filled with swirls and scratches. And here's the thing Jim has in common with so many other guys just like him,

Guys like Jim may have the skills to build their car or the money to buy their car but that doesn't automatically mean they are masters at polishing paint. And it's the paint that makes or breaks how the car looks.

Here's the other thing Jim and guys like Jim have in common, even though they know they don't possess the skills nor the correct tools, pads and product to undertake saving the paint on their special car, they also don't trust anyone else to touch their baby....


It's for these two reason that when you and I go about our normal lives we see cool cars with jacked-up paint. The owner can't fix it and won't let anyone else touch it.


Then something happens....

When something does happen and you earn someone's trust and they let you polish out the messed up paint on their pride and joy, after you've finished and you're presenting the owner with the car they always dreamed of, that is the car they either built or bought only now it LOOKS like it's supposed to, words cannot describe the satisfaction you get knowing you saved someone's paint job and made someone's dream come true.


And it's these types of projects, where start with a diamond in the rough and then invest yourself physically and emotionally for HOURS into someone else's toy, that it's really not justice to you to say that what you did is a trade, or a craft or a process. No, when you pour yourself into someone else's toy because it's your passion, not because you're doing it solely for the money, then polishing paint becomes an art form.

We as detailers bring the human elements of care and passion to the process. Caring about what we do and having the passion for perfection to give the project your all. The money will never make the work worth it but the satisfaction we get when we make the final wipe and stand back and say, it is finished.... that's our reward.


In the first book I wrote after coming to work for Autogeek, The art of Detailing, and in the second book I wrote, which is simply an updated version of the first book, I included in the introduction my thoughts on how I think polishing paint can be an art form. If you have either of these books, you'll find this commentary on page 2











If you can relate, reply to this thread with your story when you first realized polishing paint is an art form...

[FrankS]

Good article Mike!

I'm realizing more and more that polishing paint is an art form from the following:

• Choosing the right machine, pads and polish for the project or even the part of the car.
• How long to work the polish.
• How big a section to work.
• How much pressure to apply.
• Proper arm speed.
• Areas that need more attention.
• When to change or clean the pads.

Just a short list off the top of my head.

[mbkite]

I am not their yet still a grinder but trying to get better..

[Justin at Final Inspection]

Every word you just typed is exactly how I feel when a client trusts me with there pride and joy. Weather it a cool Mustang, Cadillac or anything on between that the owner wants to look killer but doesn't know how.

Over the past years that passion has become like another soul inside me. Nothing is more rewarding than taking a vehicle that's in ok shape and bringing back to show car status.

The more I learn the more passionate I become! Frank definitely hit the nail on the head about all the different things we as detailers/artists think about on every job. And it's very rewarding having clients who respect that and appreciate the hours.

[LEDetailing]

When I was a kid working at my dad's car dealership I realized I could "perfect" paint better than the body shop.

I remember specifically getting a Lexus SC430 back from a hood respray. I saw imperfections all over the freshly painted panel. I spent 2 hrs spot wet sanding, compounding, and polishing the hood. The only thing I was missing was the halogen work lights.

I was using a Dewalt rotary (still own it), large (7-8in?) 3M foam compounding and polishing pads, and 3M's "perfect it" compound/polishes system.

I remember being so proud of my work that I actually came back the next day and took photos of my work using my 35mm Canon rebel SLR. I found one of the photos a few years back, but have since misplaced it

[LEDetailing]

Every word you just typed is exactly how I feel when a client trusts me with there pride and joy. Weather it a cool Mustang, Cadillac or anything on between that the owner wants to look killer but doesn't know how.

Over the past years that passion has become like another soul inside me. Nothing is more rewarding than taking a vehicle that's in ok shape and bringing back to show car status.

The more I learn the more passionate I become! Frank definitely hit the nail on the head about all the different things we as detailers/artists think about on every job. And it's very rewarding having clients who respect that and appreciate the hours.

Great post!

[Aaryn NZ]

Fantastic thread.

Nice work Mike, I know its your job & all but you seem to write how we feel, & even though we feel it, getting the words out, be it written or spoken, isn't all that easy. This sums it up for alot of us here I believe. Although I'm sure we all like to be rewarded for our efforts, for many I'm sure - the money is nice but thats not the reward.

Last year I had one of those clients that just "got it" & when they came to pick up their black truck they rewarded me with the most amazing reaction I had ever received.

No matter how much you charge for your services, you simply cannot buy that feeling of pride when someone whole heartedly expresses their appreciation for what you have done.

For me, the true love for this craft began not so long into my career, when I was allowed to start machine polishing customers vehicles, that power, the noise, smell, & although I admit, results were far from what can be achieved nowadays, the dramatic difference from hand polishing was exciting. There were days where I would have that Rupes rotary in my hands no less than 14 hours a day at times. Now we were fairly cut off from the rest of the world down here in NZ in the early days before the internet really kicked off but we seemed to manage with what we had (Typical Kiwi attitude. John Britten, Burt Munro type of deal.) & I remember well when we were shown a pneumatic Dynabrade sander coupled with a hook & loop backing plate & Meguiars Softbuff finishing pad as a way of eliminating rotary holograms, & to apply wax. Wow!

New Zealand is currently experiencing an exciting time for the detailing industry. People are catching up with the true detailing experience & are demanding quality workmanship. Quality products are being sort by consumers & detailing shops are having to up their game & appearances. It's great, it's fun & I'm excited to be a part of it.


Aaryn NZ.

[Mike Phillips]

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Anyone that can relate to the above article will probably also like this one...


The Mindset of a Professional Detailer

[Paul A.]

Great post, Mike! We get immersed in the mechanics of the trade every day. The minutae thoughts as FrankS pointed out on each job such as the test spot and zeroing in on what will work the best on THIS paint today. Then the focused approach to make sure you are doing exactly what your test spot yielded for maybe the next 6 hours!

We come here to compare notes and mentally download the specifics of this or the problem encountered with that. This is the single best destination to get good, genuine information about this passion.

But, its the underlying passion that has us here. The desire to get even better at delivering to our customers results that, for the most part, blow them away! We are here because of that passion you talk about, Mike.

I know it may sound hollow to some customers that I treat their car as if it was my own but I sincerely do. If I see ANYTHING (and I mean anything) that doesn't meet the results or standards I would accept on my car then the job is not done and won't be delivered back to the owner.

It has taken me years to get to the level of service I am now providing. Most of those years have been spent right here learning from not only Mike Phillips but many of the other pro's on here. And I'm still learning...progressing. I enjoy my passion for this art and enjoy every day along the journey.

Again, great post, Mike, and it reminds us of the common denominator we share with you.

[dlc95]

I would have to say that it was when the guys at the paint shop told me to be careful with the buffer. They said it had the potential to burn the paint.

When I first put the pad on the paint, I had to pay attention to what I was doing. Kind of like playing the drums. There's a lot more going on than the obvious.