Polishes mechanical vs chemical

[Detail-Impressions]

I understand there are two different classes of polishes that are manufactured ... mechanical vs chemical.

Could you tell me the process behind how the mechanical polishes work and how they differ from chemical polishes and the process?

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

Mechanical polishes have abrasives that do the work.

Chemical type polishes do not have abrasives but instead, have chemicals doing the work.

[Mike Phillips]

Two questions...

What are you working on?
What are you trying to achieve?

[Detail-Impressions]

What are you working on? Knowledge and why and when to use which product.


What are you trying to achieve? Knowing what product to use and why. To use the best product for the car surface, when is best to use mechanical? I guess older cars the need more cutting?
Chemical I guess is less aggressive and is pad dependent, thus a milder cutting, so for newer cars with better finishes ?

Respectfully,
Thank you for you time and help,
Bill

[shoeless89]

What are you working on? Knowledge and why and when to use which product.


What are you trying to achieve? Knowing what product to use and why. To use the best product for the car surface, when is best to use mechanical? I guess older cars the need more cutting?
Chemical I guess is less aggressive and is pad dependent, thus a milder cutting, so for newer cars with better finishes ?

Respectfully,
Thank you for you time and help,
Bill

Car age I don't think really has a lot to do with it. Just depends which type of defects you are trying to remove and condition of paint. I worked on a 1995 BMW and its clear coat was failing in some spots but it also had oxidation of the whole car. I chose a chemical polish, because I didn't want to remove any of the clear that was left but I did want to remove the oxidation. Chemical cleaners will generally only remove oxidation or some mild stuff thats on the paint. It won't correct below surface defects like swirls, scratches, etchings, ect.

But regular polishes that have abrasives will remove a small amount of clear to level out the surface thus removing the below surface defect. So it all goes back to what your are trying to accomplish and what the condition of the paint is.

[Mike Phillips]

What are you working on?

Knowledge and why and when to use which product.



What are you trying to achieve?

Knowing what product to use and why. To use the best product for the car surface, when is best to use mechanical? I guess older cars the need more cutting?

Chemical I guess is less aggressive and is pad dependent, thus a milder cutting, so for newer cars with better finishes ?

Respectfully,
Thank you for you time and help,
Bill

Great questions Bill....

I've been posting to forums since the software was introduced and in my life what I've experienced is a LOT of times people join forums and ask lots of questions but sometimes never share what it is they're working on, not that it matters too much but it's nice to know if a guy is working on a Ferrari or just cleaning up his Astro Van or like in your case just seeking general knowledge.

Thus you can find thousands of times in thousands of threads where in my replies I start with,

What are you work on?
What are you trying to achieve?

But to your general question about the cleaning and/or abrading ability of different categories of products, a good general rule of thumb goes like this,

"Use the least aggressive product to get the job done"


Then of course in order to use the least aggressive product to get the job done you need "some" products or tools in your tool chest. In the context of this reply, tools would be equal to compounds, polishes and paint cleaners.

Hard to do testing with the least aggressive product if all you have is a compound, etc.


Generally speaking, Compounds, Medium Cut Polishes, Fine Cut Polishes and Ultra Fine Cut Polishes all use some type of abrasive for their major correction ability while paint cleaners also called pre-wax cleaners will be more in the chemical cleaning category.

Here's an example of restoring paint using a non-abrasive paint cleaner that relies on chemical cleaners...

How to clay, clean and wax paint by hand with Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion and Pinnacle Signature Series II Carnauba Paste Wax

Excerpt, note the dirty pad after cleaning the paint, click the link above to read the entire article.

This half the hood is now clean and smooth and ready for an application of wax...




While claying will remove above surface bonded contaminants, Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion will remove embedded road grime and pollutants as you can see when we compare the applicator pad we used to a brand new, clean applicator pad.

Here's an example of use a mechanical abrasive including sanding or finishing papers to start with to create a show car finish


Damp-Sanding Tools, Tips and Techniques by Mike Phillips

Completely sanded down... (section of the hood buffed for a video)




After sanding, the paint was put through a series of machine polishing steps to remove the sanding marks and restore a show car shine...


Compounding - Makita 9207 Rotary Buffer, Flex 3403 Lightweight Rotary Buffer, M105, W-5000 Double Sided Wool Cutting Pad, W-7204 4" Inch Foam Cutting Pads.




After all the sanding, compounding, polishing and waxing, here's few beauty shots outside...

Big picture...

When tackling any paint polishing project, the first things you want to do are the exact things I laid out in the first section of my how-to book and that's to,

• Wash and dry the car

• Evaluate the finish with your sense of touch for above surface bonded contaminants and then using two sources of strong bright light for swirls and scratches

• After diagnosing the problems do some testing to see what it will take to remove the defects and restore the finish to your expectations and this is called the Test Spot and in order to do a Test Spot you need a few products in your detailing arsenal of tools.

Once you dial-in a system approach that works to one small area then simply duplicate the process over the rest of the car and assuming the rest of the car has the same paint as the area you did your testing you should get the same results over the rest of the car.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's a recent article I wrote as it was some information I needed for all my how-to books...

Word Definitions - Compounds, Polishes, Glazes, Paint Cleaners and Waxes


And here's a related article,

What condition is the paint on your vehicles?

[Detail-Impressions]

Thank you fine sirs for you time and explanation. I am more than grateful. Very Thankful for this board and one of the many reasons I support Autogeek with my purchases.

[Mike Phillips]

Thank you fine sirs for you time and explanation. I am more than grateful. Very Thankful for this board and one of the many reasons I support Autogeek with my purchases.

It's always our pleasure to help and thank you for your business...