Car Polishing for Beginners: wet sanding, car buffing, and the fear factor

Car polishing as a beginner can be a very scary thing at every stage of the process. Darren explains the different steps and the fear that will be a natural part.
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[heidymatinez]

*Good **MyBest.Tools** power and rpm control.*

[Iknowonlywhatimtaught]

So many people want everything instantly without putting in the time to learn Fully and do their homework. I'm glad I learned my craft the hard way. It taught me what corners I could cut and still get the same results in a shorter amount of time. Just as yourself. Nothing will ever replace the college of hard knock for a class A+ education.
People can watch videos all day long but if they never actually do the work they will never perfect their knowledge of the subject.

[washello]

you are absolutly right about the FEAR! I have been polishing cars for about 6 month. I brought the gear and just jumped into it. I now consider myself pretty good (after about 20 cars) but the first time I was sanding down someone's car paint to fix a scratch, my heart was jumping out of my chest. I was praying to hope the matte effect was going to clear up with my final polish. Thankfully to your videos I had faith and it works out ok. It was really your s20 2 step video which gave me the confidence haha.

P.s I use the Milwaukee battery polisher, works like a charm

[briangoodman]

thanks for video, exactly what I needed! I thought I burned through my clear coat, but after watching your video I found courage to keep buffing and she looks like a million bucks!

[jeff-TessAD]

Thank you for your fear factor, I was always afraid to use sandpaper on the paint.. See my results with my Porsche 944. I sincerely appreciate your videos. My car is an extremely oxidized black. This was my first time using a buffer/polisher and sanding the paint. ugh. It is amazing! Thanks again.

[davidsmurf]

You are a great teacher. U give lots of details. Thanks for the help

[jonsidds]

Yes he has a tendency to be a little drawn out from time to time. But let's be real. He is here, for free, giving a class to people that want to learn about something that can be make or break when it comes to car detailing. Instead of talking smack about someone giving up what is probably 6 or 7 hours of their day to help people out. Better yourself and start your own channel or maybe even your own company. Keep up the good work brother.

[erikroelans]

Just like Darren's explanation as he is not afraid to speak frankly and to the point. Keep up the good work Darren.

[shelll.]

Hey Darren, I just ordered a Griot's 3" Random Orbital, I'd like to learn to do polishing and paint correction to add it to the services I offer my customers, so this video is perfectly timed. Thanks so much for your hard work making these videos, and your experience is priceless to me, I have a client that wants headlight restoration done next week, and it will be the maiden voyage of my DA, thankfully I have your instructions and expertise, so I'm confident it will turn out great. Thanks again. 👍

[DwightShrute-owww]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!. We all really do appreciate the time you took to make this video for all the novice detailers out there. Myself included. Great video!

[stephenbozzone]

The next time I travel for work I’m going to pack my buffer so I can practice on the rental car.

[wesleysugalski]

Hello from NJ ! Darren Thanks for great video. I got today 6"Sia Carat Diamond 7240 3000 gr for ES 330 Black Car. I did Headlights Restoration just like you video show-Sweet Finish !!! Now is time for hood wet sanding and buffing with Menzerna 400, SF 3500 and Power Lock +, I learned a lot from all you videos- I'm ready with Good Fear to do this. Thank you again- Wes...

[myoneblackfriend]

I put on 5 coats of clear on my old truck’s patina. I kept thinking that the products I purchased were not working. After your video, I think I needed to spend more time and polishing.

[BRunkel]

Great video! This was definitely me the other week during a detail. I wet sanded the trunk by hand because the paint was trashed. 1500 to start and then worked up to 3000. The FEAR definitely crept in when I was not getting the sanding marks out with my DA. Even with FG400, M105, both with a microfiber cutting pad on the Griots 6” it was not coming out!! I do not own a rotary yet but thought for sure these marks would come out with the aggressive pad and compounds. It is on a VW clear coat. I eventually got it after way too many passes, but it was scary for sure. Now I’m trying to gain some more knowledge on using a rotary polisher and have some scrap panels to do some practice on.

[germanyrojas]

Amazing video. I would be so afraid to use 1500 wet sanding but you make look so easy and simple. Thanks for this video, it really helps a lot.

[oliverbrown]

Thank u very much cause I thought I mess up the clear coat on my van, but like u I broke a couple rules also to make it work. I have way less stuff but I have good polisher

[MichaelBrown-oygg]

Great job! Have learned a lot from your videos. You have helped me build my confidence up. Thanks

[craigguinn]

I’ve done one SUV repair with the airbrush. Currently struggling with repair on the hood of my Kubota. I’ve realized that making hundreds of pens has refined my knowledge of sanding. I’ve gone up to 12k grit before polishing. For whatever reason, my tractor paint gummed up, a challenge but back to native paint and bondo now. So, researching the thinner and new application going forward.

[jamessimpson]

Awesome video! The best one I've watched that explains in detail what you're doing. Been doing mechanical work forever but have been nervous to repair some scratches on my own car. Good job

[timgraybill]

Great Video! Thanks for the in depth details, and things to think about. getting into the mindset of painting cars is stressful. I've been doing research on painting and wet sanding and polishing for the last couple days and your video has helped me understand the polishing process much better. and now know what to expect when I get into it so hopefully i keep my fears at bay and come out with a nice looking new painted spoiler.