How to Buff a Car
Is your car looking a bit dingy? A couple of hours and a little elbow grease are all you need to buff it to a mirror shine again.
Table of Contents
If your car has begun to lose its luster, all you need to make it look factory-fresh again are a rotary buffer, some basic car washing and waxing tools, and a little time.
You don’t have to be in the vehicle restoration game to keep your car looking showroom shiny. Buffing is a simple process that anyone can accomplish with the right tools and a little time. Buffing gets rid of the small scratches and scrapes that have dulled your car’s finish over time.
To help you begin your new automotive adventure,
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How to buff a car
Buffing is an essential step in the process of painting a car, but it’s also a measure you can take to help you maintain your car’s shine. When it’s part of the paint-job process, we recommend leaving buffing to the pros, but when it comes to maintaining your car’s polish and removing minor scratches, buffing is something any novice car-care aficionado can do.
What is buffing?
Buffing is a simple term, but it can mean a lot of different things—compounding, polishing, waxing—all of these are different terms often used as synonyms for buffing.
-
Polishing is a form of buffing that removes a micro-thin layer of paint along with any scratches, oxidation, cracks, pitting, and other surface imperfections it contains.
-
佤邦xing 也是一种抛光,但而不是removing paint from your car’s surface, wax is added to the surface, then buffed to a shine.
The buffing process we’ll be describing in this article is what many refer to as
polishing
. If you’ve got a brand-new car, you won’t want (or need) to polish it. But after a few years of driving, just about any vehicle could do with a little spiffing up.
No matter how old your car is, remember that buffing will only help you remove minor blemishes and surface scratches from your vehicle’s paint—
it can’t repair deep scratches
.
Buffing tools
Before you begin buffing your car, you should gather all the materials you’re going to need to complete the process. You can buff your car totally by hand, but
an orbital buffer/rotary buffer will make the process much easier
. You can find basic
buffers on Amazon for under $20
, or you can even purchase a
full polishing kit for around $250
.
Whether you decide to buy a kit or buy individual materials for buffing your car, you will need the following:
-
Automotive soap
-
Car wash mitt, sponge, and/or towel
-
Automotive clay and lubricant
-
Chamois
-
Masking tape and masking paper or newspaper (you’ll only need these if you’re using a rotary/orbital buffer)
-
Rotary/orbital buffer (again, nice to have, but not required)
-
Cutting or polishing compound (buffing compound)
-
Wool and foam buffing pads
-
Clean microfiber towels
-
Carnauba wax (liquid)
When you have all your tools gathered, take them to a
flat workspace
that has
良好的通风
and that’s
不要在阳光直射下
.
How to get the best buff
There are a lot of steps involved in the buffing process, but none are actually that difficult. The most important step is the prep.
Ensure that the surface of your car is completely clean and free of contaminants
before you begin the buffing process—this will ensure you don’t wind up damaging your paint job.
佤邦sh, clay, and dry your car
The first step to a solid buff is a good car wash
. Just blasting it with the garden hose isn’t enough—use
quality car wash soap
that can break down the nasty stuff, like bug guts, bird poop, and tree sap. Once you’ve got your car well-washed,
give it a good rinse
.
Now,
clay the paint
to remove any lingering contaminants
. It’s likely you’ve never heard of this step before, and that’s okay—it’s actually super simple. Claying your paint involves using an
automotive clay bar
to get rid of the brake dust and mineral deposits that a car wash can often leave behind. Be sure to follow the instructions included with your clay, and
work in small areas, one panel at a time,
to ensure you clay the entire vehicle.
Pro Tip Be sure to use a dedicated lubricant along with automotive clay. Claying a dry car with no lubricant is next to impossible, and attempting to do so can scratch the paint.
浅黄色的车
If you’re using a rotary/orbital buffer, use masking tape and paper to tape off areas like your headlights, taillights, and trim pieces. This will protect them from the heat produced by the buffer as it spins. Speaking of heat—
don’t buff in one spot for too long
. The heat will damage the paint.
Begin with a wool pad and your chosen buffing compound
. Working in one small area—like a door or a fender—at a time and using
circular motions
, buff the area until hazy
swirl marks
form. If you’re using an orbital buffer, you don’t need to apply much pressure at all, but if you’re doing this by hand, you’ll need to apply a good bit of pressure. Once you’ve got a good haze, grab a
clean microfiber cloth
and clean the area, using circular motions.
Repeat this process, replacing the wool pad with a foam pad
. Once you’ve buffed the entire area, move on to the next.
Pro Tip You don’t have to buff your entire vehicle. If you just have some light scratches you need to remove from a fender or a door, you can just buff that area.
Apply car wax
Once the buffing is complete, it’s time to
apply a coat of wax
. Use a liquid car wax, and apply it in circular motions to one small section of the car at a time.
Touch up
Clean up stray splashes of buffing compound that may have gotten on windows, mirrors, trim, and wheels.
How to spiff up your car insurance
Buffing your car is a simple process you can do yourself to keep your car looking great, but it does take quite a bit of effort on your part. Why not reward yourself for your hard work by saving some money on
car insurance
?
We know shopping for car insurance probably doesn’t sound like much of a reward, but when you’re shopping with
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But we haven’t mentioned the best part—on average, Jerry’s customers
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!
“When we added a new car to our family, we were shocked at how high our current insurer was going to hike our rates. We usedJerryfor some comparison shopping and are now saving around $1,000 a year. Thank you, Jerry!” —Darius P.
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