How to Polish Paint in 1 Step

Here at Eastwood people often ask us what’s the best way to polish a car so we asked an expert who’s laid out two methods using a random orbital polisher depending on how much time you want to invest you can use the one-step process that will remove swirls and scratches from the paint or you can opt for a more in-depth three-step process which will achieve an even more brilliant finish.

Today Kevin is doing a one-step polish with the Eastwood orbital buffer. This is going to remove some scratches and bring up the gloss to your vehicle. The first thing

The first thing to do is to spray the panel down with water or a soapy water mix. Spray detailer can also be used here. Then you’re going to get the clay and rub it around the panel. It is normal to hear a light scratching noise. Don’t worry, you’re not scratching the paint at this point, it’s just pulling all the contaminants out of the paint.

You can usually see dirt stuck in the clay after rubbing it over the panel. Even though this paint isn’t in bad shape you can still see it is a little bit dirty in the pic of the clay above. As you clean the paint with the clay you should start to feel it getting smoother and slicker to the touch. Badly contaminated paint may take a few passes with the claybar to get it ready for detailing.

Once you’re happy with how clean or smooth the surface is you can wipe that panel down and it’s will be free of contaminants in the paint. Next Kevin puts a couple dime size spots of one step polish on the the Chemical Guys Medium Cut Buffing Pad. He then puts the pad with polish applied  on the paint and moves it around to spread it out a little bit. Once the polish is lightly spread on the panel and pad Kevin turns the buffer on low to evenly spread the polish around the panel. He then begins to turn the buffer up higher to work it into the paint more and actually start the process of removing some scratches and begin bringing up the gloss.

Once Kevin has worked the panel with the polisher for a few minutes he stops to wipe everything down check progress. You can repeat the process until you’re happy with the finish. Additional polish may need to be applied if doing more than 2-3 passes over the panel.

This is a quick beginner project anyone could do at home with their Eastwood buffer and a quality one-step polish.