Using a orbital buffer 101:

E

edgewise

New member
I want to know your method of applying both Polish and Wax using an orbital buffer.

I received my Porter Cable and had an opportunity to speak with a professional detailer that was here in the US at Griots Garage factory, he's from Toronto and a big purchaser of Griots products, so they flew him in to see their manufacturing operations.

He spent about 1 hour with me in the parking lot covering everthing from two-bucket wash method to using the buffer. Here's what he said about using it, <strong class='bbc'>and I would like your method/feedback:[/b]

"After claying the car, rinsing and drying..work small sections at a time, like 2 ft. by 2ft. sections. Apply the polish directly to the pad, small amounts. Work back and forth , then work the area up and down, so that you criss-cross the area you just polished up and down. Remove the polish immediately. Apply polish again if it looks like you need to, or, add just alittle finish wax to the polish pad along with the polish and re-do the section until desired result appears."
 
Good advice, pretty much what I do. Work up/down then left/right and overlapping sections a bit to ensure complete coverage. I only use it to apply product and buff/remove by hand (seems to be the prevailing practice).



As I mentioned before the PC is nearly idiot-proof but you might want to do some else’s car to get your sea legs and build confidence. For polishes, start with the mildest, you can always go harsher (especially since you have a new Bimmer with minor swirls/scratches if I recall). Good luck and have fun, I’ve done 3 cars and am by no means an expert but got great results from the PC.
 
Sounds like a good plan. I only use my PC to apply polishes and cleaners, who would benefit from the increased oscillations. i apply all waxes and sealants by hand.



i did try a tip that snake (tim@tacscar) suggested, and to use a finishing pad to remove Klasse; seemed to work well. Still had to follow up with microfiber and quick detailer; but the bulk of the klasse had been removed with the PC.
 
I saw a car today that had swirl marks from an orbital machine that looked SO bad that it looked like the wax/polish was just left on the car and you could clearly see the round marks right next to each other.



What would cause something like that? The instructions above are helpful, but I'm planning on buying an orbital and I'm sure I'm going to be pretty nervous using it. It would help if I could know what I absolutely shouldn't do if I don't want to get those kinds of marks on my car.



Thanks.
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

What would cause something like that?</blockquote>
I would guess that either A) Technique was bad or B) They might have used a cheap buffer, like those Ryobi ones they sell at Home Depot for $25. Those can heat up and transfer the heat via the pad screws to the surface apparently.
 
What you saw were rotary buffer marks, the way you described them its a tell tale sign of an in-experience detailer using a rotary to apply a wax or something. Rotary's spin in one direction, like a disk. This causes the same part of the pad to keep pinning over the same smot on the paint, causeing lots of friction and burning into the paint, causing buffer marks. An orbital on the other hand, spins and osilates and moves around so that the same part of the pad never really generates anough friction to burn the paint. Trust me, the PC is really safe and alot ore effective for polishing than hand.
 
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