After noticing a few fine scratches on my car I decided to go about getting rid of them. Previously as a full time valeter I would have used my powerful machine buffer to get them out but they have long since been sold. I started looking for some cheap options. I knew T-cut was actually quite good at getting fine scratches out but the just wasn’t going to cut it alone but I just didn’t want to fork out for a proper machine and all the accessories when I was most likely only going to use it once or maybe every 6 months to maintain the paintwork.
So I have seen these polishing sponges for quite some time now with a small adaptor to fit right in to your drill. Even though I’m normally used to using the larger traditional polisher, this seemed like a fairly good compromise for the price.After some thought, I really just wanted to give them a go because they really could come in handy. Nowadays I don’t work as a mobile valeter but I still like to make sure that my own cars have been looking the best they can.
So once they arrived I was really happy with the quality. I charged up my drill, inserted the adaptor, slapped on the velcro pad, slathered on some compound and gave it a whirl – literally. I can honestly say that for the price, this is actually amazing!
The pads I saw come in 2 diameter sizes – 3 inch and 5 inch. I got the 5 inch because it is similar to the previous machine buffers I was used to. The 3 inch definitely has its place as more of a precision tool to get into hard to reach places such as around door handles.
The benefits of using these pads with your drill vs larger buffer:
- The best thing is the price.
- They have numerous sized heads available
- Each have a different texture and coarseness for different tasks e.g scratches or polishing.
- With a cordless drill, you can polish your car anywhere without the annoying cord
- It’s a lot smaller and more manoeuvrable
- Space saving
What do you need?
- Well, you’re going to need a drill – fully charged ideally 😉 This is aimed at the DIY’er so hopefully you have one.
- The buffing pads themselves – I’ll put some links further down to purchase.
- Next you will need some compound but you could even make do with some T-cut because it has a fine abrasive in it to cut in.
- A microfiber cloth
- Some polish.
How do you use it?
- Prepare your car: wash it meticulously – ideally using the 2 bucket method (google it). You could even clay bar it beforehand If your feeling energetic 🙂
- Squirt some compound onto the sponge alongside dampening with water, then rub on to the area you plan to polish to avoid making a mess once the sponge rotates.
- Start off slow and polish the area for around 5 seconds in a circular motion or just side to side – whichever.
- Polish over and wipe off with your cloth once dry.
