Polishing your car is an important step to cover up scratches, seal up your paint, and protect your car’s surface to prevent future damage. The problem is, it can cost an arm and a leg to get your car regularly polished at an auto detailing shop. If you want to save a little money and have a little more control over your car polishing, then you may want to consider buying a dual action orbital polisher. In this guide, we’ll offer you some tips and tricks on using orbital polishers.

Knowing the limitations of orbital polishers

To make sure that you are using your polisher properly, it’s important to understand its limitations. Orbital polishers are primarily used for smoothing over your paint and improving its luster, removing shallow scratches and nicks along the way. As such, they don’t have much power, so they cannot and should not be used to attempt the restoration of deep scratches.

Applying swirl remover

Make sure that you use just the right amount of compound around the edge of the polisher’s cutting pad. Remember not to overdo it, because you will also apply the swirl remover compound on your paint surface.

Firing up the polisher

Place the polisher flat upon the surface of your vehicle, hold the device tightly, and turn it on. Try to keep the polisher level with the surface you are polishing and move with a smooth, side-to-side motion. Overlap your path by an increment of about one inch to get a well-buffed finish. Go over the surface with a microfiber to clean it up and prep for polishing.

Finishing up the polishing job

Use a polishing pad, apply the polishing liquid to the edge of the pad, then apply a small amount to the surface of the vehicle. Repeat the same polishing motion previously described and get your car nice and shiny. Finally, finish off with a final wipe down with a separate microfiber.