Meguiars Dual Action Polisher?


D'janiero

D'janiero

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Jul 17, 2007
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Hey guys. How do these polishers work i.e. what is the process?

Ive been doing some reading up and from what I understand, you have to wash and clay your car first, then use the polisher with a cutting pad/compound to clean the paint, then use another pad to apply the polish....then wax on wax off etc?
Is that correct or am I way off?

Also how safe are they to use for a novice i.e. ek9s have thin paint don't they?
I'm just weighing up whether I should have a go at doing it myself or pay for a full correctional detail job maybe?.
 
Last edited:
D'janiero said:
Hey guys. How do these polishers work i.e. what is the process?

Ive been doing some reading up and from what I understand, you have to wash and clay your car first, then use the polisher with a cutting pad/compound to clean the paint, then use another pad to apply the polish....then wax on wax off etc?
Is that correct or am I way off?

Also how safe are they to use for a novice i.e. ek9s have thin paint don't they?
I'm just weighing up whether I should have a go at doing it myself or pay for a full correctional detail job maybe?.
Click to expand...

They are pretty easy to use. It's basically the same as hand polishing but you obviously do alot more in a lot less time. If you are wary just take your time and do light passes, with a light cut pad and polish. I bought mine about 6 months ago and have used it a few times on different cars and I've got some confidence with it now, once you realise it doesn't actually do any damage! There's plenty of good videos online explaing how to use it. I went for the kestral das-6 which is basically the same unit just cheaper :nice:
 
for beginers the megs g220 is a pretty good kit. its light, easy to use and being a dual action polisher is more forgiving than the more powerful rotary polishers. be careful though as you can still burn off the paint with DA polishers. if your not confident then if you have a scrap panel in your garage just practice on that but its really not that difficult. you will need the polisher, and various combinations of pads and polishes. i use menzerna polishes as i find they work best for me. allways start off with the least aggressive polish pad combination and if that doesnt get rid of the swirls use a slightly more agressive polish. if you wanted to be very careful you could invest in a paint depth gauge but they are expensive. the process of machine polishing is basically as folows:

1-wash car to get rid of dirt
2-clay the car
3 wash the car down to get rid of the clay residue
4-dry the car
5-machine polish untill swirl marks are gone
6-wax the car
7 seal the car using a sealent

done!
 
The G220 is a good piece of kit but it is expensive for what it is. For less than the price of the 220 on its own you can get a Kestrel DA-S6 kit ,which includes the polisher,pads, compounds and even some 3M 3434 tape.


I went for the kestrel with the megs kit from autobright direct but there are loads of online shops that sell it with different pads/compounds.


HTH
 
Thanks for the info guys.
How do you determine which polish and pad combo works best, is it simply a case of trial and error? Or do companies i.e meguiars recommend you use certain pads with a specific polish?

Also, stupid question but, can you apply wax and sealant to the car with the DA polisher too or is it simply for polishing?
 
D'janiero said:
Thanks for the info guys.
How do you determine which polish and pad combo works best, is it simply a case of trial and error? Or do companies i.e meguiars recommend you use certain pads with a specific polish?

Also, stupid question but, can you apply wax and sealant to the car with the DA polisher too or is it simply for polishing?
Click to expand...



if you buy a kit then you get the correct pads for the compounds.You just need to decide which one to go for, in my case, it came down to price.In my kit i got megs # 83 and #80 with megs pads, 7" cutting,polishing and finishing. I found the 7" pads a little to big for my liking, so i now have bought some chemical guys hexlogic pads which work really well with a DA.


As for applying wax or sealant with a DA, it probably could be done,but for the extra hasstle involved you are aswell just putting it on by hand.The trick is nice and thin layers

HTH
 
is it as easy as folk say to ruin the paint? i've always fancied one but always been scared id end up in need of a respray
 
Firas said:
for beginers the megs g220 is a pretty good kit. its light, easy to use and being a dual action polisher is more forgiving than the more powerful rotary polishers. be careful though as you can still burn off the paint with DA polishers. if your not confident then if you have a scrap panel in your garage just practice on that but its really not that difficult. you will need the polisher, and various combinations of pads and polishes. i use menzerna polishes as i find they work best for me. allways start off with the least aggressive polish pad combination and if that doesnt get rid of the swirls use a slightly more agressive polish. if you wanted to be very careful you could invest in a paint depth gauge but they are expensive. the process of machine polishing is basically as folows:

1-wash car to get rid of dirt
2-clay the car
3 wash the car down to get rid of the clay residue
4-dry the car
5-machine polish untill swirl marks are gone
6-wax the car
7 seal the car using a sealent

done!
Click to expand...

seal the car first, then wax it. wax should be the final product to go on.

try cleanyourcar.co.uk they do some polisher and pad combos. I had my ek9 paint checked with paint depth gauge and it really was not that thin.
 
y3Lo said:
seal the car first, then wax it. wax should be the final product to go on.
Click to expand...

Why use a wax on top of a sealent??

Personly i would use sealent as it gives a very cool glassy finish and is bomb proof in terms of protection.

P.S remember honda paint is very soft. For correction work (swirl removal) you'd proberbly only need a light cut polish
 
jason100 said:
Why use a wax on top of a sealent??

Personly i would use sealent as it gives a very cool glassy finish and is bomb proof in terms of protection.

P.S remember honda paint is very soft. For correction work (swirl removal) you'd proberbly only need a light cut polish
Click to expand...

why not use wax on top? seal it for long lasting protection, then top it up with a good carnauba wax for a great shine. Then even if the wax has worn off before you re apply, your still protected.

Obviously you don't have to do both. Im sure he will be happy with the results from either.
 
Please don't assume that Honda paint is soft.

You need a PTG to be able to know this by monitoring removal rates.

In actual fact, whilst NHB (EP3's etc...) may be soft, something like the CW on EK9's which has titianium dioxide is actually very hard.
 
Hmm, thats interesting to know.
Any particular reason why they recommended this combo over the meguiars combo?

Also were you happy with the results you got with this kit?
 
I doubt there will be a huge difference, have a read on cleanyourcar.co.uk forums. I've not used mine properly yet.
 
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