How Often Can You Machine Polish a Car? How Many Times Can You Polish a Car?

How beautiful it is to look at a newly polished car! but the question is “how often can you machine polish a car?“. As machine polishing removes a part of the clear coat so as to protect the car paint, we can’t apply it too often.

The quick answer is:

You can’t machine polish your car unless it’s necessary to do a paint correction. It’s advisable to not machine polish your car more than 5 times during the car lifespan or not more than once per year.

What Is Machine Polishing?

Machine polishing is the process of using heated wax or abrasive material to remove defects in the paint of a car. The skin is usually polished with machine-made synthetic compounds, and baked under high heat to eliminate any residue. It can be applied to make cars look like new ones again. Machine polishing was first introduced by German manufacturer Lahr-Triumph GmbH in 1950, largely due to their ability for automobile producers Volkswagen and Audi.

The purpose of machine polishing is mainly to correct minor defects in the paint of a car, eliminating scratches and oxidation. This process helps to restore the shine of a car. Nowadays, many people choose to use machine polishing in order to improve their cars in a short time for an event or an important meeting. It can make your car look new again.

Understanding About Microns

For a new car, manufacturers will give you a new finish on the paint, which is about 50 microns of clear coat. This is the equivalent of a higher-quality paint system that can’t be found in a pre-owned car.

However, some people may choose to machine polish a car because it offers a superior shine and contains more resin in the clear coat. Each time, it can remove up to 10 microns of clear coat. This is how I came up with the number 5 in the short answer above. This is just a theory so we don’t really know when the clear coat runs out.

How Often Can You Machine Polish a Car?

The question “How often can you polish a car?” has been asked a lot, right?

In order to keep your car’s original paint lasting longer, you should apply machine polishing carefully and limit it to once per year only. Unlike other processes, which remove paint from a car, machine polishing only removes the compound layer.

So theoretically, you can use it as much as you’d like without damaging your paint. However, if you continue to polish the same area of a car over and over again, this will eventually damage the car’s clear coat. The clear coat is the outermost portion of a car’s finish that protects its surface from sun damage and scratches. Also, this layer will start to deteriorate due to heat applied by the polisher.

There is a chance that your clear coat will turn yellow and peel off. If this happens, you will need to repaint your car. It’s an expensive process and something most people avoid by limiting the polishing process as much as possible.

We also have to limit machine polishing because it can be too vigorous for our car’s finish. You can create swirl marks with the abrasive polish compound if it isn’t used properly. These swirl marks will cause the paint to look faded and washed out. Also, if the polish is too abrasive for your paint, it can go in between the layers of clear coat and leave chips in the finish.

How many times can you polish a car?

As a general rule, I only use harsh polishes (Medium Cut or above) on my own cars no more than two times per year. This lets me keep my paint looking fresh while staying within the limits of the paintwork.

Honestly, you don’t have to polish your car more than once or twice a year. The long answer is that it depends on how well your car runs. You probably don’t want to polish a car that is 20 years old and has burned clearcoat and oxidized paint.

If you have a newer car, start by putting polish and a light finishing pad on a panel to see how it looks. This is a safe way to see how far into the clear coat the scratches go. Use a paint depth gauge if you want a more accurate way to measure how thick this layer is.

What Is the Difference Between Machine Polishing and Hand Polishing?

Hand polishing is done with a polisher machine, but a hand polisher has a small diameter as small as 3 mm. whereas, as for machine polishing, we use a larger diameter pneumatic disc machine. It’s used to polish the vehicle or vehicle part after surface roughening by sandblasting.

Hand polishing should be used when you have a small defect. This is not an efficient or safe way to polish a car because you can get too close to the paint and it will result in swirls. If you get too close to your finish, it will inevitably damage your clear coat.

Machine polishing is perfect for preventing paint damage. You can use it accurately to achieve a better shine for your car. We know that many people don’t machine polish their cars because they are afraid of damaging the clear coat. However, if you’re looking for a new look, this process is perfect for you.

FAQs

You shouldn’t machine polish your car too often or too much. The reason being is that it could damage the clear coat, which will influence the paint. Also, too much machine polishing can damage your car’s finish. You should limit machine polishing to once per year only.