Polishing pillars and window frames

[Allnitro]

Hey guys. With all of your help, I've gotten pretty confident with my ability to correct paint, but of course I'm always learning.



By far my biggest weakness is getting swirls from pillars and window frames, the areas where I can't get at with a machine. I've tried scrubbing away by hand with products such as Megs 105, but these areas always seem to remain swirly while the rest of the vehicle comes out well.



Are there any tricks to getting to these areas by hand? Am I going too fast, does it take many applications?



Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[JohnKleven]

I use a mini polisher, that uses the small pads like a Cyclo. The model I have is this one. Dynabrade 10390 - 3" Air Buffer It's pneumatic, and super high quality. It also works very well for hard to reach places, and polishing door jambs.





John

 

[Accumulator]

Yeah, try different polishers if you have access to them. From 3-4" pads to the overhanging outer portion of large pads, there's often a way to do it by machine, especially if you tape up things you don't want the pad to hit.



Otherwise, you just have to do it the long, slow way by hand. Consider that it might take numerous tries with a machine to get things done, and that machine is moving the pad at thousands of orbits per minute. Getting those same thousands of movements by hand takes a while.



It's kinda like removing fingernail scratches from behind Audi door handles- you might spend most of an afternoon on it! Sometimes a very gentle wetsand with ~4K can be a good way to start if the marring is really bad.

 

[Dan]

I have had very good luck with Zaino ZPC by hand. It is my go-to polish when I can't use a machine. It has a lot of bite and finishes out well enough.



I avoid 105/205 around anything that has trim. Once that stuff has dried on rubber/trim, you might as well just get new pieces.

 

[wfedwar]

I have had the best luck with mushroom shaped 7.5 in pads on pillars.