Have you been considering getting into detailing? More specifically, removing the swirls and scratches from your paint?
If you’ve seen those cool YouTube videos or photos on the detailing forums, you can easily tell a proper paint correction can do wonders to your car!
People will come up to you and ask, “Did you get a paint job? It looks so shiny!” I hear that story all the time from customers that I’ve done that type of work too.
In this guide, I’m going go to cover the essential tools you’ll need to get started. These are the same tools that I use in my business.
Note, I’m not going to list the exact brand and price since there are a lot factors and variations that go into it. You can visit places like ShineSupply.com, AutoGeek.net, or DetailedImage.com to find everything you need.
Phase 1: Prep
You have to make sure the car is ready for surgery before you even think about placing a buffer on it. If you don’t properly prep the paint, you’ll have a harder time buffing the paint out in the future.
- (3) 5 gallon buckets
- Wash mitts
- Grit Guards
- Drying towel
- Brushes of different sizes
- All purpose cleaner
- Clay lubricant
- Clay bar, pad, or mitt
- Air compressor, leaf blower, mini blower
Again, I’m not going to list everything out in detail. There is a lot of information that needs to be covered and would take 10,000 words for me to cover everything. Since I don’t know your exact goals, it’s best to look into what best fits your budget and preference.
Phase 2: Paint Correction
Now it’s time to get to the fun (and probably expense) part of the process. If you’re brand spankin new to paint correction, you’ll need a bit of products and tools.
- 6” polisher
- 6” buffing pads (various types)
- 6” polishing pads (various types)
- Masking tape
- Electrical cord
- Apron
- Compound
- Polish
- Oil/wax cleanser
I can go and list a dozen more items, but for the most part, that’s a good starting point to look into. You can get all fancy and buy a lot of products for single uses, but again, it’s all going to come down to how far you want to take it.
You can literally spend thousands of dollars and dozens of hours working on your car getting it perfect. It’s all up to you.