johnnerontheroad Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Up to now I have hand polished our M/H, but as I get older this job is getting harder. So my question is, is it ok to use an electric polisher and if so any recommendations? Thanks in advance Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 You can but you probably will not find it much easier also if you van has aluminum side walls the pre-coated aluminum they use for the panels is self cleaning and does not need polishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 In all my (recent) years I've never seen any need to polish any car or van. The coloured finish on modern vehicles is designed to accept just water. Originally when a basic paint was used, polish had to be applied as a coating to protect the paint and if it was not done the basic covering then deteriorated. (I seem to recall it changed to a matt appearance and could not be recovered) The colour silver needs even less attention, if that colour is chosen of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnerontheroad Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Van is 18Years old and begining to show it's age, so polished it last summer and looked great but not so good now. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 What about checking out a professional vehicle valet service? I did this on my old RR where the brick red paint had gone matt and they buffed it back - applied a special coat of "something" and then polished up and it looked brilliant for years. It did fade again and I considered another valet service but sold it. These days I think all shop bought polishes OK but not if your vehicle needs a fair bit if TLC. Select a valet service with care and if my result was anything to go by - you should be pleased with the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 johnnerontheroad - 2014-04-17 1:11 PM Van is 18Years old and begining to show it's age, so polished it last summer and looked great but not so good now. Dave Polishes only give maximum protection for a couple of months if you want the finish to last after polishing need to use a paint sealant (even more arm ache), then the finish will last 1 to 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 johnnerontheroad - 2014-04-17 9:12 AM Up to now I have hand polished our M/H, but as I get older this job is getting harder. So my question is, is it ok to use an electric polisher and if so any recommendations? Thanks in advance Dave I got my kids to buy me an electric polisher for my birthday, the first year I had the van. Only used it once it was hard work, did no more than hand polishing and it damaged the transfers. So be careful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnerontheroad Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Thank everyone looks like I'll be doing the polishing by hand. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Hi just spent the afternoon washing the m/h ready to polish tomorrow. I am using Starbright premium yacht polish because the m/h is glassfibre same as boat hulls. Just tried a bit on the bonnet before I packed up for the day, two min to apply one to buff up,easy-peasy and looks good. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 johnnerontheroad - 2014-04-17 9:12 AM Up to now I have hand polished our M/H, but as I get older this job is getting harder. So my question is, is it ok to use an electric polisher and if so any recommendations? Thanks in advance Dave Depends on the body. Powered polishers/buffers can easily 'burn' GRP in the wrong hands. Once that happens you won't ever get the mark out. So if you know what you are doing......yes. If you don't........most certainly not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Will85 - I don't know about the colour silver. The silver on the sides of my (3 yr old) Chausson is badly streake white beneath the corners of the windows. I tried Fenwicks streak remover and that just made the streaks worse. It was black streak remover so I suppose I was being a tad optimistc! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Hi I got the m/h polished today,it looks good.It took about four hours in all that included two coats on the front. Last year we had a five week trip to Spain and came home with a thousand or two flies on the front which were realy difficult to remove, a good layer of polish will lessen this problem I hope Mikejkay, when I washed the m/h yesterday I used a carwash solution in the water but it did not get all the streaks off so I tried rubbing the streaks with the undiluted solution on a piece of rag, this did the trick and removed all the streaks. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 What car wash solution did you use? I normally use a good quality car shampoo with built in wax. I get the impression that the silver has been bleached somehow but I'll give the car wash solution a go if you let me know what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter lambert Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 We had our last motorhome valeted by a local chap who only uses Autoglym products. Must say, once it had been done, it looked like it had just come out of the showroom. I now only use Autoglym on the motorhome and car. On the motorhome I use a Halfords 12v oscillating polisher to apply the SRP (Super Resin Polish) and buff it off by hand. Seems to make it far easier to get rid of dead flies and other detritus once you have polished the vehicle with the SRP. The car was treated by the dealers using Autoglym before delivery, and having just cleaned and polished it 2 days ago it shines like new again. The car is 14 months old now!! I have tried Fenwicks, but not found it to be as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 I have a 12volt polishing machine but it is pants, not holding enough charge to do even half of the van.. I'm a fan of Autoglym SRP and have used it on all my vans for the past ten years. This year I've done the drivers side with Super Resin Polish and the passenger side using Diamond Brite two part polish, it goes on very easily and takes no effort at all. I'm hoping the Diamond Brite proves to be good as it takes half the time to apply than the SRP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 davidmac - 2014-04-17 9:57 PM Hi just spent the afternoon washing the m/h ready to polish tomorrow. I am using Starbright premium yacht polish because the m/h is glassfibre same as boat hulls. Just tried a bit on the bonnet before I packed up for the day, two min to apply one to buff up,easy-peasy and looks good. Regards David That's what I use. Brilliant product that provides long lasting protection. I do our Auto-Trail in the spring and Autum. Takes me two days to do but I am in my mid seventies and see no point in knocking myself out trying to do the job in a day. The ideal day to carry out the work is on a warm dry but not sunny day. I use the same companies boat shampoo to clean the motorhome when required. I do, use the polish on the painted metal bits as well. As regards the question of mechanical polishers the answer is to get a professional one. Only problem then is that they are heavy and hard work. They are really intended for,use when the finish has suffered from neglect and is going to need a great deal of heavy polishing to rectify the situation. I have hired one to try but reached the conclusion that hand polishing if done equally is just as quick and much easier with no danger of damaging the original finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Hi the car wash solution I used was part of a kit that was given when I bought my last car.It's branded as Mitsubishi and contained carwash,wheel cleaner, bird dropping remover.glass cleaner,sponge,microfibre cloth and an alloy wheel cleaning brush. I have had it three years and this is the first time I have used any of it. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Colin Leake - 2014-04-20 7:43 PM davidmac - 2014-04-17 9:57 PM Hi just spent the afternoon washing the m/h ready to polish tomorrow. I am using Starbright premium yacht polish because the m/h is glassfibre same as boat hulls. Just tried a bit on the bonnet before I packed up for the day, two min to apply one to buff up,easy-peasy and looks good. Regards David That's what I use. Brilliant product that provides long lasting protection. I do our Auto-Trail in the spring and Autum. Takes me two days to do but I am in my mid seventies and see no point in knocking myself out trying to do the job in a day. The ideal day to carry out the work is on a warm dry but not sunny day. I use the same companies boat shampoo to clean the motorhome when required. I do, use the polish on the painted metal bits as well. How many tubs to do your MH? I just want my roof section doing which is GRP which has suffered from the usual 'weathering'. A professional Valeter has quoted me £140 as he says it's a good days work if done right. That includes a mild cutting compound to get rid of any ingrained dirt before applying a full seal and final polish which is buffed. I'm only in my mid 60's so take my hat off to you if clambering around on the roof! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Hi my m/h is 7m long but has a ruberized roof so only front back and sides to polish. One coat on back and sides three on front and have used about half of the 500ml bottle.It cost £23.39 inc delivery from pacermarine on e-bay.Orderd Sunday arrived Wednesday. I am 67 but suffer with worn shoulder joint through swinging a 20oz hammer to knock in nails for 50 years.Will probably go over it all again in a couple of weeks time when joint has calmed down. Regards David Edit: I think you could use silky caravan cleaner (£4.50 go outdoors)to clean it first. It is like a talc putty a very fine abrasive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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