Proper buffing involves many nuances and variables, ranging from technique, buffer speed, pad type, products, type of paint, and more. However, one variable that often gets overlooked but is extremely critical in buffing is pressure. More specific is the amount of pressure needed on the buffer to buff a paint surface to perfection. It is very true that all the other variables mentioned will make a big difference in the level of perfection, but pressure exerted, is one of the more overlooked but very important issue to understand when buffing.

Are you under a little or a lot of pressure?
Too much or too little pressure can be bad. Obviously too much pressure will lead more quickly to swirl marks, hazing and cloudiness, or possibly burned paint. Too little pressure will basically do nothing more than smear the product around a bit faster than what you could do by hand. I see many detailers exerting very little pressure when they buff. They may demonstrate good technique as far as holding the buffer correctly and moving it along well, but because they use too little pressure while buffing, the results are less than perfect. I realize there is a certain amount of fear that some detailers have while using a high speed buffer. They have heard, or seen, all the bad things that can happen and are deathly afraid of burning the paint or creating deep swirl marks that are very unsightly. Because of this fear, they will use insufficient pressure to get the job done. Or, they may compensate for the lack of pressure by using extremely aggressive buffing pads and products. You may think that this will even everything out and still create a perfect finish. However, with more aggressive pads and products there will generally be more dusting, more of a mess, the possibility of deeper swirl marks and cloudiness of the paint, and more time spent on the vehicle to attempt to gain the same results.

What is the right pressure?
Knowing how to exert the correct pressure and when and where you need more or less pressure is a feel that will develop with experience. Also, seeing the paint corrections take place, and how fast or slow they happen is also a key to pressure exertion. Most buffing techniques, pads, products, etc. will create a shine on the paint surface, but an absolute perfect paint surface is created not only by a good gloss, but also when proper paint correction is taking place. Everybody has their own theories on buffing techniques. Some people are fans of higher speed and more aggressive products and buffing pads to get the job done. I however, am a fan of mid range products and much lower speed to accomplish the same thing. I never want to be overly aggressive with my choice of pads, products, or speed if I do not have to be. I can always grab a more aggressive pad or a more aggressive product if all else fails. My goal is always to limit the amount of buffing steps needed to create a beautiful paint finish. Also, by limiting my use of a very aggressive buffing pad and product, it generally takes fewer steps to finish the buffing process and an easier time doing so. I will simply make the product more or less aggressive by varying the amount of pressure I am using. I can regulate this aggressiveness by pressure alone.

Pressure equates to time spent
Many detailers I speak with tell me it takes them an inordinate amount of time to buff the car. There are generally 2 reasons for this. First, I see many detailers being overly aggressive with their products and their pads. This leads to over-correction of the paint and leaves the finish with deep swirls marks, lots of cloudiness and hazing which will take multiple steps to remove. The second reason for spending too much time buffing is they simply are not getting the imperfections out with their style of buffing. I see many detailers who keep going over and over an area multiple times without great results. Many times this is not the fault of the product or pad, but by a lack of pressure while buffing. These multiple passes over and over the panel will also waste a lot of time. So what can you look for regarding the amount of pressure you are exerting when you buff? Let's take a look

Gauging your pressure
We don't want to be too light on the buffer, nor do we want to be too heavy on it either. Here are some things to look for while you are buffing to try and get it just right.

• Don't move around the panel too quickly. Some detailers try to be lightning fast. This just amounts to a faster way of hand polishing or compounding. By being too fast, you are generally not using enough pressure and not accomplishing what needs to get done with the paint.
• Feel the heat you are creating. A certain amount of heat needs to be generated while buffing both for paint correction and gloss. If you stop buffing and immediately feel the paint, it should be fairly warm but not so hot where it almost burns your hand. If the panel is too cool, you are not using enough pressure. If its red hot, you are using too much pressure.
• Listen to the buffer as you buff. The buffer has a certain sound when it's free-wheeling and not being used on the vehicle. The pitch or sound of the motor will change as you exert pressure. However, if you really lean on the buffer, the buffer will struggle to keep up speed and it will groan and whine if too much pressure is being used. You want to hear it change pitch from the free-wheeling sound, but you don't want it to groan or whine.
• Look at the "crush" of the buffing pad. When using a foam pad, you will be able to see how much you are crushing the pad into the backing plate. If there is no change in the thickness of the pad while you are buffing, you are not using enough pressure. If you turn the pad into a pancake, and can actually feel the backing plate as you are buffing, you are using too much pressure. You generally want to crush the pad about halfway down to create enough pressure to properly buff the paint surface.
• If the pad has too much "grip" on the panel, that could be a sign of too much pressure. You need to be able to slide the buffer back and forth easily without the pad grabbing and gripping the paint excessively.
• The last item is constantly looking at the results! If you are going back and forth, time after time, and nothing is really happening, chances are you are not using enough pressure. On the flip side, if all it takes is a couple of passes to correct the finish, but you are left with excessive hazing, cloudiness, and deep swirl marks, you are probably using too much pressure. You want to be able to correct the paint finish in just a few passes, while at the same time also creating a nice gloss with limited swirls and hazing.

I see pressure issues all the time in my training classes. I will always do a demonstration on the vehicle to show the correct way to buff and correct the paint surface. I ask the students to try and duplicate the example I have just shown them. Many times the results are not the same even if they look like they are doing everything correctly. The student will then wonder why he is not only taking a much a longer time to buff the panel, but also not getting all the imperfections out as well. This is usually a result of not exerting enough pressure on the buffer.

Lean into it, and then back away!
There will always be areas on every car where you won't need too much pressure while buffing. Unless the paint is exceedingly harsh, you should be able to use moderate pressure throughout the buffing process to get the job done. However, there are always areas on the vehicle that have deeper imperfections, scratches and blemishes than the rest of the vehicle. For detailers who are a bit nervous about exerting too much pressure and in turn creating too much heat, and possibly burning the paint, here is a trick. If you have an area that is severely marked up, buff that area and work it hard for a short time, then back the buffer away and see what you have accomplished. By putting more pressure on the buffer, you should be able to eliminate or lighten most of the damaged area. This method will also create more heat, so this is why you need to back away and let that part of the panel cool a little. While continuing to buff near the damaged area, don't go back into the problem area until the heat has been dissipated and the panel is cool enough. Then if needed, go back and buff the area again with slightly less pressure to get more gloss and clarity.

Lightening the load and cleaning up!
Believe it or not, you can actually start the swirl mark removal process, get a super shine, and quite possibly eliminate an entire buffing step simply by pressure regulation! If you are compounding or performing any buffing step that would be considered paint correction, try this:

Use enough pressure to eliminate the paint imperfections. Use as many passes as you need to correct the finish. When you know you have corrected the problem, go over the same area again with very light pressure. With just the lightening of the pressure on the buffer, you will start to clean up any hazing, cloudiness, and swirl marks that have been put into the panel by your initial, higher pressure passes. This preliminary clean up can be accomplished without changing the buffing pad or product! This WILL work and it WILL save time in the overall buffing process.

Buffing does have many variables and there are many things that have to be known and performed correctly to achieve a perfect finish. However, pressure is often overlooked as a main reason for imperfect results. One of the main culprits of buffing and a common unwanted result are swirl marks.

In next month's issue, I will looks at swirl marks in depth. We need to know that sometimes they are just a by product of doing the job correctly. We will look at why they get there and how to correctly remove them or prevent them.