Detailing Basics with Super Resin Polish - Autoglym's Best Hand Car Polish

There are many myths around car polishing by hand and I want to clear up a few of them today by looking at Autoglym polish. In particular at Autoglym's Super Resin Polish, also called Autoglym SRP.

Since opening washme.ie, most questions I am getting from visitors and customers are around Super Resin Polish and it appears that there is some confusion surrounding it or at least misleading information out there in the WWW.

What is Super Resin Polish (SRP)?

Super Resin Polish is a great all-in-one Autoglym car polish that can correct car paint defects such as fading or oxidation, fill minor imperfections and protect the finish quickly and easily.

It's the perfect product for beginners and enthusiast. It is great to see that Super Resin Polish is on the shelves of the majority of car lovers but also professionals.

I still remember when I tried SRP for the first time many years ago and how blown away I was looking at the amazing results on my Laser Blue Volvo.

Before you start

As with all polishes, do not apply them in direct sunlight as it will bake straight into your car's paintwork which makes spreading and removing very hard. If you do not have a garage or cover, try to do it in the beginning or end of the day when it's the coolest. 

Wash and dry the car throughout and I recommend to clay bar the car prior polishing.

The most important thing to remember is that if any dirt works its way onto the applicator or cloth when polishing, constant rubbing over your paint may, in fact, do more harm than good. Cleanliness really is key before your final protection stage!

What do you need

Super Resin Polish can be applied with a soft foam applicator, polish applicator sponge, microfibre applicator pad or simply a microfibre towel.

You will also need a microfibre towel to buff off SRP.

The Super Resin Polish Kit includes all that you need.

Applying Super Resin Polish

As always, do not overuse product. It is always easier and better to add more than it is to remove the excess. A couple of pea-size amount onto the applicator or microfibre towel will be enough for a start.

Tap the applicator or microfibre towel over a small section of the panel that you focus on before moving ahead to a different section. My personal recommendation is to do a small section at the time - about the size of a standard-sized microfibre towel.

Begin with circular motions and once you have a thin and even layer, change your motion to up-and-down, then left-and-right.

Apply more pressure to any light scratches, watermarks or hazing. 

Top-up SRP if you see that you ran out of product on the area you are treating.

The hand pad or towel will fill up with SRP over time and you will see that you don't need to top-up as frequently with time.

Once you are happy with the section, move onto the next section of the panel and so on until the complete panel is covered in a thin layer of SRP.

Leave SRP to dry for a few minutes to dry and cure into the paint.

Buffing off

If you are not sure if SRP has dried completely, you can do a "swipe test" with your finger. If your finger leaves a clear mark on the panel, you are good to buff SRP off.

If you have not over-applied the product, it should not take too much effort to buff off.

I highly recommend using Autoglym's Hi-Tech Finish Cloth to get a deep shine.

Fold the microfibre towel at least twice to use it to buff off. With this, you will have a softer pressure.

Like when applying Super Resin Polish, move first in circular motions, then left-and-right and up-and-down until all SRP is completely removed from the panel.

The final result will be more clarity in the colour and gloss of your car's paint.

For heavy swirled cars, I recommend repeating the process once more to remove as many swirls as possible due to SRP's cutting abilities properties.

 

Size	325ml	500ml	1L	Kit
	Buy here	Buy here	Buy here	Buy here

 

Conclusion

Super Resin Polish is perfect for beginners and enthusiast and it will make a difference in the colour depth as well as swirl mark appearance.

Durability is not SRP's strong point, nor is it meant to be. The finish can certainly last a few months on a garaged weekend car, but in typical Irish weather I have seen SRP lasting 6 to 8 weeks on a daily driven car.

Consider that the correction and fantastic paint cleaning ability SRP provides will still be present once the filing properties have diminished. So your paint will still look better than it did before you applied it, even after it's gone. 

A wax, such as Autoglym's Ultra High Definition Wax, will finish-off for a mirror-like image and can extend its life by 2 or 3 times.

Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection on top of SRP will last up to 30 washes as it will add another extra layer of film on top and will protect the paint even more.

Super Resin Polish is a legend in the world of car care, used to remove minor scuffs and scratches and to restore gloss to all types of paintwork.

Good to know

• Super Resin Polish has cutting properties and, depending on your car's paint condition, you can use SRP with only light pressure if you just want to enhance the finish. But, if your paint is a bit more far gone, you will see improved results by adding more pressure and go over the paint a few more times.
• If you get SRP onto black plastic trim, Autoglym Fast Glass Cleaner can be used to safely remove it from plastic trims.

Hand Polish vs. Machine Polish

The greatest benefit of hand polishing is that it is relatively safe.
Polishing your car by hand with an applicator is unlikely to burn your paint and, unless you are extremely strong and can apply greater pressure, it will take a very long time to cause damage.

Hand polish gives significant results for those that do not have a machine or the experience using one.

You can certainly use SRP with an orbital or dual action polisher as machine polishing will always get better results, but that's not always possible, especially if you are just starting out.

My advice is to use a light polishing pad, slow machine speed and very little pressure to avoid dusting and quickly extinguishing the workable life of SRP.

But, to be frank, there is not any noticeable greater result to be achieved by overworking SRP by machine.

Hope you enjoyed this Autoglym Super Resin Polish test.