Before we guide you into what the best car polishing kits on the market are, we should explain what they are. Car polish is an abrasive substance that removes part of the clear coat of your paintwork to remove scratches and swirl marks and leaves a showroom-fresh, glossy finish.
Wax differs slightly as this acts as a protectant that you apply after you’ve finished the polishing process. For the best car wax, consult our guide to the best car wax.
For the finer detailing jobs, we’ve even created a guide on the best chrome cleaners. But if you’re interested in polishing your car yourself at home, car polishing kits are a great place to start.
Buying a car polishing kit is both a money-saving exercise and practical way to get your polishing gear. What we have below is a roundup of quality car polishing kits. Some are for hand application, some for polishing tools, plus a couple of useful individual products. For use on windows, we have also created a guide on the best glass polish.
The best car polishing kits at a glance:
Editor’s pick: Autoglym Super Resin Polish – buy from Amazon
Best value polishing tool kit: Sealey CPK04 Pro Polishing Compounding Kit – buy from Tooled Up
Best headlight restorer: Quixx Headlight Restoration Kit – buy from Amazon
The best car polishing kits
Editor's pick
Included in this kit are a microfibre cloth and a polish applicator. It's a good price for a great kit. Just make sure to coat it with a protectant afterwards.
Pros
- Great value
- Incredibly comprehensive kit
Cons
- Protectant not included
Best full car care kit
Your car's paint will never see better days than when you attend to it with this set. It comes with microfibre pads and an applicator.
Pros
- Very complete kit
- Ideal for paint restoration
Cons
- Bottles aren't that large
Best headlight polish
The kit contains plastic polish, sealant, four polishing cloths, three graded sandpapers (2000, 3000 and 5000), and even a sanding block.
Pros
- Perfect for restoring deteriorated headlights
- Lots of kit included
Cons
- Bit of a one-trick pony
Best polishing tool kit
Pros
- Brings a real shine to your bodywork
- Good value
Cons
- You only get a single bottle
Best polishing tool kit
Impeccably designed and manufactured to the highest standard, this 10.8V Flex machine polisher is lightweight but mighty. It can run for as long as the pair of 2.5Ah batteries allow and not miss a beat. It's a popular choice among professional detailers because it's so effortless to use. If you're intending on getting the best, get a Flex.
This very comprehensive kit includes a random orbital polisher, backing pads and adaptors, several polishing sponges, two bottles of polish, batteries, charger, and a hard storage case. The various sizes of backing pads and sponges allow you to access all areas of the car bodywork.
Pros
- Incredibly comprehensive polishing kit
- Is portable
Cons
- Will be too powerful for some
Best value polishing tool kit
You also get fine cutting compound for restoring your paintwork and polish for giving it a glossy finish.
As an added bonus, there's a trio of polishing pads: one dense for the cutting compound; one medium for polishing; and one ultra soft for buffing, plus a microfibre finishing mitt. The 150mm size is great for bigger, flatter body panels but intricate areas you will probably still want to do by hand.
Pros
- Lots of equipment for adaptation
- Lower risk of damaging your paintwork
Cons
- Needs mains to be powered
Best premium machine polishing kit
For waxing (the last bit of the process), you should limit the speed to 3,800 OPM. After a few tries, you're bound to get the hang of it. It's the perfect polishing kit for someone whose a beginner in the skill.
Pros
- Lightweight and easy to handle
- Ideal for applying polishes and waxes
Cons
- Other kits include more equipment
The best for paint correction
The pads included are a coarse restoring compound pad, a medium polishing compound pad, and a fine refining compound pad. Interestingly, the machine will also automatically cut off if too much pressure is applied to the bodywork. This makes it an ideal tool for leaning how finely you should be applying polish to your vehicle.
Pros
- Ideal for paint correction jobs
- Incredibly comprehensive kit that includes extra accessories
Cons
- Not the most powerful of polishing tools
Which of the best car polishing kits should I go for?
For an absolute beginner, a full-blown machine polishing kit probably isn’t the most recommendable option. Car polishing can gravitate to a skill and is a key skill for professional detailers. You have to follow the three-step process and be strict with your application. Almost like mastering your skills with a scratch repair kit. Compounding, polishing, and waxing are those steps, and learning how to apply each with the individual products is key.
Why should I get a car polishing kit?
Unlike your usual set of car cleaning products which can extend to fallout remover, glass cleaner and so on. Polishing your car effectively restores the paint. It helps brighten up dull or faded paintwork, remove light scratches, water marks and swirls before you wipe the residue of each product with a car polishing cloth. Polish removes remove part of the clear coat of your paintwork. Why? Because the visible damage is seem on the clear coat and not necessarily the paint itself. Because of it’s abrasiveness, polish should not be used on a regular basis. You should think of it really as an occasional refurbishment of your bodywork.
How much damage can they remove?
It may be effective at removing light scratches, but don’t expect it to cure anything noticeably deep that extends below the clear coat. If you’ve had your car grazed by another in a supermarket car park, a professional paint refurbish is probably the only way to go. If you were tempted by the Quixx kit outlined in our piece, we’ve created a specific guide on the best headlight restoration kits for that purpose.
Aaron Hussain is a commercial content writer at Bauer Media writing for Parkers and CAR. He is obsessed with classic cars and anything with a fascinating story to tell.
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