Stain Drain™ Hot Water Spot & Upholstery Cleaner

What you'll need

Choose your pad

Your kit has five kinds of pad. The mix can vary a little between batches, so go by what they look like. Start with the foam pads: they're the easiest to control. For more cut, change the product or the speed, not the pressure.

• 

  Orange waffle foam

  Foam with a raised, waffle-pattern face. Your main working pads: use them with polish, or with compound on heavier swirls. Keep one pad for each product.

• 

  Orange flat foam

  Foam with a smooth, flat face. Also working pads. Keep a clean one just for spreading wax or sealant on a low speed.

• 

  Blue cloth bonnets

  Soft, towel-like bonnets. For applying wax or lightly buffing the finish after polishing, on a low speed.

• 

  White wool bonnets

  Fluffy white bonnets that cut harder than foam, for heavier correction. Save them until you're used to the foam pads, then try one on a small hidden patch at a low speed first.

• 

  Brown sanding discs

  Thin, paper-like abrasive discs for specialist sanding by experienced users. Nothing in this guide needs them: see the warning below.

Sanding discs are not for polishing. They're for advanced wet-sanding prep and can take off the clear coat if used wrongly. If you're new to this, leave them in the bag, and never use them on headlights, glass, chrome, trim or rubber.

Set your speed

Six speed levels, set on the tool. Start low and only go up if you need to.

• Speed 1–2

  Spreading polish before you work it in, applying wax or sealant, and buffing off with a clean blue bonnet.

• Speed 3–4

  Most polishing. This is where you'll spend most of your time.

• Speed 5–6

  Cutting with a compound on heavier swirls, once a test patch shows you need it. Light pressure, keep moving, stay off edges.

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Charge both batteries

   Charge both batteries fully on the supplied UK mains charger before your first session, indoors and somewhere dry. Start the evening before, so each one gets a full charge. Plan the job panel by panel, so a battery swap falls at a clean edge.

   Keep in mind A full cut and polish on a whole car is a big job. It's fine to spread it over several sessions, a few panels at a time.

2. 2

   Step 2: Prepare the car

   Wash and fully dry the car, then park in the shade and wait until the panels feel cool. Tape over rubber seals, plastic trim, badges and sharp edges with low-tack tape. Shine a torch across the paint to see what you're working with.

   Keep in mind Slip your hand into a thin plastic bag and stroke the paint. If it feels gritty, clay it first with a clay bar or mitt and plenty of clay lubricant.

3. 3

   Step 3: Fit a pad

   With no battery in the tool, press an orange foam pad onto the backing plate, centred and flat, and tug the edge gently to check it's held. To change pads later, switch off, take the battery out and peel the old pad away from one edge.

   Keep in mind Give each product its own pad, so compound, polish and wax never mix.

4. 4

   Step 4: Fit a battery

   With the switch off, slide a charged battery into the end of the handle until it sits fully home. Don't force it. It should stay in without you holding it; if it doesn't, or the tool cuts out, take it out and refit it.

   Keep in mind To take it out, press the battery's release catch and slide it straight out. The user manual shows where the catch is.

5. 5

   Step 5: Get to know the controls

   Find the on/off switch on top of the handle, the numbered speed wheel with its six levels, and the three small lights that show how much charge is left. Check them against your user manual: this guide calls the slowest level speed 1.

   Keep in mind Keep your hands off the vent slots on the head while it's running.

6. 6

   Step 6: Make your first section a test

   Pick a flat part of a panel, about 40 × 40cm, where you can see well. Start with your gentlest setup: an orange foam pad and polish, not compound. Only step up to compound or a higher speed if the swirls are still there after three or four rounds.

   Keep in mind Stepping up means a stronger product or a higher speed, not more pressure. You can always take more off, but you can't put lacquer back.

7. 7

   Step 7: Spread the polish on a low speed

   On a new pad, work a little polish into its face with a clean finger first. Put three or four pea-sized drops on the pad and, with the tool off, dab the pad onto the paint in a few spots across the section. Set speed 1 or 2, rest the pad flat, switch on and spread the polish evenly.

   Keep in mind Switching on in the air flicks polish everywhere. Start and stop with the pad on the paint.

8. 8

   Step 8: Polish with slow, overlapping passes

   Turn up to speed 3 or 4. Hold the head with one palm and the handle with the other, pad flat, pressing no harder than the weight of your hands. Move slowly, about a hand-width every couple of seconds, side to side and then up and down, overlapping each pass by about half.

   Keep in mind Watch the edge of the pad: it should keep turning, not just buzz. If it only buzzes, you're pressing too hard, so ease off.

9. 9

   Step 9: Wipe off and check

   Switch off with the pad still on the paint, then lift it away. Wipe off the residue with a clean microfibre cloth. Check under a torch from a few angles, and do another round if you need to.

   Keep in mind One round is one set of side-to-side and up-and-down passes. Three or four rounds on a section is normal. For the next section, add two or three fresh drops and overlap the last one slightly.

10. 10

    Step 10: Protect the paint

    Polishing corrects the paint but doesn't protect it. Spread a thin coat of wax or sealant on speed 1 with a clean flat foam pad kept for wax, or by hand. Let it haze as the product's instructions say, then buff it off with a clean microfibre cloth.

    Keep in mind Thin coats work best. More wax isn't more shine.

What to avoid

Troubleshooting

Aftercare