The polishing tool is flat. This means that any angular or textured portions of the vehicle won’t fit the shape of the polishing tool. You’re more likely to dent the panel than remove the orange peel in these areas.
Just to clarify, you do not tape the edges of the panel you’re working on. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to remove the orange peel near the seams. You only need to tape off the adjacent panels because the rotary polisher may bend them if you don’t sand them out from the center of the panel. This will keep the polishing tool from brushing against any sensitive edges at the wrong angle. If you don’t do this, you may scratch or bend an adjacent seam on your door. As you work, you’ll peel off these pieces of tape and apply new pieces of tape to the seams on the next set of panels. It doesn’t matter where you start. You’re going to remove the peel from each panel one at a time so you can start wherever you’d like.
Cutting compound is commonly used to buff vehicles and remove scratches. It will definitely remove the orange peel, though. You’ll need roughly 32 fluid ounces (950 mL) of compound to cover a mid-sized 4-door vehicle.
For the specialty pads, they’re literally marketed as “orange peel removal” pads. They’re typically some kind of combination of velvet, denim, and foam. Denim is a great choice and many people prefer it over the orange peel removal pads. You likely won’t notice much of a difference between the two if you don’t do this for a living, though. You cannot do this without a rotary polisher. You can buy a rotary polisher for $150-400, or rent one from your local construction supply store for roughly $15-20 a day.
You don’t need to do this if the pad you’re using has been used to remove orange peel at least 2-3 times before this.
Some people like to start in the middle and work their way to the edges, while others prefer starting on a corner and working in. It’s really up to you.
This ensures that every portion of the panel in the area you’re working gets a little compound. If you don’t spread it out, you may not end up with an even coat of paint.
If you cover an area more than 7-8 times, you may produce too much heat from the friction and begin wearing away the paint. Don’t overdo it. You can always repeat this process again after the panel cools from the first round of buffing.
It should be pretty obvious when the orange peel is gone. Depending on how thick the orange peel was, you may physically be able to see the difference in the texture.
Don’t forget to tape the new seams whenever you go to a new panel. You are allowed to tape off a seam on panels you just buffed out in case you’re curious. It won’t damage the recently-buffed paint. Run your gloved hand over the paint when you’re done. If it doesn’t feel smooth and even, reapply compound to any areas that aren’t smooth and buff them out.
Continue re-taping the seams as you work. Let the vehicle air dry when you’re done.
