How to Buff a Carbon Fiber Hood
- 1). Fill the bucket with water and car shampoo, following the manufacturer's mixing instructions. Too much shampoo in water will have you rinsing soap bubbles away for longer than needed; too little, and the shampoo will not be effective at removing grease and dirt. Drying the hood when it still has dirt particles can lead to permanent scratch marks. Once clean, dry well with a soft, lint-free cloth.
- 2). Check the hood for streaks that cannot be rubbed away with the drying cloth. Take a step back from the car and look at the hood from different angles to make sure you spot all the marks on the hood. Streak marks will appear as lighter, less reflective areas, and may appear as lines or swirls.
- 3). Take the foam applicator and add the car polish. Rub the applicator over the streaked areas first, using straight, forward and backward sweeps -- do not use a circular motion. Rub the streaked areas for a longer time and add more polish, as needed. Continue this process until you have applied polish to all the affected areas.
- 4). Divide the hood into roughly equal areas of about 18 square-inches and rub polish onto the hood, using the applicator. It does not matter if you go over the areas you have already tackled. Take your time to make steady, even strokes, ensuring that every inch of the hood has a coating of polish.
- 5). Buff the hood with a polishing cloth, using forward and backward strokes, not circles. Using a circular motion can cause swirls, which look unsightly. This process can take some time and effort, but you must make sure that you buff the whole hood, so that no dull patches of polish remain. Use a quality micro fiber cloth. You may find it necessary to use more than one if the cloth gets too clogged with polish.
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