Best car polishes 2024: the best ways to remove scratches and swirls

Taking care of your car’s paintwork not only keeps it looking good, but it also helps to preserve it for longer. Step one is always ensuring it’s kept clean, for which you’ll need some car shampoo. Step two is using a good quality car polish – and here we’ll help you choose the best.

During the course of everyday driving, paintwork suffers through the ravages of sunlight, tiny grit in car-cleaning cloths or poorly-maintained drive-through car washes. Perhaps you live in a park of the country with tight lanes and the sharp ends of overgrown branches. 

Help is at hand, because a good car polish can bring your car's paintwork back to life. It revitalises the paint, removes fading, surface marks and imperfections, leaving it ready to be protected again with a quality wax or sealant. 

Typically a polish will contain cutting agents in varying strengths which abrasively remove the damaged top layer of paint to reveal the fresh surface underneath, leaving behind a high-gloss finish.

All the products we’ve tested here are designed to be applied to clean paintwork, providing a glistening shine and a base for further protection. So let’s see which is the best of the bunch…

The products or services referenced in this story have been reviewed independently by our experts. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. However, this will never influence our opinion or ratings.

Best car polish – Meguiar's Ultimate Polish
Best shine – TurtleWax Renew Polish
Best value car polish – Halfords Polish

Best car polishes 2024

1. Meguiar’s Ultimate Polish – Best car polish

What Car? Rating – 5/5

Pros

- Proven record
- Good consistency
- Nice shine

Cons

- Expensive
- Can be hard work

Meguiar's is one of the biggest names in car protection and was the ultimate winner in our previous car polish test a year ago. The product is thicker compared with some others here, which means it clung well to both our polishing pad and the vehicle’s paint – and doesn’t get flung off as much when using an electric polisher. It was very effective at bringing up our van’s dull paint to a nice shine. The finish was also very good, and easily a match for any of the other products here. It buffed off easily and the water test saw the liquid bead on the surface.

It removed all of the smaller and lighter scratches of our Volvo’s body panel, and had a significant impact on the deeper scratch which could be felt with a fingernail. The lighter scratches couldn’t be felt.

Tester’s insight
“The Meguiar’s Ultimate Polish feels like a quality product as soon as it comes out of the bottle. It sits nicely on the polishing pad and doesn't start to soak in instantly or run away. You can feel it working as you apply it and it buffs off easily. For a fairly modest amount of product, it gives really good results. It may not be the cheapest but the results are excellent.”

Buy it if...
- You want the best combination of shine, finish and scratch removal
- You don't mind paying for the privilege

Don't buy it if…
- You are on a budget
- You prefer a thinner product to apply

The facts

2. TurtleWax Renew polish – Best car polish for shine

What Car? Rating – 4/5

Pros
- Great price
- Iconic brand
- Excellent performance

Cons
- Bit messy
- May need more applications

TurtleWax’s Renew polish is a relatively thin product that comes out of the bottle easily and quickly. But despite this, it didn't soak into the sponge application pad too quickly, so it was easy to spread over the surface prior to proper polishing. In use, it tended to be messy, with a noticeable degree of splatter, but it was effective and cut back the dull paintwork to leave an impressive shine. It buffed off very easily with a microfibre cloth and left an equally impressive surface finish behind, which beaded water very well, causing runs after a short period. 

When it came to the scratches on the Volvo, it did a very good job of removing the lighter marks, and even had an effect on the deeper scratch – although not as significantly as the Meguiar’s. A pretty good showing nonetheless. 

Tester’s insight
“Applying the Renew to the applicator sponge, I was initially a little sceptical but it worked very well. You could feel it cutting into the dull paint on the surface and, although it caused a bit of a mess, it worked very well. Like other, thinner products, it may benefit from a further application though this again may have caused more mess. But after buffing off, both the shine and finish were impressive.”

Buy it if...
- You want a quick and fairly easy result
- You want the back-up of a known – and trusted – brand

Don’t buy it if…
- You don't want any mess
- You don't want to have to reapply

The facts

3. Simoniz Liquid Diamond Polish & Wax

What Car? Rating – 4/5

Pros 
- Nice shine
- Good finish
- Great value

Cons
- Very messy
- Fling dries hard
- Immediate buffing needed

Simply by picking up the bottle you can tell the Simoniz is the thinnest product here by far. It came out quickly and immediately started to soak into the sponge applicator – although it means it has a degree of longevity when in use. However, there was significant splatter when using our electric Sealey polisher, and the excess liquid needed to be wiped off quickly, otherwise it dries quite hard.

However, the results were actually very good; the shine was good and the finish smooth, something that was demonstrated in the water test, with beads and runs forming immediately. It did a reasonable job on the smaller and lighter scratches on the Volvo but didn't touch the deeper version. 

Tester’s insight
“Against all initial impressions, the Simoniz actually gave very good results. The thinness of the liquid seems to help as it soaks into the applicator when spread across the surface. But when the power polisher was activated, it made a horrendous mess, and the excess product dried very hard on the van’s bodywork."

Buy it if…
- You want a quick and easy shine
- You are applying with a sponge instead of a cloth

Don't buy it if… 
- You don't want to be ready on clean-up constantly
- You want the ultimate shine

The facts

4. Halfords Car Polish – Best value car polish

What Car? Rating – 3/5

Pros
- Great value
- Works well
- Readily available

Cons
- Messy
- May need two uses

Halfords own-brand of polish is the best value here, at less than £6 for 500ml, although it is rather thin. While this means it soaks into the sponge applicator, it also means there is a significant amount of splatter when using a power polisher, even on low-speed settings. However, it did a pretty reasonable job, particularly considering its price. It brought the test section of the van up to a very respectable shine, although it did need to be worked quite hard. A good finish meant it was worth the effort.

Water beaded well from the surface and it did a fair job of removing the smaller scratches from the Volvo. It had little effect on the deeper one, though. 

Tester’s insight
“I was surprised by the Halfords polish. Despite making a fair bit of mess, it did a decent job of delivering shining paint and left a nice, smooth surface behind. Its thin nature meant it made a mess when getting it out of the bottle and applying with a power polisher. You’d probably end up using more than some of the other products but even then, it still feels good value.”

Buy it if…
- You are very budget conscious
- You like to support a famous British brand

Don't buy it if…
- You are worried about mess
- You aren't prepared to go over it again the get the ultimate finish

The facts

5. Autoglym Super Resin Polish 

What Car? Rating – 3/5

Pros
- Works well
- Buffs off easily
- Respected brand

Cons
- Messy
- Not for matt paint

The Autoglym Super Resin Polish is described as a “beauty treatment for all paint types”, although you can’t use it on matt and satin bodywork, It’s another thin liquid and you have to be careful not to over-apply to the polishing pad to begin with. It covered the test area well, and whilst not as bad as some others, there was still some spatter when we used our power polisher.

It didn't feel as if it were cutting the surface of the paint excessively when applying, but it buffed over very easily and left a decent shine. The finish felt good to the touch, although its effectiveness on light paintwork scratches wasn’t quite as good as some others here, leaving a few of the lighter marks behind. It seemed not to make much improvement on deeper scratches, either. 

Tester’s insight
“The Autoglym polish does exactly what you would expect. The one-litre bottle is a bit of a handful – the 500ml one would likely be easier to handle, allowing more precise application to the polishing pad. That would make less mess, and waste less product.”

Buy it if…
- You like using establish brands
- You have a steady hand

Don't buy it if…
- You don't want to waste product
- You want the ultimate shine

The facts

6. Bilt Hamber Cleanser-Polish

What Car? Rating – 3/5

Pros
- Easy to use
- Soak in to sponge 

Cons
- Expensive
- Messy
- Not as effective as some

After its performance in the alloy-wheel cleaner test recently, we were expecting great things from Bilt Hamber’s polish. It’s not as thin as the Simoniz, but care is needed when applying because a lack of nozzle means you must pour straight from the bottle neck. Despite being thin, it sat on the surface of our polisher but there was a lot of splatter when we powered it up.

It was easy to apply and buff off, and while there was an improvement to the paint and the surface finish was good, the shine wasn’t on par with the products above. Like most of the others, the Bilt Hamber did a decent job of removing the light scratches and marks but didn't have any real effect on the deeper scratch. 

Tester’s insight
“The Bilt Hamber polish is a thin product which made a mess, but more than that, it simply didn’t provide as deep a shine as the other products here. However, the surface finish was good, suggesting it would work well on paint that wasn’t excessively faded, or following a second application before sealing with a quality wax. A reasonable performance but it wasn’t as good as we’d hoped for, bearing in mind the cost.”

Buy it if…
- You are loyal to brands
- Your paint hasn’t become significantly damaged

Don’t buy it if…
- You are value conscious
- You want the best performance

The facts

7. Mer Ultimate Shine Polish

What Car? Rating – 3/5

Pros
- Cuts paint surface well
- Reasonable shine
- Good price

Cons
- Marks left
- Messy
- Tricky to buff off

I used Mer on my first car in the 1980s, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it is still going. It's relatively thin and pours straight out of the bottle mouth. It remains on the surface of the polishing pad and spreads well across the paint, although it does splatter when using a power polisher. It cuts well and once buffed off – which is hard work if you leave it too long to dry – gives a reasonable shine and finish. However, there were marks left in the paint that required another application to remove. When it came to the marks and scratches on the Volvo, it did a decent job but it didn't have any real effect on the deeper one. 

However, during the course of this test, the product dried and was very difficult to remove, unlike every other product here which buffed off easily to reveal their respective shines. 

Tester’s insight
“When I first used Mer, I was impressed with how it cut dull paint back to bring it up to a nice shine. But I was disappointed with how much effort buffing required; even more so with the marks that were left behind.”

Buy it if…
- You want a good cutting polish
- You like the quirky design

Don't buy it if…
- You want an easy-to-use product
- You want no mess

The facts

8. PowerMaxed Scratch and Swirl Remover

What Car? Rating – 3/5

Pros
- Scratch remover and polish
- Little mess
- Decent finish

Cons
- Shine and finish not as good as some
- Not the cheapest

Despite being badged as a scratch and swirl remover, the PowerMaxed bottle also cites a ‘high-shine polish’, so we were hopeful. It's thicker than some other product here, so comes out of the bottle slower and sits on the surface of the sponge application pad. It tends not to splatter so much, making less mess; the product you put on is what you use and you can actually feel it cutting the dull, surface paint off.

It buffs off well and by the end of the test, it gave a decent shine though the surface finish wasn't as smooth to the touch as those above on this list. Despite being called a ‘swirl and scratch’ remover, it was slightly disappointing – it did a reasonable job with the lighter marks but didn't remove them all and had little effect on the deeper scratch. 

Tester’s insight
“The PowerMaxed polish is part of a ‘detailing’ range and is, according to the printed material, a “perfect base for waxes and sealants”. It gave an acceptable performance, producing a reasonable shine and finish though each was bettered by other products here. It’s thick, so a little tends to go a long way although it didn't handle damage to paint as well as some others.”

Buy it if…
- You want a product that will go a long way
- You prefer to ‘detail’ your car instead of just polishing it

Don't buy it if…
- You want the ultimate shine or finish
- Your paintwork suffers from surface damage

The facts

How we test car polishes

Firstly, we masked off one panel of a Renault Trafic van that was suffering with faded and hazy paint. We divided it into eight sections – one per product – and split each section in half, so we could polish one half and compare it directly with the un-polished section. We measured and applied 3 grammes of each product on a new sponge polishing pad using a fully-charged Sealey CP1205 cordless polisher for a duration of one minute per product, to ensure consistency of application. We then removed the product with a clean, fresh microfibre cloth. 

We compared the polished section directly with the original using a gold-coloured reflector to highlight visually the difference and a steel rule to try to gauge depth of shine between the sections. We assessed the surface finish using the back of a finger and finally, we applied a given quantity of water from a spray bottle to see how well each product caused the water to bead on the surface, indicating their relative surface smoothness. 

We also tackled a series of tree-branch scratches along the side of a 2010 Volvo XC90, courtesy of narrow Devon lanes, to assess how effectively each removed these as opposed to just bringing up a shine on faded paintwork. There was a combination of light surface marks that could not be felt and a longer and deeper scratch, which went through the black top-coat down to the white primer and could be felt with a fingernail. 

How we rate car polishes

Shine – We looked at how reflective each polish left the relevant section of the van’s paint and how the coloured reflector was shown in the relevant sections. We also used a steel rule to indicate the difference in depth of shine for each product. 

Finish – We ran the back of a finger across each polished section to gauge how smooth each was and how well they had removed surface imperfections. 

Application – Did each product soak into the applicator sponge pad or sit on the surface? Did each suffer splatter, where it was thrown off from the pad, reducing its effectiveness and causing a mess?

Water beading – Did the water applied bead nicely on the polished surface and begin to run off or did it wet-out like it did on the unpolished section? 

Scratch removal – How well did each product remove the lighter surface marks and did they have any effect on the deeper scratch?

How we test products

The products or services referenced in this story have been reviewed independently by our experts. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. However, this will never influence our opinion or ratings.

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