I have three styles of polishers polishers in my arsenal. An old-school rotary polisher "of death" for the really deep stuff, a Cyclo polisher, which has two counter-rotating 4" heads, and my Griot's 6" Random Orbital Polisher. Before the advent of today's polishers, most people had to have quite a bit of practice with a rotary to not burn through paint. The fear is still there because I speak with people all the time that are afraid of using one. What most people don't know is that it's quite easy to get a mirror-like finish with a Dual Action (DA) polisher like Griot’s - and be a complete novice, too.  

Repeat after me: "I won't burn my paint.......I won't burn my paint......."

Dual action means the head vibrates in small orbits as it rotates. The many small actions combined instead of the big, constant movement (from a rotary polisher) ensures that there are no buffer marks when you are done, and the paint will NOT get hot enough to burn. The manufacturer claims it, and I have tried to burn paint with one and can't. Pad technology has come a long way and that certainly helps, too.

Want proof? All the shots below are ones I did. I taped off a panel and for five minutes, used the Griot's DA unit, a fast cut orange pad from Gloss-It (my favorite) and Gloss-It Extreme Cut compound. Our Griot's three step polishing system works great.

Don't be afraid to try it. Trust me, you won't mess your car up!