Wax or Polish?

Pigeon

Pigeon

Pigeon

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,620
Whats the different and the best to use. I've used polish only in the past to shine the car up. When should I be waxing, as well as polish or instead of polish.
 
Polish doesn't clean. It polishes away paint and surface blemishes on a microscopic scale to give a shiny finish to the paint.

But yes, polish and wax is the way forward.
 
arcamalpha said:
Polish doesn't clean. It polishes away paint and surface blemishes on a microscopic scale to give a shiny finish to the paint.

But yes, polish and wax is the way forward.
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Yep, as he says. Polish removes paint. Or what it does is cut paint, and levels it. You can get polish in many forms, you really need to use a formulation that is best suited to your car.

Such as todays lacquer clear coats are softer then many colour coats from cars produced years ago.

Compounds such as scratch X are harsher then say, a clear coat safe polish. Compounds have fine grit suspended in a smooth cream, whereas polish is a cream that has ingredients that ever so slightly levels paint.

wax is only to seal your paint and protect. Always wax last, you can buy polish and wax in one, but I don't overly like them. Something like crystal deep cleaner is a good polish, followed by wax. Cleaning a car can be a 3 - 4 step stage when coming to paint protection.

I've not got enough time to get through this now, but just buy some polish, check it's safe for your paint and then some wax. But be careful with compounds etc.. You normally have to measure your paint to ensure you have enough layers or thickness to allow for cutting with compounds.. But this is a whole other level of car cleaning.. ;)
 
depends on specific brands - some are synthetic, mild abrasive cleaners while at the same time seal the paint too..

best way to do it is to use a polish (which cleans and removes light scratches in the paint) then a wax which protects the top surface which you removed during the polishing stage. You could forgo the polishing stage but then you wouldnt get a deep, smooth finish to the paintwork
 
Pigeon said:
Polish AND Wax!!

that sounds like a lot of work, will it be shiney for a lot longer doing both though?
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It will look deeper, and cleaner. Like I said, total paint protection isn't just a quick rub on polish/wax in one product and buff off.

You can -

1. Clay
2. Compound
3. Deep clean polish
4. Wax

Takes a whole day to do a mid sized car correctly.
 
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