Polish vs. wax vs. sealant?

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Polish vs. wax vs. sealant?

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Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/17/2008 10:28:54 AM

Burtonsnow157

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Joined: 11/29/2007
Status: online

When i wash my car i dry it off and then apply a coat of wax, and thats it. I've been seeing polish and sealant mentioned in some posts and was wondering what the differences from wax are.

i assume you polish the paint, then wax it, then seal it?

how often are you supposed to do this process, and how do you do it. i would like to do this to get the best look out of my paint

also i forgot to mention glaze, what about that?.

my basic goal is to have my paint looking top quality all the time. . so what would be a good schedule for these steps if theyre even necessary.

right now i clay about 2 times a year and wax every other wash. should i just stick with this system or will polishing it a few times a year, or glazing make it look better?

< Message edited by Burtonsnow157 -- 4/17/2008 10:37:11 AM >

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RE: Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/17/2008 10:54:42 AM

99 GT vert

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the better you prep your paint the better the finish will look if you want the best finish i would suggest getting a porter cable buffer
but if you cannot afford that you can do a decent amount by hand

you will want to use a polish to get the swirls out and then you can use a glaze to give it a deep look then you can use a sealent on the paint the sealent last longer than a wax, after you put the sealent on you can wax

when applying the wax and sealent there is not a certain order that you have to do it in (that is with opti seal atleast not sure about other sealents)

i would talk to justin at obsessive detail his sn on here is juztang he is very helpful

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RE: Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/17/2008 11:21:04 AM

tlpvt

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Joined: 4/10/2007
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I did a claybar and then the meguiar's 1-2-3 thing on my car (paint cleaner, then polish, then wax), got everything at local autozone. the resultas are great, but let me tell ya - going through the whole car by hand so many times (apply/wipe off each step) + windows/rims/tires took me pretty much the whole day and made me wish I had a powertool for that

I don't think I'll be doing such a thorough detailing more than once a year

now i understand why professional detailing is so expensive...
so for now i'm doing just one pass with a quick detailer or spray wax after automatic carwash (no drying).
another thing worth spendin $ for is mother's back to black for plastic trim - mine was all grey/ugly after the winter and simply washing it didn't help much.

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RE: Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/17/2008 11:45:40 AM

Juztang

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From: Westville, IL
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A polish is going to clean your paint and bring out more shine and reflection. I would recommend doing this every 3-4 months.

A glaze will give you a lot of depth and wetness to the paint.

A carnuaba wax gives a deep and wet look but the durability isn't that good, around 4-6 weeks usually.

A sealant is a lot more durable than a wax, a sealant gives more gloss and reflection but lacks the depth and wetness of a carnauba wax. A sealant will last for months.

I like to put on the wax and top with a sealant to get the best of both worlds.

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RE: Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/19/2008 5:30:34 AM

Margarita Girl

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Justin, I was applying the wet wax, then the glaze. I have it backwards?

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RE: Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/19/2008 10:06:12 AM

Juztang

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From: Westville, IL
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Actually you can put them on either way. Both ways will work fine.

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RE: Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/19/2008 1:12:26 PM

Kdog2112

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Just make sure to prep paint real well before applying the sealant. Some sealants (zymol) recommend taking off all wax from car before you apply the sealant to get maximum shine and last from the product

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RE: Polish vs. wax vs. sealant? - 4/21/2008 8:52:12 PM

khooper

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Finishing Glaze --- normally a product containing some filling ability to hide any light swirls. Some contain a small amount of protection and some glossing agents to shine deeper.

Wax --- a pure carnuaba wax is a LSP product used to protect the work done while preping the surface. Usually very wet in look, and deeper than synthetic waxes but durability is limited and re-application is needed more frequently.

Sealant -- a synthetic version of a wax. Originally quite sterile and plastic looking. Newer products use alot of polymers to amp up the gloss factor to look wetter. Protection is usually longer and thus reapplication is less frequent. You can top a sealant with a pure wax to add to looks as wanted, but not the otherway around typically.
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