Best polish and wax

thexav

Pro Tuner
Staff member
Points
407
Car
2002 Clio 172
What are the best waxes and polishes for a car? I get confused by the sheer amount of them and I keep buying new ones hoping they will be better than the last. It's like my wife and shampoo bottles I guess!

What do you use? How often do you polish and how long does wax last you?
 
polish i like the meguires range - personally i use nos 83, and 85 on a big polish and 205 finishing polish on a normal polish generally maybe ever 4 months by machine

for doing it by hand you cant beat autogyms super resin polish. downside is this doesnt actually have much cut and instead fills the scratches.
the filler washes out after a few washes so has to be done more often - monthly for example.


for wax i personally use a sealant rather than a wax. finishkare high temp fk1000p. find that i still get good beading after 4-5 months with this. dunno how much longer it would last.

last time i washed the car it survived washes with alkaline cleaner, fairy liquid - supposed to remove wax and grease, an actual degreaser and car shampoo. also survied through the claying and use of tardis - probably the best tar and glue remover.
 
Collonite waxes also seem to be pretty good and last for months on end. I'm just about to get some snow foam and see what that is like, a lot of people rave about that for the initial clean.
 
You need to differentiate between waxes and sealants . Use the latter on metallics and waxes on solid colours

On most metalics you cant polish the paint with a wax because its covered with a clear coat laquer - the sealant builds up the shine
 
That is exactly the problem - most people dont know the difference.

I only found out by asking a specialist supplier for the best polish for my car which is pearlescent. (and at the time yes I meant wax)

He then explained that you cant polish a clear coat laquer but a sealant just adds to the effect.

So I was put right quickly and have used the same sealant ever since.
 
I'm going to get mine thoroughly detailed at some point soon. Probably not going to do it myself.

It is a clearcoat metallic and it is in excpetionally good condition but I still think a good does of sealant, whether wax or a synthetic polymer type will assist in preserving the paintwork as the years roll on.
 
you can polish clearcoat it will still get microfine scratches

IMG_0767.jpg


notice the swirl marks in the clear coat on the left of the photo. right side has been polished using megs 85


if you look on detailing sites then wax / sealant is known as LSP - Last stage protections.

LSP adds very little to the actual finish of the car. its to protect the paint. the problem is understanding the difference and that some polishes actually have sealants in them. AG SRP has a sealant in it

my car after being polished last year

CarPreLSP.jpg


different angle but after 2 coats of sealant

postlsp.jpg


the shine comes from the paintwork itself, not the LSP, if the paint is perfectly smooth then youll get great shine, any scratches or dirt then they will distort the reflection - hense why your car looks better after a clay session.

i strongly recommend claying before polishing, especially machine polishing, as the dirt trapped on the paint will cause more scratches.


HDi if your looking at a detail then look at a good couple of hundred depending on how the paintwork is
 
The paintwork is in fabulous condition, I wouldn't have bought the car otherwise. There's no discoloring, no fading, etc. Just some light marking from the occasional 'machine' wash. This should polish out easily.

I'd really like to get it up to show standard and then get it fully sealed for longevity.

I keep my cars for ages, and plan to do same with this one, despite the fact that it's by far the oldest car I've ever bought and also the cheapest car I've ever bought. But I'm a canny customer.
 
My info came from a guy who details show cars for a living, Ive not posted my opinions but his.

Spoke to him again and his explanation is........................

First we are talking about final detailing not washing or cleaning the paintwork -It is taken as read that the car has been properly washed and clayed first - otherwise final detailing is a waste of time . .
Re metallics etc,
The shine doesnt come from the paint but the laquer on top. Sealants increase this by increasing the depth of the clearcoat and this increases the shine. They can be applied more than once and certainly do increase the shine
Polish is an abrasive so if the top coat is a clearcoat all you will do is scatch it using polish,

solid colours lose shine because the paint oxidises a polish removes this .

The two are different -
Using t cut as an example ( as its a well known heavy polish)
Try it on a solid colour and the cloth will go the colour of the paintwork - because its removed the oxidisation on the paint surface.
But try it on a metalic/pearlescent car the rag remains the same colour because the colour is under the clearcoat.
 
then on that he is correct, the polishing stage would be the cleaning off the paint

but i, and many others, would say he is wrong about scratching a clearcoat using a polish.

using my photo above that was a pug 207 you can see the differences between what side of the line has been polished and what side hasnt.

as i dont have a powerful enough light source avalible and the sun isnt the best for seeing side by side heres another one form a pro detailer on a skoda octavia

before

IMG_1036.jpg


after

IMG_1038.jpg


side by side

IMG_1041.jpg


pictures taken from http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=213395

he is correct if you were to use a heavy cut polish, T cut isnt that heavy compared to more modern ones, on a machine on something with soft paint - your stagea ( most jap cars have softer paint ) then you would be left with marring and what looks like more scratches. however if you were to refine it down will less and less cut polishes then you would be left with a flawless finish

he is also correct with the rag on solid colours

but the problem is polishing by hand does next to nothing on clearcoat as it is much harder than the paint underneath.

rather than go on and try and so it more myself here is a post by a pro detailer - im sure this is the one that charges something like £7k to detail a car, granted it was a Rolls royce and was going to cost the owner £30k to respray :blink1:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=63859
 
So.......to understand this correctly

Polishing can remove the swirl marks in the clearcoat . Absolutely no problem with this .
In fact I agree with it.

But swirl marks dont come with a paint job ( not a decent one anyway) and are usually there because someone has not used a proper polishing cloth (or polished with a dusty rag)

But if you dont have them you dont need polish
 
Most of the circular swirl marks come from washing a car with grit in the sponge IMO!

Are we talking about the circular scratches you get in paint or the bigger swirls you get in paint when the light shines on it in a sort of holographic reflection? (the latter is usually down to poor polishing).
 
as waynne has said the swiral marks mainly come from poor washing.
but can come from poor polishing using a rough or dirty cloth. or even a dirty car - hense the claying before polishing.

no there is no point in polishing if the cars paintwork is in tip top condition. hense why waxing can be done every couple of weeks for cheap waxs compared to polishing which id say a couple of times a year at most
 
amost a year old and my opinion hasnt changed very much.

megs 205 is still my polish of choice very versatile and doesnt actually breakdown so you can vary the work time.
used on a finishing pad with light pressure gives a fantastic glossy finish.
used on polishing pads with some light pressure to remove swiralling.
used it on a compounding pad to take a pink octavias spoiler back to a deep gloss red.

Menzerna 3.02 im finding as a nice med cut polish - was using it on a wool pad the other day to remove alot of scratching from the side of a megane before refining with the 205

wax/sealant wise im still going to say the fk1000p - average or 5 months before beading starts to go.
coli 476 is also highly recommended.

im tempted to try some of the dodo juice range during the summer to see what kind of finish they give over the grey.
 
Some very interesting info,i have always used auto glym,seems to do the job!.

Does using TFR strip polish/wax when used as a pre shampoo wash?.I use it occasionlly is it a good thing or should i not use?.
 
The wax can build up into a sticky coating over time so a mild stripper/cleanser is a good idea on occasions.
 
yes TRF will strip the wax.

ideally strip it all off before starting again to wax, depending on the wax every 3-4 months about average

if your Using Autogym SRP then theres no point really as it will strip the wax itself, and leave a finish behind as it contains a sealant
 
only need 2 polishes MER & Autoglym Resin Super.. nuff said
Oh by the way when i was at Ferarri i won the Concourse show in 2 classes. new. testerrossa .. not bad but not the best...older classic 330 Lusso. wicked.
 
i have tried a whole range of polishes/glazes/waxes/sealants

currently go between the following
ag srp
chemical guys blacklight
poorboys blackhole
chemical guys glossworkx
ag hd wax
dodo juice supernatural hybrid
chemical guys butter wet wax

just like to add i apply all above by hand when i use them, if i was going go into using a machine polisher then id be looking at the megs# range and collinite for sure
 
before i cleaned the car it live through cleansers with alkaline better, fairy fluid - expected to eliminate wax and oil, an real degreaser and car hair shampoo. also survived through the claying and use of tardis - probably the best tar and adhesive better . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 

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