Polish Vs Wax

[DAVES89]

As most know I had the front of the Red repainted and I am geting close to puting a polish or wax on it. So after I waxed the 'Vert and before I did anything to the Red I decided to go on line to find out what finish I needed for each car. Of course as I waxed the 'vert it was too late but anyway here goes;

 Polish has micro abrasions in it to remove very minor imperfections and restore the luster.

 Wax is a protective coat that goes on to protect the paint film and to give it shine.

 So my understanding is that one should use polish [or a clay bar which I have never done] to restore the lustre as good as possible and then use a wax. From what I read one should not use a polish on an ongoing basis as it will overtime wear down the clear. And as our cars are all over 26 years old we need to protect the clear to avoid a major paint expense. 

 I will not use polish on the Red as with the recent repaint that would not be needed as the luster is already there, I just need to protect the paint film. So it will get wax.

 The 'vert now has a coat of wax on it when I should have used either a clay bar or polish as the wax job did not come out as well as I hoped. It has what I would call "flat spots or streaks" in the finish mostly on the hood and trunk lid. That stands to reason as the sun, pollen, acid rain, road "debris" land on the part or the car most often. I hope that as I wash it it will look better. In about a month I will try polish and then another coat of wax.

[Ronnie]

I think I would put clay bar and polish in separate classes of products. The clay bar gets out microscopic embedded particles that you probably won't notice in the paint until the clay bar has removed them. You can feel the before and after with your hand. The clay bar won't add shine to the finish.  It may actually dull it a little. I like the Nanoskin AUTOSCRUB Brilliant Shine Kit (clay bar replacement). I have used both the real clay bar and the Nanoskin and I find the clay harder to use. If you drop the clay and get it dirty you can't hardly remove the contaminants it picks up off the floor. If you drop the Nanoskin all you have to do is wash it off and you're ready to go again.

 

After the clay bar you will want to use a polishing "compound" (versus a polish) to get the larger scratches and imperfections out of old paint. Polishing compound comes in different grades, just like sandpaper, according how aggressively they will cut. After compounding you will need to follow up with a "cleaner/polish" that will remove the microscopic scratches and swirl marks from the paint - that is left by the compounds - to give it that deep shine you are looking for.

 

You use the compound in steps from course to fine until you get the shine you want.  How course you start with will depend on the condition of the old paint and whether you are applying it by hand or with a buffer.

 

Not all imperfections will come out of old paint. You have to decide what your goal is - nice shiny driver (like mine) or show car -  and what defects you can live with. Once you are satisfied with compounding and polishing a good coat of wax will help protect that shine. A good wax will just coat the surface to give the shine depth and protection and isn't intended to remove any defects like a polish will. I like the the the Butter Wet Wax that I used on my Reatta because it is easy to apply and wipe off. I think it would work well on your new paint but there are a lot of good waxes out there that would work.

 

Over the winter I spend many hours compounding, polishing and waxing my Reatta with a buffer I got for Christmas. You can read about it here on the forum.

[Rustbelt]

I've used the clay bar on different vehicles I've owned and Ronnie is correct about noticing an improvement in the feel of the car's surface after the clay bar has been used. Like he said - don't drop it!

I've never heard of the Nanoskin AUTOSCRUB Brilliant Shine Kit (clay bar replacement) but since my clay bar has just about outlived it's useful life (yes, I've dropped my clay bar several, several times) I'll give this Nanoskin product a try. Thanks Ronnie for the tip.

The shop that painted your front may have a suggestion on what to use based on the specific paint product they used. Just a thought.

[Ronnie]

Let us know how you think the Nanoskin compares to the clay bar after you've tried it.