Car polish or car wax? Both? What's the diff?

[CamaroC-17]

I have bought turtle waxs new ice products. I have te spray wax, spray polish, and detailer. What is the diff between the wax ad polish. Are you suppose to use both and if you are, which one comes first? Also, will using a clay bar remove the simonize(which I think was a waste of money)

[rmnc3r]

Polishing is using ever finer abrasives to smooth the surface.
Wax is a top finishing coat to protect.
Claying is used to remove surface grit and contaminants.

So..
1. Clay Bar to start,
2. Polish. Start with the coarsest abrasives first,
followed by ever finer abrasives in steps,
3. Wax
4. Detailer (after dusting) to get the inevitable airborne contaminants that will land on the car.

'Coarse' is relative: for paint and top coat, the abrasives would be very, very fine; something on the
order of 10,000 grit or finer down to microns.

Since it's new paint, rubbing compounds and buffing compounds would not be needed.
Stuff like Turtle Wax Color Back would be used for older cars with faded paint.

[CaniacFan]

Good answer above. If you use the search button above, there are already dozens of washing/waxing/polishing threads already out there with "days" of worthwhile reading (and YouTube videos).

I had never clayed a car before, but what a difference.. I purchased the Zaino kit and was a little nervous as I read all these stories about how difficult it was to apply/remove. I had no problem whatsoever and am extremely pleased with the results I get. Good Luck. Lori

[yzfmik]

Originally Posted by CaniacFan

Good answer above. If you use the search button above, there are already dozens of washing/waxing/polishing threads already out there with "days" of worthwhile reading (and YouTube videos).

I had never clayed a car before, but what a difference.. I purchased the Zaino kit and was a little nervous as I read all these stories about how difficult it was to apply/remove. I had no problem whatsoever and am extremely pleased with the results I get. Good Luck. Lori

+1.......Love Zaino!

[rawj7]

Also I'd like to add, your car is new so most likely (unless youve allready damaged the paint somehow) you wont need a true polish or something that says Polish on the botel. But you probibly do have some Micro scartches or (spider webing effect in the paint when viewd in the sun) This can be fixed with good products that are Waxes but have (Cleaning Properties in them) all they are basicaly is a wax with very very fine Polishing atributes to them. Some recomendations would be Meguires NXT wax, Mothers reflections wax, just to name two, on the label they say wax but when you read the discription they tell you about cleaning agents that "fill" in the imperfections. This is all you should need at this point becuase your car is so new. Also you should only need to use these twice a year and inbetween just a Wax Product with no cleaners in it. such as Meguires liquid Gold, or Mothers gold wax those are ones with Carnuba wax its natural but they dont last long but give best shine. If you want a wax that last longer use one that has Syn or Polymers in the name, Like Mother SYN wax just as an example.

[Tecca]

Guess I will disagree with almost everything here so far.

The Ice Polish is not a Polish it is a LSP, it is pretty similar to Mequires NXT just not as good IMO.

So wash, clay, Ice Polish. Then to maintain use the spray wax every week or two Just use the detail spray to remove spots, bird doo, etc..,

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by rmnc3r

Polishing is using ever finer abrasives to smooth the surface.
Wax is a top finishing coat to protect.
Claying is used to remove surface grit and contaminants.

So..
1. Clay Bar to start,
2. Polish. Start with the coarsest abrasives first,
followed by ever finer abrasives in steps,
3. Wax
4. Detailer (after dusting) to get the inevitable airborne contaminants that will land on the car.
.

Gotta disagree there. You wanna start with the least abrasive polishing compound you have first. Then if that doesnt work, go to the next higher one, and so on. You don't wanna blast your paint with the toughest stuff first when you might not need it.

Originally Posted by Teccboxx

Guess I will disagree with almost everything here so far.

The Ice Polish is not a Polish it is a LSP, it is pretty similar to Mequires NXT just not as good IMO.

So wash, clay, Ice Polish. Then to maintain use the spray wax every week or two Just use the detail spray to remove spots, bird doo, etc..,

That's correct. Ice pretty much uses the terms "polish" and "wax" interchangably in my opinion. A true polish will require some rubbing with either a PC or by hand to get rid of swirls and scratches.

With the set you have you will not be able to correct your paint. Basically you can hope to cover up the scratches until the next wash, at best.

Check out Adams or Zaino. Those are the two best companies in my opinion.

Don't be afraid to spend a few hours digging around on here. You can find any answers you need with the right keywords. Become familiar with AJ aka "Junkman". He has a whole slew of videos that will answer every question you might have. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any other questions. I might not have every single answer but I guarantee I know somebody on here who will.

Good luck!

-Matt

[Junkman2008]

I was choking down some burritos. Did someone rang?

[mlee]

Now I'm completely confused... brand new car... clayed and have used nothing but Zaino Polish so far. Pretty much Z everything...

Are you guys saying I should put some wax on it now to protect and fill???

[rawj7]

Originally Posted by mlee

Now I'm completely confused... brand new car... clayed and have used nothing but Zaino Polish so far. Pretty much Z everything...

Are you guys saying I should put some wax on it now to protect and fill???

Yes, all you need now is WAX, there basically two types, Carnuba based products and "SYN or Pollymer" Waxes, the difference is Carnuba waxes are natural provide the deepest shine but dont last long and are harder to put on and buff off. SYN or Pollymer Waxes are synthetic based have a great shine also just not quite as good, last a lot longer and are alot easyer to put on and buff off. Now you've been useing Polish all you need now is just WAX, you said you've been useing the Zaino Z so the one you want thats just wax and no cleaners or polish added in is the Z-2 Pro. Have fun and dont stare at your car to long afterwards, you have to eat sometime

[tradosaurus]

Originally Posted by Junkman2008

I was choking down some burritos. Did someone rang?

I think you are supposed to say "YOU RANG?"

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by mlee

Now I'm completely confused... brand new car... clayed and have used nothing but Zaino Polish so far. Pretty much Z everything...

Are you guys saying I should put some wax on it now to protect and fill???

As long as your top coat is either Z-2 or Z-5, your fine. Zaino uses the terms "Polish" and "Wax" interchangeably.

[Junkman2008]

Originally Posted by rawj7

Yes, all you need now is WAX, there basically two types, Carnuba based products and "SYN or Pollymer" Waxes, the difference is Carnuba waxes are natural provide the deepest shine but dont last long and are harder to put on and buff off. SYN or Pollymer Waxes are synthetic based have a great shine also just not quite as good, last a lot longer and are alot easyer to put on and buff off. Now you've been useing Polish all you need now is just WAX, you said you've been useing the Zaino Z so the one you want thats just wax and no cleaners or polish added in is the Z-2 Pro. Have fun and dont stare at your car to long afterwards, you have to eat sometime

Allow me to slightly tweak your answer as what you are saying somewhat implies that the wax he uses will make his car shinier. The carnuba wax will add depth to the shine he already has, but not make it any shinier. It does not last as long as a sealant, which is what you correctly stated. The sealants will last longer as you stated, but will not add as much depth to the shine he already has. Wax does NOT make paint shinier, it PROTECTS the shine you have already achieved from polishing. If you apply wax and it causes your paint to shine, then you have dirty paint and your car was not properly prepped.

The only exception to this are the OTC cleaner/wax products (junk), which supposedly clean and wax at the same time. Somewhat like getting caught in a rain storm so you strip down naked, break out a bar of soap and give yourself a bath. That's NOT the same thing as taking a shower!

Originally Posted by tradosaurus

I think you are supposed to say "YOU RANG?"

[garcmol]

be weary of flying fish too