Let's start with the basics.
What is polishing and how does one differentiate between a compound, polish, glaze and wax?
Taking a walk through the store aisle looking for products to detail one’s vehicle can more often than not be a rather confusing undertaking with manufacturers differentiating themselves by using superlative descriptions.
Remember, there are no miracle products, only a disciplined approach to detailing.
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| Mirka polishes cater to professionals. |
Today’s article will highlight the key differences between these products in order for you to make informed decisions about which suit you best.
And to do that, we’ll be moving you deeper into understanding what they can each do for your car.
Polishing in itself is the act of reducing/removing paintwork defects either by hand or machine using a chemical abrasive.
Why do we need to polish a car’s paintwork?
It’s simple. Perfectly-detailed paintwork - free from imperfections like swirls, scratches, holograms, orange peel texture and oxidation allows for light to be reflected directly creating sharp mirror-like reflections.
Having any combination of the aforementioned imperfections causes light to be refracted instead, which results in a diffused reflection distorting the clarity.
Now that the reason for polishing is established, let’s look at what the different polishing products are able to do.
As a practical example, a toothpaste is a polish. Just one that’s formulated for brushing one’s teeth.
Typically in any toothpaste you’ll be able to taste the texture of the fine abrasives which are designed to (in this case) remove plaque and daily contaminants.
A car polish essentially is the same thing, only that it does much more.
Modern car polishes especially those used by professionals like Mirka® will usually contain cutting-edge diminishing abrasives which as its name suggests, allows for the abrasives to break down as it is being worked onto the paintwork progressively.
They are available in very specific and formulated requirements for the professional market allowing for finely-tuned precise paintwork finishes in the right hands.
They are designed for machine use as the diminishing particles break down with a combination of friction and pressure burnishing paint to a high gloss-factor!
The photo above shows one of our recent showcars after an extensive two-week detailing regiment resulting in a very liquid look, exceptional mirror-finish and high-gloss factor.
Within the comfort of the home, most detailing enthusiasts will be using polishes by hand and in some cases a light-use random orbital tool.
At this point, it is about managing expectations. It would be impossible for the human hand to mimic the 3,000rpm achievable speed by a rotary buffer.
This simplifies the product selection process to the ones that achieve good results when paired with basic manual polishing work.
Popular imported brands like Meguiar’s®, Autoglym® and Soft99® alongside affordable locally-available brands like Permaglass® provide a decent selection of over-the-counter quality polishes.
How does one differentiate between a compound, polish, glaze and wax?
1. A cutting-compound contains coarser and thus heavier-correcting abrasives. It is used for reducing or removing deeper scratches, water-marks, bird and tree sap etchings and other more prominent imperfections.
The heavy-cutting action means that more of your paintwork clear-coat is removed as well. Use with caution.
2. A polish (sometimes known as a paint cleaner) can vary with many grades from light abrasives to medium abrasives. These are what’s commonly used by most detailing enthusiasts and allows for light concealing or removal of fine swirls and scratches.
The lighter-cutting action in polishes does not reduce the integrity of paintwork clear-coat as much compared to cutting-compounds but is still only to be used when necessary as constant polishing will abrade the finish prematurely.
3. A glaze or pure polish contains absolutely no abrasives and is designed to conceal certain light imperfections.
It will not abrade paintwork clear-coat. Think of it as a filler that will give the pseudo-appearance of a better paintwork finish.
As an aside, every car we detail at AutoDetailer Studio does not contain glazes as we consider it our professional commitment and benchmark that each car’s paintwork be brought to perfection without concealing even the slightest imperfections.
4. LSP or Last Step Product, is typically a wax, synthetic sealant or polymer sealant.
The LSP is what protects a detailed finish and retains the polishes which is crucial for detailing enthusiasts to achieve a notable shine.
Traditionally, waxes were the choice of many but with our humid tropical weather and advances in science and technology, synthetic and polymer sealants have become more popular choices due essentially to their improved durability over carnauba waxes which is no match for our weather here in Malaysia.
This I hope will provide you with valuable knowledge the next time you decide to buy the appropriate detailing products for your car.
We’ll be discussing more on the actual polishing techniques and tips in the next article.
For more details, check out
AutoDetailer.