Polish followed by waxing

[Gipple]

Ok. I have been washing/polishing my cars for 40 years.
I have never applied a coat of wax after I have used a polish. The clay bar/polish process has always been smooth and the water beaded up beautifully.
Is there any advantage to put a finishing wax on top of a Liquid Glass or Finish First Polish?
Any disadvantages?
I was toying with the idea of a light coat of Zymöl on top of the above polishes?
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Eddie]

I think not. The "Polish" I use is NuFinish and it is a polymer based protestant which protects longer and better than most waxes. Ed Ed

 

[PimTac]

Which polish do you use?

 

[Gipple]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Which polish do you use?

Liquid Glass but since they have all but disappeared, Finish First too.

 

[Warstud]

Originally Posted by Eddie
I think not. The "Polish" I use is NuFinish and it is a polymer based protestant which protects longer and better than most waxes. Ed Ed

That's the Paste....right ?

 

[RooflessVW]

Neither Liquid Glass or Finish First are polishes. They are synthetic paint sealants.

I have not used either before, but you may gain some additional gloss and depth by topping with a carnauba wax.

An actual polish has no protective abilities and should be followed by a wax or sealant.

 

[Gipple]

Ah. Thanks so much.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by Gipple
Ah. Thanks so much.

No problem. I'm not really sure why there are a whole class of products named polishes that aren't actually polishes.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by Gipple
Ah. Thanks so much.

No problem. I'm not really sure why there are a whole class of products named polishes that aren't actually polishes.

I think it is a marketing mis-information by the manufacturers. Clear wood finishing has the same problem, I.E., tung oil wipe on finish is anything but tung oil.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by Warstud
Originally Posted by Eddie
I think not. The "Polish" I use is NuFinish and it is a polymer based protestant which protects longer and better than most waxes. Ed Ed

That's the Paste....right ?


CAUTION-NuFinish bashing ahead! Especially that "Hyundai guy".........

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Eddie
I think not. The "Polish" I use is NuFinish and it is a polymer based protestant which protects longer and better than most waxes. Ed Ed




I would protest too if I had to use the stuff.

Looks like auto correct gotcha.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Neither Liquid Glass or Finish First are polishes. They are synthetic paint sealants.

I have not used either before, but you may gain some additional gloss and depth by topping with a carnauba wax.

An actual polish has no protective abilities and should be followed by a wax or sealant.


One can hardly blame the OP for believing those products are polishes. Finish First's home page specifically refers to it as a polish 5 different times.

After reading through the available information on that web page, it sounds like the Finish First product is a cleaner wax, and so it will do some minor polishing when used. However, they reference using one of their other products which is called a paint prep, and that is going to be the actual polish I suspect.

 

[CKN]

There are other products that refer to themselves as "polish" when they are not.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by Gipple
Ok. I have been washing/polishing my cars for 40 years.
I have never applied a coat of wax after I have used a polish. The clay bar/polish process has always been smooth and the water beaded up beautifully.
Is there any advantage to put a finishing wax on top of a Liquid Glass or Finish First Polish?
Any disadvantages?
I was toying with the idea of a light coat of Zymöl on top of the above polishes?
Thanks for the advice.


What you have been doing, technically speaking, is waxing. So no, you do not necessarily need to apply another wax product on top of it. However, if you have been using a machine to apply the products, you may get a better looking final result by switching to a true polish like Meguiar's Ultimate Polish to clean the paint and remove swirls and then applying a wax or paint sealant to protect it. The products you have been using would qualify as that wax/sealant too, it's just not going to do much in the way of actually polishing the paint. It may appear to remove some swirls, but that is due to its ability to fill in the minuscule scratches and hide them temporarily.

A true polish will actually abrade the paint (when applied by machine; your hand arm simply don't have enough torque to do it) and make it look smooth and shiny. The subsequent wax/sealant normally applied is there to enhance the natural gloss brought on by the polishing and protect the paint from things that could harm it (e.g. bird poo, etc.).

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by CKN
There are other products that refer to themselves as "polish" when they are not.


The Turtle Wax Ice synthetic paint sealant used to come in a paste form, and it was called TW Ice Paint Polish right on the can. It wasn't even a cleaner wax, so there was no polishing done at all. I don't see that product in paste anymore, so it's likely not available now, which is a shame because I loved that stuff for use on my Challengers' black trim. It was the bomb!

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted by Gipple
Ok. I have been washing/polishing my cars for 40 years.
I have never applied a coat of wax after I have used a polish. The clay bar/polish process has always been smooth and the water beaded up beautifully.
Is there any advantage to put a finishing wax on top of a Liquid Glass or Finish First Polish?
Any disadvantages?
I was toying with the idea of a light coat of Zymöl on top of the above polishes?
Thanks for the advice.


You're confusing terms like polish, cleaner and wax. First you use the clay. Then a cleaner. Then top with wax or sealant. You can combine the last two steps with a cleaner/wax product to save time.

 

[PlzRepond]

Originally Posted by The_Nuke
Originally Posted by CKN
There are other products that refer to themselves as "polish" when they are not.


The Turtle Wax Ice synthetic paint sealant used to come in a paste form, and it was called TW Ice Paint Polish right on the can. It wasn't even a cleaner wax, so there was no polishing done at all. I don't see that product in paste anymore, so it's likely not available now, which is a shame because I loved that stuff for use on my Challengers' black trim. It was the bomb!


Ice paste wax is still out there just hard to find. You might have to order it online

 

[HYUNDAIFAN0001]

Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Gipple
Ok. I have been washing/polishing my cars for 40 years.
I have never applied a coat of wax after I have used a polish. The clay bar/polish process has always been smooth and the water beaded up beautifully.
Is there any advantage to put a finishing wax on top of a Liquid Glass or Finish First Polish?
Any disadvantages?
I was toying with the idea of a light coat of Zymöl on top of the above polishes?
Thanks for the advice.


You're confusing terms like polish, cleaner and wax. First you use the clay. Then a cleaner. Then top with wax or sealant. You can combine the last two steps with a cleaner/wax product to save time.

Agree. Not prepping the surface with claybar first, and relying only on a polish doesn't really provide protection. Polish is for removing swirls and surface imperfections.

After the clay bar & polish steps....a good sealant wax or top coat spray wax with UV protection is also a recommendation.

 

[demarpaint]

I was always under the impression that a true "polish" had to be followed up by a top coat of wax or some kind of paint sealant. I think over the years the term polish took on a new meaning with some companies?

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by HYUNDAIFAN0001
Originally Posted by atikovi
You're confusing terms like polish, cleaner and wax. First you use the clay. Then a cleaner. Then top with wax or sealant. You can combine the last two steps with a cleaner/wax product to save time.

Agree. Not prepping the surface with claybar first, and relying only on a polish doesn't really provide protection. Polish is for removing swirls and surface imperfections.

After the clay bar & polish steps....a good sealant wax or top coat spray wax with UV protection is also a recommendation.

I don't think the OP has anything confused. The products he's using are marketed as "polishes" but are, at best, cleaner waxes/sealants. Not everyone wants to be bothered with a clay bar or multi-step corrections. For most people, regular use of an AIO will keep their car looking better than 90% of everything else on the road.

Originally Posted by demarpaint
I was always under the impression that a true "polish" had to be followed up by a top coat of wax or some kind of paint sealant. I think over the years the term polish took on a new meaning with some companies?

I think the term "polish" has always existed in the public's mind as "make shiny," so companies market things that will make your car shiny as a polish. Do car savvy people typically use these products, or are they typically marketed to the layperson? The latter. Take "The Once a Year Car Polish" as a prime example.

Look at Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Wax - what about it is a wax? It's a top coating for water repellency and shine - and in the public's mind that means "wax." Meguiar's themselves admitted that they marketed it this way because of consumer perception.