Before I waxed my car yesterday, I started to polish as many people recommended. I used Meguiars Show Car Glaze Pure Polish. I started with an area on the door, however I couldn't see ANY difference between the polished and unpolished areas. I looked from every angle and in different lighting, but the unpolished paint looked just as shiny and colorful as the polished paint. What gives? Isn't the purpose of polishing to really bring out the brilliance in the paint? If there is no visible difference after polishing, why bother? Isn't it wax that provides all the paint protection?

I did, however, use the polish on a small area next to the driver's side door handle where there was a scuff from someone's door, and a small scratch. I think the polish actually helped the scuff mark and scratch, although it could be the placebo effect. Is polishing really only for correcting minor surface defects in the paint, like light scratches, scuffs, and swirl marks? If so, is there any point polishing if the surface is in excellent condition?

 

it overall takes care of the car once u wax it do it the paint will thank you.

 

also i slight spritz of water on that wax and then polish will make it really shine..
This sets the wax..

Besides its like petting a cat. You just have to keep doing it..

 

Wait, you guys are saying to wax, and then apply polish? That's not what some of the people on this forum and the detailing websites say. Could you be more specific when you say "it overall takes care of the car"? I thought waxing sealed the paint for protection and polishing was simply for bringing out luster in the paint.

 

You absolutely do not polish AFTER wax. Wax (protectant) is always the last step.

As I stated in the other thread you started, polishing is to remove imperfections in the paint. If you don't have imperfections, you will see nominal improvement obviously.

Like you said, you did see some improvement with polishing in the area that had some scuffing/scratches.

 

Actually different manafacturers call their product in different ways. Some company call their sealant as a polish even though they don't contain cleaners or abrasives (for ex. zaino, etc).

Here is my understading of whats the difference from polish, glaze, compounds? A glaze is pure polish that doesn't contain any cleaners or abrasives. A polish is a glaze with cleaners and polishing agents to remove minor defects on paints. A compound is use to remove heavier defects. It's really complicated because most compounds contains polish and makes them a polish. It's just different companies call their products differently from the others.

You probably won't see much difference from the unpolished area to the one you polished if you're vehicle is fairly new and well taken care off. What color is your car? Most light colored paints wont see much difference from a glaze/polish but on dark cars it might be more noticeable.

 

i wax my ride once a week...it also cleans the paint from road grime and tire sling if you use tire shine... also keeps the paint feeling nice and smooth and vibrant..

 

Kind of interesting question here b/c really, if you're looking for immediate differences, you'd think you'd also be asking, 'why should I wax?' While you may not notice it now since your paint is probably brand new, in time you'll realize that the shine, conditioning and color enhancement come from the polish, not the wax. The wax (unless perhaps carnauba and Zaino?) is more of a sealant for the polish.

That being said, I wonder why we always talk about layering wax but not about layering polish/glaze?

 

Maybe on newer paint jobs you may not notice too much of a difference, but on my 2000 car I notice quite a difference when I polish and then wax. It brings back the original color in certain areas that seemed faded, and when I wash the car a week later it maintains it super awesome shine. If you're gonna spend some hours taking care of your car, might aswell spend the extra hour polishing the car. You only need to do it twice a year anyways so you're not losing too much time.