Car Wax Polish

Car wax polish?

I suspect that you are searching the internet looking for what you call car wax polish. The entire subject is full of contradictions, ambiguous terminology, misrepresentations, and misleading information. Let's dissect this area together and bring some clarity to the area.

Do You Know the Difference?

• Wax
• Sealer
• Polish
• Compound
• Glazes

I have heard every one of these terms tossed around by the public when talking about car wax, and yet, all these products are different, and all with unique purposes.
Let me use this area of my site to educate and enlighten you on the area of car wax polish.

Let's Cover the Basics

Let me start by adding this short list of terms that will aid in your understanding of this convoluted subject.

(this is meant as a moderately comprehensive lesson; any one of these subjects could fill pages and pages of additional information to the point of nauseam. If I have failed, and you do need to barf, please excuse yourself from the room first.)

Surface texture-The actual texture, or lack of texture with regards to a paints surface.

Orange peel- A form of surface texture used by comparing to the surface of an orange; paint that has the same texture of that of an orange.

Clear coat- A clear layer of paint that has no pigment, or color to it. Just think of traditional paint on your car, minus any color to it. Used as a protective layer over the paint to aid in UV and oxidation protection, as well as an added element of depth for appearance. Cannot be added to paint after the fact; is applied as the final coat during the original painting process.car wax polish

People are continually asking me if they can add a clear coat to paint after the fact. They also ask if other such things as wheels, bare aluminum, or chrome can be “cleared” after the fact, as though “clear coatings” were the end all answer to any form of responsibility and maintenance by us humans. The answer is a big fat NO!car wax polish

Clear coats can be treated just like traditional paints. The “clear coat” term, just like the nano-technology, is a term that marketers and advertisers use to create an element of mystery and uniqueness. Not to discredit either of these processes, only to add insight has to how they are used to sell and manipulate the public.

Advertisers recognize society’s ignorance and laziness, and use terms like nano-technology and clear coats by attaching these terms to their products. We are ignorant as to what some of these terms mean, and are too lazy to apply our own due-diligence in order to find out the facts. As consumers, we neither have time, or interest in investigating terms as these, and therefore fall prey to marketing and advertising efforts that use these esoteric terms.

While clear coats may indeed be more sensitive, or “softer” than traditional paints, the very same products can be used regardless if they have been label “clear coat safe” or not. Just as with any area of life, appropriate application and use is always required.car wax polish

I have heard many self-promoting people and/or detailers, touting claims that they only use clear coat safe products. Or companies that claim their unique products are “clear coat safe”. As if some product that is clear coat “un-safe”, would immediately cause your paint to blister up and become chaff in the wind. The reality is, that anything used on traditional paints, can safely be used on clear coats with appropriate techniques.

Nano-technology- the study of the controlling of matter on an atomic and molecular level. Fast becoming an overused term in the use of car care products such as waxes, polishes, dressings. Not to suggest that this is of no relevance, but simply to show as an example of advertising practices among big business.car wax polish

Cleaning

This specific area includes anything that contaminates the paint; meaning, anything foreign, or not part of the paint itself. Whether this be surface dirt and dust, to contaminates such as mineral deposits (water spots), rail dust (industrial fall-out), etc., that can “eat” into, or below, the level surface of paint.

Most of the time, friction in the form of rubbing will be used in conjunction with cleaners to actually accomplish the process of cleaning. Such as the case with traditional car washing where you use water, soap, and a wash mitt. The water aids in “breaking up” dirt, soap ads a chemical ingredient to break down any greases or oils, and your hand with the wash mitt is the friction part of the equation.car wax polish

There are chemical products used to “clean” fall-out off the paint by employing a chemical that reacts to the fall-out material to break it down. These are considered to be less effective, as these forms of chemical cleaners do not remove the benign elements of the fall-out, also called the inert ingredients.car wax polish

There will be a minority of people that would argue that this method is “safer” to the paint, as it does not employ the abrasives to do the cleaning. The clay bar is a commonly excepted form of product in the cleaning process of paint. I use it personally and appreciate the results.car wax polish

Polishing

Polishing is the process of using friction and abrasives to restore clarity, depth, and gloss to any surface. It is not the process of restructuring the surface texture. If the surface is flat or has orange peel, polishing will not change this. I will add more depth to this subject later within this article.

Polishing can only be done with some form of abrasives and friction. It would be a misnomer to say that there are chemical polishes; as this chemical “polish” would really be in the category of cleaning, not polishing. Polishing can only be accomplished through the abrasive process. It is as simple as saying that a surface is polished by graduating from an aggressive form of abrasives, to less aggressive abrasives.car wax polish

Scratches, oxidation, imperfections, are removed by polishing them away by putting smaller, and smaller scratches in the surface. A significant scratch or scratches, are removed by applying finer and finer scratches. If you are a woman, this would be equivalent to having your finger nails filed to remove ridges and imperfections. The nail artist starts with a course file, advances to a medium grade file, and then finishes up with a fine file. Each subsequent layer of scratches are removed by “scratching” them away to a finer and finer set of scratches.

This process continues till the point where the surface looks flawless to the naked eye; not because there is an absence of any scratches, it is because the scratches have become so fine as to make the surface appear scratch free by the naked eye.
This is the same process used within the wood working community with sanding paper grades; i.e., 100 grit, followed by 300 grit, followed by 400 grit.car wax polish

The objective with paint polishing is to create a uniformed surface for light reflection. The flatter and finer the surface is, the more “mirror” like the surface will be, which translates into superior reflective surfacing. (As I stated earlier, polishing will not flatten a surface, only polish it) It is at this point, that wax then serves one of its purposes, and that is to then apply a layer of wax that “fills” in microscopic scratches at the surface of the paint, and creates a flat, perfect reflective surface at the top. The more “perfect” the surface is before wax application, the more perfect your paint will look after applying wax. The strategy with choosing products will be in knowing the capabilities of products. It is necessary to be able to accurately assess the level, or types of paint damage, and know the correct strategy of polishes and polishing pads. Because of the many levels of aggressiveness with polishes and polishing pads, it is possible to configure a very specific strategy and aggressiveness in regards to the specific problem.car wax polish

Color sanding can also be part of the polishing equation, or more accurately, be the prequel to polishing. Color sanding is used as the most aggressive form of removing scratches, oxidation, and/or blemishes. Color sanding is also used to “flatten” paint. Since the objective is to create the most uniformed and flat surface for reflective qualities, then creating a flat surface is a prerequisite to perfection. It is through the process of color sanding that an otherwise “textured” surface can be made flat.
The “orange peel “ texture must be literally sanded flat by use of sand paper and some form of flat, backing board, such as a sanding block, or your hand. Once the surface has been sanded flat, the polishing to remove the sanding marks can begin. Once the deep sanding marks created by the sanding paper have been removed, the polishing process can continue through the varying grades of polishes, polish pads, and pressure behind the tools; i.e., the amount of pressure applied by your hands to the tool of choice in the moment. Once again, we are sanding away any blemishes, by applying newer and newer, and finer and finer “scratches” to the point of perfection.car wax polish

The reason the term color sanding has been given its name, is due to the fact that the sanding takes place on the colored, or top surface of paint. With traditional body shop methods of paint work, sand paper is used in the preparation of a surface to be painted. In order to create the perfect surface to be painted, it is necessary to sand away blemishes, along with filling them in through the use of body fillers and/or primers. Since sanding paper is a normal process to body work and painting, color sanding has been labeled as such to distinguish it from the traditional body work experience. Because most paint jobs (either OE or aftermarket) are finished with a layer of clear coat, it really has become a misnomer to call it color sanding. So in response to advances in painting technology, color sanding really refers to the fact that sand paper is being used on finished paint, to change the surface from the top down, rather than sanding before paint has been applied to change the underlying surface. The critical point is to make the top surface as flat as possible, regardless if it is a color coat, or a clear coat. The reflective nature of the surface is dependent on this point, rather than the point of whether it is clear coated or not.car wax polish

Protection

The area of protection should also include the area of enhancing, since it would really be impossible to apply a form, or layer of protection, without enhancing the visual look of paint.

Protection is achieved traditionally by the use of car waxes and sealers. These two terms are commonly interchanged with each other, and aid in the confusion of this entire subject. In the past, companies tended to side on one side of the fence with regards to protection; either synthetic or natural. Carnauba has long been held as the supreme form of protection, due to its naturally high melting qualities. What is a benefit can also be a disadvantage.

Carnauba in its natural state is hard and un-workable. It is only through the combining of other ingredients, that makes carnauba wax usable in the form of car wax. So even though a company makes the bold statement of being 100% natural carnauba wax, it is really misleading, as carnauba in its natural state would be completely unusable.

You then have companies that position themselves on the other side of the fence and claim superior product capabilities through the use of synthetic materials. Now days, it is commonly accepted that a mixture of both synthetic and natural, offer the best blend. I personally use a product that offers the best of both the natural and synthetic world.

Typically, in the past, it was required that a person must be willing to trade off one benefit, in order to gain another benefit. So there was a constant struggle to gain the most durability, without sacrificing the best visual capabilities. Or, one was required to trade off “ease of use” for one of the other benefits, like durability and/or visual perfection. Because of advances in chemical engineering and nano-technology, it is possible to have a product that really can do everything.

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