Polish?

[neurobound]

From the NSXprime FAQ:
"[A/H] Glaze or Polish? Simple test: Put a small dot of the product in question on your thumb nail and rub the other thumb nail on top of it in a circular motion, then wipe both nails and look at the gloss. The "Glaze" will not "grind" any of the surface of your nail and the "Polish" will make a dull spot."

After reading through the Meguiars website, the line above has me confused. While I believe they do have some polishes that have abrassive components to them, they seem to suggest that any 'pure' polish has no abrassive components. Generally this is left up to their cleaner products. Is that contrary to the statement above, and if so who do I believe? I plan on getting some polish with the the understanding that I won't be be eating away at my cars paint ;/ That'll be left up to other products which I'd rather not use on a frequent basis....Any ideas?

Thanks for reading!
.jeremy

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

From the NSXprime FAQ:
"[A/H] Glaze or Polish? Simple test: Put a small dot of the product in question on your thumb nail and rub the other thumb nail on top of it in a circular motion, then wipe both nails and look at the gloss. The "Glaze" will not "grind" any of the surface of your nail and the "Polish" will make a dull spot."

After reading through the Meguiars website, the line above has me confused. While I believe they do have some polishes that have abrassive components to them, they seem to suggest that any 'pure' polish has no abrassive components.
Thanks for reading!
.jeremy

I dont see any contradiction between what it says in the FAQ and what Meguiars is saying.

 

[neurobound]

Well, it seems to... unless i'm misunderstanding something.

The NSX prime FAQ says that a glaze will not 'grind' which then seems to imply that a polish will and consequently leave a dull spot on your nail. On the other hand, the Meguiars says that pure polishes will not grind.

.jeremy

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

I am not familiar with Meguiars full line of products but I see they do offer a glaze and a polish. As far as what the FAQ says IMO its just a general guide to test the abasiveness of the product and see if it is more towards a polish or glaze.

A polish to me is something you would use to remove contaminets,build up,oxidation from the paint and in order to do so there must be something abasive in the product.This would include swirl mark removers to rubbing compounds.

I am sure pbassjo or one of the other detailing gurus could give a better
detailed answer to this.

 

[LJSB]

From the Meguiar's site.

"What's the difference between a polish and a glaze?"


"Meguiar's uses these terms interchangeably..."

Most other companies say, 3M do not interchange these two terms.

 

[Anthony Orosco]

Jeremy,

It all depends on who is using the term and how they define it. I personally define and use "polish" in the sense that I am abrading paint or "leveling" paint. This sounds horrible but it is not as bad as it sounds. In order to remove scratches, swirls, acid rain, etc. one must "level" down the paint by using an abrasive polish.

A "glaze" usally contains no abrasives (at least the way I, and most professionals define it) and is intended mainly for color enhancement and to hide or fill in swirls/scratches.

In order of use one would "polish" first and then if needed, "glaze" the finish and then wax. So a cleaner (paint cleaner) is really nothing more than a paint polish. As for your worries about removing your paint I would put yourself at ease because unless you are using a high speed rotary, an abrasive product with a polishing pad, you are removing next to nothing in terms of paint.

Even an orbital polisher doesn't generate much more heat and friction than your hand so again don't worry about that too much.

Anthony

 

[white93nsx]

As stated, most companies use the terms interchangably but the aggressiveness from high to low is:

Compound (and there are different grades for each category also)
Polish
Glaze
Wax/Sealant

Polish and glaze are both used to create a better appearance before the step of waxing and the difference is that a polish removes the imperfection either abrasively or chemically while a glaze is more like a filler (may seem oily when applied) to hide the imperfections before waxing. Note, some manufactures may have some minor abrasives in their glazes so with all the combinations, you can see how they use the terms interchangably.

As noted by the others, polishes are pretty safe to use and will only remove very little paint. If you've tried to remove a scratch using just a polish (not compound), you've experienced how how long it took and how many times you had to add product to remove part of the scratch which shows you how mild that polish was.

As a rule of thumb, always use the least aggressive solution and if it doesn't give you the results, go up in aggressiveness.

 

[LJSB]

Jeremy,

So a cleaner (paint cleaner) is really nothing more than a paint polish. /QUOTE]

Glazes by virtue of the chemicals within, say for example Stoddard solvent which is in most glazes, does clean the paint but is not a abrasive. This must be the logic of Meguiars interchanging the terms.

To me a polish contains a abrasive. A glaze would not but, both could have some common chemical ingredients that remove surface contaminants.

I don't think you have much to worry about unless you are using a high speed buffer.
Avoid using compound ............oh no! Another term!!!!!!!! :biggrin: