Is there a difference between a wax and polish?

I really thought they were all the same except that wax was a little thinner and easier to put on while polish was much thicker, took all day to apply and used a buffer to put on.

Does one protect more then the other?

Can you use both wax and polish on a car at the came time?

What does wax do that polishing doesn't and what does polishing do that waxing doesn't?


Thanks in advance.

 

Very simply, polishing involves using some very very fine abrasive into your car's surface. This will remove a tiny layer of the clear coat and smooth out any surface scratching.

Wax is a protective layer that covers your newly polished surface. It is tougher than your clear coat and will be the surface that gets scratched instead of the clear coat.

 

"This will remove a tiny layer of the clear coat and smooth out any surface scratching"
Hm, I don't like the way that sounds.
Wouldn't a claybar do the same thing while being less abrasive?

 

We're talking microscopic sized layers. You can do it many, many times without even coming close to damaging anything. If you follow a polish up with a quality wax, your car will sustain fewer clearcoat scratches in the long run. You only polish once every month, or every few months anyways, depending on driving and storage conditions.

A claybar is a finishing tool. All it does is remove surface contaminants, but it is not at all a replacement for polishing. It just picks up the microscopic bits of industrial pollutants that can embed themselves in your clearcoat.

There are different levels of aggression in a polish. Similar to sandpaper, there are different "grit" levels ranging from very mild, to comparatively aggressive. You'll pick your polish depending on how deep the scratch is.

 

WOW!! This is way TMI
I see this is just another DYI project that I will be paying someone to do.

 

Maybe I made it sound more complicated than it is. It's not a complex process. Apply and rub polish in evenly to eliminate surface scratches. Buff it clean, and protect your hard work with a good wax.

 

No, you made it sound perfectly fine.


OP, its very simple.

Wash, Clay bar, polish, wash, wax. That is the order of the process.

When you wash, you clean 90% of the surface of your clear coat.

When you clay bar, you get the last 10% of the debris off the clear coat that the wash didnt grab.

Then, you polish. This is best done with a buffer and a pad. This "polish" will remove spider-webbing and scratches and hazes off your clear coat. It will be smoother than a babies a.ss

The polish creates lots of dust....so now you must wash again.

Now the car is fully prepped to lay down a layer of wax. It is like a screen of protection that goes over a completely bare and naked layer of clear coat.

The car will look like a mirror.

 

Um, yeahhhh
I'm the type of guy that doesn't even like putting fuel in the car or air in the tires.

I'm just not that guy.
I'd rather pay someone that does it everyday, that knows what they are doing and most of all Likes doing it.
I'm so not a hands on kind of guy.

But with ALL this helpful info I now know what to look for when hiring someone.

Thank you ALL

 

Until you find out how much it cost for a quality professional detail. It's quite expensive. Especially when you get into paint correction.

 

That's not an issue for me
It would just go in the budget just like everything else.

Save a lil here and there

 

Yes there is A huge difference between wax and Polish.
NO they both do not protect anything.
NO you cant use them at the same time
Wax is a filler with a touch of shine, and polish is a cream for your car to what a deep action exfoliating scrub cream for your face to remove dead skin when showering.


not every surface scratch. but most light ones caused by rubbing your jean across a warm clear coat
Wax does not protect any thing, it fills the scratches with a touch of shine.


A clay bar is a preparation tool used to remove brake dust, enviromental contamination that has landed on your clear coat during the day and got stuck during the night when the clear coat got cool and hard again. By passing it along the clear coat wet it glides picking up everything making the clear coat smooth but full of micro light scratches.


Also not true as infinity is a mass production company it does not check the thickness of the paint and clear coat on every car like Rolls roys would. So before polishing it should be checked to make sure you dont cause Visible damage to a vehicle becuase it has a thinner layer of clear coat on one panel then the other. Think of it as different onions that have some layers thicker then others..
Again wax will not protect from scratches. You Light polish every 6-9 months, apply sealant every 3-4 months and you wash every week to two weeks. Most car washes offer unlimited washes for a small fee every month.


Polisher now a days are made to release little to no dust depending on the quality of product and maker. Now more and more Professional detailers are making there own line of products to help cut corners.(in a good way)
To polish you must know the simple set up witch is Machine(3 types)>Pad (8 colors and aggresivieness by color)>Product(OTC or Professional)> Machine speed(1-6)> Hand Speed( while machine on)> # of "E"and "W"passes(1-3). professional might take him from 2-4 hours to finish the job and give you back the keys. A amateur 2- a few days to figure how start polishing. A professional will save you time and headaches. but like op said they aint cheap if they are ask him what steps he takes as well as what type of training he has done. the good ones have gone to school and know about paint. good luck to you sir.