glazes vs polishes

[White95Max]

Step 1 says that it removes oxidation, light scratches and fine swirls.





You`ll find that a TON of products claim to do that. While they are "removing" the light scratches and fine swirls FROM VIEW, they aren`t removing the light scratches and fine swirls FROM THE PAINT



It should remove oxidation though, just due to the cleaners in the product.

[atticdog]

from megs site

What`s the difference between a polish and a glaze? (http://www.meguiars.com/faq/index.cfm?faqCat=Product%20Questions&faqQuestionID=35&section=_35#_35)

"5. What`s the difference between a polish and a glaze?



Meguiar`s uses these terms interchangeably, hence the name of our most popular polish: Mirror Glaze #7 Show Car Glaze, a pure polish. Meguiar`s is one of the few companies that still offer car owners a true pure polish (Non-Abrasive).



The important thing to remember is that Meguiar`s pure polishes and glazes are completely different from rubbing and polishing compounds. Meguiar`s pure polishes are non-abrasive and totally safe for your car`s finish. They`re also essential to assuring the highest gloss, deepest shine, and longest lifespan from your car`s paint.



A Meguiar`s pure polish is more like a paint conditioner that restores valuable oils to the paint. Meguiar`s pure polishes can be used to eliminate fine scratches and create incredible high gloss not possible with wax type products. If you own a dark-color car, you`ll see a dramatic difference if you use a polish. An application of a pure polish should be followed by an application of wax to protect the shine and extend the results created by the polish.



Meguiar`s pure polishes also help to prevent oxidation from taking place on your car`s finish. Oxidation was an obvious problem ten years ago because you quickly saw the color on a single-stage finish fade. With today`s modern clear coat finishes, oxidation is less obvious, however it still occurs.



Here is how oxidation happens to both clear coats and non-clear coat finishes. The primary ingredient used in automotive paints to actually coat over, protect, and beautify your vehicle is called resin. Resins are made from different types of oils. These oils vary depending on the paint type, but they are oils just the same. Early resins were made from raw materials such as the oils from Soya Beans, Flax Seeds, China Tung Nuts, Safflower seeds, Cottonseeds, and even Sardines! Modern paints are typically derived from polyurethane and/or acrylic polymers.



Direct sunlight and warm temperatures are always actively heating, and in extreme conditions, baking the top layer of paint. When this happens, the paint`s original resins are lost through evaporation and the normal breakdown process most substances undergo when exposed to direct sunlight and warm temperatures (Called the Law of Entropy).



Exposure to inclement weather and frequent washing, especially with high alkaline, strong detergents (like dish washing soap) further breaks down and dries-out and dulls all types of resins, thus accelerating the deterioration process.



As the surface deteriorates, water in any form, dew, humidity, rain, wash and rinse water, as well as other microscopic destructive elements such as acids and alkaline substances, enter into the microscopic pores, fissures, cracks and other surface imperfections and begin to attack, or breakdown the molecules that make up your car`s paint. In the case of water/moisture, the destructive effect is to oxidize, or chemically dissolve the cell-wall structure that makes up the actual resin we think of as our paint.



If portions of the original resins, (now missing through deterioration), are not replaced with a beneficial substance, your paint (whether it`s a clear coat of a single-stage finish) will oxidize and the surface will become dull. Left unprotected for too long and the damage may become un-repairable. Although modern paint technology is much more resistant to oxidation, it will oxidize when neglected and/or it is improperly maintained.



The service life, (or longevity) of your car`s finish is determined by the condition, or health of the resins that make up your paint. Maintain and replenish your car`s finish, (resins), with the kind of beautifying oils contained in Meguiar`s cleaners, polishes and protectants, and your paint will look good for a long time, as well as last for a long time."

[Accumulator]

I believe Step 1 does have some abrasives. They are mild, though, so don`t expect too much correction from it.



As far as I know (and I`ve been over this a few times with Mike Phillips and others at MOL), the Step 1 is functionally nonabrasive on automotive paint. I myself haven`t used it in forever, but it didn`t result in paint transfer when I used it on single stage with a very soft applicator, and I was using it on very soft dark lacquer which would`ve transferred.



Any paint removed oughta be from oxidized/"dead" paint.

[David Fermani]

I grind my own at Whole Foods Market. You can grind almonds too to make almond butter. Then I dip dark chocolate into that freshly ground peanut butter. So good.



I just got some tonight from Whole Foods. I like the mixing part. I`ll try it next time.

[David Fermani]

The problem with everybody’s opinion of what is and isn’t a polish or glaze is that they are simultaneously all correct and they are all wrong.



The reason is that there are absolutely no standardized, universally accepted definitions for the terms.



Every individual and every company has there own practices and preferences and are free to do as they please. There is no wax police to intervene and drag you before the wax judge.



Whenever you buy a liter of wax from anybody you get the same amount. That’s because everybody, all over the world agrees on how much a liter is. A whole bunch of scientists from everywhere got together in Switzerland, discussed it, agreed on it, shook hands and went home to tell their fellow countrymen what a liter was. International treaties were signed and everybody’s happy.



When you buy a Compact Disk from somebody it plays in a compact disk player made by somebody else. That’s because one outfit, and one outfit only, decides what is and isn’t a Compact Disk. Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. of The Netherlands invented it (in cooperation with Sony) and wrote a great big red book that describes it (called The Red Book, strangely enough) in minute detail and if your product doesn’t meet it’s hundreds of pages of specifications you can’t call it a Compact Disk. (You may notice that a number of music disks sold these days don’t say “Compact Disk� or “CD� anywhere on the packaging. That’s because many record companies are including copy-protection features that don’t follow the standard. They’re close enough to be read by most players but they aren’t “real� CDs so they can’t call them CDs without incurring the wrath of Phillips’ legal department.)



You can plug a USB device into your computer because a bunch of computer companies got together, formed a consortium, and hashed out the details of how USB devices would all work.



In each of these cases there is some body, governmental, industrial or organizational that has the responsibility for defining the words’ meanings.



In the case of the detailing industry and the terms “polish� and “glaze� there is no governmental overseer, no trade organization, no industry consortium and no standardization of any kind. Anybody is free to use the terms any way they want.



Meguiar’s is free to call their products with no abrasives or protectants “polishes� just as Zaino is free to call their synthetic protectants (sealants) “polishes� and others can call their mildly abrasive products “polishes�. If you want to slap a label that says "polish" on a jar of peanut butter go ahead. there`s nothing stopping you. Nobody is “correct� or “incorrect� in their use of terminology when there are no accepted standard definitions for the words.



It’s not likely to change anytime soon either. Manufacturers seem to be quite content confusing the hell out of consumers while consumers, as a whole, show little interest in harmonization.









PC.



Very well said.