glazes vs polishes

[68camaro]

Sorry guys if this has been posted before. what is the differance and what does each one do.

[imported_mirrorfinishman]

There is basically no difference between most glazes and polishes. It`s just that some manufacturers like to call a specific product a glaze while another similar product may be called a polish.



Both glazes and polishes are usually not very abrasive and they play an important part when you are trying to create a deep high gloss shine.

[Spilchy]

Uh, that`s completely false. What are your examples of "most "glazes and polishes that constitute "basically no difference?"



So meguiar`s #3, #5, #7, #81 (glazes) are the same as #9, #80, #82, #83 (polishes)?



68camaro, you can read this for reference. http://www.properautocare.com/whatdif.html

[Wasatch]

I mostly use glazes since on the most part there less abrasive. I do have some 1Z MP and PP which are not that abrasive. I use all these by hand.

[imported_mirrorfinishman]

Uh, that`s completely false. What are your examples of "most "glazes and polishes that constitute "basically no difference?"



So meguiar`s #3, #5, #7, #81 (glazes) are the same as #9, #80, #82, #83 (polishes)?







Meguiar`s considers the Mirror Glaze #7 Show Car Glaze their most popular polish. Interesting how it`s called a glaze and at the same time it`s a polish too.



Do a little research and you will find out rather quickly that Meguiar`s uses the terms glaze and polish interchangeably.



In most cases, there is basically no difference between a glaze and a polish.

[Setec Astronomy]

Frank, except that Meguiars refers to what Spilchy calls glazes "pure polishes", as opposed to the others, which are cleaner/polishes.

[Mr.Concours]

Sorry Mirrorfinish man got to slightly disagree with you,



Most `true` polishes in general have some form of VERY mild abrasivesnes/cut, that will remove swirls and tone down chips and scratches ie: Autoglyms Super Resin Polish



Most glazes contain a large amount of fillers and will only hide the above swirls,chips.scratches if the glaze is ever removed eg washing the swirls,chips,scraches reappear ie:3M Imperial Hand Glaze



The main confusion has come about with manufactures interchangebly using Wax and Polish in OTC type products,as a polish contains abrasives or have SOME form of cleaning action ie:Klasse All In One/Carlack



Where as a Wax will not normally contain any abrasiveness/cut think of any of the popular last step carnubas we talk about here ie:Pinnacle Souveran,P21S/S100,Nattys Blue,Megs#16

[White95Max]

IMO, they differ in this way:



Glaze - Non-abrasive or extremely fine abrasives. No measureable cut for removing defects. Does contain fillers, to hide scratches rather than remove them by abrasive action. Often contains oils to give the surface a wet-look appearance. Often contain chemical cleaners.

(RMG, #7, VM, GEPC...)





Polish - Abrasive. Removes scratches from surface. Severity of defects that can be removed depends on the aggressiveness of the polish itself, and often depends on the hardness of the clearcoat or base coat (SS paint).

(SSRs, #80, #83, OCP, OCC, IP, FPII, etc...)

[Spilchy]

Do a little research and you will find out rather quickly that Meguiar`s uses the terms glaze and polish interchangeably.



You`re arguing semantics then (the meaning or the interpretation of a word), not the engineered purpose of the product.



So with that said, there are HUGE differences between the glazes that I mentioned and the polishes I mentioned.



If you`re telling me that there is "basically no difference" between the glaze #7 and the polish #83, then you`re wrong.



Explain how there is basically no difference between the products outside of semantics.

[White95Max]

Many manufacturers use polish and glaze interchangeably, and some also use polish and wax interchangeably also. Even sealants are considered wax sometimes.

All that means is that the company is continuing to encourage ignorance of the public. It doesn`t mean that polishes = glazes = waxes = sealants.

[Accumulator]

Yeah, there`s no industry standard for the meanings of these terms :rolleyes



What Meguiar`s calls a "pure polish" others would call a "glaze." FWIW they also use other words/terms in ways that experts in the English language find, uhm, confusing/misleading at best. But it`s not like we`re gonna change how Meguiar`s uses certain words so when on MOL I use certain words the way Meguiar`s uses them (when in Rome...). But here at Autopia I use the words the way most Autopians use them (which is, IMO, also the correct way).



As best I can tell, most of the people here at Autopia subscribe to the definitions that Mr. Concours and White95Max have posted- non/low-abrasive with oils/fillers = "glaze"; abrasive= "polish".



I`m generally OK with the agree-to-disagree approach (especially about trivial stuff), but we have to have *some* degree of consensus on basic terminology or else it`s just too difficult to understand what people are posting and we waste too much time/effort clarifying the semantic differences. But we`ve never fully sorted this out and I somehow doubt that we ever will.

[imported_mirrorfinishman]

You`re arguing semantics then (the meaning or the interpretation of a word), not the engineered purpose of the product.





Not arguing anything. Meguiar`s products were mentioned and it`s a know fact that Meguiar`s uses the terms glaze and polish interchangeably. And that is completely true.

[the other pc]

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.

[White95Max]

[b]If you want to slap a label that says "polish" on a jar of peanut butter go ahead. there`s nothing stopping you.





Oh come on! Everyone knows that peanut butter is a glaze, not a polish! It`s non-abrasive and adds oils to the finish! ;)

[Reflections1]

Sorry guys if this has been posted before. what is the differance and what does each one do.



CONFUSED YET...LOL!!! I always understood glazes to "cosmetically hide" fine scratches with fillers and such and Polishes to remove them through abrasives BTW 68camaro... welcome aboard :welcome