DO glazes really have a place in our arsenal?

[05Sleeper]

I have been reading a lot of recent posts here lately, and it seems as if "glazes" are not used much anymore. People keep talking about AIO as a base and not using a glaze. I am confused as a few months ago people couldn`t stop talking about VM or RMG. Now, I am about to do a detail on a Bluse RSX that is highly oxidized and has quite a few swirls in the paint, and yet people have advised me to use AIO and leave the glaze out of my detail. Why is this?

[Accumulator]

A few years ago the popular approach here was to use 3M SMR, followed by 3M IHG, topped with Blitz wax. These days people would probably flame that idea and call it "makeup" or "cheating". It seems like the big trend here has been towards removing marring mechanically (using abrasives) and then applying synthetic LSPs. These LSPs aren`t really compatible with glazes as a) they look best when used on a truly marring-free finish and b) they don`t always bond to glazes. OK, I do that on two of our vehicles that don`t get marred up. Works fine on those, but IMO it`s not the way to go on every vehicle.



On my Caprice and Jag, which have thin paint and marring that isn`t gonna come out, I`ll use glazes topped with carnaubas. IMO there`s nothing wrong with using a glaze-style approach. It doesn`t always matter if the marring is eliminated or just hidden, as long as the vehicle looks good and you enjoy what you`re doing. And I have, uhm, issues with the idea of constantly polishing vehicles that get marred up again in short order.



Yeah, AIO is a great cleaner and works well on oxidation. But so do a lot of other products ;)

[Richt]

I am still a great fan of the wet look given by glazes, but due to the popularity of sealants these days and some them very fussy about there base is the reason why you may think they are out of favour. I use glazes as I love the wet look they give to the paint rather than to hide marring. I realise there use may reduce the durabilty of my LSPs but the look #7, #81, VM or RMG give me I can`t not use them!

[imported_Picus]

I love glazes, in particular RMG, and I will admit I like it because it hides minor flaws. My car is black and has soft paint - it`s all but impossible to keep from marring it slightly between polishes, and I`d rather hide the marring betwen polishes then over-polish the car. I use RMG probably every ~2 months - and like Richt, I enjoy the deep wet look it gives my paint (not to mention how smooth it feels), but I`m not going to pretend that I don`t use it also because it can cover up some minor blemishes. Actually, there are quite a few sealants with fillers too, and part of the reason they look so good is *because* they have fillers.

[TGates]

I think a glaze is great under a carnauba. I currently have RMG/YCW/CMW and the look is great. Noticable pop to the flake (even more so than Z2Pro, oddly enough) and the car looks dripping wet. Under a sealant, a glaze doesn`t really belong, IMO.

[jeff5614]

[quote name=`Accumulator`]...I`ll use glazes topped with carnaubas...



Accumulator, what glazes do you like?

[DM101]

I agree. Glazes are highly over looked, But they add so much to a wax finish, RMG and Pinnicle Sourvan my way.








I think a glaze is great under a carnauba. I currently have RMG/YCW/CMW and the look is great. Noticable pop to the flake (even more so than Z2Pro, oddly enough) and the car looks dripping wet. Under a sealant, a glaze doesn`t really belong, IMO.

[Glossmaster]

Ah yes..........To glaze or not to glaze???? I agree with what`s been said regarding not using a glaze under synthetic sealants. The only time I use a glaze is when I`m in "carnauba mode". VM,RMG, CG`s Revive Glaze & CG`s new Creme Glaze add dripping wet goodness to my black sand pearl paint when used under Natty`s blue, Souveran etc. I am still a big fan of the glaze/carnauba combo during the warm weather detailing season.

[LightngSVT]

Is VM really a glaze? I thought it was more of a super mild polish. How would something like IHG (I still have some) compare to RMG?

[usdm]

I personally think the whole anti-glaze thing is silly. There are simply times

when the paint cannot take on another heavy or medium round of abrassive

polishing, or, there`s simply not time to really do a good polishing procedure.

True, nothing beats a good polishing procedure, and time/ paint condition

waranting, I will do that first. But when I can`t do that, then out comes the

glaze.

[05Sleeper]

so, what can I use if I am going to be detailing a friends blue Acurs RSX with lots of oxidation ad swirl marks. I would like to get the best look I can, but I will be doing it all by hand. Please give me your recommendations. I really need help with this one. Thanks

[Scottwax]

I think a glaze is great under a carnauba. Under a sealant, a glaze doesn`t really belong, IMO.



Exactly. When using a carnauba, I go with a glaze, when using a sealant, I go with AIO.

[pontman43]

I agree with everyone esle who posted. I personally found the powers of a glaze (mothers) recently and was very impressed with it. I`ll use it for when I dont have time to polish or in between polishes. I found that the Mothers (I haven`t tried any others) hide quite a bit and made the car look amazing. It wasn`t completely swirl free, but made in dang near. Pretty much hid enough for most non-autopians to think its flawless.



Here is what it did for me. http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=63128

[Super]

Glazing is an art and there is different ways to apply glaze and there is different kinds of glazes to use. Although I’m not an expert on the subject of glazing but this is what I know. Glaze does a few things first a glaze can hide/cover scratches, second glaze can bring back oils to paint that the UV and heat from the sun and by washing takes (if unprotected) away.



Glazing can easily be used as a fast cheap hacking detailing job that can bring about a nice job by hiding scratches defects but once the sealer/wax is gone in time and the car is washed the glaze will be removed and the scratches/defects will still be there.



The best way to apply glaze is to first use compound/polish and get the defects out and then use a machine glaze or you can use it the other way round, glaze and then polish. The best way to apply glaze is use a high speed buffer using a wool pad, why a wool pad? Because you have to have heat so the oils in the glaze will penetrate deeper into the paint. Depending on how hard the paint is? If its not a hard paint then a PC will work ok to a point. After you machine glaze QD real good. Sometimes on black paint (depending on how bad the paint is) you have to wait a week to apply sealer because if a sealer is applied right after glazing then the sealer might cause hazing do to the oils on the surface from the glaze. Glaze works real nice on old enamel paints from long ago you can even use hand glaze on enamel paints. On clear coated cars there is two reasons why glaze can be used first is showroom cars gloss second is to bring back the oils back into the clear coat from neglected aged cars and or remove the fine mico- scratches. Again I’m no expert on the subject of glazing I just know on what I have experienced myself.

[Accumulator]

Accumulator, what glazes do you like?



I use Meg`s #3/#5/#7, just because I`ve used them forever. Sometime I`ll probably try RMG, but the Meg`s stuff works well on the Jag`s ss lacquer and so I plan to just use those, probably #5, on the Caprice too (if I ever get it back on the road :o ).



I`m not a real expert on glazes as the Jag is pretty different from cars with b/c and, the Caprice aside, I don`t glaze my b/c vehicles unless you count the 1Z Wax Polish Soft I have on my wife`s A8 as a glaze. #5 made a nice penultimate step on the black rent-a-Suburban though, and that stuff sure is easy to use.