Chemical vs. Abrasive Paint Cleaners?

[jlells01]

What`s the story here guys?
Do you prefer one over the other?
Why the need for two different types?

[JaredPointer]

They both perform two different jobs, or at least perform a similar job in different ways. Chemical polishes can be used to clean stains, oxidation, etc. Abrasives are designed to remove marring, etc by abrading the paint. I guess they could be used interchangeably, but again, it comes down to using the right tool for the job.

An example would be to use a chemical cleaner to remove water spotting instead of an abrasive polish.

Some polishes may (could) be a mixture of both chemical cleaners and abrasives.

[jlells01]

I guess they could be used interchangeably, but again, it comes down to using the right tool for the job.

Thank you Jared...

For instance, 3M Finish Restorer and ColorX...to the best of my knowledge, 3MFR does its thing with abrasives whereas CX uses chemicals.

So, with my paint being, as I say, "stained" & "oxidized", a chemical cleaner would be best?

[JaredPointer]

Not sure about the 3M stuff, as I haven`t used it. Boss 429 wrote a post a little while back where he explained the advantages of starting your entire process with a chemical cleaner polish. I would start out with the chem. cleaner first if it were me.