Difference between polish and glaze?

andrewpenny

andrewpenny

New member
Hello!

I have recently opened my own detail garage and am now needing to understand the products in which i`m using (not just using whatever the garage has), and doing this brings salesmen to my door. I understand most of them are giving their sales pitch to get your business but sometimes I have a hard time distinguishing trash talk between brands and actual facts being given about the product.

I recently purchased compound, glaze, and wax for my buffer. Another salesman came down and told me not to use glaze, but to use polish as a second step in buffing, as a glaze doesn`t last long. He called it a "dealership" product cause its only meant to be used for quick fixes.. but I didn`t know there was a difference? Anyone on here able to help? thanks!
 
Typically a polish is a product that contains some type of abrasive be it a very light abrasive or something heavier. Generally polishes are used for removing some amount of paint to get rid of scratches and swirls. Heavier polishes are most often called compounds. Glazes usually contain no abrasives and act as a filler to help hide imperfections and add gloss and shine. A glaze will often not last very long especially if it is not topped with a wax or sealant. Hope this helps. I`m sure others that are better at explaining this kind of stuff will also chime in.
 
Also a glaze does have some polishing ability as well as filling. You don`t want to use a glaze before a coating as the coating will not adhere. An exception to this is CarPro Essence which essentially is a glaze in that it fills, but was manufactured to be used before a coating.
 
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In my opinion, a glaze would be used when you want the paint to look great.....for a short time. I used to use Meg`s No. 7 before every car show when I had my `68 Camaro. I`d load it up w no. 7 the morning of every show. It`s full of oils and that`s one of the things that makes it look great - but also one of the things that make it a short term fix. The oils dissipate after awhile. Yes the car looked great...that day. But a few days later it had run it`s course and I was back to where I started. It certainly has it`s place in a detailers arsenal but in terms of a long term solution...I`d hesitate to use it to cover up what polish can actually remove.
 
So a does polish not do as good a job bringing back the shine, and a glaze would do better? Also i`m getting the feeling that polish is a little bit more abrasive? or aggressive? So would you still use a compound before using the polish, or is the polish considered a compound and you could skip the compound step all together and just go polish and wax?
 
andrewpenny said:
So a does polish not do as good a job bringing back the shine, and a glaze would do better?
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Depends on the situation/vehicle and any improvement from the glaze will be extremely short-lived.

A Polish will actually correct the issues that diminish the shine (by abrading the clearcoat and thus leveling out the "gouges" that we call "scratches and swirlmarks", it`s like sanding a piece of wood until it`s smooth and level) and thus yield a permanent improvement (heh heh...well, it`s only "permanent" as long as it doesn`t get messed up again).

Also i`m getting the feeling that polish is a little bit more abrasive? or aggressive?
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Depends how you define "polish" and "glaze". But yeah..in the sense that most of us use the word a Polish is mildly abrasive while a Glaze is usually functionally non-abrasive.

So would you still use a compound before using the polish, or is the polish considered a compound and you could skip the compound step all together and just go polish and wax?
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A Compound is just a more aggressive/abrasive Polish. You only use what`s necessary to correct the issues with consideration given to time/effort and the various factors related to the removal of clearcoat (assuming b/c paint as opposed to single stage which can be a whole `nother ball-o`-wax). So if a mild product (Polish) will do the work in a reasonably timely manner it`s usually a good idea to just do that. Compounds will "sand off"/abrade away more clear coat to they`ll work faster on deeper scratches at the expense of removing a lot of clearcoat quickly. Compounds leave "micromarring" of their own (like using coarse sandpaper will leave Sanding Scratches) so you follow up with a Polish to remove that micromarring and yield a ready-to-wax finish.

If a Polish will solve the issues, and/or you don`t want to take off more clear then a Polish followed by a Wax will suffice. It simply all depends on the various factors that need to be considered every time; to some extent every job can be considered unique for practical purposes even though IMO *none* of them really are since it`s all been done before.

As I think you can see, there`s a whole lotta stuff to consider and thus a whole lotta stuff to learn so you have the requisite Knowledge Base to know what the considerations are and how to deal with them. This stuff isn`t rocket science but it`s not just "wax on, wax off" either.

Billy Baldone said:
So...... You are opening a detail shop...... Good luck
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Perhaps I`m just sensitive (aw gee :o ) but that didn`t seem very neighborly. I can recall answering some *very*, uhm....basic....Qs that were posed by then-New Autopians who are now considered Expert Detailers. Everybody`s gotta start some place, even if what they discover is that this whole (Autopian level) Detailing thing isn`t right for them.
 
Thanks! I`ve done minor buffing before at the dealership I used to detail at way back, but like I said before they would just supply me with the stuff I needed.. I didn`t have much product knowledge, just the technique and what to use and when. Plus its hard to get unbiased opinions from product reps.. My shop (that I have now) is mainly transports, john deere, and fleet vehicles, or company vehicles.. usually they just want tar removal and wax at most on the outside (completes on the interior). Now that i`m gaining popularity some of the "higher ups" want their personal vehicles done, and want buffing done. So I`ve hired a friend of mine to do the buffing while I remember and learn techniques and I don`t loose out on business.. Don`t need the luck, and already know this detailing thing is for me! Just recently got back in the game after 5 years gone.. need a little refresher sometimes lol.
 
andrewpenny- I too first did some of this stuff at a dealership (WAY back in the day!). And yeah on the difficulty of getting reliable product/equipment recommendations (Autopia oughta be a good resource for that), and yeah#2 things have changed *so* much in the last few years with regard to products that there`s a lot of relearning to do.

One thing I`ll caution you about is having somebody else doing the polishing/correction. Be sure that person is 100% squared-away as that`s the kind of process that can result in serious damage if done improperly.
 
I worked with him back at that dealership and he taught me the bit of buffing I know, and he is really good. He`s already done a practice car and I`ve got three more practice ones to do for the website, and facebook page while I get my refresher in. If I get busy enough I might just hire him to buff anyway. He`s laid off, I don`t want to miss out on the work, its a win win!
 
Accumulator said:
One thing I`ll caution you about is having somebody else doing the polishing/correction. Be sure that person is 100% squared-away as that`s the kind of process that can result in serious damage if done improperly.
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This is the hood of his girlfriends car. Not perfect but getting the kinks out lol. Its been a few years for him too.. couple more practice cars and he will do alright.

Sent from my SM-T210R using Tapatalk
 
andrewpenny- At the risk of sounding like a complete [jerk], those before/after pics do not engender confidence. Unless there was a good reason to stop at that point (e.g., concerns about over-thinning the clear), it looks to me like "after the first few of a great many passes". Eh, maybe I just set the bar awfully high...bit IMO he`ll need to *REALLY* ramp up his game before your feature his work on a website, much less turn him loose on a client`s car.

Again, sorry if I`m coming across badly, I don`t mean to sound like I`m hating on the guy and maybe he had a perfectly good reason to stop when he did.
 
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