Looking for a PURE Polish . . .

[dcampen]

According to Meguiars.com, Deep Crystal Polish is a pure polish.



Deep Crystal System Polish

Deep Crystal Polish is a pure polish specially formulated for dark colored cars. The formula creates a dazzling, high gloss finish by conditioning and nourishing the paint, making dark colors darker and reflections deeper and more clear. It is that extra step necessary to create the ultimate, wet-look show car shine.



A-2116 ....................16 oz. (473 ml) $4.99 add to cart

 

[Pondscum]

Oops, sorry about that. How about 1Z UPP? According to their catalog it doesn't have any silicones in it, so does that mean it's pure polish?

I don't think so. It's my understanding that the cleaners in most polishes are mostly mineral spirits and other various petroleum distillates. I also believe the silicone that is used in polishes (when it's used) are to help the product spread more smoothly.

 

[topnotchtouch]

Polish: A substance containing chemical agents or abrasive particles and applied to smooth or shine a surface. ( American Heritage Dictionary )

That is all well and good but, in the car care industry they do not go by the dictionary definition. Otherwise Zaino, EX-P to name a couple would have cleaning agents or abrasive particles which they clearly do not.

 

[Jiffyjam]

OK then, what is the car care industries definition of "polish"?

Someone said earlier that Zaino Z2 is a sealant, not a polish. Sal Zaino repeatedly refers to it as a polish, but that may be because most people equate the word with shiney, nice looking objects. I don't know, do you? ( BTW, VERY nice red Stang U got there, I used to have a 70 Mach 1 and I DO miss that baby! ):sosad

 

[Pondscum]

OK then, what is the car care industries definition of "polish"?

Someone said earlier that Zaino Z2 is a sealant, not a polish. Sal Zaino repeatedly refers to it as a polish, but that may be because most people equate the word with shiney, nice looking objects. I don't know, do you?

If he called it what it is, it would probably confuse many people. You can't really call it a wax, because it contains no wax. It was probably just easier to call it a polish.

 

[TortoiseAWD]

OK then, what is the car care industries definition of "polish"?

Someone said earlier that Zaino Z2 is a sealant, not a polish. Sal Zaino repeatedly refers to it as a polish, but that may be because most people equate the word with shiney, nice looking objects. I don't know, do you?

As rjstaaf mentioned above, there is no agreed-upon definition of "polish"; manufacturers use the term as they please.



In general, when someone on Autopia refers to a "polish", they mean an abrasive that's intended to correct paint defects, whereas a "glaze" is polishing oils and fillers intended to hide defects. In Meguiar's vernacular, abrasive polishes are called "cleaners", while products that add gloss and hide defects with fillers are called "pure polishes" (#3, #5, and #7). Zaino refers to their sealants (Z2 and Z5) as "polishes", while at Autopia you would typically see them called "sealants", or possibly "LSPs" (Last Step Products). To add even more to the confusion, some manufacturers use the term "glaze" to refer to anything that's bodyshop safe, regardless of the abrasive content. Someone using the more generic Autopia lingo might talk about using a polish and glaze, while someone using the Meguiar's terms might refer to the same products as a cleaner and a polish, respectively.



So, you see, there is no one real answer if the discussion is over the term, "polish". However, given that Dr. Groove mentioned #7, my guess is that he's asking about glazes (at least, what I think of I hear "glaze"). If that's the case, here are a few others: Meguiar's #3 and #5, Mothers Sealer and Glaze, Menzerna Final Touch Glaze, and 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. Some of those may have minor cleaning abilities from the solvents they contain, but that's more of a side-effect than the intended use of the product.



Tort

 

[the other pc]

Since there is no industry definition for the noun polish and there are far too many different types of chemicals that would meet the dictionary definition the word is of no practical value. You have to know the specifics of each company and its products and call them by name.



3M uses the term polish for product containing fine abrasives for removing surface defects. They call a product that contains conditioning oils and/or fillers a glaze.



Meg's uses the terms glaze and pure polish interchangeably for products that contain conditioning oils and/or fillers. Some Meg's labeled as polishes also contain fine abrasives.



Zaino calls their sealants polishes.



Poorboy's Polish with Carnauba obviously contains wax and they say it " REMOVES OXIDATION, HAZE, FINE SCRATCHES, SWIRL MARKS, SAP,TAR, BUGS, OVER-SPRAY, OLD PRODUCTS and more!" That sounds like a cleaner with fine abrasives but they also says it's " NON-ABRASIVE". Then again, a lot of companies say their product is "non-abrasive" when they really mean, "yeah, it's got abrasives but they're really, really fine so we don't call them abrasives"



And, as Tort points out, Autopia sort of has its own definition that many members kind of use (although it isn't in the secret decoder ring).



When I become Evil Overlord and iron-fisted despotic ruler of the human race I will have the word stricken from the language. Barry will have to call his glazes and Sal will have to call his sealants. Furthermore, anything with any kind of abrasive particulates, no matter how small or gentle, will have to use the term compound in the name somewhere. Any deviation will be met with swift and brutal reprisals.



PC.

 

[Mr Monk]

Thanks everyone for your replys. :bigups



From the discussion I've determined that what I want is a Glaze, a product to add depth and richness of color. I have my Acura TL looking really fine at the moment and simply wanted to add a little more "richness" to the paint without removing any of the wax. This past weekend I applied Megs #16. Underneath is P21s GEPC. What a combo!



However, being addicted to detailing I figured I'll have to do something else to my car this weekend. In this case I think it's going to be a "glaze".

 

[Jiffyjam]

When I become Evil Overlord and iron-fisted despotic ruler of the human race I will have the word stricken from the language. Barry will have to call his glazes and Sal will have to call his sealants. Furthermore, anything with any kind of abrasive particulates, no matter how small or gentle, will have to use the term compound in the name somewhere. Any deviation will be met with swift and brutal reprisals.



PC. [/B][/QUOTE]

Man, you are a hoot! I would like to put my name in nomination

for the position on Vice Evil overlord so I can likewise impose my will on these waxers, and form a secret group to carry out the "reprisals". ( or maybe I'll just quietly polish, or seal, my F-150 ):bow

 

[Bill D]

Establishing exactly what you want the product to do ,as Dr Groove has ,sounds like a great first step to picking out the best one for you :up

 

[imported_Burlyq]

I didn't read all the replys but menzerna is known as the, dare I say, best German polish that is absolutely pure, it's the only one I know of that has no petroleum products what so ever. One good thing about not having any oils and a water base is you can spritz with water when ever it starts to dry and extend the work of the "polish" until your objective is achieved. "#7 is a high oil content product" I'm not sure that if you simply want to polish to rid yourself scratches, spider web, or swirls that you would want to use a high oil product. Now if you simply are trying to replace you paint cleaner and are trying to mess around with trying to get a mirror finish because the Paint is already properly preped, then this stuff might be worth a shot. personally I stay away from the oily products, unless the paint is sealed with a water base sealant (zaino or klasse) and the topper has oils. I wouldn't say this is an appropiate topper to a water base sealant either.



Do some research.

 

[Scottwax]

I'd try Meguiars #81 Hand Polish or #3 Machine Glaze.



Another interesting polish is in test mode right now, Clearkote's Yellow Wax (not sure if that will be the name if it is released) which is meant to be a final glaze/gloss and depth enhancer. The directions say to use after Vanilla Moose and before Carnauba Moose. It definitely adds shine and wetness and wipes off as easily as anything I have used. If and when it will be sold, I don't know.

 

[endus]

If he called it what it is, it would probably confuse many people. You can't really call it a wax, because it contains no wax. It was probably just easier to call it a polish.

Personally, I find the lack of any standards in terminology in the detailing industry pathetic and misleading. Zaino in particular is one of the worst offenders and that is the reason why I would never use their products. Sometimes the lines between what's glaze and what's polish are blurry, but Zaino takes it a step too far calling protectants polish. This is all MHO, but to call a protectant a polish like they do seems to me to be intentionally misleading. I mean how many people out there do we know who think that wax = polish? It's a direct result of product manufacturers lying to consumers telling them that wax is going to fix imperfections in the paint. I personally think this all detracts greatly from the credibility of most product manufacturers in the detailing industry, promising that their products will do more than they actually will.

 

[TortoiseAWD]

I didn't read all the replys but menzerna is known as the, dare I say, best German polish that is absolutely pure, it's the only one I know of that has no petroleum products what so ever. One good thing about not having any oils and a water base is you can spritz with water when ever it starts to dry and extend the work of the "polish" until your objective is achieved. "#7 is a high oil content product" I'm not sure that if you simply want to polish to rid yourself scratches, spider web, or swirls that you would want to use a high oil product. Now if you simply are trying to replace you paint cleaner and are trying to mess around with trying to get a mirror finish because the Paint is already properly preped, then this stuff might be worth a shot. personally I stay away from the oily products, unless the paint is sealed with a water base sealant (zaino or klasse) and the topper has oils. I wouldn't say this is an appropiate topper to a water base sealant either.

By not reading the replies, you missed a crucial post in the thread . . . Dr. Groove has clarified that he's after a glaze; something to add some bling that won't disturb the existing wax much. If you're referring to Menzerna IP or FPII, then those products don't fit the bill at all. Both will completely remove any LSP currently on the paint, which is exactly what the Doc doesn't want:

Originally posted by Dr Groove:

From the discussion I've determined that what I want is a Glaze, a product to add depth and richness of color. I have my Acura TL looking really fine at the moment and simply wanted to add a little more "richness" to the paint without removing any of the wax.

Menzerna Final Touch Glaze might work, but in my experience, it's one of the more finicky glazes (difficult to remove, smears).



Now, on to this . . .

Do some research.

The tone of that is condescending and unnecessary. If you think you can help someone by directing them to a search or by telling them to read the archives, by all means do so. But, please be kind enough to include some search terms that you think will help, or some links to relevant threads. Simply admonishing someone to "do some research" is rather rude . . .



Please, folks, think "polite" when posting.

Tort

 

[imported_uflraptor]

Thanks everyone for your replys. :bigups



From the discussion I've determined that what I want is a Glaze, a product to add depth and richness of color. I

Everyone clearly has a favorite âہ“glazeâ€Â� it all comes down to a matte of preference and opinions. My personal favorite in the âہ“glazeâ€Â� department is Vanilla Moose. I find it goes on very easy (as does most Clearkote products) and comes off very easy. It leaves behind a deep wet look. Just my opinions and experiences of course.



Shawn

 

[togwt]

I didn't read all the replys but menzerna is known as the, dare I say, best German polish that is absolutely pure, it's the only one I know of that has no petroleum products what so ever. One good thing about not having any oils and a water base is you can spritz with water when ever it starts to dry and extend the work of the "polish" until your objective is achieved. "#7 is a high oil content product" I'm not sure that if you simply want to polish to rid yourself scratches, spider web, or swirls that you would want to use a high oil product. Now if you simply are trying to replace you paint cleaner and are trying to mess around with trying to get a mirror finish because the Paint is already properly preped, then this stuff might be worth a shot. personally I stay away from the oily products, unless the paint is sealed with a water base sealant (zaino or klasse) and the topper has oils. I wouldn't say this is an appropiate topper to a water base sealant either.



Do some research.

"Absolutely pure'



FWIW every polish needs an oil or something to help it spread, and most polishes choose oil (an oil in water emulsion) as it will both lubricate and provide oil to replace any that has been lost to evaporation or whatever.



99% of car care products contain hydrocarbon (petroleum) distillates (PT is used by some manufacturers as a â€Ëœscareâ€â„¢ word) PT can be refined / redistilled to remove 99% of anything considered â€Ëœharmfulâ€â„¢, oil itself is a PT, and paint is made from oil



JonM

 

[dcampen]

Personally, I find the lack of any standards in terminology in the detailing industry pathetic and misleading.

I couldn't agree more.

Zaino in particular is one of the worst offenders and that is the reason why I would never use their products. Sometimes the lines between what's glaze and what's polish are blurry, but Zaino takes it a step too far calling protectants polish. This is all MHO, but to call a protectant a polish like they do seems to me to be intentionally misleading.

I find Meguiar to be far worse. While Zaino does use the word "Polish" in the name of his sealants, everywhere else on the website it is quite clearly explaned what the product is. Meguiar, OTOH, seems to take every possible opportunity to obfuscate and confuse - Meguiar's use of the term "Pure Polish" is a prime example.

 

[topnotchtouch]

Thanks everyone for your replys. :bigups



From the discussion I've determined that what I want is a Glaze, a product to add depth and richness of color. I have my Acura TL looking really fine at the moment and simply wanted to add a little more "richness" to the paint without removing any of the wax. This past weekend I applied Megs #16. Underneath is P21s GEPC. What a combo!



However, being addicted to detailing I figured I'll have to do something else to my car this weekend. In this case I think it's going to be a "glaze".

Glazes aren't really meant to be your last step. Generally you will want to apply a wax or sealant over a glaze. My favorite combo has always been Meguiars #7 show car glaze topped with Meguiars #26 high tech yellow wax but, you could just as easily substitute #16 professional paste wax for #26.



You could apply a layer of #7 over the #16 you already have on the paint and then put on another layer of #16.



If you follow Mike Phillips application and removal tips for #7 you shouldn't have any problems with it.



http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23740



Here is a pic of my Mustang using the #7,#26 combo. There is a link to more pictures of my Mustang in my signature.



Meguiars #7,#26

 

[Accumulator]

Yeah, what Meg's calls a "pure polish" most of us would call a glaze. I must be the only person on here who uses #5, but it's my favorite product of this type. Has been since the mid-1970s. Makes a little dust (not too much), but that's because it really *dries*, as opposed to "skinning" like the #7. Very, very easy to use.

 

[TortoiseAWD]

Accumulator,



How do you apply #5? Is it just an apply/haze/remove process, or does it need to be worked for a while before removing? I've tried #3 and wasn't impressed (a lot of dust), but I need to give it another go someday and experiment with technique. I have a feeling I used too much product, and worked it too long.



Thanks,

Tort