doc i use poorboys black hole and just ordered some chemical guys blacklight polish to try . they fill small swirls and give the darker cars a great wet look and feel slick. easy to apply and wipe off and smell great!!

 

Mike - Do you recommend an interval between applying Polish and Carnauba? I've noticed that the bottle directions don't typically indicate a time to wait between application of these treatments.

Thanks in advance,

 

You can apply a carnauba or sealant right after polish, no problems. The only time you really need to wait (and even this isn't a 100% must) is when applying either a second coat of a synthetic sealant or applying a carnauba over a sealant; in that case you should give the sealant at least 12 hours for the polymers to cross link and bond.

 

So I gotta ask. Sealant or Polish - Pros & Cons.

 

I'll kind of piggy back onto this one as well if I could. I picked up the new D/A microfiber correction kit and just hit the roof as a test this weekend. It works like a champ and removed these bad water stains that started to form now that I have moved and am on well water. This is my daily driver though so I wondered if I should be doing the second step with a diferent product to protect against the rain etc. I used #26 wax last time and while I liked the results it didn't hold up that long with the elements and frequent washing.

 

Sealant and polish are two vastly different things, used for very different purposes. Many people use the word "polish" to mean the final protection step (this is actually quite common in the UK and the American South) but to most people the word "polish" describes a product with some level of abrasive that is used to correct defects. To others a polish is specifically the fine finishing abrasive used following a more aggressive compound. Think of these as varying grits of sandpaper - you use the coarser stuff to remove a lot of material and the finer stuff to bring up the smooth, high gloss finish. Only compounds and polishes are nowhere near as aggressive as sanding, obviously.

Waxes are often mistakenly believed to correct defects like fine swirls and scratches. Even a decent cleaner wax usually isn't strong enough to impact those sort of issues, but they can remove dirt embedded in the pores of the paint. Some waxes can do a decent job of hiding fine swirls, but the concealment is short lived since wax starts to break down pretty quickly and rarely lasts more than a couple of months (I don't give a rat's backside what any wax company tells you - nobody makes a carnauba wax that will last a year on a daily driver. Nobody. Period.).

Anyway. The real question I believe you're asking is "sealant or carnauba - pros & cons". Both synthetic sealants and carnauba waxes serve the same purpose; to act as a sacrificial barrier that temporarily protects the paint from potential damage caused by hard water spots, bird droppings, industrial fallout, UV, etc. But if you think it will stop everything in it's tracks, think again. A bird dropping can literally etch down into the paint, causing serious damage. In order for a wax or sealant to fully stop this action it would have to be stronger than the paint itself. That's asking a hell of a lot from a product you wipe onto the paint, let dry and then wipe off the excess, leaving behind a layer a few microns thin that breaks down and wears down in a matter of months (depending on exposure). Sealants, as a general rule, will last longer than carnauba waxes and provide better overall protection. But some people complain that sealants make paint look like it was wrapped in plastic wrap while carnaubas give that deep, wet look. That's in the eye of the beholder; we all like what we like and nobody can tell you you're wrong for liking what you like. Steak, chicken or fish? Blonde, brunette or redhead (all three maybe?)? Football, baseball, hockey? Dodge, Ford, Chevy?

From a purely personal perspective, I like a good carnauba on dark colors like black, red, dark blue, dark green, etc. On light colors and some darker metallics I prefer a nice synthetic sealant because it can really make the metallic "pop". When I'm going crazy (which is fairly common, actually) I'll put down a nice synth first, then the next day I'll put a carnauba on top of it, giving me the best of both worlds.

But for the absolute highest gloss possible, remove all the defects first - clay, then compound (if needed) and finish with a good finishing polish like Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, Meguiar's M205 Ultra Finishing Polish, or Menzerna PO85rd. For the best of the best, machine apply these rather than hand apply. A DA is great, but if you're skilled with a rotary, nothing beats it. But you absolutely must be skilled with a rotary to finish out perfect with it. Your car will look absolutely stunning after this, and you haven't applied a sealant or a wax yet!

The DA Microfiber System is just awesome!! Greatest thing to hit detailing in many, many years. I highly recommend doing the two steps of the system together as the finishing wax will easily remove any light hazing that the compounding step might cause. But the system loves hard paint, and Crossfire paint is pretty darn hard in my experience. The finishing wax is the easiest wax you'll ever use - wipe off is beyond simple. If you ever have a hard time wiping off this product, if it takes more than a single wipe to take it off an area, I want to know what you did so wrong!!! But that doesn't mean you can't put something else on top of it. M26 is a very nice carnauba, but as such it's not going to be the longest lasting product you'll ever find. NXT Tech Wax 2.0 is much longer lasting and still looks fantastic. M21 is our pro line equivalent if you really want to stick with our Mirror Glaze stuff. But if you're a fan of Mother's Syn Wax, Blackfire Wet Diamond, or anything else, there's no reason why you can't top the DA Microfiber Finishing Wax with it.

 

MIke - This was GREAT feedback!!! I've always used a Carnauba as a final protective coat whenever I detailed a vehicle. And, with your confirmation, realized that this final covering was only temporary and had to be renewed every 3-4 months. Typically, I perform a full detail (wash, wax & silicone remover, clay bar, swirl remover, polish & wax) in the spring. Then I typically follow that up with a mini-detail (wash, wax & silicone remover, polish & wax) in the fall.

Right now I'm using the Meguiar's ColorX product on my 06 F-150 STX Flareside 4x4 and then applying a Meguiar's Carnauba as a final layer of protection. The Bright Red Clearcoat really glistens when I'm finished with a section. Working my way around the truck in the mornings this week. I like the truck to look good, but don't feel that I have to perform a major detailing on it. Just not enough time anymore.

Again, thanks for the feedback. I saved that for future reference.

Oh, and I agree with your comment regarding folks feeling that polishing a car is the same as waxing it. These steps have a different purpose and get interchanged all the time.

Later,

 

Thanks again for your wealth of knowledge Mike. I reeeaaaaalllly like the clean up on the new kit. You are right about the single wipe and basically no dust. I think more regular dust settled on the rest of the car while I was doing the roof than was produced from the process. I feel like I will be able to do the job much faster now so a 3rd pass with an additional wax should be a lot easier to take. After being spoiled with the system though I don't know how I'll feel about #26 cleanup. Would a double pass with the second step offer any benefit VS a coat of #26? And when will this dustless formula work it's way into other products

 

Mike,

Do you know any local sources that carry polishing pads for the DA? Or do I always have to order them? I am in the Dallas area if it makes a difference. I see Maguires everywhere but no one stocks the DA pads.

 

The buffing pads are considered pro line items and as such you won't find them at your typical retail outlet, big auto parts stores, etc. That also means that stores carry very few of our pro line items, if they carry them at all.

I'd suggest you check out meguiars.com: Dealer Locator and enter your Zip Code then select "Meguiar's Professional Products" before submitting the query. That should return a list of body shop supply stores within 20 miles of the Zip - start making phone calls and ask for the specific part numbers. If they don't have them in stock they should be able to get them pretty quickly.

Part numbers for the newest 7" Soft Buff 2.0 pads (the ones with the recessed back and laminated velcro) are W8207 for the yellow polishing pad and W9207 for the black finishing pad. If you're still using the older style pads go with W8006 for the 6" yellow polishing pad and W9006 for the tan finishing pad.

 

Thanks Mike!

 

I don't understand why it can be so easy to put swirls in and so hard to get them out. I have the same issue as the poster at the top of this thread. I've been working on my SRT for a while and I still have lots of tiny micro-scratches. Same with my Limited. It's nothing an untrained eye would see but I notice them, especially under a bare bulb in the garage.

Of the two, my Limited was actually in better shape. I've been driving it quite a bit lately and, in my attempts to keep it clean, have been giving it regular wipedowns with Adam's detail spray and microfiber towels. Sure enough, more micro-scratches are creeping into the finish.

If it's so easy to put these scratches in, why isn't it similarly easy to get them out? It's not fair!

 

It is not that hard to get them out with a high quality orbital like the Porter Carble or Maguires, buffers. As Mike suggested I tried the Ultimate compound followed by ultimate polish and got great results. Mike doesn't seem to reccomend the burgandy pad but I used it on my son's black truck with the ultimate compound and got very good results. for the final step, I tried both the Maguires Ultimate wax and the Surf City liquid Carnuba and both looked really good.

 

The mechanics of putting a scratch in (cutting the paint) and removing a scratch (leveling the paint) are very different. The best analogy I've ever been able to come up with is this, and I use it when describing the differences between "hard paint" and "soft paint" both with regard to scratch resistance and ease of correction:

Take a stick of butter at room temperature and a nicely grilled, very tender steak. With a very sharp knife try to make a small cut in each. Pretty easy by just dragging that sharp knife across the surface, right? Remember, you aren't cutting all the way through, just putting a shallow little slice in them. That's your paint scratch. Easy to do with the steak, but even easier to do with the butter.

Now remove the knife cut from both (ie, remove the scratch from the surface). Easy enough to do on the stick of butter, just lightly drag a flat bladed butter knife across it to remove some of the surrounding butter (paint). Now do the same thing to the steak. Yeah, not quite so easy now, is it?

 

That's a good analogy--and a discouraging one.