Can someone explaine the difference between polishing, waxing, & sealing?
And when I do which? Thanks :)

Dam. I was hoping you had the answer.:confused:

Yeah, what 5th said.

Brawsie:
We are going to have to get together (over a martini or two) and discuss this untill we figure it out.
Gin or Vodka?

It's waxing if you do it twice a year.:)
It's polishing if you do it religiously every 2 weeks.8-)
It's sealing if you get someone else to do it.;-)

Not sure about sealing, but my understanding is that polishing brings out and deepens the shine and waxing is a protective coat. I've attended a couple detail days with my Miata club where we had a rep from Meguiars first demo and then help members out with different detailing tasks. His process was (1) wash, (2) dry, (3) clay bar, (4) paint cleaner, if needed, (5) polish, and finally (6) wax.

Lots of steps, but the results are worth it. An electric polisher helps speed up the process.

Lots of steps, but the results are worth it. An electric polisher helps speed up the process.

Don't tempt me... I need to detail the E for my/our wedding at the end of the month. Something tells me I could spend an entire day on just the exterior.


Here's how I understand the polish/wax/sealer stuff.

You use polish to make the paint shine. You use wax to protect the paint. I think sealer is a compound that is harder than wax and is suposed to last longer.

Generally, when I wash the car, it gets a wash and then a wax (1x a month).

I try to do what TangoBill shows above about twice a year.

I've never used a product that claimed to be a sealer.

Since I haven't had my E for a year yet, I can't tell you if the above will keep me happy but, it's what I did with my previous car and it worked well.

Not sure about sealing, but my understanding is that polishing brings out and deepens the shine and waxing is a protective coat. I've attended a couple detail days with my Miata club where we had a rep from Meguiars first demo and then help members out with different detailing tasks. His process was (1) wash, (2) dry, (3) clay bar, (4) paint cleaner, if needed, (5) polish, and finally (6) wax.

Lots of steps, but the results are worth it. An electric polisher helps speed up the process.

Thanks Bill, that helps. Do you still have your Miata?, are you looking for another one? I have a 10AE I need to sell, $8K, if you are interested. I was a member of the Miata Club down here (Mazda Sportscar Club of Washington D.C.) we meet in Virgina. I never made it out to their car care days.

Not sure about sealing, but my understanding is that polishing brings out and deepens the shine and waxing is a protective coat. I've attended a couple detail days with my Miata club where we had a rep from Meguiars first demo and then help members out with different detailing tasks. His process was (1) wash, (2) dry, (3) clay bar, (4) paint cleaner, if needed, (5) polish, and finally (6) wax.

Lots of steps, but the results are worth it. An electric polisher helps speed up the process.

Very good info, the only thing I would add is polishing helps reduce and fill in light scratches and swirl marks. Polish does not provide any protection though, that's what wax is for. "Sealers" are for the most part waxes or synthetic wax. Any "sealer" that claims to give a years worth of protection is probably not going to hold up unless your car is a garage queen IMHO. Lots of good info on the Meguires and Griots Garage web sites.

PS If you go the electric polisher route make sure that it is a random orbital or DA polisher. Direct drive polishers in inexperienced hands are the quickest way to ruin a paint job.

http://www.5starshine.com/#

It's waxing if you do it twice a year.:)
It's polishing if you do it religiously every 2 weeks.8-)
It's sealing if you get someone else to do it.;-)

I'll have what she's having.:razz:

Thanks for the info Bill.

Think of polish as very very fine sand paper. That's why it's good for removing shallow scratchs etc. If you check out Griots you'll find they offer 3 different polishes with different grits depending if you want to remove scratchs, swirl marks, oxidized paint etc. If you start with a new or well maintained car, polish may never be needed.

The other thing you might want to consider is cleaning clay. Griots again or I thinks Mothers has it. It will clean the surface of the paint extremely well prior to waxing.

"The other thing you might want to consider is cleaning clay. Griots again or I thinks Mothers has it. It will clean the surface of the paint extremely well prior to waxing."


Yes, I highly recommend paint cleaning clay. After you use it the paint will feel as smooth as a babies bottom! Then your all set for polishing (if you need it) or wax. That nice smooth surface will allow the wax to better adhere to it providing much better protection.

Thanks ALL for the information!!!!

Try this link great info even if you don't use their product. http://www.meguiars.com/tips/article_viewer.cfm?selected_ID=10 werD:cool:

Thanks Box-E.

Yeah, i do what most people above have said with a couple changes:

2 times each year, I do the following:
1) Wash the car with dish soap to get off the excess wax
2) Wash the car with meguiars car soap
3) Dry the car
4) Clay bar the car using the meguiars clay bar kit (comes with polishing spray to use when claying)
5) Polish with a polishing spray
6) Apply two coats of Meguiars NXT synthetic wax

Don't waste your time doing the stuff above if you aren't going to use quality products and REAL wax. Any type of spray wax or "wax as you dry" product will not give you the protection that you need. They are more of a "between waxing" product in my mind.

Then once or twice a week (when the weather is nice) I will wash the car with the meguiars and then use a polishing spray or the turtle wax ICE spray on wax.