niahuynh

Hello Everyone,

I'm still pretty new at taking car of the car exterior. What I do is wash, dry, clay bar, polish and wax. However, I see people use glaze, sealant and wax. I have a couple questions to ask you guys.

1) What's the different between glaze, polish, sealant and wax?

2) When to use glaze and sealant? before or after wax? how long is the wait in between?

Thank you for your input.

redboost10

glaze will fill in imperfections, it has fillers

polishes offer no protection to the surface at all, they are the last step in the buffing/polishing process of paint correction

sealants are long lasting "waxes", basically a durable wax, it has the most protection on the surface

wax provides the depth/gloss and provides protection

on the order of using them...there will be many opinions and not one right answer. if you do paint correction, you wont need a glaze. i always apply sealant first, then wax after a do some paint correction. i use poorboys products which dont really require a wait time when layering.

dwight

Glaze, then sealant. Wait 12-24 hours for the sealant to cure, then wax.

Sealants are usually more durable than waxes, so, the next time you detail, you can probably just wax.

RedCelica

Polish has microscopic abrasives that remove imperfections in the paint (ie: swirls, small scratches, etc)
Glaze, as posted above will have some corrective properties, but is mainly to add a shine and usually has a cleaner mixed in.
Wax or sealant are preferences. Sealants will do as their name suggests and provide a lasting, protective layer on top of the clear coat. Waxes will not be as long lasting, but make the car look aesthetically better and have more "pop" to the paint. Both make water bead and roll off.

Steps:

Polish
Glaze
Wax/sealant

niahuynh

So glaze is the same as cleaner wax?

Thanks

redboost10

cleaner wax will remove small petite impurities

glaze contains fillers that will fill in swirls

niahuynh

Just to clarify, sealants are like waxes accept protect and last longer. Waxes proctect as well but not as long and sealant but provide better shine. So I can use both, sealant first and wait 12-24 hrs before apply waxes? One more question though, what if you use a really good wax like P21s, then do you need to use sealant? Thank you for your input guys, I really appreciated.

redboost10

yes exactly, sealants are more for durability and waxes are more for depth/gloss although there are some very nice sealants out there. yes its best to wait until the next day to apply a wax on top of a sealant but it all depends which product you use because some do not require a wait time.

there are 200 dollar waxes out there that only last about a month. price does not always matter, its just the fact that sealants are more durable than waxes due to what they contain in them. you do not have to use a sealant. i only use sealants on vehicles that see the road every day, but not on muscle cars/hot rods/race cars.

RedCelica

I have a Berlina, so I def. will be using a wax. OTOH, you have a GPW, so you might come out better going with a sealant. Just a thought. But if you must, you can use both.

akimel

What products do you have in mind? For example, some glazes are oil-based (e.g., Megs' #7), others are synthetic-based (e.g., Danase Wet Glaze). Some have mild cleaning properties (e.g., Poor Boys' Black Hole and Chemical Guys' EZ Creme Glaze), others do not (e.g., #7). And some products have the word "glaze" in the product name but are not really glazes at all (e.g., Megs' #80). If you intend to use a oil-based glaze, then you will want to top it with a carnauba wax but not a synthetic sealant. If you intend to use a synthetic glaze, you may top it with either a carnauba wax or a synthetic sealant.