In the "Dull Paint" thread (amongst other places) I've read about Glaze. What is glaze? In the Meguires Gold Class line, is there a glaze?

What is the standard process of steps for detailing a car really well?
Wash, polish, glaze, wax?
How often for each?

 

A glaze is something you would use between a polish and wax.

Think of the glaze as a protective layering that shines more than wax but does not last as long. Instead of putting the glaze on top of the wax and having the brilliant shine dull after a few days, you apply the wax over the glaze. The wax protects the glaze because it is the first product to dry out before the environment can affect the glaze.

It’s good stuff, I wouldn’t wax a car without it.

 

Yup, what he said. I use 3M products. After washing the car, I apply the polish, then the glaze, then the wax. Car always looks glossy and shiny as hell, and lasts a long time too. Good luck!

 

Good place to start is www.autopia.org it has a forum and you can learn alot about polishes/glazes/compounds. If you want to know the differences you should look at this: http://www.properautocare.com/whatdif.html

There are so many products out there that its hard to ask any one person what they recommeond over another. I used to use zaino but after reading about how sometimes it gives off a plastic look i'm going to try some new german made products and some carnuba waxes to see my results on my newly painted car. Most people just throw a wax on the car than complain that its not shiney enough or they still have swirls, well if you have a neglected paint surface than its not the waxes fault. Like everyone said, you need to wash thoroughly, evaluate the paint's surface, figure out whether or not you need to clay.

If you have swirls, but just minor ones i would suggest using Meguairs SWR #9 because its not that abrasive. Some polishes just contain temporary fillers, some actaully abrade away the hard edge that light reflects off of the swirl marks. If you have heavy swirls you should try Menzerna Intensive Polish which claims to actually remove swirls but not be a very harsh abrassive like some 3M compounds are.

I could go on and on and on but you should really just check out autopia's forum on how to PROPERLY care for your paint, after a few hours on that forum you'll never look at your paint the same way again :o)

 

Regarding the comments of those above, I agree and have a little more to add. Glaze is a filler. It fills hairline scratches that polishing does not get out. However, unlike what some said, it is NOT necessary, but only if you spend ALOT of time polishing. for example, to get a black car to a point where glaze isn't required requires a ton of polishing, wetsanding, and then never driving or washing the car. We all know that is virtually impossible. Thus, you use a glaze to fill in those very very slight hairline scratches. Glaze offers NO protection whatsoever, none. For the zaino zealots, Z-5 would serve the function of the glaze. glazes have no polishing effect and they basically "wet" the paint prior to waxing. I highly reccomend using menzerna intensive polish followed by menzerna final polish, then topped with the glaze and wax of your choice. On my black car, I like to use the two menzernas in sequence, then blackfire polish (which is really a glaze), then multiple coats of blackfire synthetic sealant (which doesnt have the sterile shine of zaino), topped of with Zymol concours wax. The difference when you add high-grade expensive carnauba over a smooth synthetically sealed car is AMAZING. It clearly illustrates the visual brilliance and cosmetic advantages of carnauba. While carnauba lasts nowhere near as long as synthetics, I'd rather wax more and have a carnauba shine than wax less and have a synthetic shine. Thats my 2 cents. Oh and one more thing, for an amazing carnauba shine don't use meguiars. I tried the gold glass paste and the high tech yellow wax this weekend, gag. Zymol or pinnacle (or collinite) is the only way to go for carnauba.

-Tom

 

Tom, we all know you can get rid of everything on your black car. It's just 4 hours per panel.

You don't even use your car either, just think of how hard it is for people like myself who drive their car all year round and try to keep it respectable looking.

 

Maybe for a slacker like you Joe?

And yes he is serious, you can get most everything off a black car with ALOT of work, more than is worth it for a daily driven car, or a car that is driven at ALL for that matter, considering that when you wash it, no matter how hard you try something miniscule will appear.

Yeah I do, I look at it ALL the time ;-)

-Tom

 

Tom .......... you also own a FireHawk you know. You probaly forgot about the car because you haven't used it.

 

Just use this stuff

http://www.autofanatics.com/vinwaxforlif.html

Cheap and easy