Wash - clay - polish - sealant - wax - glaze.
I only Wash - clay - wax
I use megs shampoo and clay and P21S wax. What polish, sealant and glaze should I use? My routine already takes 3 hours
The science goes.....
With clay, you 'pull' the bits of dirt etc. out of the paint that get stuck in the lacquer and top coat. This leaves little gaps that effectively need filling. The effect of the clay is to effectively make sure that anything stuck on the paint is removed.
Polish should then help fill these holes and flatten the surface a bit. Depending how bad any damage is, then this can be done to a certain degree by hand. To repair damage etc. machine polishers come in as they can move quicker and you can apply more pressure. This is where paint depth guages come in, and it all goes painfully expensive!!
Basically, use a polish after the clay, to bring back the luster of the paint.
After claying and polishing, you have effectively used two quite abrasive substances on the paint. Any 'protection' will have been removed or at least reduced. A sealant then puts a hard wearing protective coat on, that makes future washing and maintenance a whole load easier IMO too.
These three steps need only doing every 3-6 months really. Certainly clay more like 6 months really. Hand polish every 3 months if you wanted. A good sealant should last a winter or 6 months.
Sealants don't always have the best finish. So adding the wax puts the wet look or deep shine or colourful finish on. Some will say there is no difference, some say there is a huge difference between products. Just try different ones and see what you think.
Glaze is almost a temporary thing and the sort of thing that is added for shows to get a real shine and wet look. It doesn't last long at all but can really add to the wax.
Product ideas -
Clay - Megs Quik clay (make sure you use plenty of the lubricant)
Polish - AG SRP, Menzerna, Megs #81 (and a whole different range for machine polishers!)
Sealant - AG EGP, CG Jetseal 109
Wax - P21S, Dodo juice, Colinite.
Glaze - Megs or Chemical Guys do some good stuff.
There is also Zaino and Zymol products that I have seen used, but not used myself. Some people swear by it, some struggle to see the difference for the price.
One final point, think about what car wash you use and how much in a bucket of water. The wash I use needs one cap full to a 5l bucket. Put 3 cap fulls in, it is strong enough to strip the wax. It is that subtle!!
Sorry for gabbling, hope this helps.
Nice one mate, really appreciate that
So if you should only polish every 3 months what would happen if you do it every time? Would it add or detract to the look?