bjwebster said:
Since CMA is obviously the car care bible and has all the answers, what does this page mean if polishes arent "abrasive".
CMA <---Link
Umm... none of the products on that page are listed as being abrasive. In fact, it seems to keep bringing up they they are non-abrasive. Also, the products listed there are referred to be the manafacturer as "cleaners", as per their names, with the exceptions being Stoner Clearcoat
Compound and #9 Swirl Remover, which is, if you click on the link, described as a cleaner/polish that is non-abrasive.
If you look here, you will see that none of these defintions mention abrasion:
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=polish
One
could say that "friction" refers to "abrasion", but the definitions also talk about "gloss", which oils add. So according to the dictionary, polish could be used to describe an abrasive, a non-abrasive, or even a protectant that adds gloss.
I tend to think like this (harshest to mildest):
Compound (always abrasive)
Cleaner (occasionally mildly abrasive)
Cleaner/polish (almost always non-abrasive)
Pure polish (non-abrasive -- you could call this a glaze, too, I suppose, though according to defintion, glaze could also describe any number of products that create a layer or film, including all protectants or waxes)
You can call it whatever you like, I suppose I just follow Megiuar's nomenclature because it makes the most sense to me (wash -> clean -> polish -> wax). What matters is whether or not puterbum is wasting his time by applying polish, then washing it off. I suppose this would depend on two things:
1) Does the polish contain a cleaner? If so, is the cleaner effective enough to use the polish solely for the cleaner?
2) Are the polishes he listed abrasive? If they aren't, then the only way they can help with swirls is by (a) filling them or (b) cleaning the dirt out of them, to make them less noticable (assuming it contains a cleaner strong enough to do so.)
Let's not get lost in linguistics. Those are arguments that never get anywhere.
As for carnuba wax, I don't have any in my current regimen, though I do use, as my signature indicates, Gold Class on top of Klasse. I like the extra depth a few coats of SG adds. Putting the gold class directly on top of the polish doesn't give the same effect. Plus, GC is notorious for wearing away quickly, and I'd like to know Klasse is beneath it, in case I can't re-apply GC when it wears off (which is about once a week!). Even if Klasse over polish lasts 2 months instead of 6, I think it's worth it, because it gives the apperance I desire.
