Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
Does a coat of wax really add much after polishing?
This topic comes up from time to time in the discussion forum world and it's a popular and even hot topic.
I've known a few respected detailers that state that applying a wax doesn't add much to the overall finished visual results after a proper machine polishing where the paint has been perfected.
Short term I agree. By short term I mean a day or two or until the first rainy day, first car wash or repeated use of a spray detailer.
Long term, I completely disagree. A "quality" wax or paint sealant, and even a paint coating if you want to do the proper prep work after machine polishing will seal the surface with a sacrificial barrier coating that is water insoluble and as the saying goes, this will lock in the shine. And it will.
A quality wax or other LSP and by the word quality I mean a true finishing wax or show car wax, something without harsh solvents, cleaners or abrasives, will not only seal the surface and log in the shine but it can also take the polishing results to a little higher level. I can do this via a number of different ways. This topic came up recently on our forum and below is what I wrote as a reply and sometimes I either don't think I can improve what I already word smithed or I don't have time to re-write it so I'm going to just copy and paste my replay with my reasons below.
I've seen a few detailers in my life that have tried to argue that wax, or "sealant" or a "coating, you know, the LSP or Last Step Product isn't important or isn't a factor because the polishing step is where the actual magic takes place.
I disagree. A lot.
All pro-grade polishes I know of are dedicated products, that means they are dedicated for a single dedicated purpose, that is to in some fashion abrade the paint as part of a process to perfect it.
Most if not all of these products are also body shop safe. This means they contain no ingredients that would cause water to bead up like a wax because this would contaminate a body shop, (fresh paint environment), and this type of contamination can lead to surface adhesion problems. Surface adhesion problems result in what the average guy calls Fish Eyes.
What the above two things mean is that these pro-grade compounds and polishes don't have any ingredients in them that lasts. You see, wax lasts because it's NOT water soluble. Most compounds and polishes are water soluble, they are not meant to last, that is seal the paint with a sacrificial barrier coating of protection that will hold up to repeated washing, wiping and rain. No they are meant to perfect the paint and then be wiped off.
A wax, or a synthetic paint sealant or a paint coating, these are product that are designed to l-a-s-t.
Isn't that what everyone wants? A wax that lasts a long time?
So the results a high quality polish will create can and will look damn good. But these "appearance results" will diminish as the polishing oils wash off, get wiped off or get rained off or even vaporize off the paint.
By sealing the paint with a product designed to last, that is a product that is not water soluble, i.e. a wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating, you lock-in these appearance results.
Not only that... a quality wax, synthetic paint sealant or coating will create a UNIFORM appearance. Polishing doesn't do this, it comes close but under good lighting after wiping all the polish off you can see variable in the finished results. At least I can.
A quality wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating fixes this by creating a uniform appearance and that improves the results created by the polish.
That's 2 things a wax will do, make the results from polishing last over time and create a uniform appearance.
Here's one more thing a quality wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating will do and that's amp up the gloss, clarity, depth and shine. This is a no-brainer because any chemist that's worth his salt creates formulas that provide these types of aesthetic characteristics b-e-c-a-u-s-e that's what the market wants from a wax. By the word market I mean use human beings.
A wax, synthetic paint sealant or paint coating can also create a more slippery surface and a slick or slippery surface can at a minimum help to ward off micro-scratching, (in my humble non-engineer opinion), and the other bonus to this relates back to human beings like their paint to feel slippery.
I also think a quality wax, sealant or coating makes washing faster, easier and safer and this goes for drying too.
There's also some element of protection from UV rays plus just the fact that you have a sacrificial barrier coating on top of the paint means that anything that will attack the paint will first have to make this barrier coating sacrifice itself, that is give itself up before the offending attacker can get to the actual paint.
A quality wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating can also provide some level of masking or hiding by filling in microscopic imperfections to create a more perfect visual appearance and this is why applying a wax, sealant or coating can take the results from polishing to an even higher level.
I think that's 8 benefits I've listed that applying a quality wax, sealant or coating provides if you count how wax makes washing safer and drying safer as two benefits.
The above is all off the top of my head.... I may have missed a few key points and if I think of them later I'll add them to this thread.
This topic comes up from time to time in the discussion forum world and it's a popular and even hot topic.
I've known a few respected detailers that state that applying a wax doesn't add much to the overall finished visual results after a proper machine polishing where the paint has been perfected.
Short term I agree. By short term I mean a day or two or until the first rainy day, first car wash or repeated use of a spray detailer.
Long term, I completely disagree. A "quality" wax or paint sealant, and even a paint coating if you want to do the proper prep work after machine polishing will seal the surface with a sacrificial barrier coating that is water insoluble and as the saying goes, this will lock in the shine. And it will.
A quality wax or other LSP and by the word quality I mean a true finishing wax or show car wax, something without harsh solvents, cleaners or abrasives, will not only seal the surface and log in the shine but it can also take the polishing results to a little higher level. I can do this via a number of different ways. This topic came up recently on our forum and below is what I wrote as a reply and sometimes I either don't think I can improve what I already word smithed or I don't have time to re-write it so I'm going to just copy and paste my replay with my reasons below.
I've seen a few detailers in my life that have tried to argue that wax, or "sealant" or a "coating, you know, the LSP or Last Step Product isn't important or isn't a factor because the polishing step is where the actual magic takes place.
I disagree. A lot.
All pro-grade polishes I know of are dedicated products, that means they are dedicated for a single dedicated purpose, that is to in some fashion abrade the paint as part of a process to perfect it.
Most if not all of these products are also body shop safe. This means they contain no ingredients that would cause water to bead up like a wax because this would contaminate a body shop, (fresh paint environment), and this type of contamination can lead to surface adhesion problems. Surface adhesion problems result in what the average guy calls Fish Eyes.
What the above two things mean is that these pro-grade compounds and polishes don't have any ingredients in them that lasts. You see, wax lasts because it's NOT water soluble. Most compounds and polishes are water soluble, they are not meant to last, that is seal the paint with a sacrificial barrier coating of protection that will hold up to repeated washing, wiping and rain. No they are meant to perfect the paint and then be wiped off.
A wax, or a synthetic paint sealant or a paint coating, these are product that are designed to l-a-s-t.
Isn't that what everyone wants? A wax that lasts a long time?
So the results a high quality polish will create can and will look damn good. But these "appearance results" will diminish as the polishing oils wash off, get wiped off or get rained off or even vaporize off the paint.
By sealing the paint with a product designed to last, that is a product that is not water soluble, i.e. a wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating, you lock-in these appearance results.
Not only that... a quality wax, synthetic paint sealant or coating will create a UNIFORM appearance. Polishing doesn't do this, it comes close but under good lighting after wiping all the polish off you can see variable in the finished results. At least I can.
A quality wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating fixes this by creating a uniform appearance and that improves the results created by the polish.
That's 2 things a wax will do, make the results from polishing last over time and create a uniform appearance.
Here's one more thing a quality wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating will do and that's amp up the gloss, clarity, depth and shine. This is a no-brainer because any chemist that's worth his salt creates formulas that provide these types of aesthetic characteristics b-e-c-a-u-s-e that's what the market wants from a wax. By the word market I mean use human beings.
A wax, synthetic paint sealant or paint coating can also create a more slippery surface and a slick or slippery surface can at a minimum help to ward off micro-scratching, (in my humble non-engineer opinion), and the other bonus to this relates back to human beings like their paint to feel slippery.
I also think a quality wax, sealant or coating makes washing faster, easier and safer and this goes for drying too.
There's also some element of protection from UV rays plus just the fact that you have a sacrificial barrier coating on top of the paint means that anything that will attack the paint will first have to make this barrier coating sacrifice itself, that is give itself up before the offending attacker can get to the actual paint.
A quality wax, synthetic sealant or paint coating can also provide some level of masking or hiding by filling in microscopic imperfections to create a more perfect visual appearance and this is why applying a wax, sealant or coating can take the results from polishing to an even higher level.
I think that's 8 benefits I've listed that applying a quality wax, sealant or coating provides if you count how wax makes washing safer and drying safer as two benefits.
The above is all off the top of my head.... I may have missed a few key points and if I think of them later I'll add them to this thread.
