Deep Crystal or Mirror Glaze?

[andorucojp]

Which system is better, the Deep Crystal or the Mirror Glaze #2, #7, and #26? Which Provides more gloss and protection? Does one system last longer?

How Do these compare to the Gold Class and NXT Generation Collections?

By the way I do everything by hand.
Thanks

[Murr1525]

Well, I wouldnt worry about sticking with one system or another, you can mix and match all you want.

Working by hand, I would look at it like this:

1. Wash - Gold Class or Nxt Wash.. both are great choices

2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit

3. Clean - DC#1 and ScratchX

4. Polish - DC#2 is very easy to use by hand. #7 Show Car Glaze can give an even better look, but might take a try or two to get the hang of. So that is up to you.

5. Wax - Gosh, the choices are endless. I really like #21 as far as synthetic waxes go. #26 is very popular with people who like carnubas. I believe Nxt is supposed to be the longest lasting wax Meguiars makes. And Gold Class isnt shabby... I guess that didnt help much...

[Zet]

I don't think one system is "better" than the other, but they are different, and both have a place in Meg's lineup. The products in the Mirror Glaze line, is formulated with the professional detailer in mind, and is often to be used by machine. Also, those products are often more aggressive than similar products in the consumer lines (DC, GC and NXT).

It is also very important to consider what you are working on, to be able to choose the best products. Which car, color and age? And what is the condition of the paint?

If I were to work by hand, and wanted to do all the steps I might do: Wash > Clay > DC1 > DC2 > Wax.

But if I wanted to save time, I might do: Wash > Clay > ColorX.

To find out which Wax provides the most gloss and protection, you really have to try a few on your car, to see what you like. But you might wanna try NXT if you haven't It is also one of Meg's longest lasting LSP's, although it might need to be touched up once in a while to keep the look.

Give this a read if you haven't: Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

And this: What are the differences between Meguiar's waxes?

Edit: Damn, beaten by the minute

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Deep Crystal or Mirror Glaze?

Originally posted by andorucojp
Which Provides more gloss and protection? Does one system last longer?

Gloss comes from getting the paint as smooth as possible, since you're working by hand this means,

First wash the car
Second do a really good job of claying the paint
Third, rub out the entire finish with ScratchX working a small section at at time and then wiping off the leftover residue before moving onto the next section.

After you've done all of the above, apply the Deep Crystal Polish using a thin coat and then wipe it off, panel by panel, and then apply two thin coats of NXT Tech Wax.

By doing the above you will get the most gloss and shine possibly by working by hand.


I'm not sure how far Davis, California is from Irvine, California but for all the questions you keep asking, I would think that it would be in your best interest to invest the time and gas to drive to Irvine for one of our classes and get all of your answers first hand, and get taught the correct techniques for applying and removing products both by hand and machine.

Then you can help answer questions instead of ask them on any forum.


How's that sound?

[the other pc]

Re: Re: Deep Crystal or Mirror Glaze?

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
...I'm not sure how far Davis, California is from Irvine, California ...

Over 400 miles, 'bout an eight hour drive (without traffic).


PC.

[andorucojp]

Davis, CA is near Sacramento; north of sanfrancisco but not yet to redding. that's like 600 miles and at least 8 hours of driving one way an i am in college i am just asking questions now so when i get my car back on wednesday i can shine it up correctly. Sorry if im asking too many questions.

[Murr1525]

Well, it is hard to say what product is always best, which is why there are so many.

If you can get an idea of what different products do, you can really pick out which products are right for you.

What really throws things out of whack is that the properties people want are usualy opposing. For instance, the things in wax that cause water to bead dont give good protection. And the things that give good protection dont cause water to bead. So with all the products, to get the right blend of looks, ease of use, strength/safety, durability, etc is really tricky, and just one of the reasons you end up with som many product choices.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by andorucojp
Davis, CA is near Sacramento; north of Francisco but not yet to redding. that's like 600 miles and at least 8 hours of driving one way an i am in college i am just asking questions now so when i get my car back on Wednesday i can shine it up correctly. Sorry if I'm asking too many questions.

You're not asking too many questions, but by the questions you're asking my instincts tell me you could really benefit from some real hands-on training.

Teaching people how to use their hands out in their garage is much more difficult than actually showing them in the flesh.


Just to note, this last Saturday we had a young man drive down from San Fransisco to attend our class as it was important enough to him to learn how to work on his Lexus the right way.





I don't think he's posted to the thread for the class he's attended, but I'm sure he will and then you can read first hand what he thought about the class and if it was worth the drive.

[bullet1]

Start address: Davis, CA

End address: Irvine, CA

Distance: 444 mi (about 7 hours 12 mins)

Not quite 600 miles, but still quite a haul. If it were me, I would definitely make it, but everyone is different.

Start address: Columbus, OH

End address: Irvine, CA

Distance: 2,283 mi (about 1 day 14 hours)

I think that might be a tad bit far to drive.

Anyway, I use a variety of products. All have their own values. I use #26, NXT, #21 depending on the car and what mood I'm in for the day. I always polish however with either 80,82,83. I find these to be the most effective at removing defects. #7 is nice if you are looking for nice gloss while not removing defects.

[andorucojp]

I failed to mention why i was waiting for my car.
It's in the shop.
It's a 1991 passat GL and I don't have the money to drive an older car down there. I dont have the money to drive to San Francisco 80 miles away.I dont have the money to spend on products that aren't what i need or aren't going to give me the best results. Questions are free. Polls give me more than one person's advice. That's why im asking so many questions and posting polls.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by andorucojp
Questions are free. Polls give me more than one person's advice. That's why im asking so many questions and posting polls.

Well I already answered you as did others, here you go again...

Gloss comes from getting the paint as smooth as possible, since you're working by hand this means,

First wash the car
Second do a really good job of claying the paint if it's needed.
Third, rub out the entire finish with ScratchX working a small section at at time and then wiping off the leftover residue before moving onto the next section.

After you've done all of the above, apply the Deep Crystal Polish using a single thin coat and then wipe it off, panel by panel, and then apply two thin coats of NXT Tech Wax.

By doing the above you will get the most gloss and shine possibly by working by hand.


Here's the products you'll need,

Car Wash, either NXT Car Wash or Gold Class Car Wash
Detailing Clay
ScratchX
Deep Crystal Polish
NXT Tech Wax
Some high quality microfiber polishing cloths
A couple extra foam applicator pads

You can get all of the above for under under $70.00 and actually less I don't feel like jumping over to www.meguiars.com and looking up all the prices as I have an important project I'm working on right now.

The only thing you have to do besides purchase the right products is use the correct technique for applying and removing the above products and I think other forum members have already posted the links to the threads that will give you this information but I'll add one just in case.

[Mike Phillips]

Here you go... while the focus of this article is how to remove swirls by hand, the principals are the same for creating a smooth, clear high gloss finish.

How To Remove Swirls By Hand


The below write-up was taken from page three of this Saturday Detailing Class at Meguiar's where approximately 25 people witnessed the products shown below, applied and removed using the correct techniques to remove the gross rotary buffer swirls and restore a swirl free finish by hand.

San Diego Mercedes-Benz club at Meguiar's!


After selecting two Mercedes-Benz automobiles to work on, one being Tom's, we broke for a pizza lunch. After everyone had their fill of pizza and something cold to drink, it was time to re-gather in Meguiar's Garage to see what we could do with the gross swirls in Tom's recently painted hood.




Often times when the topic of removing swirls is being discussed on our discussion forum, or some other detailing forum, it centers around the dual action polisher, foam buffing pads and somebody's compound or polish. Yet many people don't own a dual action polisher. So here at Meguiar's Garage, we like to show people how to use the what they already own... their hands!



Like most detailing enthusiasts, I personally love a challenge, and with Tom's car, I believe most people would agree, his car's finish presents a challenge!

BEFORE - 700 Pixel-wide cropped out section from an un-touched, original photo of rotary buffer swirls in a clear coat finish.





Using some painters tape, we taped-off a section of the hood to separate the before and after results. Then, we applied three, well worked in applications of Meguiar's ScratchX all applied by hand using Meguiar's High-Tech Applicator Pad






The secret to removing swirls by hand using Meguiar's ScratchX is all in your technique. You see in order to remove swirls out of your car's finish, you need to remove a little bit of paint. If we we're to look at a horizontal view of what gross rotary buffer swirls look like in the paint, it would look something like the diagram below. In order to remove these below surface defects, (swirls), you need to remove enough paint from the finish to level the upper surface with the *****t depths of the swirls until you've restored the finish to a flat, level surface.




To do this by hand with ScratchX, you need to,

• * Apply to a small section at a time
  * First spread the ScratchX evenly over the area you're going to work (before working it in)
  * Work the microscopic diminishing abrasives against the finish applying a little passion behind the applicator pad
  * Repeat this process with multiple applications after first removing the residue from each application after working it against the finish

Remember that Meguiar's paint cleaners, like ScratchX do not need to dry before removing. Drying adds no benefit. The only Meguiar's paint products that need to dry before removing are Meguiar's waxes.

Technique Tip

The question is often asked,

"Which direction should I move my hand when applying a Meguiar's paint cleaner?"

A common mis-conception, often espoused on other discussion forums, or by some car care product manufactures, is the technique of only rubbing a product in a certain direction to keep all of your scratches going in the same direction.

Meguiar's teaches that if the products you're using are non-abrasive, that is they are not instilling scratches into the finish, as such, it shouldn't matter which direction you move your hand!

If the products you're using are inflicting scratches into your car's finish, the correct thing to do is to stop using the product! Don't try to camouflage the scratches to your eyes by instilling them in straight-lines as determined by the movement of your hand.

ScratchX can be applied using straight-lines or circular motion and for this particular demonstration we used a combination of both.

Removing ScratchX using Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber after working the product against the finish until the product has broken down, turned somewhat clear and begun to dissipate.




At Meguiar's Saturday Detailing 101 classes, we go through a power point presentation that covers a wide spectrum of detailing topics, one of which is Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle , which includes;

• Step 1 Wash
  Step 2 Clean
  Step 3 Polish
  Step 4 Protect
  Step 5 Maintain

After cleaning the paint with a paint cleaner like ScratchX, we then apply a pure polish, in this case, Deep Crystal Polish which is a non-abrasive pure polish.



In Meguiar's line, we offer two types of polishes, cleaner/polishes, which contain a diminishing abrasive, and pure polishes, which are completely non-abrasive and are used solely for the purpose of creating brilliant gloss. Deep Crystal Polish is a pure polish.



The way you apply a pure polish is akin to applying a skin lotion to your skin. That is you apply the polish to a small section at a time, work the product in thoroughly.



After thoroughly, (but gently with care and passion), remove any excess polish with a clean, soft premium quality microfiber polishing cloth or 100% cotton towel.



Like ScratchX a paint cleaner, it is not necessary to let a pure polish like Deep Crystal Polish dry before removing it. Allowing a polish to dry will not add anything beneficial to the process, so after you work it in well, go a head and remove it.


At this point, we have cleaned and polished the finish. The cleaning step removed the swirls and the polishing step restored optical clarity, depth, reflectivity, richness of color and brilliant gloss. Next we're going to apply a coating of Meguiar's new NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste



NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste is identical to NXT Generation Tech Wax Liquid except that it comes in a paste form. There are two types of paste waxes, the difference is in their consistency. The practical application difference is in how you remove them from the can and then apply them.

With a cleaner/wax (paste), like Meguiar's A12 Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax you can scoop out a small amount and with your applicator pad and then apply it to the finish and work it in.



With paste waxes like Gold Class Clear Coat Wax Paste, M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax, and NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste, instead of scooping wax out of the can, you can twist, or spin your wax applicator against the wax while it's in the can and this little bit of agitation will help to liquefy the wax and enable it to seep, or penetrate into your applicator pad whereupon making it easier to apply to the finish.





Paste waxes like NXT Tech Generation Wax offer good gliding action and tend to apply very easy. Remember a little bit goes a long ways and it's important to try to apply a uniform, thin coating.



After applying the Tech Wax Paste and allowing it to dry, we removed it using a Supreme Shine Microfiber polishing cloth and the Tom backed his Mercedes-Benz out into the sun where everyone could look at the results and see with their own two eyes what can be accomplished by hand with the right products and the correct techniques.







Here's the owner Tom inspecting closely!



And here I am capturing the results with our Sony Digital which does an excellent job of capture swirls in the sun.




Before



After
















Perfect? No.

dramatically improved? Yes!

Most importantly, we fixed by hand what someone else inflicted with a rotary buffer.

Meguiar's products, applied and removed using the correct techniques will outperform the competition hands down and give your car a swirl-free show car shine!

[Mike Phillips]

And remember, practice makes perfect and if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

Good luck!

[andorucojp]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Well I already answered you as did others, here you go again...

I didn't say you never answered me. I wouldn't keep asking questions if no one responded?

Anyway, Thank You and everyone for their response they have been Very helpful.

[matt colvin]

Originally posted by andorucojp
Davis, CA is near Sacramento; north of sanfrancisco but not yet to redding. that's like 600 miles and at least 8 hours of driving one way an i am in college i am just asking questions now so when i get my car back on wednesday i can shine it up correctly. Sorry if im asking too many questions.

It's a 1991 passat GL and I don't have the money to drive an older car down there. I dont have the money to drive to San Francisco 80 miles away.I dont have the money to spend on products that aren't what i need or aren't going to give me the best results. Questions are free. Polls give me more than one person's advice. That's why im asking so many questions and posting polls.

I too am in college, so I can empathize with you on the situation. With me, time is especially of the essence, so I too try to look for the best methods when I am detailing. I can also appreciate the feeling that you might be having when looking at all of these different product lines, and the confusion that they may cause. My best explanation would be that Meguiars, a very trusted and experienced company, recognizes that everyone has different and special needs for their own vehicles. To these needs, they have spent lots of time and effort to produce several different product offerings, with the hope of allowing people to pick out the products that best suit their needs and/or preferences. Herein lies the root of many people's question, "Why so many products/which is the best???"

Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer to this question. All you can do is follow the basic 5-step guideline listed above, and experiment with different products using this guideline. I know that this takes alot of time, effort, and money; but I would also reply that all good things are worth waiting for. You can stick to the consumer line products now, as they are easy to find, generally easy to apply/use, and produce excellent results for most people.

My suggestion would be to continue reading on this forum, esp. the writeups listed in the "List 'O Links", which you can do a search for and find easily. Then, by the time your car is fixed, you'll be ready to go to work.

One question, as I don't think I've seen it yet, what color is your car??

Also, I hope that you've not had a bad impression of this forum so far, as this is one of the friendliest places you'll find on the net. There are alot of good people that will do alot to really hlelp you when you have a question or product concern. Meguiars is an old company that has been around for a good reason.

My Great Experience With Customer Service