cleaner wax vs color x.. and the meaning of polish

[Alexandre]

Is there a huge difference btw Meguiars Cleaner Wax and Color X?
Is there any pictures or test where I can see results?

Another question is.. some ppl use the term polish as an abrasive step (product), others use polish as a non-abrasive step.. so what exacly is the correct term? I mean meguiars refers to NXT 2.0 as a polish wax.. for exemple..

Also, "compound" .. what is the difference btw compound and polish? I am asking because I live in another country and it is hard to "get" the idea to relate products here (brazil) and there (US).

[Andrew Wilson]

Re: cleaner wax vs color x.. and the meaning of polish

Yes...ColorX is still a cleaner wax, however it has more cleaning ability than our Meguiar's Cleaner Wax. It is also going to polish and last a little longer. Noticeably different, probably not on every car, but most definitely when you are cleaning the paint with ColorX.

Meguiar's uses the term polish as the "creation of gloss." 99% of the time is a non-abrasive step. NXT 2.0 is a polishing wax versus being a cleaner wax. It polishes (creates lots of depth and gloss) and protects in one step. ColorX is a great 3-1 product where is cleans, polish, and protects in 1 step, obviously not at the level as NXT, but it is a really good wax.

Great QUESTION!!!

[speed3blackmica]

Re: cleaner wax vs color x.. and the meaning of polish

color X has more "bite" to it as it can tackle oxidation pretty effectively. Cleaner Wax is an amazing product that utilizes diminishing abrasives to help get rid of minor swirl marks and defects, even some bonded contaminents. color X also utilizes diminishing abrasives. the word polish is correct as defined by Andrew Wilson. It is the "Cleaner Polishes" that have cutting ability to remove defects and swirls. The term compound again containts abrasives, however they are normally much stronger than Cleaner Polishes..they can tackle defects much more effectively. the reason meguiars says that nxt is like a polish wax is because it does contain some polishing oils that help to brighten and darken the paint

[Michael Stoops]

Re: cleaner wax vs color x.. and the meaning of polish

Unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to terminology in the detailing world.

Meguiar's has been using the term "polish" to refer to a product that is essentially a gloss enhancer - it contains no abrasive and offers no protection. It is designed to be used on a perfectly (or near perfectly) prepared surface, meaning free from above surface bonded contaminants as well as below surface defects. This would include products like M07 Show Car Glaze and Deep Crystal Polish.

When talking about products with abrasives in them, products designed to remove those below surface defects such as swirls, etchings and stains, we use the term "paint cleaner". Paint cleaners include such products as Ultimate Compound, SwirlX and ScratchX 2.0 as well as M01 Fine Cut Cleaner, M02 Medium Cut Cleaner, and others.

Now, we also have products that combine the cleaning and polishing steps. For these products we use the term "cleaner polish", for obvious reasons. Products like M80 combine the polishing oils of M07 with cleaning abrasives similar to what you might find in M02 Medium Cut Cleaner. M83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish is also a cleaner polish (obviously) and therefore very closely related to M80, but it's got more "cleaner" and less "polish" than M80.

Compounds are on the high end of the aggressiveness scale - they are designed primarily to do one thing, and one thing only; cut. Their primary use is to remove sanding marks and other very severe defects, including heavy oxidation. Technology has advanced to where you can now use some compounds, like M105, with a D/A polisher and get outstanding results. This is due primarily to the very specialized abrasives used in this product.

We also combine polish into some waxes, like NXT Tech Wax 2.0 and Gold Class Carnauba Plus. Other waxes, like Deep Crystal Carnauba and M26 High Tech Yellow Wax, for example, are what we call pure waxes which simply means they contain no polishing oils or abrasives. Their only function is to offer protection (although by simple nature of the wax they will add a bit of gloss). Lastly we have cleaner waxes like our Cleaner Wax (that was a hard name to come up with, huh? ) and M20. As the name implies, these offer some light cleaning ability as well as wax protection.

Funny thing is, Meguiar's is often called out for using some of these terms in odd or unusual ways (like "polish" meaning a non abrasive product) when in reality, we've been using these terms in these ways since before most of our competitors even existed.