how important is polish for hydration?

[joaks]

How important is using polish for keeping paint from drying out? I'm wondering in the conext of using a sealant that does not contain polish itself.

[Murr1525]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

On a new car, not as much.

Older single stage paints absorbed much more polishing oils (and similarly lose oils). The new clear-coat paints, and even new single stage ones, wont absorb as much.

And paint will absorb more as it ages, less when new.

So a brand new clear-coat will not absorb too much at all. And since the cleaners, cleaner/waxes, waxes, (at least from Meguiars) all seem to contain a little bit, you would certainly be fine for a new car.

[joaks]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

Its a 97, clear coat paint. I'm doing some scary that I have not done in years which is use a non-megs sealant (wolfgang deep gloss)

[Murr1525]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

So sure, a little polishing oil could be good, it is clear coat, but 14 yrs old.

Did you use a paint cleaner, cleaner/polish ,etc first?

[joaks]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

I haven't done the wolfgang yet. I was at least going to clay first, maybe M07 also. I usually use a combination of 7,20, 21, and 26 (not all at once).

[SVT Lightning]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

My truck is a 99 with CC.....I definitely see an improvement when I use #7.

[Shawn T.]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

It has to do with the pores of the paint. As paint ages, its pores grow larger and larger allowing more oils to be absorbed into the paint.

Older clears will benefit from a pure polish but as Murr said, not as much as older single stage paints.

[therdrman]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

polish brings out the paints beauty. it will defenitly help your paint

[mis3]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

How good is this wolfgang deep gloss?

Found the website but I never heard of it.

[joaks]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

I have not used the wolfgang yet but the reviews seem to be very good.

[TOGWT]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

Most modern automotive paints are water-based and the resin binder system no longer requires oils to help the paints elasticity the way they were with Nitrocellulose Lacquer.

The oils used in polishes and compounds are used to provide surface lubrication

The oils used in Carnauba waxes will provide jetting (the so-called wet look), oils on a paint surface will negatively affect the bonding and therefore the durability of a polymer sealant. This is one of the reasons foe using the wipe-down process

[Shawn T.]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

But not true for Meguiars polymer sealants. M07 and NXT 2.0 or even Ultimate Wax are compatible.

[Blazebro]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

polish brings out the paints beauty. it will defenitly help your paint

That's really a bit too simplistic. Fully correcting a painted surface will bring out it's beauty.

Using a polish by hand will correct very little, mostly just cleansing the surface.

Hitting the paint with a rotary and the correct or even numerous grades of polish will bring out the paints beauty. Depending on how bad the paint is you may have to wet sand the paint and then use a number of grades of polish, reducing in aggressiveness to fully bring out the paints beauty.

[Blazebro]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

Most modern automotive paints are water-based and the resin binder system no longer requires oils to help the paints elasticity the way they were with Nitrocellulose Lacquer.

The oils used in polishes and compounds are used to provide surface lubrication

The oils used in Carnauba waxes will provide jetting (the so-called wet look), oils on a paint surface will negatively affect the bonding and therefore the durability of a polymer sealant. This is one of the reasons foe using the wipe-down process

I have to say that reading some of the replies, i was a little concerned at what info was being provided. Your reply is bang on to what I've been told and read else where.

However I think there are a few instances where the paint is somewhat confusing. For instance generally german paint is very hard and will absorb nothing and looks good for years after it's been fully corrected. On the flip side Honda or generally japanese paint is very soft. I've seen the paint on these cars looking disgusting after (for instance) 6 months on from a full correction.

When going over with a swirl spotter there are no real swirls or defects to write home about, but the paint has gone from white to a milky off white. When examined further the paint appears to have absorbed grime over those months despite being waxed or sealed using good quality products.

The only way I've seen to correct this is to hit it with a deep cleanser/finishing polish.

[Tim Lingor]

Re: how important is polish for hydration?

Just to chime in....

Products like M05, M07, M45, M81, etc will have greater impact on older single stage paints where the oils in these products can nourish the paint.

However, on modern clear coats, the products oils do not enter the pores, but instead fill in the micro-fissures on the surface of the paint, thereby creating a smoother and *perhaps* a more reflective finish. I say perhaps as with proper compounding, polishing and finishing steps, it is unlikely you would see that dramatic of a difference on most clear coats.

Tim