Polish

[gypsy]

Just wondering if Mequiars has anything like chemical guys Blacklight?

how would Blacklight be topped with Ultimate liquid wax?

Getting ready for spring clean up, this is my list will this be good or do i need anything else.

1 Gold class wash

2 Clay bar kit

3 Ultimate compound (if needed)

4 Ultimate Polish

5 Chemical Guys Blacklight

6 Ultimate Liquid Wax

Thanks in advance

It's a black dodge truck 2012 was dealer paint protected when bought new.

[The Guz]

Re: Polish

If you are using the ultimate trio you really don't need blacklight. Ultimate polish should have more than enough polishing oils to give you that shine.

[davey g-force]

Re: Polish

... But if you really want it, the closest Meguiars equivalent would probably be M7.

[gypsy]

Re: Polish

Thanks for the replies.With all the reading i've been doing it had me a little confused. You read how blacklight gets deep into the paint but in all reality aren't we just conditioning the clear coat on new vehicles?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Polish

Thanks for the replies.With all the reading i've been doing it had me a little confused. You read how blacklight gets deep into the paint but in all reality aren't we just conditioning the clear coat on new vehicles?

Well, yes and no. The clear coat is the paint, it's just not the colored paint. There are a lot of misconceptions about just what clear coat is, so let's see if we can clear some of this up for you.

We first have to go back to the early days of car paint, from the very first factory OEM paint job back in the late 1800s all the way up to the late 1970s, every paint used on automobiles was essentially a single stage paint. That means the colored paint was the final layer of product applied in the paint process. Very early on it was just primer and colored paint - done. Later there were rust inhibiting coats laid down first, then primer, then colored paint. Sure, the chemistry changed with these paints over the years, but at the end of the day the color you saw on the car was the top layer of paint that you touched when you applied wax, used a polish or compound, wet sanded (hence the term "color sanding"), etc. The biggest problem with these paints was that the color was exposed to everything - road grime, ultra violet radiation, abrasive action of towels/applicators, everything. And, since some pigments are much more light sensitive than other, some colors would lose depth faster than others. Ever see a USA Today newspaper that has sat out in the sun for a few hours? Most of the red in the pictures has blown out already while the blues and yellows are mostly still there, shifting the overall color of the image. The same basic thing happened with those older paints because the pigments used were pretty much the same as those used in printing ink. When red paint oxidized, for example, it turned sort of pinkish/whitish and chalky. It looked terrible, but you could quite literally abrade away that upper reach of the paint and restore the gloss and depth once again.

In the late '70s and early '80s clear coats came into regular use among German automakers, and the rest of the world followed suit. This was a major leap in paint chemistry as paint manufacturers no longer had to worry about creating a paint that would be both high gloss and durable all by itself. What they created was a clear paint that lays on top of the colored paint, providing a higher level of gloss than ever before, plus a whole lot more UV protection than previously possible. But it's still just paint. It's clear paint that protects the colored paint beneath it. As a side note, if a manufacturer were to spray just a modern color coat and skip the clear completely, that color would never shine like we want. It wouldn't even shine like an old single stage paint - the chemistry just isn't there, and it doesn't need to be there. The clear layer of paint on top of it provides all the gloss, and then some.

So, when we talk about working on the paint on a modern car, we are indeed talking about just that - working on the paint. Except in modern terms, we are almost always working on clear paint, no matter the color of the car. (We say "almost always" because there are still a couple of single stage paints being used today, though they are quite rare.) Some characteristics of the underlying color still come into play, however, such as darker colors being better at showing depth and wetness than lighter colors do, etc.

This notion of "getting deep into the paint", however, is overstating things a bit. Yes, the surface of any paint is slightly porous, and as the paint ages this porous structure can grow, but any polish or wax that we apply doesn't get any deeper than the depth of these pores - it does not, and can not, become one with the paint. Modern paint chemistry simply does not allow for this to happen. Also, when we talk "porous" with paint, we aren't talking about the level of porosity you find with, say, a sponge. That would just be silly. It's more like your own skin, except not even that porous, really. Think out this: take a bucket of water and dunk a bone dry sponge into it. The sponge expands and grows as it absorbs the water. Lift the sponge out of the bucket and it carries a lot of that water with it; so much so that you can visually see the reduced volume of water in the bucket. Now stick your arm in that same bucket and pull it out. Sure, it carries some water on the surface of your skin, which basically just falls off. You don't see any reduction in the volume of water in the bucket, even though your skin did actually absorb some of the water. It just didn't absorb much of it at all. But, hold you hand in that bucket long enough and your fingertips start to look pruney.... because your skin has absorbed enough water to cause it to swell, but since it's attached to the underlying tissue you get that pruney, puckering, wrinkled look. Paint can't even hold that much. And for anyone who thinks paint can't absorb anything, try this: put a nice quality, tight fitting vinyl bra on your car, but make sure the car and the bra are soaking wet before you put it on. Now leave it there..... for a very long time. Like a couple of years. When you remove that vinyl bra your paint will be discolored, most likely damaged beyond repair. Because of water.

OK, that is an awful long way to go without actually answering your question about Blacklight and how it might relate to our products. CG's website describes this product as a gloss enhancing sealant, which tells us that it's basically what we would call a "polish-wax", or a wax/sealant that also contains polish. That would mean it's roughly similar to our NXT Tech Wax 2.0 or Ultimate Wax, both of which are fully synthetic sealants that contain some polishing oils to help darken darker colors, and enhance gloss and depth of color.

Let's look at your thoughts on a process for this black 2012 Dodge Ram:

1 Gold class wash Great choice!

2 Clay bar kit Almost mandatory

3 Ultimate compound (if needed) Given that it's a 2012, we'd be a bit surprised if it did NOT need this

4 Ultimate Polish A great idea to refine the paint, increasing clarity, gloss and depth of color

5 Chemical Guys Blacklight This would then be your LSP, your final step - apply this and you're done.

6 Ultimate Liquid Wax From CG's description of the above, this would actually be a redundant step - it's really more an either/or situation than which one first/second

In light of this, if you already have the Blacklight, use it. It's pretty expensive stuff and it would be a shame to waste it. If you don't have it already, we would highly recommend Ultimate Wax instead, and many here on MOL would probably suggest the paste version of Ultimate. Heck, a lot of guys would put Ultimate Paste up against practically anything on the market, both in terms of looks and durability.

[gypsy]

Re: Polish

Thanks for the quick reply Michael that cleared things up for me nicely. I don't have Blacklight so not a problem sticking with all mequiars products as i would like to. As for the Ultimate compound will it work for me applying it by hand as i don't have a D A polisher?

[davey g-force]

Re: Polish

It would still yield some improvement. Just not as quickly or easily as with a DA.

[The Guz]

Re: Polish

I agree with Davey.

I'm going to post this so you don't run into this problem and so you can use the correct technique when doing it by hand. Post some before and after photos so we can see the results.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?56576-Avoiding-quot-cheetah-spots-quot-or-quot-Look-what-this-compound-did-to-my-paint!-quot

[gypsy]

Re: Polish

Will post pics when done won't be for awhile though we're still battling snow up here. may have to purchase a D A Thanks