Ultimate polish - not a polish?

[NorthantsPete]

Once again, im confused by megs language - Is ultimate polish a polish, that contains abrasives?
Or is it purely a cleaner?

Reason I ask, i have some swirling going on and need to know if they will deminish or not until next year when I ultimate compound? If it fills them in, thats also fine as the wax should seal it in and away we go - nice looking DD

Planning to :

Yearly: Claybar + DA Ultimate compound + Wax
Regular: Ultimate Polish + Wax
No time: Cleaner Wax

[Top Gear]

Re: Ultimate polish - not a polish?

It is a polish (one of the best) with a very, very mild set of SMAT abrasives, based on/related to M205. It can be used on soft paints or otherwise perfect finishes as a "compound" or "cleaner". A similar polish with no abrasives is Detailer D302, for example. The polishes can be used for very fine "jeweling" of the paint, and the oils will diminish defects (indeed, many are fooled by this into thinking the defects are corrected). If you're using UC, follow it with UP and then your wax. For your regular rewaxing, you can use a cleaner-wax or a polish-wax or a regular wax of course. There are many combinations and solutions.

[NorthantsPete]

Re: Ultimate polish - not a polish?

Do megs do any polishing waxes? with durability?
I know Autoglym do

[The Guz]

Re: Ultimate polish - not a polish?

Sounds like you are referring to a cleaner wax/AIO. Which will clean, polish and protect.

NXT, Ultimate Wax are polish waxes but they don't offer any sort of correction.

Polishes don't typically offer any sort of durability.

[Top Gear]

Re: Ultimate polish - not a polish?

Gold Class, Ultimate and NXT/M21 are all polish-waxes, and there may be others. Check Meguiar's.com/en/ and this older thread on the many waxes.

As for durability, that is an almost purely myth-based fan fight (say Ultimate/NXT fans vs fans of the many carnauba waxes). If you're doing maintenance on a daily driver (washing, detailing, etc), it doesn't matter how long a given wax might last in the vacuum of discussion forum claims, because you are washing your wax right off yourself, the rain is washing it off, the Sun is burning it off, the overnight moisture cycle is evaporating it off, etc. This is true of all wax products - a micron-thin film of residue - so, "durability" is a silly concept here. Don't rely on "water beading" to inform you whether your wax is still active. You should be boosting the wax daily or every few days with additional sacrificial layers using combinations of a shampoo, a waterless wash as a cleaner/detailer, and quik wax, especially the ones with carnauba if your main wax is a carnauba wax. I sometimes lay down some GCQW spray wax right before a rain storm comes through for that reason, then touch up again after the drops are gone. This is also one reason why some people "top" with two different waxes, or do two coats of one. It's also how I can go months in a hot and rainy region without having to re-wax with my main carnauba wax.

All Meguiar's waxes contain some types of polymers or other "synthetic" ingredients and mixtures, their secret sauces for each product, which is a good thing. Some of the waxes have carnauba, some have polishing oils, some have specific additional polymers, and some have very mild cleaning abrasives. Some are best used in a sequence of separate steps in a full-on correction, and some are better for a one-step application such as re-waxing. Some are sold in bulk by mail order only and are closely related to consumer products found in stores (or vice-versa), while some are unique products with no consumer or pro bulk equivalent.

That's why we have SOOOO many combinations (and fan groups), and why it's so overwhelming to learn this stuff, even overwhelming to help answer questions on the forum

I think you have to try different finishing products as best you can and decide what looks good to you on your paint. Unless you've got the budget to do it, instead of buying a lot of stuff, especially if you're matching the maintenance products to the wax, then look for a few representative waxes and then decide from there. You can totally mix and match all these products, as well.