Products that bridge the gap/don't fall into the typical "go to" category

[E550]

I have a handful of misc meg's products that had been acquired at the request of other's, to polish a vehicle or two for me.

Due to be unhappy with the results (once the wax wore off despite carefully washing and caring for the black paint I pulled the trigger on a used G110 in nearly new condition and a few dozen new meguair's pads 2.0 series, a few burgundy which I know are not intended for use with a DA, 6 yellow polishing pads, 6 finishing grey pads, a few misc backing plates, other pads in smaller sizes, wool pads, etc delivered to my office for 100.00

The leftover products I have are:

New bottle of Ultimate compound
Fine Cut Cleaner (pro)
access to (super cheap by the gallon ~10.00/each)
Speed Glaze, Swirl remover, New car glaze, cleaner wax, etc for sale by a detail shop owner that just closed his doors... literally hundreds of bottles of products are available)

I'm really curious where in the process a cutting cleaner and a glaze would be useful and if they could be compared to a more widely discussed product. I.E. Fine cut cleaner=same utility as the UC but with less abrasiveness, Speed glaze/swirl remover are various stages of a polish such as Ultimate polish (I toss this out there rather than believing it is correct as they do not have the oils associated with a polish to enhance finish), so presume they essentially just a much less aggressive version of a compound like the UC and used for a more precise level of finish consistency before a true polish, than sealant, than wax would be subsequently applied.

If anyone has some insight that would be greatly appreciated.

Note: I have read the pad/speed setting thread and notice the cleaners are lumped in with compounds, and glazes are mixed into both pure polishes and cleaner/polishes. That fact blended with the mix info about them lacking certain ingredients has me a bit confused as to what/when they are useful or to be substituted without adding another stage into the process.

[E550]

Re: Products that bridge the gap/don't fall into the typical "go to" category

I should add that for my application, 90% of the time I am working on a car it will be my own.... a 2010 Black Mercedes e550.

I figured while the products are available I would snatch them up but do not want to acquire product that is useless for me. Understanding better the applications for each will help isolate the direction I go.

[DasBurninator]

Re: Products that bridge the gap/don't fall into the typical "go to" category

Lets start with the glaze. If it is M07 it has a place with single stage paints for sure. When they get old and start to dry out M07 has feeder oils in it that help rejuvenate the paint and can be very beneficial before polishing. Mike Philips had an entire writeup on this a while back on AG.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/25304-secret-removing-oxidation-restoring-show-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html

Fine Cut Cleaner is a bit of an older product and may not have a place in your arsenal. But sometimes it doesn't hurt to have something as a fall back if something else isn't working for you on a certain type of paint.

Cleaner Wax's have their place. Especially if they are a liquid AIO type product that I can run on the polisher. Not every car needs or is paying for a full correction and an AIO is perfect for that situation.

Since you generally are only working on your own car, they may not have a place for you. You shouldn't think of products like these as "adding another step to your process", but more as an option if you ever need it.