A Collection of World Class Car Care Products
There are somethings that washing your car can't clean and waxing your car can't prevent. Over time, your car is bombarded with a wide variety of contaminants. Some of these contaminants might get caught in your mitt while you're washing and scratch the surface. Some of them may penetrate through your wax, sealant, or coating and become embedded into the paint. Because a glossy appearance is caused by light reflecting evenly across the entire surface, the hills and valleys created by embedded contaminants and imperfection, ruin that even surface, and leave it looking dull and feeling rough. Scratches, swirls, and embedded contaminants can't be removed through washing, but that doesn't mean they can't be removed! They just need a little more "convincing"!
Polishes (and their more aggressive counterparts, compounds) are gels that contain microscopic abrasive particulates. They abrade the surface of your paint as they are rubbed across the panel, leveling the areas around any scratches, swirls, or imperfections down to the lowest point of the imperfection. This restores your paint to an even, level surface once more, removing the imperfection and restoring the gloss!
Now, leveling the surface of your paint does also remove any embedded contaminants by grinding them down, that is not always the best option. Your car has a finite amount of clear coat and paint, so you don't want to abrade away any more than you have to! If you don't have any scratches or swirls and the surface is just a little dull and rough, that is likely only embedded contaminants. These can be easily removed by using detailing clay or a synthetic clay mitt or towel. Detailing clay, and its synthetic alternative, will grab onto the exposed contaminants as you glide them across the surface. Then, these contaminants will either be pulled out entirely or the exposed portion will be broken off, making the surface smooth once more!
You should ALWAYS use a clay lubricant when claying your car! This ensures that there is not too much friction on the surface as you slide the clay across the paint. If you don't use a lubricant, you risk marring the surface and causing more harm than good!
