Glazes vs. Sealants

[tiger 6]

Some questions concerning glazes. What are the advantages of a glaze vs. a sealant? Do they last as long as a sealant? If applied with a rotary, what speed[s] is recommended? Is a glaze applied at the same time as a sealnt, ie, wash, clay, polish, seal? Can you place a layer of carnuba over a glaze as with a sealant? Do glazes work better with some types of paint and colors than others?
I have not used a glaze previously and have been using sealants for my detailing work for some time now. Thanks.

[tuscarora dave]

The word glaze is sometimes used to describe a polish (Mothers Machine Glaze) which is somewhat aggressive and sometimes it is a product such as Poorboy's Black Hole (dark colors) or White diamond (light colors) which is a brightening and filling product to help to hide micro marring when you don't or for some reason can't seem to get the paint finish polished to near perfect or LSP ready.

A glaze really has no durability at all such as a sealant or wax and can be easily washed off the car, sometimes car show contestants will apply a glaze just before the show to add a little extra pop and hide some fine micro marring just for the show.

Poorboy's showcar glazes can be topped with a sealant or a finishing wax containing little or no real solvents. A wax or sealant with lots of solvents will typically remove the glaze while being applied.

I sometimes use Black Hole for dark colored paint followed by Natty's Blue Paste Wax when I don't want to or don't have time to polish. Natty's Blue has some fillers in it so it works well over glazes. Meg's Gold Class wax has lots of fillers so it works well over glazes. Collinite #845 has lots of solvents in it so it tends to remove a glaze while being applied.

IME machine applying an LSP over a glaze almost always removes the glaze, making it a wasted step in the process. If I do use a glaze I typically machine apply it with a DA instead of a rotary and then hand apply my LSP over the glaze but I will apply my LSP with very little pressure so that the glaze isn't rubbed out of the defects that I am trying to hide.

If you are heading out for cruise night at your local drive in and don't have time to polish, I would recommend a glaze. If you have time and a decent paint finish to start with, I would suggest adding a final polishing step after 205 with something like Menzerna's PO85RD or Poorboy's SSR1 with a finising pad and you will have no need for a glaze before your LSP of choice.

[BobbyG]

Glazes

A glaze offers a temporary disguise to a finish by filling swirls and small imperfections leaving the surface looking very wet and glossy. The downside to a glaze is it's only temporary and offer virtually no protection at all.

After a glaze is applied give it time to dry and then overcoat with a sealant or some protective product. This gives the glaze protection allowing it's appearance to last longer. That said, at some point these coatings will degrade to the point where all those little imperfections will once again be visible.

Sealants

Sealants are nothing more than synthetic waxes but they have come a long way and are very easy to use.

"Paint sealants are kind of the anti-carnauba. They last a lot longer, they are easy to apply, and there’s nothing natural about them. This is surface science at its best.

A paint sealant is made of polymers, which are composed of tens of thousands of synthetic particles that are linked together. When a sealant bonds to your vehicle’s paint, it forms a rigid shell. It is not the warm carnauba that seems to melt into the paint. Paint sealants sit on top of the paint like a transparent chain metal suit. They are glossy and slick, but carnauba lovers will tell you they do not have the warmth and depth of a carnauba."


Carnauba Car Wax vs. Paint Sealants, carnauba wax reviews, paint sealant reviews (http://www.autogeek.net/qude101.html)

[A4 1.8tqm]

:goodpost: :iagree:

Clear and concise explanations. Should clear up any confusion. Too bad there isn't an "Industry standard, official detailing-term definition rule book". There are too many words that companies use in ways outside of the enthusiasts definition. I know I for one was totally lost when I first joined AG.

[Mike Phillips]

I saw this thread last night and thought the questions were great but typing out great answers would take some detailed thought because there are no standards for "terms" used to label and describe products.

Looks like great answers are already posted, I would add that what I do is determine what a product is by what the product does regardless of the name on the label.

As mentioned,

There are sealants that are labeled glaze and/or polish
There are abrasive polishes labeled glaze
There are waxes labeled glaze and polish
There are glazes labeled polish

And on and on it goes...

Decode a product by what it does, not what the name on the label says it is.


:)