Difference Between Car Wax & Polish

While most of us love to show off our car, it is important that we keep it clean, neat and presentable. If not so, the car's paintwork gets stained with dust, oil marks, and scratches. Apart from that, even when a car ages, its paintwork becomes dull. Thus, to add more life and elegance to one's car, one can use two methods - car polish and car wax. However, most people fail to understand the difference between the two and thus only opt for any one product without proper understanding.

So, if you wish to know the differences between car wax vs polish, keep reading!

Car wax is a non-abrasive type of wax which primarily functions to give a protective layered coating on a car’s body surface. It is mostly applied after one’s vehicle is polished and washed. The only purpose behind applying a car wax is to provide a protective layer on the car’s paint and also enhance its shine.

Here are the pros and cons of using car wax.

• Car wax protects one's car's clear coat from wearing and tearing.
• Car wax also helps one’s vehicle from sun damage and pollution. Thus, when one removes the grime, it ensures one is not rubbing off the paint.
• It also protects against little scratches by providing an extra protective layer.
• After waxing, water beads up and runs off the car’s body surface smoothly. Thus, it also prevents the vehicle from rusting.

• One has to always use pH-neutral car shampoo while car washing to ensure that the protective layer dies nit gets washed away with the dirt.
• The water beading process leads to water sitting on the car's surface for a time, and that eventually leads to the water being dirty from dust particles. This water has the capacity to remove the clear coat and also requires buffing to be out.
• Just the purpose of car waxing takes 2 to 3 hours which is very time-consuming. However, one has to ensure that it is done slowly and correctly to get the maximum effect of the wax.
• Waxing does not ensure that deep scratches in a car are removed. In fact, at times, it might go a lot deeper, thus harming the clear coat of the car.

Car polish is used to remove swirl marks and minor scratches from a car's surface using abrasives. It is used when a car's paint loses its sheen or has been dimmed due to oxidation. However, frequent car polishing is not recommended at frequent intervals because it can damage the car due to its abrasive properties. 

Here are the pros and cons of using car polish.

• Enhances colour rejuvenation and colour depth
• Adds shine and gloss to the car body paintwork
• Restores faded paint
• Removes defects or heavy scratches
• Decontaminates the paintwork that one cannot remove by hand
• Correction of paint

• Polishing a car is not something one should do on their own. Thus, it needs professional help. If done by oneself, it can make the situation worse.
• In the case of deep scratches or nicks, it is recommended to opt for partial coating or sanding for other purposes.
• Only the best and correct equipment should be used for car polishing. Using rough or hard cloth can cause more damage to the car.

Before one determines whether to wax or polish his or her car, one must ensure the car is properly clean and dry. After that, using one's fingertips, one should feel for raised patches or rough patches over the car paint. If the surface is smooth, one needs to apply wax and wash it according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Whereas, if one feels abnormalities or little patches, one should use polish before applying wax to his or her car.

One should use wax mainly to provide a protective coating to their car and use polish to get rid of any abnormalities in his or her car and give it a good shine. Not only scratches but polish can also help one to mitigate oxidation spots on the car.

That is all for car polish vs car wax. So, after knowing the differences between car polish and car wax, one should be able to decide which one is preferable for their vehicle. Doing either one on one’s own self can be risky. Thus, one should seek professional help.