I know I'm suppose to use polish before wax but how about sealant? Do I use sealant instead of polish or use it after wax?

 

Polish is used before the waxing or sealing stage. You want to lock in that shine with some sort of paint protection. So, polish, and then apply a sealant or wax. If you want to do sealant AND wax, put the sealant on first and then wait a while for it to cure before you apply wax. Someone else can probably suggest the right amount of time to wait for the sealant to cure before you top it with wax.

 

I usually apply polish and let it cure over night.

Ok so pretty much polish and sealant is the same thing?

 

Ammi: No, they are not. A polish has abrasives of varying degrees designed to remove imperfections in the paint. For example, Klasse All In One is considered a polish. A sealant glaze or a wax is designed to protect the finish after it has been polished. The difference between the glaze and the wax is how long they last. Many glazes can last up to 6 months or more whereas some waxes don't even last a month.

 

Ok so sealant glaze can be used instead of wax? Only difference between wax and sealant is how long they last?

How many coats of polish and sealant would you recommend applying and how often?

BTW, I was looking at Klasse AIO polish and high gloss sealant.

 

Because polish can remove scratches and swirls, 'coats' isn't quite the correct term. There are different grades of polish. Always start with the least abrasive. If some scratches/swirls still remain, move to a more agressive polish. The thing is that then you'll need to use the less abrasive polish again to bring out the best shine. A very mild polish should be the last step before applying a sealant or wax.

Sealant and wax can be layered. After polishing in the fall, I applied 3 layers of Klasse SG and 1 layer of wax. Always put the sealant on first, then the wax. If you need/want more sealant after that, the wax should be removed before more sealant is applied.

 

Unless the car I'm working on has excessive swirls or scratches, I buff once with polish and then wax. When I do my own car in the spring, I'll do the same routine for polishing but I will probably try out a sealant and the top it with a Meguiar's wax a week later.

I only polish my car when I detail it, and I usually detail it at the beginning of spring, beginning of summer, end of summer and right before winter. Otherwise, I've used a couple of layers of wax each time and occasionally throw another coat on in between in details, if that helps you gauge how often to apply this stuff.

 

A polish is abrasive so you can't layer it. Some polishes don't have any fillers, so there isn't even one layer left behind after you buff it off.

Sealants and waxes are very similar, but sealants are typically composed of more synthetic materials rather than natural. Also, most sealants last longer than waxes do.
You can layer waxes or sealants. Sealants must go UNDER the wax though. A sealant won't bond properly over a wax. I tried it once and the results were very sub-par (very poor beading, not slick...).

The frequency of your applications of wax or sealant depend on the product you're using. Some sealants will last 5-6 months, and some waxes are lucky to last one month. To prepare for winter, I applied Klasse AIO, then three layers of sealant, and then a coat of wax to get my car through the winter here. I applied another coat of wax a couple weeks ago since the weather was much warmer than average.

Generally the rule for curing time is 24 hours between layers.

 

Do you wash or dust your car before you put another layer of sealant?

 

I wash my car between all layers of sealants or waxes, yes. I wash it either in the normal fashion (if weather allows), or I wash it in the garage with a few buckets and lots of MFs.