Do I need to perform an additional wash after polish?

I am trying to bring back the luster of an old school Mercedes that is now my daily driver and mini project. I don't have too many fancy supplies at my disposal, but I am making do with what I got in the garage

My question is do I need to wash the car a second time after applying the polish/before applying the wax?

Here is my line up in this order given the supplies available:

1. Wash- Meguiar's Gold Class
2. Paint Correction- NuFinish Scratch Doctor
3. Wash again(?)- Meguiar's Gold Class
4. Paint Protection- Zymol (Blue Bottle)

Any help is greatly appreciated

You can if you want, personally, I'd wipe it down with Isopropyl alcohol instead to remove polish residues.

Originally Posted by AfghanScarface

I am trying to bring back the luster of an old school Mercedes that is now my daily driver and mini project. I don't have too many fancy supplies at my disposal, but I am making do with what I got in the garage

My question is do I need to wash the car a second time after applying the polish/before applying the wax?

Here is my line up in this order given the supplies available:

1. Wash- Meguiar's Gold Class
2. Paint Correction- NuFinish Scratch Doctor
3. Wash again(?)- Meguiar's Gold Class
4. Paint Protection- Zymol (Blue Bottle)

Any help is greatly appreciated

I use poor boys spray n wipe after each polish step.

NuFinish is loaded with fillers, so if you rewash or do an alcohol wipe down chances are you're going to remove the fillers and the paint wont look any different.

a wash after wax is recommended if there are a lot of spots where white residue remains.

Originally Posted by Len013091

You can if you want, personally, I'd wipe it down with Isopropyl alcohol instead to remove polish residues.

Best to mix 50/50 with water.

Originally Posted by Beematic

Best to mix 50/50 with water.

How do you apply it and remove it?

I mix it in a spray bottle, spritz it on the panels and wipe with clean MF.

Im tellin you, you're going to remove the fillers from nufinish and realize its not doing a damn thing. Itll be a good little experiment.

Originally Posted by PuckMan

I mix it in a spray bottle, spritz it on the panels and wipe with clean MF.

Exactly what I do, very simple.

Originally Posted by DetailDan

Im tellin you, you're going to remove the fillers from nufinish and realize its not doing a damn thing. Itll be a good little experiment.

Lol I was thinking the same thing.

Originally Posted by DetailDan

Im tellin you, you're going to remove the fillers from nufinish and realize its not doing a damn thing. Itll be a good little experiment.

Originally Posted by Petrucci_M3

Lol I was thinking the same thing.

ok guys so what should I do after polish? Do I go directly to the Zymol? I initially thought it would be a good idea to give the car a second wash after polish. Was I wrong?

If there's a lot of residue go ahead and wash it, or QD it.

Originally Posted by AfghanScarface

ok guys so what should I do after polish? Do I go directly to the Zymol? I initially thought it would be a good idea to give the car a second wash after polish. Was I wrong?

Heres the thing...

When I polish a car I wipe the areas down with alcohol to remove the polishing oils to make sure Im getting true correction. Sometimes, the oils in the polish can mask defects and make it look like they've been removed when they really haven't. After Im done polishing, I will rewash the car to remove all the polishing dust (the oils are already removed from the alcohol at this time).

The polishes I use actually removed imperfections, they dont contain fillers like many polishes, such as NuFinish for example. Nufinish will not remove the imperfections, it will do a good job of hiding them. So by rewashing or wiping the car down with alcohol you'll just be removing the fillers, revealing the same imperfections as before. Basically making what you're doing useless. If I was you, Id skip the nufinish all together. Instead, get a PC and some good polish. If you dont want to do that, than apply a filler heavy glaze which will do a good job of hiding the defects, than apply your wax. You could also use something like Megs NXT wax which also contains fillers.

Note that fillers and polishing oils are two different things. Some polishes are DESIGNED to fill, others arent, but sometimes do it unintentionally.

The thing is that this car is really scratched and swirl marked. It was also neglected and left to bake in the sun for ages at a time. Even so the paint is actually in relatively good condition overall, it just needs a little "sprucing up". I don't really want to drop any cash on polish right now and I mean the NuFinish is right there in my garage. I just don't want to apply Zymol by itself, I think it needs more than that.

But I guess what i'll do is do the NuFinish and go straight to Zymol right after and let it seal. Then maybe go ahead and do a second wash to get rid of any residue. Thoughts?

You can apply the NuFinish then wax it. You dont need to rewash after that, it wont be necessary.

Is the NuFinish just a filler? You might want to try at least a Meguiars polish.

Goddammit you guys are gonna make me broke but fuk it I guess ill try to pick up some megs or poorboys polish

You can use crap product but if you want to do it right you're gonna have to buy somethin else

I really wanted to work with what I had in the garage but I am going to buy a polish.