Originally Posted by Junkman2008

What I'm saying is this:

1. Clay is used to remove contaminates from the clear coat.
2. Polish is used to remove any type of paint damage and bring the paint to a brilliant shine.
3. Wax is used to protect that shine.

So what you need to do is continually inspect your paint for one of the above situations. If it passes 1 & 2, then all you need to do is #3. If it passes 1 and fails 2, then you need to do #2 & #3. If it fails them all, then you need to do all 3. Once all the damage is removed from your paint by doing the initial major detail, then you should never have to use the real abrasive polishes that you used initially. You will only need to use some very light polish (since you only removed 85% of your damage, you may have to still use something heavy again).

The common sense way of doing this is to fix it once and then maintain it properly forever. For example, you don't go on a weight loosing regiment, loose 200 pounds and once your body is perfect, start slamming beers and pizza again. That wouldn't make sense, right? You identify the bad eating habits that made you a lard azz and then you never repeat those eating habits again. That is the same exact mentality taht you should have when it comes to paint maintenance. That's why I tell people that this is not rocket science, it's nothing but common sense.

Does that clear it up any?