The way to determine whether or not your car's finish needs any pre-wax prep work is to evaluate the surface, immediately after washing. A thorough surface evaluation will help you to determine whether or not you need to remove above surface defects such as bonded contaminants with a clay bar, or below surface defects such as swirls, scratches, oxidation and pore-imbedding stains.

Just because your paint has no major scratches or other obvious signs of damage doesn't mean that your finish is as flawlessly smooth as when your car was show room new. There are many kinds of subtle surface defects that if not corrected, can prevent you from restoring that perfect gloss.

There are two primary kinds of surface defects to look for, Above Surface Contaminants, and Below Surface Defects.

Above surface defects can safely be removed using one of Meguiar's clay bars together with one of Meguiar's spray lubricants like Quik Detailer, or Final Inspection

Below surface defects can take more experience and skill to remove depending on the defect and the thickness of your paint. Removing below surface defects is performed by using Meguiar's highly specialized compounds, paint cleaners, cleaner/polishes, Soft Buff™ foam buffing pads, and in the case of serious defects, sometimes the use of Meguiar's Nikken Finishing papers are best suited for the job. Before attempting to remove any surface defect, we recommend you first call our Customer Care Hotline and discuss your specific paint condition with one of our Surface Care Experts who will be more than happy to go over the correct products and procedures to do the job right the first time.