DEFINITION of TERMS

In the detail business there are many terms "thrown-around" that have different meanings to different people.

Let us see just what people involved in professional detailing are thinking. Please give your definition of these terms and how they are different or how they are the same, in your opinion:

Cutting
Buffing
Polishing
Swirl Removing
Leveling
Blending

Thanks

Bud Abraham

If someone came up to me today and said the following words, the first things to come into my head would be:

Cutting - To cut back paint, removing fine scratches and oxodised paint with either a machine polisher or by hand with a cutting compound.

Buffing - Could be seen as similar to cutting, as in the use of a machine polisher. Also it could be used on other things... e.g. If I said to someone "buff that chrome with a cloth so I can see myself in it"

Polishing - waxing, usually by hand (I hate those cheap hand held machine polishers)

Swirl Removing - Swirls are caused from machine compounding with hard cutting pads/high speeds or dirty pads and are extremely visible in sunlight. Swirl removal is what I like to call "glazing", as I prefer to use 3M's finishing glaze to remove swirls caused from machine cutting/compounding. It's done by using a soft glazing pad or waffle pad (grey) with a machine polisher, along with the finishing glaze.

Leveling - Is something I havent felt the need to use very often. I would be inclined to to use it when leveling out a run in paint and removing the blemish in the paint.

Blending - Paint shops use this term alot. Blending paint from one panel to the next when a panel has been damaged, repaired and painted.

Others opinions?

Doug, disappointed that you have not provided your "opinion" on this posting??

Would love to read your definitions, please by all means, post you definitions of these terms.

Nothing is right or wrong, it is "your" definitions.

When I have enough replies I will offer my definitions to see how close we all are in the detail business.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Bud-
I was staying out of this out of courtesy to you ; assumed you were trying to get new people involved.

FWIW- I would think of "leveling" as the whole compound and polish process that abrades and then burnishes the paint to a level surface. ( See, I actually listened to Ron Ketcham ).
I think of polishing as final smoothing of the paint, but... As you know, the word "polish" is sometimes used to mean a wax or sealant ( shoe polish, NuFinish and Zaino Show Car Polish ). Uh Oh ! Here we go again !
Meguiar's refers to #7 as a polish because its polishing oils shine the paint. Meguiar's maintains that the product is completely non-abrasive. By contrast, Griot's markets four "machine polishes" in different levels of aggressiveness.
Meguiar's "Swirl-free polish" contains mild cleaner. #9 is similar and is called a "swirl remover".
Thus, the word " polish " is used to describe wax, sealant, cleaner wax/sealant, a product or ingredient that imparts shine and nothing else and deposits polishing oils, products that burnish away defects while oiling the surface as well as products that remove defects and leave no residue behind.
It would be nice if we could all agree that polishing is the step that perfects the finish after " compounding " or " cleaning " and can be done when more aggressive steps are not needed.
Doug



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2007 03:26PM by Doug Delmont.

Doug

Thank you for your concern, but this questions was open to all, not newbees, but anyone who is involved with detailing which you certainly are.

You specific definitions of these terms, without any reference to products would be welcomed. Mentioning products just confuses the issue.

What we need are definitions that can be used commonly by detailers so we all know what each other are talking about. Chemical companies use nomenclature to sell products and anything that separates them from the competition they will do, usually.

That is why detailers need to speak the same language.

Just my thought. Hope others give their definitions

Regards
Bud Abraham

Bud-
I can't wait until we get around to the terms like "burning", "scouring", "marring", "scratching", " dulling", "eroding", "thinning", " delaminating" , " leaving swirls", " smearing " etc. ( just kidding )
Doug

Hey there I just joined so I figure I'd post a reply atleast. Here are my answers.

Cutting- Using an abrasive compound to remove, lighten, or eliminate scratches or Oxidation.

Buffing- All the steps of renewing the vehicles finish combined.

Polishing- Using a non-abrasive polish to bring back some of the luster.

Swirl Removing- Removing swirl marks by using less abrasive compounds in a certain order, or a "swirl remover" alone.

Leveling- To level or flaten out the "texture" or flaws of the paint.

Blending- If speaking of a body shop its where they blended the new paint with the old paint. If detailing its the way you make paint look uniform so you can not see where you spent more time on a certain spot than others.