Better Filling Ability - NXT vs. #21

[SR77]

I have read alot on NXT vs #21 and both are advertised and hiding or filling swirls, but does one fill swirls better? Does one also hold the look of filling ability longer then the other?

[RedSoxRacer]

How about removing the swirls instead of just hiding them?
If they are serious swirls, no wax is going to hide them. The ability of wax to hide swirls is fairly minimal, so you are better off removing them first, and then waxing and doing your best to prevent them from coming back.

[Larry A]

You are not going to remove swirls !00%. There will always be some left to fill. Fillers also tend to give a deeper gloss especially on dark colors.

[RedSoxRacer]

Originally posted by Larry A
You are not going to remove swirls !00%. There will always be some left to fill.

That statement is wrong. Perhaps you should take a look at some of the before and after pictures that detailers like Mike Phillips, Joe of Superior Shine, and many other outstanding detailers on this board post. It is very possible to remove visible swirls 100%.

[Mike Phillips]

With the right products and technique, you can remove 100% of the swirls in most paints. The only exception would be some paint types are such poor quality paint material to start with, or in such poor condition that no product will be effective at any kind of polishing work.


As far as which product fill best, let's remember that all wax or paint protection type products if they work at all, that means the fill in swirls to some degree because of a wax, or a paint protectant is really working that means it's leaving itself behind after wipe-off and if you're applying something to the surface and it's leaving itself behind then it's coating over and in essence filling.

That said, I'm not sure if any evaluations have ever been done to compare M21 to NXT to see if one eliminates swirls better than the other. Could be their similar, or so similar that you could not distinguish any difference.

As already mentioned, if a person is looking for a swirl free finish, then primary attention should be placed on the cleaning step where below surface defects, (the root location of swirls), are to be removed as it is the cleaning step that will remove swirls and other below surface defects.


Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

[RamAirV1]

To me, they seem to be similar in swirl filling abilities. And both are very good BTW.

RamAirV1

[SpoiledMan]

Sure you can.....

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by SpoiledMan
Sure you can.....

One thing for sure, the Xeon light shows no mercy!

[SpoiledMan]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
One thing for sure, the Xeon light shows no mercy!

None whatsoever! That was about 15 years of swirls that were removed.

[Larry A]

Originally posted by RedSoxRacer
That statement is wrong. Perhaps you should take a look at some of the before and after pictures that detailers like Mike Phillips, Joe of Superior Shine, and many other outstanding detailers on this board post. It is very possible to remove visible swirls 100%.

I standed corrected!

[Kickin Griffin]

Originally posted by Larry A
I standed corrected!

Yes, it is indeed most certainly possible to remove 100% of the swilrs from paintwork, and if the paint allows this is what I would aim for, but there is a very big "but" here, and that is - if the paint allows! .

I have detailed a great many cars and on some of them I have beemn able to safely get a 100% swirl free finish with no worries at all... But, on some cars I have taken paint thickness readings and found them to be on the low side. At this point, 100% swirl removal is not something I would aim for at the expense of the reamining clearcoat. Most swilrs are quite light and fairly shallow and so are safely and easily removed, but there are also the deeper swilrs that will require a notable amount of clearcoat to be removed to shift. These tend to be very few in number, so on cars with thin paint finishes (eg ones that have been previously machine polishes aggressively for whatever reason) I will opt to minimise them - yes. But completely remove them 100% - no! Not if it means leaving the paint dangerously thin. In the case of paint which is thin on the ground, the majority of the swilrs can certainly be removed, but the remaining deeper ones can only be notably reduced - its at this point that for me, filler heavy glazes come in to play in order to help mask these marks further. Chances are on the very deep marring you are not going to be able to completely hide them but you can minimise their effects.

Its for this reason that I always have a coating thickness gauge with me when machine polishing.

[SR77]

Thanks for the replys.

Yes, I do polish before the LSP, but as mentioned earlier there are times when either the swirls don't come out 100%, you don't have the time to remove the swirls 100%, or you don't want to jeperdize the clearcoat for the extra 10% of marring thats left. Both waxes are advertized as having a filling ability to hide those remaining swirls, so i was wondering if anyone have noticed if one (NXT or #21) is better at this then the other and if one holds the look of filling ability longer then the other. This way you get the flawless look at the times when the above occur. Since they both seem to protect around the same and both look good, this is going to be the deciding factor on which LSP i am going with now that #21 comes in 16ozs. Thanks again.

[RamAirV1]

Not all of us own garage queens! So there is a benefit to an LSP with swirl filling ability. It is not practical to machine clean and polish one's daily driver on a weekly basis. A lot of us don't have the time to do that. Yet we want our daily driver to look as good as possible.

RamAirV1