imperial hand glaze will not last at all, it must be covered with a quality wax, alone it will last a few days if it doesnt rain and isnt to sunny.
meguiars is alright but for a few bux more go with blitz, easy to go on and off, ausome shine(one of the best imho), and lasts very long for a carnuba, just make sure the surface is prperly preped for the wax...it will outlast meguiars incredibly

 

Well put DatonaBlue. Even with the wax coating though, IHG is little more than car makeup. It will wear with a few washings.

 

Even if you wax over the IHG, it will not last. It will wash away with the first or second wash. As for the wax, well I expect the 3M wax to last about 2-3months depending on how well you take care of the finish after washing.

 

Are you saying that if you use just the wax it will last 2-3 months, but if you polish first, then wax it only will last 1-2 washes?

 

No no. What i'm saying is that the IHG is just adding more oils to the finish, when you wax, it woves around the oils, and the wax sets to the car. So the reason the car looks shinier after glazing and waxing as apposed to just waxing, is becasue there is more oils on the finish. That oil, which may be filling swirls ect, will wash away fairly quickly, leaving behined the wax.

 

Thanks for the clarification! With a 3m (or other) polish and wax system -what's the best way to maintain the finish? For example after one month and all the polish has worn off but the wax is still fine, what would you recommend to bring back the original shine?

 

(claification, the 3M stuff is a glaze, meaning its non-abrasive and is just fillers, where as a polish is an abrasive, which is ment to burnish the finish via friction. Two commonly mixed up terms, even by the companies themselves)

Like I said, oonce thoose fillers are gone, their gone. The most you can do to maintain the shine is to use a quick detailer between washings (or right after). If your using a wax, you can use a QD containing wax to hepl maintain the coating. A great carnauba based QD is Eiman Fabrik's Clear Pearl. its also pretty cheap considering what your getting.

 

Yeah - glaze or "pure polish" is what I meant. No need for abrasives just yet!
Maybe this has been asked before, but what do YOU use on your cars?

 

Well I have quite a bit lying around the house. Basicaly I have a Porter Cable polisher with all of he pads. 3M body shop polishes, Griots Clay, ABC, Blackfire/Klasse/Zaino, P21S wax, Blitz Wax, Eiman Fabrik Wheel/Tire cleaner, Griots Interior Cleaner, 303 Aerospace Protectant, Vinlex (shynier than 303), Griots Interior Cleaner, LARGE asrotment of microfiber and cotton, towels, aplicatiors, brushes ect. I have many other products lying around, but those are my main ones.

Right now I have Blackfire and P21S wax on my Silverstone Z. Plan on trying other products on the finish as well