there's polish, and there's "polish", and wax...polish is something with an abrasive (fine or coarse) that will make scratches in paint. Make the scratches even and finer than the human eye can see and the surface shines...go too far and the paint's all gone. "Polish" with quotations is a new-fangled bunch of products (intended for car finishes) that do not contain wax, but provide something else for shine...often this is silicone...but not always. I warn you away from silicone since it's a short-lived shine, but a permanent "teflon" when it comes to re-spraying: paint will not stick and silicone penetrates all the way into the base metal. Just think about it before you use it. Lemon pledge contains silicone, or at least it used to...I never use it on furniture finishes. Wax is a protector: it leaves a thin coating on top of the paint that serves as a "sacrificial barrier", the wax takes the abuse instead of the paint. It can be easily renewed (and has to be renewed) and causes no harm to most surfaces. It will not prevent scratching or crash damage (duh) or any real UV protection, unless you use a wax with UV inhibitors in it. Wax sold as "cleaner wax" contains an abrasive as well as a wax, a 2-for-1 idea that usually means inferior cleaner and inferior wax, but the convenience of one application. Just my big 2 cents, YRMV...