You want a wax product. As Mountainbike said, a polish has abrasive in it to clean the paint. There are various levels of abrasive from the most aggressive rubbing compound to a fine polish like swirl remover. A cleaner wax is a combo of abrasive and wax so it will clean as well as wax but does neither as well. A glaze is a non-abrasive pure coating that fills microscopic defects but still should be waxed over. A plain wax is just that, just wax or non-wax polymer protectant, etc. I don’t know if a spray on product like Mothers or Meguires Detailer is a wax or a glaze product actually, but it is not abrasive and does provide a nice coating.
@Bing - No, NuFinish is called a “polish”, but is has no abrasive. The term “polish” and “wax” are now totally mixed up.
Its probably more like a glaze then which is a polish with no abrasive. Usually the professional products are a little more descriptive like “fine cut cleaner” instead of using the word polish. For the stuff on the Walmart shelf though, they cater to consumers like shoe polish, nail polish, floor polish, and things like Ajax and Comet are called cleaners. Just have to know what you are using.
Bing, what I actually said was that the terms have become interchangeable, and that any product that creates a shine is called a polish now whether it does so by abrasive, conformally coating the parts, or chemically. And according to any current dictionary, that definition is correct.
As already stated, NuFinish is a polish. I don’t believe it contains an abrasive.
I put on that new Meguire’s Ultimate Liquid Wax on the front of the car today. I only had a little time so I didn’t get very far. It’s not too hard to apply or wipe off, but it is not a cleaner wax. I had washed the car first with the Meguire’s wash/wax product, and the car was pretty clean, but I can see now why bing does the clay bar first. I’m not doing clay bar, too old for that so even though the new wax is pretty easy to use, I won’t call it arthritis friendly because it is not a cleaner.
I also do not consider anything that involves a spray trigger as arthritis friendly either. I guess you can just remove the trigger sprayer and pour the contents onto a rag and wipe it on that way.
Anyway it could be up to a year before I decide if the Meguire’s Ultimate Wax is any good or not. I’ll finish the car over the next day or three and we’ll see how it holds up.
I was in AutoZone today and I see that Mother’s has come out with a similar wax but they claim theirs is a cleaner wax.
If you are the type of person who does not like to wax the car two or three times a year then NuFinish is the product you should use. NuFinish is not a wax, it is a paint sealer and it will protect your paint easily for one year. NuFinish is very easy to apply and remove. Carnauba wax and spray liquid wax will only last a two or three months before you need to reapply wax again. Also, Nufinish provieds UV protection against sun damage, which is probably one of the biggest enemies of your car’s paint. There are lots of other “waxes” out there but Nufinish has been proven to last the longest. Be careful not to get it on black rubber trim or you will get staining. You can easily remove the stains with a toothbrush and WD-40.
UPDATE: Thanks for all the suggestions for using liquid wax. Turned out to be surprisingly easy to apply and polish. Biggest challenge was using a step stool to reach half the car roof down the middle beyond my short reach from the ground.
Also, car had its first 5,000 miles / 6 months service of tire rotation and I added an oil change. Car manual calls for 10,000 mile oil change intervals for normal drivng but 5,000 miles for “severe use” which includes the type of primarily short trip driving I do. So 5,000 mile oil changes it is.
My previous '87 Olds and '07 Chevy both needed half a dozen trips to the shop within first few months and 3,000 miles for mehanical and/or electronic warranty repairs. Only thing the new Camry has needed in just under 5,000 miles / 6 months was tightening one door hinge bolt in the first week and I recently had to lubricate the trunk lid hinges which were starting to creak.
Been a refreshing experience to need merely check the oil, tire pressure, fill the windshield washer fluid, keep an eye on coolant and brake fluid levels, keep the car clean, put gas in it and drive it with confidence. (Although I still feel uneasy about no transmission dip stick to keep a check on tranny fluid level and condition!)
I can get used to this! 
Thanks for the update and glad to know all is fine. As much as I don’t want to be a Toyota Fan-boy, our 2005 Camry has been similar so far (120K miles). Regular service, tires, one set of front brakes and two brake lamps (the only “repair”); all taken car of by myself, keeping cost of ownership very low. Can’t say that for many other cars we have had.
Just curious, which wax did you use? BTW, I got 102k miles on my Saturn before it had its first non PM related maintenance, not counting tires at 84k.
I finished up waxing the Subie the next day (after my last post) with that new Meguires. It seems to be holding up, but then its only been a month.
Used Maguires. Very easy to use. Time will tell how well it holds up.
Wish my two GM cars had been as trouble free as your Saturn. A lot of things I liked about them and miss but not the endless frequent problems.
Maguires is an excellent wax. It’s’ what I use now. It shines great and held up beautifully all last winter.
Thanks for the update.
Happy motoring.
Sorry to mistake the nice cat by your name for a ground hog. I can clearly see the tail and the rest of the cat. I do get distracted and fail to really look at things. My 2013 Rav4 has been behaving like a new car for 14,000 miles. 46,000 more miles to go before trade in. Six years at the rate I’m going.
Most friendly…car wash spray on wax and keep the car out of the sun…and trade every 50k miles. @pleasedosgevan2 I stopped waxing my cars by hand 8 years ago before my first rotator cuff surgery. I remember in my twenties when I was holding down four jobs and had no time to wax, I just used car wash wax at the do it yourself car wash. The finish always looked fine ten years later. I stopped hand waxing ten years ago and never looked back. Sunlight kills though and if you must live with lots of sunlight, I recommend NuFinish as mentioned lang ago !
Well I’ll give you another report. Just back from a trip to DC, NY, and Boston, and somewhere along the way I got some kind of crap splattered all over the car plus a nice scratch in the bumper. Some kind of tan crap like clay. I suspect in Fishkill, NY. I was able to get the big blotches off with a wet cloth before it dried but I’ve got little specs all over my black car. I’ve tried the clay bar, bug and tar remover, bug sponge etc., and nothing works real good except flicking it off with a finger nail, but there are hundreds of little specs.
So looks like I’ll have to clay the whole thing again, buff it, glaze, and hand wax again. I’m just glad I had a good coat of wax on it so the stuff doesn’t stick worse than it is. Sometimes there just is not easy solution.
6 year old thread that was revived by a Spam poster which has been removed.
I was wondering why this showed up in my feed the other day…
I’ve been waxing my car twice a year since the 64 sea-blue VW Beetle, purchased used in 66. That said, here’s what I’d recommend to you considering arthritis and modern technology…
You need to rub, unless, of course you let an electric waxer/polisher (these are little, not like a big buffer), like the one in a link I’ve provided (of course, you need an extension cord). The reason you need to do this is to get the little gritties and stuck particles off the surface, so it’s as smooth as a baby’s bottom. The polisher does the work quickly and easily, and can be held with your palms. A couple places, like door pillars, around license plates, shallow recesses can be done by hand with “wax” on damp sponge.
Pro-Lift I-4506 6" Buffer/Polisher - Walmart.com - Walmart.com
When I lived where there actually was winter (where you could tell by the weather) this was necessary after winter. I just put a dollop of liquid “wax” on a car panel, set the polisher over the wax and turn it on (kind of smear it around first and then it won’t sling wax at you when you hit the switch) and glide it around a section. You can’t fail at this it’s so easy.
After following bottle label directions, I easily, almost effortlessly wipe/buff with a terry-cloth towel and move to another section. I provided a link for what I’ve found is easy and has amazing results.
Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Liquid Wax, G200416, 16 Oz - Walmart.com - Walmart.com
You’ve got this!
trust me!
Oh, and don’t be surprised if the car doesn’t get wet when it rains. 
The drops will giggle as they roll right off. It’ll stay cleaner, longer, too.
Neighbors will ask you about your new car! Enjoy that.
CSA
I would hope that after this many years Marnet would have figured out what to do .
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I did… six years ago. 
Six years changes my story. I have a wash brush with a long handle I put liquid wax on a terry towel, put it on the roof and push it around on the brush and repeat until done. Then I wipe with a dry towel the same way. Life is easier when you stop caring or you go naive (check spelling later) and do the job as if nobody ever did it before.