cleaner wax is basically self explanitory. It cleans the paint of your car, and removes any light oxidation that may be on it. the best time to use it is right after you wash and clay your car. In the past, i have used meguiar's cleaner wax, but there are different brands. Some are zymol etc. On this forum it seems a lot of ppl use the klasse AIO, which im still reading up on. They may have insight from that perspective. Good luck.