Interesting Post on Zaino

There has been some interesting discussions here about various waxes/polishes. I ran across this post about Zaino in another forum. Looks like the Vette guys run pretty solid in favor of Zaino, but not all of them:

Zaino Discussion

Basil

Everything I read over there mirrors what I have read at Miata.net, as well as other forums I have lurked on. People who like Zaino like it a lot, and occasionally tell those who don't that they must have some fundamental defect or don't like cars. I admit, that Zaino'd cars shine brilliantly, but it's just not for some of us. And I hate to stereotype, but most of the Zaino fanatics I have seen on forums tend to A) not drive their cars every day, B) tell people who question the durability of Zaino that they've driven in rain before too, you know, C) live in dry states like Texas or California where it doesnt rain too much in the first place (Southwestern residents feel free to correct me on this-I've never been west of the Mississippi!), D) have garages where they park their cars after they get wet and lovingly apply Zaino again, E) have more spare time and income than I do, and occasionally F) All of the above. This includes Miatanet, as well as the Corvette forum (I'm a frequent lurker over there, but I've never bothered to join because I don't own one, have no real intention of owning one, and the multitude of pictures and graphics take forever to download on my computer). Oh well, at least I know I'm not alone.....
-Wm.

I'll admit I don't use it one all my daily drivers, so your right its not for every one.

Yes - it's time to start the Zaino thread again. Let's try to compete with the Miata and Vette forums shall we?

Our story begins with my Dad - who excitedly bought a used Corvette not long ago. The car wasn't "pampered" by an owner who bought the most expensive and best of everything to maintain it - still, it's a nice car and for an 8-year old machine it doesn't look bad.

It was obviously kept clean, and waxed, but could have been better so the topic of "...what's that stuff you used on your MG..." was brought up, and out came the Zaino bottles. You remember Zaino? That horribly expensive, hard to use, multi-step, complex, hardly worthwhile stuff? Well I did hear that from a few places around the net. In any event, out came the bottles.

Under my very close supervision (ahem) I directed the bottle of Dawn dishwashing detergant to the garage, along with a sponge and bucket. The above mentioned new triple-black vehicle was pushed into the soothing shade of a small oak tree, to shield it from the blistering afternoon sun of east-central Florida. Washing commenced, followed by a cool soothing bath in wonderful Florida tap water.

We pushed the vette inside and thus started lesson #2 - CLAY BAR. I did half the hood and got my Dad started on doing the rest. Surprisingly there wasn't much debris in the paint (maybe someone already clayed it...). The final result from claying was a wonderfully smooth shiny and glossy looking car. NICE.

My announcement that it was "...time to wash the car again..." was met with astonished faces and looks of anxious disbelief. The second washing did, however, commence - followed by a very long cool rinse.

Our next lesson was in the application of the first layer of ZAINO show-car polish. I don't have the new ZFX additive yet, so we used the old favorite - Z1 polish-lok and Z5 (to fill in those annoying little polishing scratches - which were in abundance!).

I did half the car, my Dad did the rest. A very thin coat of Z1 using one side of an applicator, followed immediately with a very thin coat of Z5 using the other side.

My Dad, never having used the products couldn't believe how little we used. We could do "a dozen more cars" with what was left, he said. Pretty close anyway.

After an hour and a half or so of drying we starting buffing away the polish with the prescribed 100% cotton (made in USA mind you) towel I'd ordered off the internet (no I didn't order just ONE, I ordered a dozen big bath-sized ones last year). To make it even better I wiped it down with the Z6 (I believe thats the number) detailing spray. Yup, it works.

The final result was a super slick, wet-looking black on black on black car with absolutely no white "residue" along the sides. Yeah, it was nice, but with a general feeling of "that was a lot of work".

Yes, it was.

But then my lesson continued. "Put another coat on tonight before bed...", I said - and we did. The next day we wiped it off again, and used the detailing spray.

"Wow", my Dad said.

"Yup", said I.

"That wasn't so hard", he said.

"Nope", said I then, "let it set up until this afternoon and put another coat on it, but use Z2"

"Z2?"

"Yup. Z2 - the pink stuff"

So we did. A super thin coating of Z2 (mmm smell that Z2) and a couple hours later:

"Wow!", my Dad said.

"Yup", said I.

"Wow that IS easy to use"

"Yup."

...which brings us to today, and the fifth coat of "Zaino". My Dad just let me know that he can't believe how shiny and deep the black is... it's like there's no "surface", just pure black (except the slightly scratched paint from years of people doing this, and that to it). He think's it's simple to use, easy as can be, a breeze to put on and take off, with no residue. In the sun it looks great, doesn't cook-off, etc.

While it might have it's problems and complicated methods of prepairing the car for its use (as evidenced in the discussion Basil pointed to), the aftermath is really quite good and very easy to maintain.

I have the ZFX stuff on order, along with a couple other things to try on the Saturn. We'll see how it does shortly, I hope.


(after wash/clay/wash/Z1-Z5)

[ 06-11-2002: Message edited by: aerog ]</p>

I use Zaino on my car and find that it does a spectacular job on the red paint. My wax jobs last a long time in the Florida sun and salt air. The finish is a very wet look and doesn't collect dust as easily as some other products.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by CraigFL:
I use Zaino on my car and find that it does a spectacular job on the red paint. My wax jobs last a long time in the Florida sun and salt air. The finish is a very wet look and doesn't collect dust as easily as some other products.<hr></blockquote>

I talked to a guy not far from here that does custom paint for show and exotic cars (great stuff). Zaino never came up, but he did say he never ever tries to "dust" his cars at shows... you know how hot the sun gets in Florida, and how dusty it gets when the grass/dirt/sand gets really dry - when cars are driving around at shows it kicks up one terrible amount of fine dust. Anyway, he found if he tries to 'dust' his cars off the wax sometimes tends to streak and it's impossible to get the streaks out until the car cools down and he can wash the dust away.

I found the exact same problem with my red MGB using a variety of wax products (Meguires, Mothers, etc) - but really only areas like the hood with it's long wide area of open solar-collection and residual engine heat.

I've had a devil of a time keeping the black-plastic along the bottom of my windshield on the Saturn looking "clean". It often develops an "oil slick" look to it. Cleaning and waxing makes it look great for a few days or until it rains hard, then it starts again. I did an area of it with Zaino last year and it still looks perfectly new.

I'm not sure quite why that is, but it surely has it's long-term benefits. The black-vette in Florida sun should be a great burn test (OUCH!)

what would you recommend for someone who doesn't want to spend their life polishing and waxing but wants a decent finish?

I'll just take the one hour Martinizing, thanks.
-Wm.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 78Z:
what would you recommend for someone who doesn't want to spend their life polishing and waxing but wants a decent finish?<hr></blockquote>

There used to be a pretty decent product on the market I got with a Ford Probe in '89 called "autoarmor" (fortified with Teflon, whatever that's worth). It always went on easy, wiped off easy (with a lot of white residue), and seemed to last quite a long time. Took up water spots pretty easily, and helped fill in scratches. If you can find that - try it.

Otherwise I've had pretty good success with Mother's "cleaner-wax" (liquid). I wouldn't use it all the time with the abrasives as the "cleaner", but on a daily driver it seems to do a decent job of polishing and waxing at the same time, and it seems to last pretty well as waxes go.

Back to the original thread topic though; if you've got a really good paint job (factory-fresh, like-new, whatever) and take a day to do the wash/clay/wash prep for Zaino it does seem to last quite a long time. I'm not sure where or who claims it doesn't last in rain - it sure lasted awhile on the Saturn. It doesn't evaporate or wash off like waxes tend to do, but it's still a huge debatable issue. The biggest negative about Zaino, and for that matter similar non-wax products like Liquid-Glass is that any existing wax on the car really has to be removed for it to work properly - you MUST have a perfectly clean surface to start with.

One other product you can buy in the stores is "Eagle-One" car polish (comes in a tall bottle of liquid with a red applicator). I used it on my TD-Replica and it sheds water months after being applied. Shine and quality is (for me anyway) average.

Regardless - if you wash/clay your car before doing a complete detailing and wax job you'll get all the crud out of the paint and prepare the surface for the wax - eliminating the contaminates that the wax is supposed to be protecting against.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by William:
I admit, that Zaino'd cars shine brilliantly, but it's just not for some of us. And I hate to stereotype, but most of the Zaino fanatics I have seen on forums tend to..... C) live in dry states like Texas or California where it doesnt rain too much in the first place (Southwestern residents feel free to correct me on this-I've never been west of the Mississippi.<hr></blockquote>

William;
As one whose ancestry in Texas goes back to 1874, I would generally tend to agree with you.. However, we do have our moments.. This year, so far, we have had at least twice the normal annual rainfall (normally about 30") with some serious flooding and a good number of counties declared as "Federal Disaster Areas" as a result of said flooding.
Of course, this rainfall was preceeded by three years of horrible drought.
And, I have heard that is does rain in California.. but only when you are driving a Brit Roadster and left the hood at home in the garage ;-}