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Wax Preferences

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Mark_Gibson

Mark_Gibson

Jedi Trainee
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I just got my car back from the painter after its final wetsanding and buffing. The paint, Signal Red (base/clear) has been on the car for over a year now and it's about time to FINALLY get it back on the road. He told me to put a high quality wax on it and I'm open to suggestions. Any favorites for ease of application and longevity?

Thanks

Mark
1970 Frame Off TR-6 project
 
I recently used Mothers Cleaner wax on my daughters car and liked it. I also used some 3M wax on some parts and it was hard to get off.
 
One of the wax crazes nowadays is "Zaino" and similar synthetic polishes that are harder and last longer than traditional, silicone-based waxes and carnauba waxes.

Many folks swear by them. I suggest you go to the "Car Care" forum on this site and ask the same question. We have members here who are professional car detailers who can provide excellent help on this topic.

Car wax ain't what it used to be, there's new chemistry involved in car polishes that may make a significant difference to your new paint job.

Good luck, let us know.
 
I like Autoglym...

Had always used "Turtle Wax" but just started using Autoglym polish and "Extra Gloss Protection" (their equivelent of wax) and really like the results. Available from Moss.
 
Re: I like Autoglym...

I've been using Mothers since I was in high school, and have always loved it. However, my buddy who has the Supra TT in flaming red, and my other friend who has a Viper, both use Zaino and swear by it. Lasts significantly longer than traditional wax, gives three times the protection, and is infinitely easier to apply and get off. The only drawback I can see is if you want to get the best effect from it you have to use a few of their products together. Minimally you need the flash cure accelerator to start the process, and then depending on the type and quality of paint you have on the car, the color, and what you want to use the car for (weekend driving, daily driving, shows only, etc.), those things will dictate how far along with the actual grades of their polish that you want to use. Certain colors only dictate the use of certain grades, while deeper colors with more shine potential (reds, black, etc) would require more. All this stuff then starts to add up, it's not cheap stuff. Plus they recommend only certain types of white cotton terry towels, or microfiber polishing cloths, clay barring the car before anything goes on, etc.. All in all I think you'd spend maybe 50-60 bucks to get enough products to handle a fresh high quality paint job. Some of it you can get from other places for cheaper. My buddy uses the Mothers clay bar, which is slightly cheaper than the one that Zaino sells, and he got a bag full of various sizes of high quality microfiber towels from some other guy online (I can try to get the link). You can see the prices and products from Zaino here:

Zaino Brothers

I do know that alot of guys with very high dollar cars are using this stuff and seem to like it. My buddy loved it and has only stopped using it since he got hold of beeswax, which is insanely expensive (75-100 bucks for a tiny little jar) but gives the most incredible shine I have ever seen in my life, by either a natural of synthetic polish.

To many choices, I just wish I had a car with paint good enough to warrant this level of attention /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif. I'm planning on using Zaino when I get the new Stang this fall though. After seeing the Supra with a few coats of it on there, I was sold 100%. I never got anywhere near anything that looked like that using Mothers, even on brand new paint.
 
Longevity is mostly a function of environment. A car that sits outside all the time or is in an area with acid rain, high dust, sappy trees, salt air or overfed Seagulls will need to be cared for much more often than a garage queen.

There is no hard and fast rule but polymer sealants like Meguiar's NXT, Klasse or Zaino tend to last longer than traditional waxes like Meguiar's #16, Pinnacle Souveran, Griot's BOS, Zymol, etc.

More important than the wax used is how the finish is maintained. Regular washing with a gentle automotive shampoo and immediate removal of any severe contaminants (bird bombs, tree sap, bug splats, acid rain, water spots, etc) will significantly extend the life of whatever wax/sealant is used. Conscientious maintenance will greatly extend the life of your paint.

Personally, I'm a big Meguiar's fan. I like the products, the company and especially the people. Their customer service is superb. That said, I believe you'll get excellent results from any reputable companies' products if you use them diligently. I'm confident you'd be happy with products from any one of a number of companies, Meguiar's, Mothers, Pinnacle, Zaino, Autoglym, One Grand, Poorboy's, 3M, Zymol, Griot's, etc.

AmericanShine, a sponsor of this forum, has been getting very favorable reviews from our comrades here. (Click on the banner at the top of this page.)


PC.

Edit: oops, the banner changes occasionally, click here for AmericanShine.
 
I've heard some good things about Meguiars NXT also. Lots of people on my Mustang forum use it and seem to like it.

Someone actually wrote something about Zymol that I'm not sure if it's true. Apparently if you buy Zymol in an auto specialty store for the normal premium Zymol price you most likely are getting real Zymol. However, if you buy Zymol in some discount store chains, specifically Wal-Mart, its actually made by Turtlewax. This person said Zymol sells licenses to other companies to use the Zymol name on their products. Seems that you'd think you were getting a high quality wax, namely Zymol, for a really great discount price when in actuality you'd be getting some form of Turtlewax. I have no idea whether this is true or not, it was posted in a forum thread by a guy who's a car polish fanatic and self professed expert. He uses Zaino also by the way.
 
Thanks for all the help folks. I'll let you know how the finished wax job turned out.

Mark
 
[ QUOTE ]
...I'm not sure if it's true. Apparently if you buy Zymol in an auto specialty store for the normal premium Zymol price you most likely are getting real Zymol. However, if you buy Zymol in some discount store chains, specifically Wal-Mart, its actually made by Turtlewax. ...

[/ QUOTE ]Good point, I was referring to the Zymol products sold through specialty retailers. And yes, you're right about Zymol having a marketing agreement with Turtle Wax.

The legalese from Zymol's website: "Zymol Enterprises, Inc. formally retracts the previous notice on this site stating that the Turtle Wax Ltd. distribution rights for Zymol had been cancelled."


PC.
 
Hi,

I've been using Mothers products for quite a while and am very happy with them. I use them on both old style paints and modern clearcoats.

Someone already mentioned their cleaner wax. I also use their straight Carnuba, when a cleaner isn't needed or when I want to put on an extra coat or two (rocker panels, behind wheel wheels, or just on the hood, trunk or top where the sun hits the car most intensely.

There are a lot of different Mothers products, including cleaner without wax, clay bar cleaner, a glaze that reduces swirls and fine scratches, plus chrome and aluminum polish/protectant and tire dressing. I've used most and they are all seem quite good.

The chrome polish/protectant lasts a long time and goes on easily, but is very fine and won't remove surface rust or corrosion.

I particularly like Mothers "Preserves" tire dressing. Tt isn't shiney like most and lasts a long time.

Have fun polishing!

Alan
 
Well, I did some more research and went with Collinite 845 insulator wax. Quite a few members of the MG Car Club I belong to (can't get them to change the name to Triumph!!) swear by this stuff. I've put it on the hood so far and it goes on very easily, comes off fairly easily, and the shine is incredible! I'd be interested if any of you have used this product.

Thanks,

Mark
 
I'm a big fan of Griot's Garage products. My standard line: if it's good enough for Pebble Beach Concours winners, it's good enough for me!
 
go to your local Harley shop and ask for S-100 wax, about $15.00 for enough to do your car for years. easy on and off with a great look. This is the same wax that alot of detailers on Autopia and Detail City use called P21s which is over twice the cost, yet is avaliable locally. Also get some quality microfiber towels to help keep your new finish swirl and mar free.
 

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I've used Mothers for a few years now and are very happy...I've started to combine mothers products with others to get even better results...usually depends on the initial condition of the paint...
1. Turtle wax polishing compound(only if paint is pretty bad)
2. 3M polishing/glazer
3. Mothers cleaner wax
4. Mothers Glazer
5. Nufinish car polish or mothers carnuba wax

Using this combination I've brought completely faded 20+ year old paint look like brand new.

Zack
 
If you will allow a shameless plug for one of our forum sponsors - you might give American Shine products a try (you can get there by clicking their banner when it pops up). I used it on my Daimler and it was very good stuff! Did I do a scientific study to determine if it is the best shine on the planet? No, but I was very happey with the results and it is hard to imagine anything going on (or off) any easier.

They sell a full range of car care products, not just wax and polish (e.g., micro-fiber cloths, California Dusters, clay bar, and much much more. Check them out (and if you do buy anything, let them know you saw it on the BCF! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Plus, supporting our suporting vendors has the added benefit of supporting the forum.

Basil

AS002.jpg
 
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