Waxes and polishes.

[dodge man]

I was an old fashioned kind of guy when it came to waxing my vehicles. I used a carnuba wax, usually Mothers. I always saw polishes, and didn't really understand what they were. I thought of polishes as something you used when you had a lot of scrathes. The truth is polishes more or less do the same thing waxes do but are man made product. They last longer, but some experts claim they don't have the depth of shine a natural wax does. I can't tell any difference.

I've been using products made by Zaino, and they make pretty good stuff. I'm sure others make similar products that are good also. So for those of you using the old fashioned waxes, try a polish some time.

 

[JESSE1]

I've never tried the Zaino products, heard good things about them, though. I pretty much use Meguire's waxes and polishes, my favorite is Meguires Cleaner/Wax. If I really feel enthusiastic I'll use a clay bar and then wax.

 

[dodge man]

I clay bar on ocassion also. I don't enjoy it, but it really gets the car clean. I recently bought a new Challenger, and it had the roughest paint. It seems when the cars are shipped by rail, they get what is called rail dust on them. Its fine steel particles that come from the rails and wheels of the rail cars, and it settles on the cars. After I clay barred it, smoother than a babys bottom.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I did clay bar for the first time on my neighbors Dmax last week. It worked great.

As for waxes I like a product by Turtle Wax that is a cleaner and wax in one. We started using it on boats years ago and now use it on everything. We also like the Wax As You Dry product by Turtle Wax. I wash my cars once a week or more so I use every other wash or so and it really does help out.

Chris

 

[timswi]

As a recovering detailer, I have a cabinet full of Meguires products. They make very high quality detail supplies....If you have a dark vehicle, try #7 and then one of their Show Car products over that....If the paint is in good shape, the vehicle will look beautiful.

 

[General Lee]

As a recovering detailer, I have a cabinet full of Meguires products. They make very high quality detail supplies....If you have a dark vehicle, try #7 and then one of their Show Car products over that....If the paint is in good shape, the vehicle will look beautiful.

Good to see another detailer on the board Meguiars professional line of products are pretty decent. I have moved on to mostly Optimum and the Menzerna line. I still use Zaino for longer durability protection.

Dodge man - Polishes really don't give paint protection. Polish restores the shine by removing swirls/oxidation and scratches. It also replenishes the oils in paint. After a polish you need to top with a wax or sealant. Sealants such as Zaino provide longer paint protection. The look between carnuba wax and sealant's is a personal opinion. Some feel carnuba's provide a deep shine and sealant's tend be give more a shiny plastic look. Its all about what look satisfies you. Carnuba's have a melting point of about 180-190 degrees so on a hot sunny day a vehicle's surface (especially dark paint) can get hot which degrades the wax.

Its also an unknown secret of why Zaino calls the product's a polish. They have a polish that removes scratches and such but their Z-2, Z-5 products are for paint protection not paint correction.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[dodge man]

Yeah, a lot of its the way different manufactorers name their product. Zaino's polishes are more of a protectant, I use the Z2 on my Challenger which rarely needs any real cleaning. I've got some Z5 that I think has some cleaner in it also. Its my understanding that glazes are more for paint correction and cleaning, but don't offer any protection for the paint. I've got some Maguires polish that is for scratch removal and I really think of it as more of a glaze.

What ever you want to call it, I've moved on from the natural waxes to the man made protectors, call it a sealer or polish, and think they last much longer and give just as much shine.

 

[rabidracin]

I like turtle wax ice because if I get it on door or tailgate handles of my Silverado it doesn't leave any residue. I used mcguire 3 step wax and cleaner before but than I had to buy mcguires back to black to get rid of residue. It always did a good job other than that.

 

[dodge man]

Thats actually why I stopped using regular wax, it got along the stripes of my Challenger with the white residue, when I switched to Zaino it doesn't leave the residue. I've got some Turtle Wax ice products, their detail spray and there interior detail gel, its pretty good stuff. I guess I've got the detailer problem myself.

 

[tractorboy5500]

Thats actually why I stopped using regular wax, it got along the stripes of my Challenger with the white residue, when I switched to Zaino it doesn't leave the residue. I've got some Turtle Wax ice products, their detail spray and there interior detail gel, its pretty good stuff. I guess I've got the detailer problem myself.

I used the detail Ice on the outside of my truck, and it works good. I seen the Ice for interior and havent tried it, I will try it next time, does it last longer than the Armoral or other interior products that you used before??

 

[dodge man]

Its not in a spray bottle, but I just squirt some on a rag and wipe it on. I've done quite a bit of reading, and the general consensus among car detailers is that Armour All is hard on the interior of a vehicle. It can cause it to dry out over time. The owners manual for my Challenger actually says not to use it.

 

[glc24]

All I've ever used on my truck since day one (1998) is Meguiars Gold Class.
Anyone ever try this stuff?
I've been told it's pretty awesome.

Greg

 

[tractorboy5500]

Its not in a spray bottle, but I just squirt some on a rag and wipe it on. I've done quite a bit of reading, and the general consensus among car detailers is that Armour All is hard on the interior of a vehicle. It can cause it to dry out over time. The owners manual for my Challenger actually says not to use it.

Since I bought my 08 Dodge dually, the dash always looked dry no matter what I used, I will try the gel.

 

[General Lee]

All I've ever used on my truck since day one (1998) is Meguiars Gold Class.
Anyone ever try this stuff?
I've been told it's pretty awesome.

Greg

Glc - that collonite wax is actually very good stuff. Gives great shine and outstanding paint protection.

 

[bigtiller]

You guys just taught me something, I thought wax and polish were two words for the same thing. You can probably guess that I don't use either very often.

 

[sld]

I am a fan of McGquiar's products. With a decent coat of wax it is much easier to just spray your truck off. I am just a few minutes from several car washes and by the time I get home I can dry the whole truck in about 10 minutes. Without decent wax I am stuck with a long hand washing.

One thing I learned to use on the inside plastic is plain old Pledge. Spray it on a rag and it will get all the dust from anything you wipe and it smells great. I even use it on leather dress shoes!:laughing:

A lot of people will argue that modern clear coats do not need wax. In my experience wax helps a bunch for the above reasons. Polishes can be helpful if your paint has a lot of contaminants or lacks luster but always follow up with a good coat of wax.

 

[timswi]

I am a fan of McGquiar's products. With a decent coat of wax it is much easier to just spray your truck off. I am just a few minutes from several car washes and by the time I get home I can dry the whole truck in about 10 minutes. Without decent wax I am stuck with a long hand washing.

One thing I learned to use on the inside plastic is plain old Pledge. Spray it on a rag and it will get all the dust from anything you wipe and it smells great. I even use it on leather dress shoes!:laughing:

A lot of people will argue that modern clear coats do not need wax. In my experience wax helps a bunch for the above reasons. Polishes can be helpful if your paint has a lot of contaminants or lacks luster but always follow up with a good coat of wax.

Yes that's true..If there is a good coat of wax on the vehicle, it makes washing that much easier.

 

[dwost]

I spend a lot of time here www.autopia.org

I use products from Zaino, Klasse, Sonus, Pinnacle, p21s, Wolfgang, and several others on a regular basis. Lots of great products out there just understand what your trying to accomplish and how detailed (pardon the pun) you want to get.

There is much more to the mix than just polish and wax for a true professional finish. No time to dive into the specifics now but do some reading on there and you will learn the true art of detailing.

 

[ray66v]

I
A lot of people will argue that modern clear coats do not need wax.

If you check with any automotive paint manufacturer, they will tell you modern finishes do not need wax.

The main reason you waxed a car was to seal the paint. Modern auto finishes have very tight molecular structures, that do not benefit from being sealed with wax.

Clear coats also don't oxidize like old fashioned finishes, which was the other reason you waxed vehicles. Old waxes like Simonize had deep cleaners to remove the layers of oxidized paint. Those cleaners would be too strong for a clear coat finish, so most modern consumer waxes contain little more than silicone.

As discussed here there, is a difference between wax and polish. Modern finishes do benefit, cosmetically, from having the surfaced cleaned, and polished, such as the use of a clay bar to remove pollution, brake particles, and a cleaner/polish, to remove surface wear and minor scratches. If you properly clean and polish a finish, it will appear, and clean up when you wash it, the same as if it was properly cleaned, and then waxed.

Most of you are going to do it anyway, but waxing your clear coat finish, (as in applying a proper carnuba paste wax), is pretty much the same use of your time as waxing the no wax floor in your kitchen.

 

[General Lee]

Ray66- I respectfully disagree. Go without waxing a clear coat finish and see how quickly contaminates such as bird crap, sap, bug guts, Water spots ,etc. Etch the finish. The clear does protect the color finish from fading and such but bottom line, the clear coat still needs to be protected.