Waxes and polishes.

dodge man · May 23, 2011

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 · May 23, 2011

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 · May 23, 2011

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 · May 23, 2011

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 · May 23, 2011

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 · May 23, 2011

timswi said:
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 · May 24, 2011

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 · May 24, 2011

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 · May 24, 2011

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 · May 24, 2011

dodge man said:
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??