Car wax recommendations

[Paul_Heery]

What is the latest word on car wax?

I see the commercials on Velocity & Speed all the time for the latest, greatest, easiest, etc. Of course, all the manufacturers tout that theirs is the best.

My car is a 1984 with the original paint. I'm not sure if that makes a difference with which product I use. Plus, it is black which always complicates things. It is a little dirty in the pics below, but you get the idea.

What is everyone using?

[Halm]

Wax and oil boarder on being "religious" discussions. Search will be your friend.

That said, I have kept this link bookmarked for years. I tried it on my '99 996 with decent results but hardly what was promised.

[matt711]

It really depends on what condition your paint is in and how much work you want to put into it. Another thing to consider is hand or machine application. One of the best things I ever did was to buy a good random orbital polisher and some foam pads. I can apply a layer of wax on my F250 (big truck) in less than 15 minutes with my polisher. It saves a lot of time. I was able to completely polish the wifes 330Ci in under an hour and the results were amazing.

If you want to really bring the paint back then you will have to devote several hours to the process. Wash, clay, polish, and wax. Some people even do a glaze between the polish and wax. Mothers and Meguires both sell a 3 step line of products that are pretty good.

I use Colonite 845 wax, it's very durable and easy to apply. It isnt a cleaner wax though so your paint has to be pretty shiny to start. If you go with the good old hand application then I would wash first then apply a good cleaner wax. Meguires is pretty good.

[gamin]

Being an old f**t, my criteria is easy on easy off with good shine to boot. I have been using Meguires Gold Class for years with good results. You can even apply it in the sun and it comes off without difficulty.

[Zeke]

Meguires and Mothers are both easy to use and do a good job. Zymol for those that are more particular although your neighbor won't be able to tell the difference.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Zaino Brothers stuff is fantastic. Online only but far superior to the stuff you can buy locally.

[911SauCy]

Orbital buffer with pads like matt711 said...

...I use all Ardex products. My favorite is called A-1 Step Glaze, it's a cleaner/polish combo...

Wash, clay it, wash, dry, buffer w A-1, buffer with "stereo glaze", then damp rag with "spot delivery" which is a quick detail final wipe down. If its bad, the first time will be night and day, the 10th will be amazing.

Remove the clay part and that's how I do my paint once a month, and just dust off between. Brought a 1994 reps ray of Guards red that looked oxidized pink to a deep beautiful red and I get comments all the time to the affect "when was the car painted?"

[chuckr]

Autogeek.net for info and how to videos
I've tried lots of products... liked them all !
Lately I've been using Chemical Guys products. I find that they work very well on older Porsches
(single stage paint/no clearcoat)
Our host sells the Butter Wet wax here.
Easy to use,looks great !

[thumbdoctor]

Use a good water sediment filter when rinsing the car. This avoids micro scratches when drying off the paint with a chammy or silicone water blade. Any good quality micro cleaning wax with a blue foam pad.

[VINMAN]

Add me to the old fart list. Anything starting with an "M" works just fine. ( Mothers, Mequires...)

Personally all the "Z", Griots, etc, etc.. stuff is over-hyped, overpriced.

A friend of mine whos show car wins a lot based on his paint, uses good old Turtle Wax.

[mossguy]

Griot's

[yazhound]

Do you value super shine, or great shine with protection. If the latter, Rejex - polymer finish easy to put on but for best result, no sun, and keep out of elements for 24 hrs. Former car show guy, uses on his autos. Used a lot in the aviation world and best prices may be found at the local general aviation facilities. This helps protect against acidic contaminents, bugs, brake dust on wheels, and makes cleaning that much easier. And, it is long lasting.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Mothers.

[RANDY P]

Collinite doublecoat. One of the strongest most durable you can buy.

2nd choice Meguiars NXT

[rouxroux]

It varies for me...on cars that we show, we wash, clay, then use either Griot's Best of Show or a hard carnuba, applied with a Griots random orbital (lighter than the old Porter Cable unit). For the daily drivers, we use either the pink Liquid Lustre or the Meguires NXT liquid. For a quick touch-up, either Liquid Lustre in a spray bottle diluted with water or Griots Speed Shine.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Add me to the old fart list. Anything starting with an "M" works just fine. ( Mothers, Mequires...)

Personally all the "Z", Griots, etc, etc.. stuff is over-hyped, overpriced.

A friend of mine whos show car wins a lot based on his paint, uses good old Turtle Wax.

'Based on his paint' says it all. Using a 'cleaner' wax like some Turtle Wax can destroy the look of a black paint. You might not notice the swirls in the shade or cloudy day but in the sun looks really bad.

Some of the polymer types will fill the micro scratches and yet could leave a haze, so one needs to experiment on a lower portion or obscure part of the bodywork and see what works best or to your satisfaction.

I would suggest to determine what type of paint the body has and do some research. This is why the higher regarded brands command the price and offer a wider variety of waxes. The chemistry has evolved with waxes and finishes. Imron was a tough hard paint, so many versions of enamels out there and can be soft or hard, most of the two stage urethanes seem tougher and hard, lacquer (still available in some states) was very pliable but shrinks over time, especially black against sun heat.

[R K T]

Anything except zymol.........over hyped, over priced waste of money!

[matt711]

Zymol makes many different waxes, the blue stuff you can get at Wal-Mart is junk.

[R K T]

Originally Posted by matt711

Zymol makes many different waxes, the blue stuff you can get at Wal-Mart is junk.

I used to work for "z"....I know exactly what they make.

[tchanson]

P21S. Great stuff, plus leaves no white residue on trim.






Tim