car wax- which brand do you reccomend?

[SubLeggy]

hey guys,

am looking at car waxing my car to bring out its full shine!! just wondering which brand do you think i should go for?? my car is white

cheers subleggy

[Guest]

Hi

Unfortunately, after many years of experience, I have found that there is no such thing as a magic 'product' or 'brand'.

With the right process and technique, it is possible to get a great result with most products.

Conversely, even the best or most expensive product in the world can leave a poor finish if not used correctly.

To begin to answer your question - I need to understand what kind of work you are looking to do when you say "wax your car". Many times people consider this the same as "polishing your car", but the two are completely different processes. (and should use completely different products)

Feel free to send me a PM (or reply here) if you'd like to go into any detail on how to look after your car's paint. Alternatively, have a look at some of the writeups on my website (by clicking on my sig below) which all cover off the basics, as well as advanced detailing processes.

Cheers,

Ian.

[Shale]

+1 talk to this guy.

Personally I use Mothers and Meguiars products, as they haven't really missed a beat...the Meguiars cutting compound I've gently used removes almost all imperfections, but it can also use swirl marks. I've resorted to using an alternative cut & polish (lightly!) over it to take those off...that stuff is as close to jesus-product as I've seen, but it does need a lot of care.

Be warned, a proper detailing will take about 8 hours out of your day. No, I'm serious... 8 hours. If you claybar it, then work up from there.

[gemini]

I must have spent 8 hours on my car so far...

-Washed

-Removed tar spots using WD40

-Removed paint from other cars doors etc using a cutting compound

-Reduced surface scratches using cutting compound

-Washed

-"Cut and Waxed" with Meguires Wax and Polish (one product) which I think is a mild abrasive that fortunately removed the smudging the scratch cutting had caused. Was looking good after this

-Waxed using Turtle wax

Will remove the Turtle wax tomorrow or Weds night

Then I need to sort the stone chips!

Yeah big job, hope I used proper technique!

[Shale]

Similar to what I do. I scrub the car clean with a proper soap (not car wash) for a proper once-over (note, use car wash once you have waxed!). Then I clay bar every surface once dry, use a mild cutting compound to remove surface marks, stains and scratches. A cut&polish removes the bloody marks the cutter leaves behind (only noticable in direct sun). After that I have a sealer & glaze that fills in any residual marks left over, and a wax over the top of that. On the good paint on the rear of the car, it truly looks magic...on the badly done paint on the front, it makes a marginal difference.

[gemini]

Never seen a clay bar in action and what kinda soap? Serious stuff here

[Shale]

Dish soap for me. It strips wax off, so you're left with just the paint. Needs a thorough rinse afterward of course, that stuff is nasty. Think we have Sunlight here ;D

Clay bar is awesome. They say that contaminants get embedded in the pores of the paint and clearcoat, and neither cutter nor car wash will take all of it out. The clay bar basically drags it all out and leaves you with empty pores.

http://www.properautocare.com/usclaybartor.html

The only one I've seen here is Mothers. From what I've seen of it (done a good 5 cars now) it does what it says on the label properly, it's a nice product to use. It'd be nice to compare brands tho. It makes the paint absurdly, silky smooth.

After that I hit it with compound (I've been recommended a Meguiars product from Repco by Miller here, and IMO it's miracle goo...no scratching, just leaves a few buff marks). It takes off stains, rain spots, imperfections, minor scratches and makes the paint glass smooth. I've taken to following up with CRC cut & polish nice and gently on darker cars, just to take off said buff marks.

For what scratches are left (clear of crap of course) I use the Mothers sealer/glaze. It adds a little shine, yes, but it's the filling in of those last scratches that the stuff is good at. Final phase is a layer of wax. Again, Mothers is my pick so far...pure wax since the cleaner wax isn't necessary considering all my work.

The best part about all of this work, is that the lubricant that comes with the Mothers claybar is 'Showtime' - a detailer. If the car isn't too dirty (ie a half week of rain spots and commuting crap) then I load the stuff onto the panels bit by bit rather generously, and buff the dirt off with a microfibre. This is the instructions on the bottle, and it makes the surface like it's freshly waxed again - as it exposes the wax under all the dirt. If the car is particularly dirty, of course it's time for a proper wash

So the stuff I use...

- Hot soapy water, Palmolive flavour. Rinsed thoroughly.

- Mothers Claybar with Showtime and the world's nicest microfibre.

- Meguiars Ultimate Compound with a terry cloth.

- CRC Cut & Polish to remove the Meguiars marks.

- Mothers 3-step Sealer & Glaze.

- Mothers 3-step Pure Carnauba Wax.

It's an entire weekend's job because I'm slow and lazy...so far done Reuben's and Drunkenmonkey's GTBs, my Impreza, my Legacy, part of Drunkenmonkey's BF5 and my father's Honda Civic.

Also, Big Dave is pure awesomeness and win - he gave me an orbital buffer for my birthday. Naturally, I'll be doing all of this on his Forester I'll be sure to take before and after shots, and see what the buffer is capable of with these materials

[gemini]

All weekend? Now that's true love

[Shale]

Haha hell yeah.

Btw have you looked at PFS' website yet? I just finished drooling at that stuff...dayum, if you think our 8 hours is hard work...

PFS, I'm totally sold on the two-bucket thing and one of those mitts (for starters). Those rinse buckets...OH LAWD.

[Guest]

I use Maguires products mainly.. will kick off with a claybar initially then use their 3-step system. Step one is a paint cleaner that removes swirls and minor scratches, step two is the polish followed by Carnuba wax seal (step 3).

I took delivery of my 92 SVX yesterday and gave the black sections a going over as per above.. took me 2.5 hours to do the boot, spoiler and roof sections... This weekend, weather pending, the pearl get the same treatment so there goes one day at least.

[Shale]

COME ON, what is with all the newbies thread dredging?! IT'S NOVEMBER. THE LAST POST WAS IN SEPTEMBER.

[Guest]

hahaha, last post september, im sure some even older ones have been brought up recently

-smurff

[Shale]

They have, because people don't LURK MOAR. Seriously, this thread and the Insurance thread are diabolical for being dredged up out of nowhere!

I suppose to his credit, new guy didn't dredge 10+ threads all in one night. THAT would result in death by fire.

[Guest]

Death by fire. . . havnt had a good one of them in a while

**ewie**, its always good to cheak the date of the post before replying to it, if its a few months old, its kinda history.

but if it is something like, your having a problem with your car, and theres a thread on it thats a bit old, by all means, ask a question in there for help or more info

-smurff

[Shale]

Or, if there's an undying need to bump an ancient thread, at least post awareness that you're doing it.

"Old thread, but..."

"Thread bump!"

"HOLY THREAD NECROMANCY, BATMAN!"

That way you won't hack people off over dredging old stuff, they know you're intentionally adding relevent discussion.

[Guest]

"HOLY THREAD NECROMANCY, BATMAN!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i like that. . . must remember

-smurff