Car waxes?

Currently I am using Meguiars Car Wax...but i was wondering if anyone has done some testing with these..and what wax's give the best shine... also what kind of tire shine does anyone use...I usually use a spray on black magic but it doesnt tend to last very long and it also splashes up on the car if its fresh and leaves spots in the paint. Just looking for some input thanks all!

I use the Meguiars Gold Class Liquid Wax.....works well for me. It is easy to put on and buff compared to some. I have had real good luck with Eagle One Carnauba paste wax, but it is tougher.

I would recommend using other products before the wax. You can use professional polishes and a buffer but if you don't know what you are doing you can make it look worse. I would recommend to the general user the Meguiar's deep crystal system paint cleaner and polish. It is non-abrasive and would be hard to mess up your paint, but I have had excellent results with it. If you want to be a bit more ambitious, pick up a good clay bar and go at it as per instructions. If you get it looking really good once, it will be a lot easier to keep looking good.

RTexasF recommends the Wet Paint stuff at www.wetpaintglaze.com. I ordered some, but it hasn't shown up yet. So I can't tell you about it.

I personally like the purple tire shine stuff by meguiars that you put on with an applicator. Looks good, will hold up to a little rain too...not that hard to apply.

Although I haven't looked, but you might try looking at Consumer Reports for an unbiased testing of a wide variety of car products.

StevePhy

RTexasF and I use WetPaintGlaze only...we know that it's one of the very best..

WheelBrokerAng

Meguiars Gold Class Liquid Wax wax my car every 3 months with that........

I totally agree that preparation is the key. You can use the best wax available over a poorly prepared surface and you end up with a shiney crappy looking surface. A glaze helps to produce a bit more shine after polishing and also helps cover and fill scratches/marring that you just can't get out. The picture is a wax that I have and it is quite exceptional. It's expensive but you use so little that it will likely last you ten years or more. Ease of application and removal is childs play.....no effort at all. The car hood is mine. Since discovering Wet Paint it is now my go to product. Why? It's a breeze to use, produces fantastic results, and seals the surface in one shot. If you want a top notch carnauba wax buy the P21S in the picture.



Thumbnail Image


For tires, engines, and wheel wells I use this. Since some of the product gets windblown I always do the tires and wheel wells FIRST, then wash the car. No need to wait for tires and wheelwells to dry, spray it right on the wet surface and watch the water run off.


Thumbnail Image

Here's a car I detailed two days ago, today being 07/29/06. WP was the final product applied but the hood took one+ hours to prepare. It was full of kitty cat scratches and horrible swirls. This car was an absolute mess inside and out. A little over two months old and never washed!!!! It had been driven to Penn. & back and the front end was bug city. The bugs stained the front end badly but most were removed. 6.5 HOURS on this one with only small breaks for water...... NINE 1/2 liter bottles of Ozarka to be precise. Sore the next day? You bet! The WP was applied with a Porter Cable buffer and white foam pad. Removal was the same except a microfiber bonnet was stretched over a clean pad. It really looked wet and gleamed like a gem but I didn't do a good job of capturing that in the pictures....... I was thoroughly whooped with only a cold beer and cold shower on my mind, in that order. This was all done outside in the sun.


Thumbnail Image



Thumbnail Image

That looks excellent.

Thank You!

Do you think Wet Paint would help my dull paint job come to life? The paint is total garbage. There are mineral deposits that clay bar won't take out (maybe some rubbing compund? haven't tried it yet...) and the clear coat just has no shine to it. I love to detail my car, but I put an hour or two into it and it just never looks the way I want it to.

I think I'm going to just need a new paint job.

quote:

ORIGINAL: mbo1985

Do you think Wet Paint would help my dull paint job come to life? The paint is total garbage. There are mineral deposits that clay bar won't take out (maybe some rubbing compund? haven't tried it yet...) and the clear coat just has no shine to it. I love to detail my car, but I put an hour or two into it and it just never looks the way I want it to.

I think I'm going to just need a new paint job.

It might help but without seeing a picture I'm only guessing. If the paint needs compounding/polishing then that needs to be done first. Try doing a section by hand with Meguiars Scratch X to see if the shine returns. If so there's hope.......and a LOT of work ahead of you.

I'm assuming you do not have a mechanical buffer, is that correct?

quote:

ORIGINAL: RTexasF


It might help but without seeing a picture I'm only guessing. If the paint needs compounding/polishing then that needs to be done first. Try doing a section by hand with Meguiars Scratch X to see if the shine returns. If so there's hope.......and a LOT of work ahead of you.

I'm assuming you do not have a mechanical buffer, is that correct?

I do have an electric buffer and I picked up some of that Scratch X. Guess we'll see if the shine returns. If it does, I'll be getting some of that Wet Paint. And if it doesn't return and I just need a new paint job I'll use it in the future. That stuff looks like it works great.

Another product that may help is Color X. Understand that I'm just taking a shot on all this since I can't see the actual condition that the paint is in. Unless the clear coat is peeling off I'm certain that you can make the paint look better. How much better? Don't know.

Well, I waxed my new Accord for the first time today. The salesman who sold me the car told me only use liquid waxes on the paint. I decided to try a new product I've never used before, Turtle Wax ICE Synthetic wax. They had a kit at Pep Boys for $16.00 that included the wax which was the consistancy of water, along with the applicator and microfiber towel. The car looks better now than the day I drove it off the lot! Supposedly this wax will last up to 6 months, we'll see! I also used Eagle One Tire Shine on the Michelin tires that came with the car, they looked sharp! I took photos of the car but they're Kodak Professional Ektachrome Slides since I don't have a digital camera other than the cheap lousy camera on my cell phone! I used plain old Windex to clean the glass with paper towels and the car looks great! Anyone else use Turtle Wax ICE?

I use Cali Gold Wax and Tire Shine n Foam. And Purple Power for under the hood.



And....I use a ratty T-shirt to wax....prolly shouldn't, but the results are great.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Amtrak288

I used plain old Windex to clean the glass with paper towels and the car looks great! Anyone else use Turtle Wax ICE?

Hi Amtrak!
Just to let you know, cleaners such as Windex are great window cleaners, but the downside is that it dries out the rubber along your windows. Products such as Stoners Invisible Glass cleaner is wonderful and is made to be used on automotive glass and window tint. When using Stoners ($3) and a microfiber cloth ($1 @ wal mart) it creates amazing results. Hope that helps I just dont want your window seals drying out prematurely.

I use ICE on my car. I don't think it is so much a wax as it is a polish, but I could be totally wrong.

The shine looks awesome but with florida's rainy weather in the summer, it really only shines great for a week or so.

03 sleeper-

You have GOT to get another camera! It's as though it has a blue filter over the lens and makes your car look a different color than it really is. Actually, none of the colors look right.

:/

Yeah, I know......easy for me to say right? No disrespect meant but all pictures here and on other forums just make your car look awful and I know that's not the case.

Well...its all part of the sleeper look. ;)

Thanks for the info, I'll have to pick up some of that product. I'm not too worried about the window seals, this was the first time I ever cleaned the windows and the following day, we got an inch of rain, thus rendering my hard work as just about useless! BUMMER!!! On the other hand though, the water beads up really nice on the car when it's wet!

quote:

ORIGINAL: 19Accord97

quote:

ORIGINAL: Amtrak288

I used plain old Windex to clean the glass with paper towels and the car looks great! Anyone else use Turtle Wax ICE?

Hi Amtrak!
Just to let you know, cleaners such as Windex are great window cleaners, but the downside is that it dries out the rubber along your windows. Products such as Stoners Invisible Glass cleaner is wonderful and is made to be used on automotive glass and window tint. When using Stoners ($3) and a microfiber cloth ($1 @ wal mart) it creates amazing results. Hope that helps I just dont want your window seals drying out prematurely.

Amtrak-

The salesman who sold me the car told me only use liquid waxes on the paint.

By the way.....that is total crap.

quote:

ORIGINAL: poff1986

Currently I am using Meguiars Car Wax...but i was wondering if anyone has done some testing with these..and what wax's give the best shine... also what kind of tire shine does anyone use...I usually use a spray on black magic but it doesnt tend to last very long and it also splashes up on the car if its fresh and leaves spots in the paint. Just looking for some input thanks all!

http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/detailing/forum.php?postid=5256389&page=1

http://www.ffcobra.com/magazine/waxtest.html