Waxing - The Emperor's New Clothes?

[mr wilks]

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Like I say... It's what your happy with.. Personally I wish I was less bothered..

Yeah i guess that's the bottom line , i am happy with the finish i can achieve on my car's paint feel & look .
Only the black cars ive had really bothered me & for that reason will be avoiding any more in the future
Get the coupe up to the Turnpike on the 1st March & i'l give you a few pointers

 

[original guvnor]

Man that Z4C looked mighty fine Mr W. I may be biased but looks a lot more special than the current metal does.

 

[Z4M-2006]

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Like I say... It's what your happy with.. Personally I wish I was less bothered..

Yeah i guess that's the bottom line , i am happy with the finish i can achieve on my car's paint feel & look .
Only the black cars ive had really bothered me & for that reason will be avoiding any more in the future
Get the coupe up to the Turnpike on the 1st March & i'l give you a few pointers

Yea I'm gonna try to get over ...

It's just over an hours run for me so it will be filthy when I get there anyway..

Just need rid of this manflu... Hate being ill !!

Edit concur with OG's comment

 

[mr wilks]

Man that Z4C looked mighty fine Mr W. I may be biased but looks a lot more special than the current metal does.

Yeah it was special & i have never fallen out with the Zcs looks
It was twice the ££ though :wink: tied up in a low use motor which was the biggest factor when i sold it ,
That said im off to France 1000miles round trip on Wednesday in the Audi & if offered the choice i would take the TT over either of the Zs ive had , i know you aren't a fan of the 4 rings but the build , comfort & overall driveability especially over an hours duration is far better imo

 

[Ewazix]

I'm probably with the OP on fancy pants waxes. Anything with a dumb name or pointless colour always makes me suspicious from coloured brake pads to fruity aerials or the myriad of weird and wonderful waxes personally harvested by named Amazonian hi-carumba harvesters. Having wasted money on exotic products I stick to a good wash regime, clay bar one or maybe twice a year and some basic AG products bought on-sale from Halfords and it looks great.

 

[Z4M-2006]

I guess it's down to car colour too..

Grey and silver always look good, dark blue, red and black can look horrendous

 

[Ewazix]

I guess it's down to car colour too..

Grey and silver always look good, dark blue, red and black can look horrendous

Totally agree, I recently sold a black car that had been well treated but the paintwork was horrible up-close. I'd avoided black for years and that will be the last black car I have - they look unbeatable when fresh but a nightmare to keep.

 

[Zero4]

when I bought the Z a couple months ago it looked great, the dealer made a good job on the shine.... well, a good job on filling It was only when I got home and stripped it with some dish soap to see the naked paint that I could see the wash marks. lots of fine swirls, nothing out of the ordinary and prob put in by past owner washing and drying. I've machined a few panels and going to get time to do the whole car before spring kicks in but its really only when you strip the paint of all filler waxes and have the sun glaring down on it that you see the paint condition. A fully corrected paint job may seem a tad overkill but it actually saves money and time in the future. A well corrected car only needs a wash and a quick wax top up for protection afterwards and your back to perfect and will stay that way unless you wash and dry badly

 

[derin100]

when I bought the Z a couple months ago it looked great, the dealer made a good job on the shine.... well, a good job on filling It was only when I got home and stripped it with some dish soap to see the naked paint that I could see the wash marks. lots of fine swirls, nothing out of the ordinary and prob put in by past owner washing and drying. I've machined a few panels and going to get time to do the whole car before spring kicks in but its really only when you strip the paint of all filler waxes and have the sun glaring down on it that you see the paint condition. A fully corrected paint job may seem a tad overkill but it actually saves money and time in the future. A well corrected car only needs a wash and a quick wax top up for protection afterwards and your back to perfect and will stay that way unless you wash and dry badly

This is exactly what I'm doing as well.

I've done everything now except the front and rear bumper areas. Then I'll get the wheels off ((I have a brand new set of Goodyear F1 Assimetrics to go on) and do the wheel arches and underneath. Then I'm done!

 

[Mad Professor]

I am v lazy when it comes to cleaning to my car as I consider it a waste of my valuable time . I used Harly wax on my black Zed for the first time recently and have to say it came up incredibly well with minimum effort = good result .

 

[Autovisiondetailing]

For me spending time detailing a car not only pays the bills but I thoroughly enjoy it. All of my own cars are paint corrected, sealant and wax applied. This then makes cleaning the car a doddle.

AG are ok products but if you shopped around you can get far better quality products for less or just a tad more which give you a far better finish.

A example of this is Soft 99 Fusso Wax with sealant properties for around £20. It needs to be applied directly onto the paint so you'd need to strip any previous wax but it's been proven to give you 12 months protection on a single application.



My car currently been decontaminated, clayed, Fusso and tested 2 coats of Authetic Premium wax and the results are stunning

 

[StevenH72]

My car currently been decontaminated, clayed, Fusso and tested 2 coats of Authetic Premium wax and the results are stunning

I'd love to see the difference (or not as may be the case) between your car after the fusso application and after the "Authentic premium wax" coats.

 

[AnttiO]

I really dont see what is the point or problem? You correct paintwork with da or rotary polishers or both, then you apply sealant or wax. It adds that shine to paintwork and protects it. There is not so big difference between sealant or natural wax like carnauba wax (collinite 915 for good example). I use both. Sealants typical lasts longer (for example fk1000p), and carnauba based natural waxes give slight better shine and dephtness. Ammo nyc detailer said that too so i think i am not so far from truth. For winter, sealant, and for summer carnauba wax. If the paintwork is scratched and damaged, then it is quite difficult to add shine with wax or sealant. Autoglym SRP mask scratches and it is good "makeup", but after couple of washes you see the truth. Black indeed is real pain, i dont want black cars. It is so easy to make wash swirls etc, or basicly you always do damage when you wash car by hand.. but in black or dark cars you see all little swirls. Grey / silver paints are best in my opinion.. easy to maintain and always good looking. What i can say about those expensive premium waxes and normal carnauba wax, i have saw collinite 915 and scholl the rock comparsion and i cant see any difference between expensive premium and normal carnauba wax. It all depends how good base you have for that wax. Ideally machine polishing is always what i recommend before wax.. it smoothes the surface and removes all particles which have left after prepping work (usually there is some small bits etc)

Pictures from paintwork which i saw in this thread was bit how i say.. they dont actually tell anything real condition of paintwork.

I make a little challenge. You who have dark colour car like black or dark blue.. take some pictures with halogen lights see what kind of condition your paintwork is.
Next pictures are our cars, which i corrected with my self. I am amateur detailer, not pro..

This picture is from our clio , 2002. Corrected + Collinite 915.


This is my dailydriver BMW

 

[StevenH72]

I like Ammo NYC's videos and I think Larry explains about detailing very well.

I just still think the "extra shine and depth" of a wax compared to a sealant is nothing but a placebo effect. Obviously once you buff away the hazing it will look uber shiny....it's just been hazy.

Last time I corrected my paintwork it looked fantastic, but it was the polishing that made it look fantastic...not the wax I applied afterwards.

My challenge, to add to yours, is for somebody to show me a 50:50 picture (or car in real life) which has perfectly corrected paintwork (even if just the bonnet) where the human eye can see the extra "shine and depth" added by the wax.

 

[Z4M-2006]

If that could happen..

And I believe that a subtle difference could be seen in certain circumstances, then a camera isn't going to pick it up..

 

[AnttiO]

Oh, okay.. i dont believe you can get that difference in camera. Maybe there is little different how it reflect light or how slick it feel.

 

[StevenH72]

Oh, okay.. i dont believe you can get that difference in camera. Maybe there is little different how it reflect light or how slick it feel.

Possibly, adding a layer of wax / sealant would alter how the light refracts / reflects, but then also, by that logic correcting paint would diminish the "depth" of shine as you are removing layers of clear coat. Logically, somebody who regularly corrects their paint (rather than filling with glazes etc.) would actually be harming their shine by constantly minimising the degree to which light would refract?

i.e. less clear coat = less refraction = less 'depth of shine'??

 

[StevenH72]

Maybe the secret to having the best shine is to never correct your paintwork, but constantly fill swirls with glazes?

 

[AnttiO]

I dont agree with that.
Correction normally take so less clearcoat off, if basic wash swirl removal is enough..
In usual cases those wash swirls are main reason why paintwork does not shine.

I do paint correction 2x / year for my dailydriver.
I use DA 21 machine, and finishing microfibre pad. Wolfs WP3 medium or Jeweler compound is enough to take swirls away.

 

[StevenH72]

I dont agree with that.
Correction normally take so less clearcoat off, if basic wash swirl removal is enough..
In usual cases those wash swirls are main reason why paintwork does not shine.

I do paint correction 2x / year for my dailydriver.
I use DA 21 machine, and finishing microfibre pad. Wolfs WP3 medium or Jeweler compound is enough to take swirls away.

As you will know from watching the Ammo NYC videos, because an uneven surface (i.e. one with swirls) will be less reflective than a smooth surface (i.e one perfectly corrected).

In theory, if a glaze perfectly fills (and masks) all swirls the surface will be smooth and very reflective.

The point I was making is that if we start talking about waxes adding layers to paint and changing it's reflective properties, DA polishing will do the opposite. It removes clearcoat.