If you can feel the scratches easily with your fingernail, chances are you won't be able to get them out without rubbing through the finish. You may have to live with them.
Some minor scratches can be polished out with mild abrasive compounds, but I would only try this on the most minor of them. It will probably be a two or three step process going from a mild compound to a polish to a very fine polish to get the high gloss back. Be sure to work the surrounding area, not just on top of the scratch. And again, this runs the risk of going through clearcoat/paint, especially on older cars where you don't know if the finish may have been buffed once or more times before!
Color waxes generally do not work. Quite often they make the problem even worse and highlight the scratches. If the product happens to match your paint color EXACTLY, it might have some hiding qualities, but it will dry, and wear away quickly and usually change color as it dries.
Same thing for the GS-27 (scratch remover) or whatever it's called that in the infomercials. I know several people that have tried it and nobody has had satisfactory results. If you watch the commercial closely you can see how they fake everything.
for scratches, just rub steel wool over the scratch-you'll never see it again! JUST KIDDING!! God forbid someone read that and take me seriously. Seriously, though, I've bought the color magic stuff and it did nothing for scratches. Ok shine, but very messy for the effort. If you're not careful, or thinking ahead, as I did the first time, your hands will be the color of the wax for a few days.
I agree with Shoman and clintonjohn. I used Color Magic on my car's black finish and it's an okay product. There's one visible scratch on the rear bumper and Color Magic helped only a little. Someone told me that if I continue using it, eventually the scratch would be filled in. Not so. It's wax and it wears off. It can also be messy stuff to work with. My convertible top is tan so using a black wax was tricky. And it really doesn't last long. My dad tried the GS-27 and it didn't work for him. Don't waste your money.
I mentioned in a earlier message that I was testing Turtle Wax Emerald against Nu Finish. I just washed the car for the first time since waxing and during the rinse, the Turtle Wax Emerald did not bead as much as when I started the wash, but the strip done with Nu Finish was beading a lot. It is as if the wash took off the Emerald wax. I used a car wax soap designed to not take off wax and it didn't affect the Nu Finish at all.
I don't know if that means the Emerald is already wearing off. I'll report on how much it beads at the next wash.
When I used Nu Finish in the past, I would get good beading for 8-12 months.
i'm with pocahantas. i like mother's products and the carnuba paste in particular. it smells great (helps psychologically with the effort) and if spread thinly, goes on quickly, dries very quickly and wipes off quickly as well. shine is great but only lasts about a month with the car sitting in the southern california sun day in and day out. a $6.95 tin of the paste lasts me about 2 1/2 years. i have black cars so it's pretty easy to tell when it's time for a wash and wax. i don't care much for liquid waxes primarily because i have to be too careful about where i put the applicator so i dont slop wax everywhichwhere during wax-on. paste makes that part much less mental effort. just make sure you use good towels. bad towels can make any wax a pain and look bad to boot.
I have an 87 Cutlass Ciera that was garaged until last March, and now it sees the elements 24/7. I want to keep the paint protected so that the car will retain its value, but I don't know what steps to follow. Is it good to wash the car, clay it, then use NuFinish and be done, or do I need a better "polish" followed by a "wax"? Also, should this be a one time a year thing (claying, washing & waxing) or 2-3 times/year? Protection is the key here, not just beauty. I can afford to wash the car 1-2 times/month at the most, and the time I do get is limited. Also, I know that this is off topic, but benefits of driveway washing vs high pressure car washes: Do any exist?
Claying once a year, maybe twice (spring & fall) is plenty for most vehicles, but it takes all the wax off, so you will need to re-wax afterwards.
I use NuFinish to remove bugs and gunk, but not as a final paint protectant product. That is more a matter of personal preference than a statement of the product's merit. It made my old Honda shine and bead water for a log time after each application, but I have switched to Z**** for my newer vehicles.
Polishing is typically connected with abrasives and intended to restore the shine/condition of the finish. Some products claim to be polish/wax combinations, but that has been debated in other forums as an oxymoron -- meaning one product can not do both. Waxing/protecting as the final step is the key.
One concern with high pressure washing is it can drive dirt and other contaminants into the paint. The tradeoff is it is much more convenient in inclement weather to get the winter leftovers off the vehicle before rust starts. I do my new truck regularly in the winter, but always wet it down first to soften things up before squeezing the handle to get the extra pressure and rinse it all away.
I've felt that the high pressure washes are good in that I'll use them to blow off all the winter road crud on the underside of the car. Garden hose just doesn't have the oomph and if you're in a northern climate, you probably would not have the hose hooked up anyway.
I myself have been sold on the Meguiars Deep Crystal system. For those of you unaware of what it is, it is a three step process. Step one is a surface prep. Helps remove old wax, surface contaminants, and minor scratches/swirl marks. Step 2 is a pure polish. A lot of polishes today do contain wax and/or poly sealants. Step 3 is a carnuaba wax. I used all three steps on my ZX2 last summer and I was pretty impressed. I do not use all 3 steps every time. I plan to use step one in spring, step 2 twice a year, and step 3 every six weeks. The paint looked much glossier than the day I took it off the lot. I never thought silver could look so shiny. I then waxed my dad's white Maxima and he said he had no idea a white car could look so glossy.
I have never used any of the clay products, but from reading the posts, it seems all three Deep Crystal products give results the same as clay. The wax would seem to lose its ability to bead water sooner than other products, but the gloss, my most important criteria, lasted all summer long and even into the winter.
I will say the most important thing for obtaining a mirror-like shine is to get a good polish. Contrary to popular belief, wax does not make a car glossy. Polish does. Current formulations of waxes are only a protectant. That 1994 article in Consumer Reports stated that as well.
Well, my new truck should be here next week. I am gonna try the Meguires professional series of products. Gonna use #7 Show Car Glaze followed by #26 Wax applied with an orbital buffer. Any comments? Used their website to select the products.
I've read many times in various posts where people recommend AGAINST using an orbital buffer, due to risks of "overdoing it" and causing swirl marks or worse. I always "wax on/wax off" by hand.
A person has to have explicit knowledge of orbital buffers before even attempting to use one. That's the problem. You can't buy it, then practice on your car. Also, it is hard to justify the cost of a good one unless it will make you money. And many cheap orbitals are guaranteed to leave swirls because of how they operate.
I have no real plans to get an orbital. I mean, it is only 45 minutes or less to wax my ZX2. Okay, the polish coats are a bit longer cuz I want to bring out maximum gloss. But it is not all that big of a thing to do for me. I guess I am one of those nuts who actually does not mind waxing their car! :-) Btw, it took me almost four hours to use all three Deep Crystal formulations at the same time. One hour for the surface prep, two hours for polish coats(polished twice), and about 50 or more minutes for wax coat. This includes any breaks.
Back to orbitals. I was curious if there are special polishes/waxes for machine buffers? I know that at this one local auto parts store that specializes in paints and detailing supplies, they have two formulations of finish glaze. One for machine and one for hand. If you use the machine glaze by hand, you just have to work a bit longer. But if you use hand glaze with a machine, you risk finish damage as the hand formula is a bit thicker and heavier to compensate for the lack of power doing it by hand. So, are there machine-specific waxes/polishes out??
Markbuck, I am by no means an authority on buffers, so you know. However, a buddy who has detailed cars showed me how a buffer, by the way it rotates, can apply uneven pressure to a finish, and thus damage it. Also, I don't know how speed might affect performance.
Hi, The Meguiar's products you are going to use are the ones I use also - #7 polish then #26 carnauba paste. I recently have added the use of Erazer clay once (maybe twice per year). The products work great. My husband thinks I'm a clean freak the way I keep our '98 convertible and '92 truck so shiny. So, he got me a Black & Decker orbital buffer, thinking it would speed things up. (I take forever to get these cars just right.) Anyhow, I tried out the buffer on our truck last week. Washed it w/ Dawn, clayed it, then waxed it w/ the buffer (& liquid wax). I remembered the comments from earlier about how novices can burn the paint, so I let the buffer do the work w/out applying any undue pressure. Results were same as when I wax by hand, except was a little quicker. I am too gun shy to try the buffer on our new convertible, so I'll keep "practicing" on the still shiny red truck. Good luck with it.
What about random orbital buffers with selectable speeds? I got a craftsman buffer for Xmas and want to try it out on my new Solara when it gets warm again... The "random orbital" means it doesn't just turn in a circle, but more like the shape of an egg (?). It also has two speeds (high and low) - the manual says low is for applying wax and high is for removal, comments?
Also, if I do use the buffer, do I need special wax or is Mother's, Z..., etc. fine?
Yes, Nu Finish is safe for clearcoat. Not only does it say so on the container, but Consumer Reports verified that in their test.
I think you will be happy with Nu Finish. It is easy to apply, gives a decent shine, cleans better than most and will definitely outlast any other store-bought wax. I had the best durability in the Consumer Reports test and my personal experience is that it will last up to a year and many car washes. There may be some waxes that give a better shine, like Meguiars, but none will last as long as Nu Finish.
Ok, I used to detail cars for a living (in college) and have a few hints for Buffers. Never leave running in one place (duh) Keep it moving with an even steady pressure. DO NOT use a "wool" pad on a clear coat finish or you'll leave swirls from hell. 3M makes 2 foam buffing pads for clear coats. A white one for compounding and a black one for finish coat (wax/glazing). They're not cheap but neither is a new paint job. In fact IMO 3M makes the best products for auto detailing. They even print up brochures/instructions for the novice. Another opinion of mine is that with a wool pad, the best sealcoat is FINISH 2001. I know it's really cheap but I was VERY surprised when it worked. I buffed a $75K mercedes with is and the owner stated that it had never shined like that before.
Here's a little trick you can use to eliminate/minimize swirls before they happen. When the wax is to be wiped off, lightly sprinkle CORN STARCH over the white haze then wipe off the wax and starch with a cheesecloth. I actually picked that one up from my grandfather who owned a chevy dealer years ago.
shcst12 - Nu Finish is a cleaner wax. It does it all at once. With solvents, it cleans the surface as you apply it. It polishes as you rub it on and buff it off. It is easy to apply and remove, just keep using a clean area of a terry cloth towel as you rub it off. You do not have to follow up with a wax. The Nu Finish product is all you need. You will get major water beading for many months and many car washes.
If your paint has embedded dirt or is oxidized, the applicator may get dirty as you apply Nu Finish. You will need to clean the applicator. What I find works well is to soak the applicator with mineral spirits and squeeze all the dirty wax out. Then use soap and water to thoroughly clean out the mineral spirits. Then rinse and squeeze out. Once the applicator looks clean, you can resume using it. Better yet is to get a pack of terrycloth covered applicators from the auto parts store and use each until it gets dirty. When you are done with the job, then clean them all for next time. If your paint is in good shape, then you can do the whole car without cleaning the applicator.
What amazed me is I had let my previous car go for 2 years and the white paint was gray with dirt that would not wash off. I thought the paint was ruined. One application of Nu Finish and the paint was a white as new and the car looked great! But because of the embedded dirt, I did have to keep cleaning the applicator after each major area (hood, roof, etc.)
Nu Finish does come in a liquid and a paste. The paste is the better of the two. Lasts longer. Only warning, like most waxes, is not to let it get into black textured vinyl trim. It will dry white and be very hard to remove.
I have skimmed now through hundreds of these posts, and do I feel guilty!
My poor cars have never been clayed or Zaino'd!
Now, the clay sounds interesting and I'm going to try it.
But Zaino, sorry, but this just sounds like a major pain in the rear! I'm sure it works great but I have better things to do than spend days going through six steps or whatever it is.
I've always had good luck with Meguire's stuff.
When I was a kid, the big deal was a "Blue Coral" wax job. This was also a day long pain. It was a time consuming two step process that seemed to work O.K.
We would usually do this once and never again!
But, does anybody remember Classic Car Wax? It came in a black can, was very expensive at the time, and seemed to work well.
Well, I just tried clay and Zaino for the first time this past weekend. And I think you've got it backwards, isellhondas.
I found that the clay really didn't make a huge difference if you give your car a THOROUGH wash. At first I couldn't tell if it was doing anything. But eventually I began to see some grime that it was removing. I'll continue to use the bar I bought, but probably won't spend another $20 on it.
Zaino is a different story. I must say that after reading literally hundreds of messages from zaino believers, I almost expected that my car was soon to become the 2nd man-made object visible from space. While it won't blind pedestrians from 500 feet away, my car does have a nice shine to it.
Don't get me wrong, I highly approve of the zaino. It was easy and very quick to use. I consider 3 steps of zaino easier than the 1 step with the Meguiar's Carnuba I tried last. And after the first application you don't have to reapply Z1 every time. Maybe just once every 6 months - year. You don't have to be super careful around black plastic. And I expect that it will last longer than anything else I've tried. It's just not quite as "magical" as I was led to believe. Maybe if I try that 2nd and 3rd coat it'll glow in the dark.
Ah, yes, I do remember both Blue Coral and Classic Wax.
Blue Coral came in a box that included a bottle of blue liquid that you would use to polish the paint. It smelled like mineral spirits. Once you had done the whole car, you opened a small glass container of blue paste wax. It smelled like floor wax. You rubbed some on and buffed and buffed and WOW it would shine. You could actually read a newspaper in the shine. Believe it or not, (believe it) I still have a container of the Blue Coral paste wax. It is one of those things that just found a place to live on a garage shelf. I used to polish a guitar with it. Worked fine for that, too. I don't know how the old Blue Coral would compare to today's waxes, but I think it was a lot better than the Blue Coral of today which Consumer Reports rated quite below Meguiars and Nu Finish.
I remember once finishing my hood with Blue Coral and a cat jumped on my car. The hood was so slippery that there were paws going everywhere as the cat slid across the hood and fell back on the ground. I laughed my [non-permissible content removed] off.
Another time a friend had talked me into trying Simonize New Vista. Since Blue Coral took such a long time, I was willing to give it a try. I Simonized my car, but did a small area with Blue Coral as a test. A week later the Blue Coral area looked much better. A month later the only part on the car that looked shiny was the Blue Coral area. I went back to the full-day ordeal of Blue Coraling the car.
I had also tried Classic Wax many years ago, but found that it didn't shine or last as well as Blue Coral.
I have often thought about how to keep cats off a car. Here is an idea that may actually work. Most cats hate ultrasonic sound. Some specialty stores sell a "cat chaser" that is actually small handheld device that emits a loud ultrasonic sound. Seems that one of these powered by an AC adapter and wired to run continuously would do the trick.
OK Iselhondas, so what's a megger? Or are two meggers a team. Maybe they're muggers in which case we got enough in my area anyway. But now if they're really hated by dogs, why hook 'em up to a fire hydrant, why not plug 'em into your car's tail pipe. That'll stop all that pissing!
After trying the Z-word on two cars, my most humble opinion is that it ain't worth the effort, folks.
I did a half and half comparison between Z and Duragloss on our new Odyssey (dark green). There is absolutely no difference in shine. None. And based on my experience with my '95 Camry, the same thing appears to be true.
Aaah, an anti-theft device! Great idea, let's patient it: a large static-electric charge on the car body which is only turned off via the remote keyless transmitter. It might even protect your finish. And its not Zaino. Technology marches on!
One can make electricity by rubbing a cat (or cat fur) against something plastic. Wait - didn't we already talk about cats and cars here? Holy cow - that's a nature's gift to all drivers and no one has realized it - cats hang around cars! just put them to work, don't scare them away with Coral Blue or Z***** - make them rub against the car, that will generate electricity and give a huge shock to the potential car thief! Added benefit - smooth and shiny paint surface where the cat rubbed, no need for claying!
Before we drift away from cats, here is a better use. Notice how a piece of buttered toast always falls buttered side down when dropped? Notice how a cat always falls on his feet when dropped? These are both forces of nature. Well, if you strap a piece of buttered toast (butter side up) on the back of a cat and drop it, it will fall, but begin spinning in perpetual motion as both forces of nature work against each other. You can then use the cat/toast motor as an alternative source of power for you car.
And now back to the topic:
wc3george - Please do keep us posted. Since this topic isn't to duplicate the praises for Z*** found in the other wax and polish topic, it would be okay to hear from people that tried Z*** and found it is no better than the store bought stuff. We are very interested in store bought waxes that are easy to use, give a great shine and last for a long time.
The title of this topic says "No Zaino Posts, Please". Then let's keep it that way. It's unfair to bash Zaino in this forum, but not allow people to also add positive comments.
wc3george's issues with Zaino may have more to do with his vehicle's condition, surface preparation, and/or other variables than just the Zaino products themselves. I have been happy with Zaino, but have also found NuFinish and others to be very good when I have used them in the past.
Either include Zaino or don't, I don't care -- just be consistent!
Okay, good point about keeping Zaino, oops, I mean Z****, comments out.
If we include Z****-positive posts in this topic, this topic will become flooded with the Z**** posts that already exist in another topic and that would kill the purpose of this topic. My reason for saying that comparisons between Z**** and store bought waxes were okay was to continue the discussion on store bought waxes as an alternative to those waxes that take many steps and a lot of time. But I certainly don't want this topic to become a duplicate of the other wax and polish topic, so I will retract my last posting about Z**** and ask that we keep this topic focused only on "store bought waxes" that are easy to apply and last a long time.
My ideal would be a product that goes on easily in one application, is clearcoat safe, cleans upon application, doesn't leave white residue on black trim, buffs off easily, has a good gloss, and lasts one year. In all my years of car ownership, Nu Finish comes the closest, except if it gets into black trim crevices, it is hard to remove.
Most of the waxes on the market today were included in the Consumer Reports article which gave Nu Finish Paste top honors for durability and Meguiars Liquid Cleaner Wax top honors for gloss, so it seems an easy choice - most durability or most gloss. However, since the article there have been some new waxes on the market like Turtle Wax Emerald and, most recently, Zymol Cleaner Wax.
We have already talked about Emerald and I am currently testing it. Zymol's very expensive ($40+ for HD Cleaner and Carnauba Wax) product was tested by Consumer Reports and found to be very good, but not any better than Meguiars or Nu Finish. Now Zymol has a liquid and a paste on the store shelves for about $18. These versions don't have the level of carnauba that the expensive Zymol's have. They are one-step and certainly much more reasonably priced than the other Zymol products. I wonder how they stack up against the currently top rated Meguiars and Nu Finish. Anybody try either of these Zymol store bought waxes?
First off, I have no intention of making such a purchase. But I read somewhere(cannot remember where though)that for a few thousand dollars, Zymol will custom tailor a polish formulation based on the car you drive(ford uses different paint stocks, primers, reducers, clearcoats, etc than does Honda, they claim), your climate, etc. Now I love my ZX2, but not THAT much... But is this about Zymol custom making a formulation true or BS? Also, was that article about Zymol in Consumer Reports 1994 issue where they tested wax??
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the CR '94 report indicated that the high end Zymol and Klasse did give a superior shine (vs. the store waxes), but that the gain was slight, and in their opinion wasn't worth the money.
Duragloss is a polish. It comes in liquid form only. It is easy to apply, fairly easy to buff, doesn't leave an excessive amount of dust, and doesn't stain black trim. The clearcoat version costs about $10. There is also a non-clearcoat type.
In my area (NC), it's available at Advance Auto. I wonder how widely available it is, since it's made in NC. I've never heard of Durashield.
As for my "vehicle's condition, surface preparation, and other variables", the vehicle in question is a 4-week-old Honda Odyssey which I Dawned and dried. Other than what the dealer may have done, no wax/polish had been applied. My comments were regarding initial gloss only.
I posted my results in hopes that others who may be spending inordinate amounts of time waxing their rides (like me) might be encouraged that there is a simpler way. However, due to the objections by some to any mention of the other product -- good or bad -- I'll yield.
That was DuraShine that I called a POS. DuraShine is a "as seen on TV" thing. Is DuraGloss also as seen on TV? Who makes it?
Speaking of $18 store bought Zymol - I used it, it got in all cracks and black trim and was a pain to remove. Also I believe it caused a lot of swirl marks.
Donaldjr - The Zymol test was in the June 94 issue of Consumer Reports. They didn't list it in the chart, but commented about it in a separate text box. Yes, Zymol will custom formulate a wax for a few thousand bucks. But their regular high-end stuff is formulated in several versions based on car type and costs about $32 for an 8-oz can.
jvcn - Here is the exact words from the article, "Both (Zymol and Klasse) gave car finishes a superior gloss. Both improved the look of weathered panels more than any tested wax but the top-rated Meguiars and the discontinued and slightly abrasive liquid Blue Coral Blue Poly. And both were so expensive...(they listed prices)...that we'd suggest using a good regular wax instead."
So it is a matter of interpretation whether the comment "improved the look of weathered panels" refers to gloss. I took the comment to mean that Zymol and Klasse gave a superior gloss, as did Meguiars Cleaner Wax, and that Meguairs was the best of the three.
What CR didn't say was how long the expensive polishes lasted and how easy they were to use. At $18 for a 10-oz bottle of Klasse I would consider trying it if it glossed almost as good as Meguiars and lasted as long as Nu Finish.
Incidentally, the Meguiars Cleaner Wax Liquid was at the top of the ratings, whereas the Meguiars Cleaner Wax Paste was at the bottom. Keep that in mind if you decide to try Meguiars.
vivona, thanks for the quotes! I interpreted it to mean gloss is better than all, but on weathered panels Meg is comparable. But you might be right. At any rate, the sense is clear that they thought it wasn't worth the dough.
wc3george or anyone: Our local hardware suggested I try a product called Superglaze. It's described as a liquid polymer polish and sounds similar to Duragloss. It's described as being suitable for autos and aircraft. Comes in white plastic bottle with blue lettering. $10 for 8 oz $14 for 16 oz. Opinions?
Comments
Some minor scratches can be polished out with mild abrasive compounds, but I would only try this on the most minor of them. It will probably be a two or three step process going from a mild compound to a polish to a very fine polish to get the high gloss back. Be sure to work the surrounding area, not just on top of the scratch. And again, this runs the risk of going through clearcoat/paint, especially on older cars where you don't know if the finish may have been buffed once or more times before!
Color waxes generally do not work. Quite often they make the problem even worse and highlight the scratches. If the product happens to match your paint color EXACTLY, it might have some hiding qualities, but it will dry, and wear away quickly and usually change color as it dries.
Same thing for the GS-27 (scratch remover) or whatever it's called that in the infomercials. I know several people that have tried it and nobody has had satisfactory results. If you watch the commercial closely you can see how they fake everything.
Don
My dad tried the GS-27 and it didn't work for him. Don't waste your money.
I don't know if that means the Emerald is already wearing off. I'll report on how much it beads at the next wash.
When I used Nu Finish in the past, I would get good beading for 8-12 months.
Stay tuned!
I use NuFinish to remove bugs and gunk, but not as a final paint protectant product. That is more a matter of personal preference than a statement of the product's merit. It made my old Honda shine and bead water for a log time after each application, but I have switched to Z**** for my newer vehicles.
Polishing is typically connected with abrasives and intended to restore the shine/condition of the finish. Some products claim to be polish/wax combinations, but that has been debated in other forums as an oxymoron -- meaning one product can not do both. Waxing/protecting as the final step is the key.
One concern with high pressure washing is it can drive dirt and other contaminants into the paint. The tradeoff is it is much more convenient in inclement weather to get the winter leftovers off the vehicle before rust starts. I do my new truck regularly in the winter, but always wet it down first to soften things up before squeezing the handle to get the extra pressure and rinse it all away.
Hope this helps,
Terry
I myself have been sold on the Meguiars Deep Crystal system. For those of you unaware of what it is, it is a three step process. Step one is a surface prep. Helps remove old wax, surface contaminants, and minor scratches/swirl marks. Step 2 is a pure polish. A lot of polishes today do contain wax and/or poly sealants. Step 3 is a carnuaba wax. I used all three steps on my ZX2 last summer and I was pretty impressed. I do not use all 3 steps every time. I plan to use step one in spring, step 2 twice a year, and step 3 every six weeks. The paint looked much glossier than the day I took it off the lot. I never thought silver could look so shiny. I then waxed my dad's white Maxima and he said he had no idea a white car could look so glossy.
I have never used any of the clay products, but from reading the posts, it seems all three Deep Crystal products give results the same as clay. The wax would seem to lose its ability to bead water sooner than other products, but the gloss, my most important criteria, lasted all summer long and even into the winter.
I will say the most important thing for obtaining a mirror-like shine is to get a good polish. Contrary to popular belief, wax does not make a car glossy. Polish does. Current formulations of waxes are only a protectant. That 1994 article in Consumer Reports stated that as well.
Back to orbitals. I was curious if there are special polishes/waxes for machine buffers? I know that at this one local auto parts store that specializes in paints and detailing supplies, they have two formulations of finish glaze. One for machine and one for hand. If you use the machine glaze by hand, you just have to work a bit longer. But if you use hand glaze with a machine, you risk finish damage as the hand formula is a bit thicker and heavier to compensate for the lack of power doing it by hand. So, are there machine-specific waxes/polishes out??
The Meguiar's products you are going to use are the ones I use also - #7 polish then #26 carnauba paste. I recently have added the use of Erazer clay once (maybe twice per year). The products work great. My husband thinks I'm a clean freak the way I keep our '98 convertible and '92 truck so shiny. So, he got me a Black & Decker orbital buffer, thinking it would speed things up. (I take forever to get these cars just right.) Anyhow, I tried out the buffer on our truck last week. Washed it w/ Dawn, clayed it, then waxed it w/ the buffer (& liquid wax). I remembered the comments from earlier about how novices can burn the paint, so I let the buffer do the work w/out applying any undue pressure. Results were same as when I wax by hand, except was a little quicker. I am too gun shy to try the buffer on our new convertible, so I'll keep "practicing" on the still shiny red truck.
Good luck with it.
Sebarge
http://www.homestead.com/convertiblencats
Also, if I do use the buffer, do I need special wax or is Mother's, Z..., etc. fine?
To answer your last question, above...the instructions on my Black & Decker say to use liquid wax, not paste, so no "special" wax is needed.
I think you will be happy with Nu Finish. It is easy to apply, gives a decent shine, cleans better than most and will definitely outlast any other store-bought wax. I had the best durability in the Consumer Reports test and my personal experience is that it will last up to a year and many car washes. There may be some waxes that give a better shine, like Meguiars, but none will last as long as Nu Finish.
Here's a little trick you can use to eliminate/minimize swirls before they happen. When the wax is to be wiped off, lightly sprinkle CORN STARCH over the white haze then wipe off the wax and starch with a cheesecloth. I actually picked that one up from my grandfather who owned a chevy dealer years ago.
If your paint has embedded dirt or is oxidized, the applicator may get dirty as you apply Nu Finish. You will need to clean the applicator. What I find works well is to soak the applicator with mineral spirits and squeeze all the dirty wax out. Then use soap and water to thoroughly clean out the mineral spirits. Then rinse and squeeze out. Once the applicator looks clean, you can resume using it. Better yet is to get a pack of terrycloth covered applicators from the auto parts store and use each until it gets dirty. When you are done with the job, then clean them all for next time. If your paint is in good shape, then you can do the whole car without cleaning the applicator.
What amazed me is I had let my previous car go for 2 years and the white paint was gray with dirt that would not wash off. I thought the paint was ruined. One application of Nu Finish and the paint was a white as new and the car looked great! But because of the embedded dirt, I did have to keep cleaning the applicator after each major area (hood, roof, etc.)
Nu Finish does come in a liquid and a paste. The paste is the better of the two. Lasts longer. Only warning, like most waxes, is not to let it get into black textured vinyl trim. It will dry white and be very hard to remove.
Thanks again, I am going to polish my car tomorrow
My poor cars have never been clayed or Zaino'd!
Now, the clay sounds interesting and I'm going to try it.
But Zaino, sorry, but this just sounds like a major pain in the rear! I'm sure it works great but I have better things to do than spend days going through six steps or whatever it is.
I've always had good luck with Meguire's stuff.
When I was a kid, the big deal was a "Blue Coral" wax job. This was also a day long pain. It was a time consuming two step process that seemed to work O.K.
We would usually do this once and never again!
But, does anybody remember Classic Car Wax? It came in a black can, was very expensive at the time, and seemed to work well.
I found that the clay really didn't make a huge difference if you give your car a THOROUGH wash. At first I couldn't tell if it was doing anything. But eventually I began to see some grime that it was removing. I'll continue to use the bar I bought, but probably won't spend another $20 on it.
Zaino is a different story. I must say that after reading literally hundreds of messages from zaino believers, I almost expected that my car was soon to become the 2nd man-made object visible from space. While it won't blind pedestrians from 500 feet away, my car does have a nice shine to it.
Don't get me wrong, I highly approve of the zaino. It was easy and very quick to use. I consider 3 steps of zaino easier than the 1 step with the Meguiar's Carnuba I tried last. And after the first application you don't have to reapply Z1 every time. Maybe just once every 6 months - year. You don't have to be super careful around black plastic. And I expect that it will last longer than anything else I've tried. It's just not quite as "magical" as I was led to believe. Maybe if I try that 2nd and 3rd coat it'll glow in the dark.
Blue Coral came in a box that included a bottle of blue liquid that you would use to polish the paint. It smelled like mineral spirits. Once you had done the whole car, you opened a small glass container of blue paste wax. It smelled like floor wax. You rubbed some on and buffed and buffed and WOW it would shine. You could actually read a newspaper in the shine. Believe it or not, (believe it) I still have a container of the Blue Coral paste wax. It is one of those things that just found a place to live on a garage shelf. I used to polish a guitar with it. Worked fine for that, too. I don't know how the old Blue Coral would compare to today's waxes, but I think it was a lot better than the Blue Coral of today which Consumer Reports rated quite below Meguiars and Nu Finish.
I remember once finishing my hood with Blue Coral and a cat jumped on my car. The hood was so slippery that there were paws going everywhere as the cat slid across the hood and fell back on the ground. I laughed my [non-permissible content removed] off.
Another time a friend had talked me into trying Simonize New Vista. Since Blue Coral took such a long time, I was willing to give it a try. I Simonized my car, but did a small area with Blue Coral as a test. A week later the Blue Coral area looked much better. A month later the only part on the car that looked shiny was the Blue Coral area. I went back to the full-day ordeal of Blue Coraling the car.
I had also tried Classic Wax many years ago, but found that it didn't shine or last as well as Blue Coral.
Anything to keep the %$#@& neighborhood cats off of my car!
Funny story! I'll bet he never jumped up there again!
http://www.catscram.com/
The dogs HATED it and would never return.
The same guy hooked up a megger to a stainless steel urinal when he was in the navy.
Just turn the crank....
Sorry, this has nothing to do with car wax, I just drifted...
I did a half and half comparison between Z and Duragloss on our new Odyssey (dark green). There is absolutely no difference in shine. None. And based on my experience with my '95 Camry, the same thing appears to be true.
As for the longevity, I'll keep you posted.
They are used, I think, to charge capacitors.
As you turn the crank, huge amounts of electricity are produced.
In high school, we had one in science class and, man, would it give you a shock!
But...they won't shine your car!
BTW that DuraShine I tried once before turned out to be the biggest POS I have ever seen.
And now back to the topic:
wc3george - Please do keep us posted. Since this topic isn't to duplicate the praises for Z*** found in the other wax and polish topic, it would be okay to hear from people that tried Z*** and found it is no better than the store bought stuff. We are very interested in store bought waxes that are easy to use, give a great shine and last for a long time.
The standard waxes/ meguiar's/Zymol/pinnacle/mother's etc.
The high gloss polymers
Z/Duragloss/Finish First, etc.
Any professional care to discuss the tradeoffs between the two?
Anyone have experience with Meguiar's #20 polymer sealant which seems to be a combo product? I've only used the wax stuff so far.
wc3george's issues with Zaino may have more to do with his vehicle's condition, surface preparation, and/or other variables than just the Zaino products themselves. I have been happy with Zaino, but have also found NuFinish and others to be very good when I have used them in the past.
Either include Zaino or don't, I don't care -- just be consistent!
If we include Z****-positive posts in this topic, this topic will become flooded with the Z**** posts that already exist in another topic and that would kill the purpose of this topic. My reason for saying that comparisons between Z**** and store bought waxes were okay was to continue the discussion on store bought waxes as an alternative to those waxes that take many steps and a lot of time. But I certainly don't want this topic to become a duplicate of the other wax and polish topic, so I will retract my last posting about Z**** and ask that we keep this topic focused only on "store bought waxes" that are easy to apply and last a long time.
My ideal would be a product that goes on easily in one application, is clearcoat safe, cleans upon application, doesn't leave white residue on black trim, buffs off easily, has a good gloss, and lasts one year. In all my years of car ownership, Nu Finish comes the closest, except if it gets into black trim crevices, it is hard to remove.
Most of the waxes on the market today were included in the Consumer Reports article which gave Nu Finish Paste top honors for durability and Meguiars Liquid Cleaner Wax top honors for gloss, so it seems an easy choice - most durability or most gloss. However, since the article there have been some new waxes on the market like Turtle Wax Emerald and, most recently, Zymol Cleaner Wax.
We have already talked about Emerald and I am currently testing it. Zymol's very expensive ($40+ for HD Cleaner and Carnauba Wax) product was tested by Consumer Reports and found to be very good, but not any better than Meguiars or Nu Finish. Now Zymol has a liquid and a paste on the store shelves for about $18. These versions don't have the level of carnauba that the expensive Zymol's have. They are one-step and certainly much more reasonably priced than the other Zymol products. I wonder how they stack up against the currently top rated Meguiars and Nu Finish. Anybody try either of these Zymol store bought waxes?
In my area (NC), it's available at Advance Auto. I wonder how widely available it is, since it's made in NC. I've never heard of Durashield.
As for my "vehicle's condition, surface preparation, and other variables", the vehicle in question is a 4-week-old Honda Odyssey which I Dawned and dried. Other than what the dealer may have done, no wax/polish had been applied. My comments were regarding initial gloss only.
I posted my results in hopes that others who may be spending inordinate amounts of time waxing their rides (like me) might be encouraged that there is a simpler way. However, due to the objections by some to any mention of the other product -- good or bad -- I'll yield.
If you want updates on the test, e-mail me.
Speaking of $18 store bought Zymol - I used it, it got in all cracks and black trim and was a pain to remove. Also I believe it caused a lot of swirl marks.
jvcn - Here is the exact words from the article, "Both (Zymol and Klasse) gave car finishes a superior gloss. Both improved the look of weathered panels more than any tested wax but the top-rated Meguiars and the discontinued and slightly abrasive liquid Blue Coral Blue Poly. And both were so expensive...(they listed prices)...that we'd suggest using a good regular wax instead."
So it is a matter of interpretation whether the comment "improved the look of weathered panels" refers to gloss. I took the comment to mean that Zymol and Klasse gave a superior gloss, as did Meguiars Cleaner Wax, and that Meguairs was the best of the three.
What CR didn't say was how long the expensive polishes lasted and how easy they were to use. At $18 for a 10-oz bottle of Klasse I would consider trying it if it glossed almost as good as Meguiars and lasted as long as Nu Finish.
Incidentally, the Meguiars Cleaner Wax Liquid was at the top of the ratings, whereas the Meguiars Cleaner Wax Paste was at the bottom. Keep that in mind if you decide to try Meguiars.
At any rate, the sense is clear that they thought it wasn't worth the dough.
wc3george or anyone: Our local hardware suggested I try a product called Superglaze. It's described as a liquid polymer polish and sounds similar to Duragloss. It's described as being suitable for autos and aircraft. Comes in white plastic bottle with blue lettering. $10 for 8 oz $14 for 16 oz. Opinions?