By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Not only are the Z products good on paint, plastic, glass, rubber seals etc but you don't have to buy a lot more corresponding products.
I think I have run across the following in two or three articles, books or tip type magazines.
The horizontal painted surfaces wear or fade 2-5 x as fast as the vertical painted surfaces (you can adjust cycles accordingly) rubber seals and plastic wear correspondingly 3-7 times faster than paint.
So really, if you plan to keep your car for longer durations, you should attack the plastic and rubber seals on more frequent cycles than the painted surfaces.
Now if I could just keep all the dust from blowing around here. It been a goog 2 months since any rain-fall.
http://photos.yahoo.com/irlambert
The firebird in my album is my fiancee's. We just started him on zaino, he's only got one coat on so far. We've got a lonnng way to go on his car. He thought I was crazy at first...and now he's already talking like a true zainoite!
Just a side note....we even zainoed his motorcycle!!
I've got 2 coats of Z5 and one coat of Z2 on my car. Like fastdriver, I've been using Zaino for almost 2 years on my "other" vehicles. There were some very minor swirls (mostly on the spoiler) that my well intentioned dealer put on the car when they put it through their "automatic car wash" when I had it in for service a few months ago. Z5 took care of it well. As mentioned, I plan on putting another coat of Z1/Z2 for the car's winter preparation in the next couple of weeks. It helps that it's garaged at night, too.
I live in the south western part of Ohio. We live on a cul-de-sac. The lots are all 3/4 of an acre...as you can see, we have woods in the back (and all sorts of creatures that come from those woods in our yard). It's not unusual to see deer or racoons in our back yard sorting through our garbage looking for food in the Spring. I spec'd the house out about 7 years ago and acted as the "general contractor". I had never done anything like that before. My wife and I learned a lot from the experience and figured we saved about $40K-$50K by acting as our own general contractor. It sure was a bear when it was being built though, dealing with sub-contractors that sometimes had less than honest intentions.
We love the neighborhood and schools for our two teenagers and would act as our own general contractor again in a heartbeat.
I'm in the computer industry and actually looked into moving to the Bay Area in CA about 4 years ago. WOW!....realestate in San Francisco and LA were unbelieveable (compared to the midwest). Land and houses that compare to ours was about 4X-5X what mine was built for. I figured that it would have cost us about $1M to replicate what we have now in either the Bay Area or LA. Of course, your real estate appreciates at a much higher rate than ours does, too.
Consequently, since I'm in the industry that I'm in, I spend a lot of time in planes, commuting back and forth to San Jose (about once/month). I agreed to spend more time on planes so as not to have to move to the Bay Area. I'll probably end up there within the next 4 years or so as soon as my kids are in college (and out of the house).
A Hint for all taking photos of their cars - It is best NOT to shoot in direct sunlight - the contrast is just too much for cameras, and a lot of detail is lost. It is BEST to shoot in open shade, or JUST when the sun goes out of sight so there is no direct sunlight. Then you will get great pics. You will notice there is no sun in car ad pics - they are usually shot just before dawn!
graphic guy - thanks for the info on your beautiful location. I would need to spend about 1.5M to get the huge lot, nice house and the woods. Livin' in L.A. has its rewards, but a nice, affordable mini-estate is not one of them!
Prices in the Bay area and SJO are totally out of sight as all the dot-com millionaires don't care how much a place costs - they just buy it! The AVERAGE home price in Atherton, outside of SFO is $1.5M. Save up your money!
Bumpers: Yep, like the man said, paint is paint. All these new plastic type bumpers can be Z'd.
Clay: I've tried a few brands and liked Erazer's the best 'till Sal upped the bar. That's to say that Zaino's Clay Bar is just a bit better than the rest. That's because its firm but still easy to work. Some clays are just too soft and they smear on the paint easily. And others are just too stiff and are hard to fold over as you work with them. As the clay picks up dirt, you have to fold that portion of the clay bar to 'hide' the dirt. This prevents the picked up dirt from scratching the paint surface. Think of these clay bars as dirt "collectors". The Zaino Clay Bar product 'feels' good and will also easily conform to the car's surface curves and you glide it along the paint.
Graphicguy: Talk about the cost of housing, try living in Manhattan (NYC). Your 'small' estate in Ohio sounds ideal! I basically have to drive up the the Bershires (I have family up there) in order to work on my car. And I pay through the nose for this privilege. Some day.....! By the way, what aspect of the computer business are you in?
BTW, I live in Alabama. Guess it's really cheap to live here vs some parts of the country. I have a 1500 sq. ft. house with 2 car garage on 1 acre that I purchased new in 1991 for $81K. Of course, the pay at most jobs here is comparatively low. Guess it all evens out in the long run.
The Z2 should last quite a while also. I Z'd my 99 300M yesterday and there was only about 1/4 inch left in the Z2 bottle. I still have some left, so a little goes a looong way.
Z7: How much should I use per wash. I've been using 3 capfuls per half bucket of water. Is that the right amount or can I get away with using less.
I use about 2 capfuls to about 3/4 of a bucket. If it still foams when squirting the water in, I feel it is OK.
Looking forward to the new pics! If you haven't seen them, some of mine are at: http://www.geocities.com/newwestd/Zainoat3mo.html
pblevine--this is boring, but since you asked...I've been in the computer graphics hardware/software arena for quite some time. I started out as a Technical Support guy (back more years than I care to remember) helping customers with software glitches on-site (installation, harware configuration, etc.), went out and became a Systems Engineer (doing CAD, Visual Simulation/Animation software demos for sales guys). I'm currently in marketing, travelling around to help define product uses for hardware/software and talking to market analysts and trade pubs about the products. I started out doing this with "big" companies in their respective field. About 10 years ago, I started being recruited by "start-ups". Since the field is so "hot" (way too much VC money floating around Silicon Valley looking for "the next big thing") I could always negotiate employment terms stipulating that I stay in the Midwest. The upside to this is that I get paid like I'm in Silicon Valley while enjoying the cost of living in the Midwest. The down side is that I spend a lot of time away from home (either on the road doing my "marketing thing" or in the Bay Area). I love startups (high risk/high reward...I've had my share of both successes and failures with start-ups). I don't think that I could ever go back to a "big" company.
As I travel around, I'm always amazed at what real estate goes for on either coast. I've come to the conclusion that if you aren't close to the ocean or high up in a mountain, you can find some pretty affordable housing in the places in between.
Kevin
Ilambert: I've had an old version of Erazer clay (grey color version) go 'soft' due to over using it on a hot day. I switched to their 'yellow' version and it never happened again. The Zaino Clay Bar is actually an improved version based on the same formula as the Erazer 'Yellow' bar. It should never 'liquify' at normal temperatures (and not over loaded with dirt). I use a very scientific method for determining how much Z7 to use: I pour from the Z7 bottle into a plastic bucket. I only pour the Z7 for as long as it takes me to yell out the word "enough". Works for me.
Graphicguy: I asked because I'm also in the computer business as a consulting software engineer. In other words, I'm a programmer. I too go back a ways to the Mainframe days and large companies. I now work for a small consulting firm and am currently under contract at Time Warner.
And heed the words: USE THE PRODUCTS SPARINGLY!
Well, she postponed the treatment due to numerous excuses for a couple of weeks. Finally, towards the end of August, they gave the Cougar it's first coats, clay and all. My sister couldn't believe the shine. She said she'd send the stuff back to me, but I told her to keep it long enough to get 2 or 3 coats applied. I figured I'd have my stuff back by now..........
You might remember a "cry" for them to return my Z products if they were reading these posts. That was several weeks back.
Last night she called me to let me know that she'd ordered from Sal. The kicker - she's keeping my products and having her order sent to me! What a Sis!
I told her the way the stuff lasts, we could keep trading it off each Thanksgiving and Easter and we'd be in good shape for at least 3 years. They live in Norfolk, VA, I'm in Miami. Too late - she had placed the order.
Guess this just adds further proof as to the self-selling ability of the Z line. Maybe we should say, the shine sells itself!
Jim M.
Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.
Better call the people that sold you the nose mask to see how you can remove the stain. Plastic is porous, so it is possible that the bug juice has soaked into the plastic. Too bad if it has. You better get a couple of coats of Z2 onto the plastic to seal it while you can to prevent more stains. Good Luck!
GREAT pics and of course a great shine. Subsequent applications of Z-2/5/6 will keep your car like this for years to come. I know. My car is 27 months old and still looks like this despite the fact that I was very lax this summer about applying more Z because all it did was rain here in CT.
Thanks for posting them.
fastdriver
This morning the car was completely dry and looked like it was just washed! No water spots, no dirt anywhere, and the paint was as slick as . . . My biggest headache is trying to regularly clean the brake dust off the wheels.
Am I a Zaino fanatic? You bet, and I'll never go back to anything else!!
If there is a cure time then it would be tough to get many coats of Z on since my car is a daily commuter.
Thanks,
Chris
Here is what Sal says on his website in the FAQ section-
"Q: Everybody says I should wait 24 hours between coats. If I apply a coat of polish and wait over night, or longer before removing Zaino polish, do I wait another 24 hours from the time I remove the residue before applying another coat?
A: Yes. After removing a coat of polish, you can apply the next coat after 8 hours if the temperature is above 70 degrees f. If it is below 70 degrees, you should wait the full 24 hours after removing the previous coat for optimal results."
Hope this clarifies things.
fastdriver
Do any of you have any inventive ways to keep your cars clean during the winter? (other than not driving them :-) ) I'd really hate to have all this work ruined by the automatic car washes that I will inevitably have to face. Thanks.
The hood marks are driving me crazy - And I do not want to take the car back to the guy who installed the nose mask. Thanks for any help.
It is! I collected many bugs, plus tar and other bits of crud on the front of my car, as well as on the RV mirrors, and Z7 took it off with very little effort. In fact, when I rinsed the car prior to washing it, most of the dust & dirt came off right away. A bit of work with the Z7 (3 caps full per gallon or so of water) took off the bugs and other stuff, rinse, then dry the car with the meticulously-selected white towels, and all is well. Well, not really. The finish on this car in the first place is pretty awful, but it definitely looks better with Zaino on it. Slick as can be, but portions of the original finish look like they were put on with a roller.
Now, I would have shot some Z6 on the clean car, except that during my "spirited" tour around the countryside, the Z6 container got its sprayer/lid loosened, and the whole damn thing drained into the trunk (my clue was the smell -- pleasant in small doses, but overpowering in this case). Anyway, the stuff must be pretty volatile, because I could find no trace of it when I stopped and looked, and other than the hit to my wallet, there's no harm/no foul. I hate to pay another shipping charge to get only Z6 -- maybe there's a distributor in the Phoenix area. Anyone know?
Anyway, I'm still sold. Stay tuned.
2 weeks ago I purchased a 2000 Nissan Maxima SE (Sterling Mist) and decided not to wash or wax it till I received my Zaino. First of all I was amazed at how fast the products arrived (considering payment with a personal check). So yesterday I started - dawn,Z1,Z2. The biggest help from everyone who's posted was not to use to much Z1 or Z2. With the Z1 I really had a hard time seeing where it was, with the Z2 not that much of a problem. I also decided to let it dry overnight just to be on the safe side. This morning when I wiped it down it came off with no problem. After wipe down I then applied Z6 and the shine is awesome. The car looks 10 times better than when I took it off the dealers lot.
The only question I have is if I have to clay a part of the car to get a spot off (tar, etc.) do I have to apply Z1 again to the affected part before I apply another coat of Z2.
Thanks again for everyones great tips.
Yes, Meguairs makes a poly sealer type product. I have it and I think it cost 18-20 bucks for a bottle of 16 oz. It does go on and off as easy as advertised, just like the Zaino products. The Meguairs product doesn't last as long as the Zaino product by 1-4 to 1-6.
I don't believe that claying requires an application of Z1. Confirm that with Sal, email address above.
In using Z6, are you insuring that the nozzle is barely open? You want a fine, atomized mist, not a stream. Once you've done that, vary the distance from the vehicle surface until you can control how much or little area you are spraying to balance maximizing the area you cover with being able to wipe it all before it dries.
You might also try to slightly dampen one of the Zaino applicators with Z6 and wiping a 1'X 1' section at a time with the dampened applicator and then wiping the area off immediately with a clean cotton towel (not letting the Z6 dry).
I've invested in a plant mister (and fill it with Z6) to "mist" Z6. You can get them from any garden store. They only cost a few dollars and they work well.
crikey: As graphicguy said "less is better". I've found the best way to adjust the Z6 spray is to first close it. Then apply a slight to very moderate pressure on the handle. While keeping the pressure up, open the spray at almost microscopic amounts until you see a very light mist spray. Yep, its a bit tricky. Or you can do as he did and find a better spray bottle. Actually, I now use a spray bottle that came with an old purchase of "Erazer" clay. Works for me. Again, the trick with Z6 is to spray a very small amount and immediately wipe off. And use a very clean cotton towel.
theresa11: Welecome to the club. And yes, I'd invest in a bottle of Z5 for those swirl marks. Z5 is really amazing. I had a collection of "spider web" marks which are tiny little scratches. Before I knew what I was doing, I made all the classic mistakes with Zaino including applying too much Z1 and Z2 on a cold and wet day. When the Z2 didn't dry quickly, I kept rubbing and thus created those web patterned ("spider") scratches. Well, one application of Z5 eliminated all my mistakes! The result was so beautiful that I didn't even want to apply another layer of Z2! Z2, however, is much tougher than Z5 and is an absolute requirement in the North East.
Mike
I have read back in this thread and I am very interested in the Zaino products. First thing first, what is the difference between wax and polish? Thanks again!
"A Hint for all taking photos of their cars - It is best NOT to shoot in direct sunlight - the
contrast is just too much for cameras, and a lot of detail is lost. It is BEST to shoot in open shade, or JUST when the sun goes out of sight so there is no direct sunlight. Then you will get great pics. You will notice there is no sun in car ad pics - they are usually shot just before dawn! "
Does that basically mean take pictures in the shade? And does taking pics of the car in the sun while the camera is in the shade count, or is the glare off the car too much? Please clarify.
Thanks a lot,
-Chris
"Most" (not Zaino) "polishes" are slightly abrasive compounds which are used to 'polish' a paint surface by removing any old oxidized dirt and paint. They may also contain wax or polymers to then coat the remaining paint.
Zaino's Z1, Z2, Z3, & Z5 products are commonly called 'polish', BUT THEY ARE NOT POLISHES. Instead, Zaino is a complex "polymer". For our purposes here, these polymers are lab produced hydrocarbon based string like molecules which bond together to produce a (microscopic) chain-link fence type of weave. When applied to your car's clear coat, the Zaino polymers produce an absolutely clear yet flexible layer of protection. This layer is very thin, but (because it is flexible) can expand and contract along with your car's sheet metal and paint layers. It's also very tough and will out last most wax based products by at least 4 to 1.
Some good wax products are tough, but due to repeated expansion and contraction (ie: heat of the day and engine heat) develop tiny 'cracks' which grow, allow the oils to leach out, and permit dirt to stick to the surface at a much higher rate than a polymer.
In addition, most wax products must be 'buffed' or rubbed to produce a good shine. Zaino requires NO buffing. Simply apply it, let it dry, and wipe it off. Zaino's 'shine' is produced by its "reflective" properties and is quite dramatic.