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Comments
its a waterless carwash/polymer/sealant
seems to good to be true
Towels, Chamois, Silicone Squeegee????
Thanks!!
Very fast, very dry, very easy.
No streaks or spots.
No sweat.
JAW
PS: Getting ready to order my first batch of Zaino. Just got a Onyx Black Envoy that looks beautifult when clean, but is going to be hard to keep that way. Hopefully the Zaino will assist with that.
Graphicguy: I've driven those old MGB's. Great fun. 'Also liked the old TR3's and if you remember them, the Alpines. A friend is presently restoring a '74 Lotus which he bought for $200! Thus far, he's put over $2100 into the project.
I would not use anything that marked the paint job in any way. The black Lexus paint job, with Zaino, is a sight to behold.
Trust the blade; it does not mar the paint, and it speeds the drying process considerably. I am a big fan.
BTW, a great hint I learned right on this forum many months ago -- for the final rinse after washing the car, remove the hose nozzle; the stream of water results in "sheets" of water (rather than "beads") to form on the paint, and most slides right off the car! There's appreciably less water to remove.
I have always come back to using good-quality USA-made pure white 100% cotton towels for drying. I have a waterblade to take off most of the rinse water, then use those soft towels to finish drying. Avoid any towels with designs- whatever made those designs will scratch!!!! I used to use chamois, but found it difficult to keep them clean. Also- dirt can embed itself in the chamois & make scratches. I use chamois for shining chrome, but find 100% cotton terry better for drying my paint.
Jon
Sorry to take so long to respond, I have been away for a few days. I think it will be very hard to do by hand, unless you do only a part at a time - say, the hood one day, and a side the next, etc. The problem is that you have to rub and rub and rub and rub, etc. You will get exhausted unless you are in REALLY good shape, and will start to cut corners. If you don't have an orbital power buffer with a foam pad, you might try to rent or borrow one. I washed with Dawn because the car just had some minor body repair, and they waxed the repair area. Then I washed off all the polish residue with Z-7 before the Z-1 and Z-2. Did the second coat of Z-2 Sunday - WOW!!!!!
Langka process -
At the Pep Boys store, in the rack with the little bottles of touch-up paint I found a bottle of "Paint Leveler". This seems to be the same thing. You can use it multiple times, and you will need to, as it takes a long time to get the hang of getting it just right.
Good Luck!
Just Z'd the wife's 98 Sienna - looks outstanding. So I went to take pix but it was so shiny I kept getting glare - have to change the camera settings to manual and make some adjustments.
Anyone have suggestions on photo settings for a digital camera to best capture the Zaino look.
I was wondering if I could order the Zaino products and give them to a detail shop to polish my cars. Do you guys think it they will be able to handle this, or should I not bother?
Also, can anyone recommend a good shop in NYC, Long Island or NJ?
Thanks.
As automophile has suggested, the best time to take digital pics of a ZAINO shine is at dusk! Leave the camera settings on auto.
fastdriver
Any comments? If you've tried any of these items, would you re-purchase again??Are any of these products a "must have" item?
Thanks for any info!!!
Regarding the Z-16 tire gloss, it's great and a "must have" Zaino product. The shine is less glossy than most, but two applications after a wash seem to last forever! For my leather and vinyl interior I've been using Lexol products and continue to be very satisfied. I've heard, though, that the Zaino leather treatment products are excellent and that they smell wonderful.
I have also use the glass cleaner, which is very good, but designed to be used infrequently, as it is a light abrasive. You have to wipe it on, let it haze, then take it off. It's more work than windex, but takes off the film that finds its way onto the inside of your windshield (you see all that stuff when you drive into the sun). In between uses, use any good glass cleaner like Invisible Glass. I use the Zaino about twice a year.
The plastic cleaner is also very good. My car has a small plastic wind buffer between the rear seat headrests, and this was the only thing I found that cleaned it without streaking. After a use, it's practically invisible. Again, I use this about twice a year, because this part does not get fingerprints.
Both of these products are also very good on other glass and plastic products around the house, like TV screens, etc.
The Tire Gloss produces a "semi-gloss" finish and seems to last a long time. I also use it on my rubber hoses and rubber strips/seals.
The glass polish does a good job inside and out.
On the inside, its good for removing the residue of plaster part curring. You do have to "rub" it into the glass. Old newsprint is recommended as the application tool. It seems the printer's ink
is also a slight abrasive. But you'll also need to use windex afterwareds to remove the residue.
I have a problem with water spots. Combination of a dark car, Colorado sun & low humidity, and probably my local water supply. There's just no way I can get my car dry fast enough on a warm, sunny day. Not a big deal; Z6 takes them right off. But, I ran out of Z7 last week and needed something right away so I bought a bottle of Armor All car wash, which is what I was using before becoming a Zainiac. Much, much less water spotting then I got with Z7. My one & only criticism of Zaino products so, please, guys, keep the flamethrowers on "warm".
LOL... I think you're "safe" in this topic. The flamethrowers are out of gas! ;-))
fastdriver
Sounds good to me. Can't wait to see them.
fastdriver
pblevine--The Alpines were at the top of the heap when it came to "sports cars" in their day. Some of the Sunbeam "Bug Eyes" are worth quite a bit of money today. Parts are getting tough to come by on those, however. The TR3s were a blast as were the TR4s and the Spitfires (to this day, one of the best looking sports cars I've ever come across, IMHO). Moving into the mid '70s, emisions clogged the already torque/horsepower challenged british cars and the safety bumper regulations in the U.S. made the later models look pretty bad. A '74 Lotus...wow! Your friend must have a lot of time and patience on his hands. If he follows through to completion, he'll have a very nice ride. For $200, it must have been pretty rough, though.
I got the chance to drive a couple of the "new" Mini Coopers over the weekend...one standard and one supercharged. Another one of my car-guy friends is the President of the local Mini Cooper sports car club. The only dealer witin 100 miles of us let him show the cars during a Brit car rally locally. These things are the "real deal". Handled very well!!! BMW did a nice job with the details and the build quality (worlds better than the original). Materials in the car equal that of BMW's "regular" cars, which is to say "top-notch".
Not very official nor scientific, but it seems that each subsequent release of a new model, regardless of brand or where it came from, is making leaps and bounds improvements in reliability and quality. My local newspaper just did a couple of write ups about how well thier PT Cruiser tester was built and how well it held up over the long haul...they paid less than $16K for it to boot. My wife is about at the "end" with her Toyota Avalon (getting ready to hit 100K miles in the next few months). Wish I could talk her into the Mini-Cooper (like that'll ever happen). She's got her eye on the Infiniti G35 (I can live with that). Funny, the Infiniti will cost less than her Avalon did about 5 years ago, and it's a much better car.
Go to http://www.motortrend.com and look for their video section. They have some pics of the G35 COUPE coming out soon. Looks REAL nice! Looks like the Lexus convertible!
A few coats of Zaino in the right color and you'll really have heads turning. Maybe you'll give your car to your wife and take the new one? ;-))
fastdriver
scottc8--I was very impressed with the Mini. I suppose that if I was only going to use one to drive around town, I could live with it and be very happy. For about the price of a Corola or a Civic, you can get a real sports car with the Mini. Fact is, I've gotten "soft" in my advancing age and like a lot of "car" around me. It's pretty dramatic going from my current 300M into the Mini. I have to admit, even the 20 minute drive I took in each iteration of the Minis was quite a thrill and took me back to my why I enjoy driving in the first place. I can't imagine trying to fit a weeks worth of groceries or my golf clubs in one of those, however.
It's quiet here anyway with the lousy weather in most places, so we can be off topic a little- I think.
I always heard that about the Acura dealers too. I just happened to go to one with a friend(former) who wanted to look at used Acuras. That was the first time I saw a CL-S up close and personal. After a test drive and talking for a while, I was very interested. Shortly after that visit, I was at my brother's in RI. I knew that he knew someone at the Acura dealer up there who used to work for him, so I had him give the guy a call. The rest is history. Both Acura dealers were very nice.
I haven't been to the Infiniti dealer since I had my 94 J-30. When that lease was coming to an end, they were just like the Acura dealer you spoke about. That's how I ended up with the 96 Buick Riv. I didn't need Infiniti. It was their loss, not mine. I liked that Riv with the supercharged engine. Funny how their initial reaction can turn you right off!
The Zaino will look fine on the platinum. Is she at least willing to wait to SEE a G35 coupe in person? ;-)) I haven't driven one, but the Infiniti is a nice car. It looks bigger than the TL??
fastdriver
http://www.freshalloy.com
Thanks for the site! It's great.
fastdriver
There also are some local distributors depending on where you live - a call to the number listed at the site may provide you with the name/location.
ScottC8--OOOOHHHHH!!! A TR7..."THE WEDGE". I'll bet it's Brit Green? Nice car!
On to Zaino...I've used Zaino clay. I like it. Truth is, I don't see a difference between the Zaino clay and Clay Magic...both are good. I've used Z16 on my plastic bits and tires...best stuff I've used and lasts a long time. Leather cleaner and treatment...same thing...best I've used and the leather smell is great (although I've been known to use Lexol on occasion, too).
Its lunch time here at ConEd and I'm going out to "treat" my leather seats. I've found that using just good old paper towels works just fine for both the Zaino cleaner and their conditioner too. I've heard that using an old (ie: soft) tooth brush on isolated problem areas with the cleaner has yielded good results.
graphicguy,
Yep, the Sunbean. Ah, that was fun - well, the times were fun and the car followed. I've seen the mini-cooper but haven't driven one yet. Do you remember the old Morgan with its wooden frame?
And talking about BMW, my brother-in-law used to have (years ago) a BMW 1600. Now that was a car! Not luxury minded in those days, BMW produced a real performance sedan. Looked like a "Lark" which produced some interesting situations at street lights when up against a 'Vet.
This is going to be a good long weekend and I'm going up to the Berkshires. And provided my wife leaves me alone, I'm going to clay my Honda Accord Coupe. Its gone through some rough conditions during this past winter.
Dating myself!
Have a grand time!
On: And it's so faded that I don't even Z it.:)
img src="http://url-location-of-photo"
So where's the question? 'Just coming to that. I'd like to protect the windshield a little better. Sal has said that we shouldn't use Z6 for this purpose as it will wash out, is soft, and will screak. But how about Z5?
Would not Z5 be optically perfect, hard, hide some of the lesser little spots, and last for some time? Has anyone tried this?
Jon
Yes, use clay with a new car; it has been exposed to atmospheric contaminants from the moment it came out the factory door: while stored on the factory lot, during transport, while on the dealer lot, and any number of other sources. You appear to hesitate to clay; are you letting the caution about being careful using clay become a warning about a "danger?"
Clay is very "sticky." If you slid it on paint without lubricant (soapy water), the adhesion could pull it right out of your fingers. If this occurred on a vertical panel, it would probably fall to the ground and possibly have grains of sand adhere to it, turning it into sandpaper. I was a casual car caretaker when I first read about clay. I bought a package of Mother's, the brand of wax I was using. I followed the simple directions. I started on horizontal surfaces quite slowly until I got the feel of how to use it in conjunction with the lubricant, then went to the vertical surfaces. I had no problems. My first uses I had an old, rinsed-off shower curtain under the work area until I became confident enough with how to correctly use clay. I think it's a great "tool" and I recommend you use it.