What's the best car wax

Been using Meguiar's for the sole reason that Costco sells it. Can't say
that I'm happy, doesn't produce a very good shine and it doesn't seem to
last. What is the best car wax that's easy to apply (I'm not interested in
something that's requires multiple steps).

Thanks,

 

I like Nu-Finish. The once a year polish.*
I like it because I had a black Nissan truck, now a "candy apple" PT
Cruiser.
I could do the whole truck in an hour, and the black looked black, no
distortion in the color like an oil slick was on it. IMO, it was the
easiest to apply with the best results.
*The directions said that for best results, apply a second application.
Uh, excuse me, if I would do this, wouldn't it be the twice a year
polish??

 

Hmmm, good point. I remember about 15 years ago Consumer Reports
evaluated the car finishes and in that old report said Nu-Finish was
#1, the best.

I bought some, seemed pretty good. Now I'll have to duck since using
the dreaded words, CR, brings out a whole mess of angry posts!

 

But it hasn't been the best since that test long ago...

Matt

 

Neither have my car finishes, alas. I have the famous metallic
delamination to be concerned about. So far so good with attacking it
with touch-up paint. Need to get some rust bonder. You know, that stuff
you put on rust and it makes it into something else that supposedly
won't further rust? Saw a little on a door's edge this week.

 

I prefer Zymol, got it at my local Costco.

 

Mothers is good.

 

I've "mothered" quite a few waxes when I've worked my @$$ off applying,
removing and seeing the results on a black finish!

 

Any wax requires 2 steps, and application step and a buff step. There is
no other way to do it that will actually leave a layer of anything on the
finish
that is worth a shit.

You really need to understand the purpose of wax. Wax is like putting
sunscreen on your skin. Wax is what protects the clear coat from
ultraviolet.
It is supposed to disintegrate over time. If you don't have a layer of wax
on
the finish, then the clear coat disintegrates over time instead. And this
is
true of the most expensive car paint on the market, even the ones like
Sikkens
that cost hundreds of bucks a gallon and claim that you never need to wax.

There's basically 2 kinds of "car wax" out there. There's regular standard
wax wax,
aka turtle wax and all that. Then there's synthetic wax, aka Nu-Finish and
several
other products on the market, which really isn't wax at all, it's a polymer
sealer

I've tried many different ones of these products and what I have found is
that
all of them take the same amount of time and work to apply then buff off.
The
difference seems to be that the polymers go on thinner than the waxes, and
last longer.

The shine really seems to be dependent on how good the clear coat is. If
the
clear coat is really damaged badly, then unless you power-buff it with
polish
before the wax, it isn't going to have that shiny wet look no matter what
you put
on it. If the clear coat is just slightly weathered, then wax wax seems to
fill in the low
spots better and leave a better shine than the synthetic waxes.

However I have to warn you, UNLESS you do "something that requires
multiple steps" AKA a separate WASH, then your going to wreck your
finish. Waxing is about 1/3 of the work that you need to do. The rest of
it is proper cleaning. If you try to use a "cleaner wax" you are just going
to
put swirl marks into the finish which will drive you crazy if you have a
dark
car (espically a black one)

You absolutely must spend a lot of effort in the wash. It really doesen't
matter
much what kind of soap you use, all the wash soap does is dissolve grease
and modify the surface tension of water so that the water sticks to dirt, so
you
can wipe the dirt away with a wash cloth or mitt. What matters the most I
have
found is that you must endeavor to keep the wash water clean, keep the wash
cloth
clean, and use a very deep and absorbent nap on the wash cloth. And you
should
not wipe a wash cloth across a car finish unless you have wet down the
finish, and
the cloth is so saturated with water that as you wipe it it is giving up
water to the finish.
And once you have wiped away the dirt you must dry properly, which means
a damp towl first followed by a dry towl, and both with deep naps that
pick up dirt. And you must keep rotating the towels so the surface is
fresh.

Unless the surface, even low down, is clean enough to lick with your tongue,
when you go to wax it you will just scratch the hell out of the finish. And
anybody
that tells you different or sells a product that claims differently is a
liar.

I realise this sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but unless you do it,
you will
get swirl marks. If your the lazy type that cannot or will not spend an
afternoon
doing this, your better off leaving the dirt on the car and paying someone
else to wash
it properly. Otherwise, don't even waste your time doing a half-assed job
washing
and waxing, just use car washes and ignore the swirl marks.

Ted

 

Yes, it is work but the results were good. I can even say that about
Meguiars.

I wash and wax often (black car :-(

--
"Now Phoebe Snow direct can go
from thirty-third to Buffalo.
From Broadway bright the tubes run right
Into the Road of Anthracite"
Erie - Lackawanna

 

I agree with NuFinish. One tip is don't put this stuff on heavy, less is
more and a light film is much easier to remove.

Don't expect it to last a full year however. It will outlast all other
regular waxes however.

But if your reallllly lazy (like me,) how about a five-year car wax? Ok,
it's not really wax, it's PTFE and it will last fairly well for about three
years. http://www.5starshine.com/ Gloss isn't as high in my opinion, but
good enough for everyday driving,.

 

Turtle wash and wax. I've used it for years, ever since my first clear
coat car finish in '86. I found waxing and polishing a clear coat
finish scratches it.
I don't shami it after washing, usually just let it dry. For a really
good job I simply towel it off very lightly.
One does need to avoid getting the wash & wax on the windows.