Wax Reviews

[Gubi]

FYI, Consumer Reports did an interesting review of car waxes this month, rating them for durability, shine, ease of use, etc. The top performers were actually two of the cheaper waxes: Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax, and Turtle Wax Liquid Carnauba Car Wax.

Surprising result. Looks like I'll be switching the wax I use.

[87Sprint]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gubi FYI, Consumer Reports did an interesting review of car waxes this month, rating them for durability, shine, ease of use, etc. The top performers were actually two of the cheaper waxes: Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax, and Turtle Wax Liquid Carnauba Car Wax. Surprising result. Looks like I'll be switching the wax I use.

[FastEddie888]

Bowden's car museum in Queensland designed their own after using all public and commercial products for their museum fleet and then taking it all to a chemical scientist to perfect their own range. Their product ranges from shampoo and sponges to waxes and even the bucket. Naturally it is the only thing they will use on their museum fleet and therefore so do i on my 156GTA and soon to start on the sprint now it has been painted. Although i havent used the wax yet but intend to.
www.bowdensown.com.au

[Gubi]

Based on the results of this test I'd be reluctant to accept anyone's claims about their product at face value, museum or not.

Interesting comment onthe Meguiar's polish, as I found the same thing on my Milano. It looked *great* for about a week, then wore off. I'm not going through the whole three-step thing twice a month, let me tell you!

For the record, the only Turtle Wax stuff that did particularly well was the Liquid Carnauba stuff. The standard stuff was mid to bottom of the pack, if I recall correctly, so bear that in mind. Also, the liquid waxes pretty consistently outperformed the pastes, which I found somewhat surprising.

Another surprise (for me anyway) was the Armor All wax-as-you-dry product. I'd been using it every wash as an "it can't hurt" thing but figured it didn't really do much protecting. In terms of durability it actually turned out to be okay though...not as good as the top rated waxes, but midrange. So I figure it's actually a decent thing to use in between real wax jobs. Cheap, too.

[87Sprint]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gubi Based on the results of this test I'd be reluctant to accept anyone's claims about their product at face value, museum or not. Interesting comment onthe Meguiar's polish, as I found the same thing on my Milano. It looked *great* for about a week, then wore off. I'm not going through the whole three-step thing twice a month, let me tell you! For the record, the only Turtle Wax stuff that did particularly well was the Liquid Carnauba stuff. The standard stuff was mid to bottom of the pack, if I recall correctly, so bear that in mind. Also, the liquid waxes pretty consistently outperformed the pastes, which I found somewhat surprising. Another surprise (for me anyway) was the Armor All wax-as-you-dry product. I'd been using it every wash as an "it can't hurt" thing but figured it didn't really do much protecting. In terms of durability it actually turned out to be okay though...not as good as the top rated waxes, but midrange. So I figure it's actually a decent thing to use in between real wax jobs. Cheap, too.

[87Sprint]

this guy is either a ripoff artist or the best detailer in the world (i think a little of both!)

http://www.miracledetail.co.uk/auto-detailing-home.html

[Gubi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 87Sprint ahh did you forget a link mate

[velocedoc]

Turtle Wax Liquid has been around for years. I don't know what is in it but it seems to really lay down a great finish.
I was at a hot rod show in Redding CA in April and was given a sample of detailing spray. This was Adams Polish and detailer ( http://www.adamspolishes.com/ ). Red stuff with a cherry sort of smell to it. The finish is like glass, but it doesn't seem to last more than a week. I hate to put something on that only lasts a week unless it is for a car show. The finish on the paint was the slickest I have experienced in a very long time. I found it to be better than the Mequires Quick Detailer for finish and shine.
Here at the convention I was given a bottle of Griots finshing wax. I will have to try that out when I get home against the Adams Polish.
If you don't get anything else off the Adams website, watch the video's on how to detail a car. That is time well spent.
Any word on how Mothers Waxes did in the competition?

[Damo105]

I've always been a Meguiars user, but I recently tried the Zymol paint cleaner and titanium wax on my GTV and the results were pretty amazing.

It's outrageously expensive, and I was sceptical, but after using it a couple of times I'd give it a thumbs up.

Took me a while to figure out that with the paint cleaner you have to use heaps and heaps of elbow grease, but I was blown away by the amount of blemishes it got out of the paint.

The wax is for hand application, literally! You warm it up in your bare hands and rub it on. Then you buff it off, and come back a few hours later for a final buff. It's lasted several washes so far, and water still beads off like it was just waxed.

Damien

[lowmileage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by velocedoc Any word on how Mothers Waxes did in the competition?

[justcallmefred]

Griot's stuff is very good- the owner used to detail cars for a living. Meguiars is also VG- again a family owned company who also happen to be car nuts. Use the cleaner wax then the "Gold class" on top- liquid is much faster to use than paste- but maybe doesn't last as long. They key is frequent re-application depending on how much the car is exposed to the elements. Use tons of towels and never use any products with silicones! Fred.

[GTV-GR]

Got the Meguiars wax for 30euro here in Greece did not last the week.

[GianniB]

Curious if Griot's Best of Show Wax was part of the CR test...

[Gubi]

Griot's was (I'm pretty sure...I'm in Japan at the moment) and was mid-pack somewhere.

Like I said, you can buy the magazine to see all the ratings, but basically the Turtle Wax Liquid Carnauba and the Black Magic were tops across the board, so that's all you probably need to know.

[Del]

Be aware that if one uses the wash and wax stuff, you can end up with wax on the glass, like the windshield. Not good to do that, as it screws up the windshield wipers big time, uh, provided you live in an area where it rains, and you have to use the wipers.