good wax to use?

[ppx]

i used some turtle wax and it came out like shit. whats a good wax to use and the application of how to use it ie how long to keep it on and how to wipe it off

[Turbocruiser13]

I haven't been let down yet by the new Liquid Ice wax, can't complain sofar. Was using meguiars before but this stuff doesn't leave that chalky residue like the rest of them do. Here's a pic of my car freshly waxed and a pic of my buddies srt4 that I just waxed 2 days ago...

[SNOOPALOOP]

Mother's Clay bar kit...


Then put some Zymol on afterwards....

Then sprinkle the car with water..towel it off and check out the shine.

[vaughn36]

i use the turtle wax ice too..and i love it........you can use it on everything except your glass......

[Sriquixotic]

For great protection use a sealant like meguiars synthetic sealant cause it lasts longer than a wax, but if you just want protection and shine then megs nxt liquid wax works good too. The key to using these products is thin coats. The more you put on the more product you waste and the harder it is to take it off. If you want a great combo then buy meguiars synthetic sealant and top it with their carnauba paste wax for that warm wet looking shine and great protection from the sealant. These products arent that expensive and are easy to use. Just make sure you start with a really clean surface first and for that I use meguiars medium grade clay bar kit with clay lubricant.

[username182]

^bingo

one of the best otc wax products is NXT, it just doesn't last very long. I prefer paste myself, but the liquid works fine.

I personally use poorboy's nattys blue over optimum poli-seal....there isn't an otc product that can come close to nattys. Spend a little extra and order it online, it will be worth it.

[SILVERN]

I agree. NXT is a great wax and like mentioned above use thin coats. 2 thin coats is better than 1 thick coat.

[ROBSSRT4]

Zymol FTW!!!

[adrian_ish]

X2 on the Mother's Clay Bar but I use Meguirs Gold Series Wax afterwards and it looks like its coated with glass. I've heard that the Professional Series Wax is even better. I want to try it but its kinda expensive. GPTCTBTB.

[ppx]

thanks for the info guys!

[indian srt-4]

i like turtle wax platinum. the paste version works the best for me check the pic in my sig for the shine

[username182]

nattys blue > turtle wax

[chingo_boost_05]

mothers....

[indian srt-4]

conlitte # 845 insolator wax is good also will last 6+ months

[Mike-in-Orange]

It's not the wax, it's the prep beforehand. If you do a proper wash/clay/polish then the wax almost doesn't matter - the car will look amazing without any wax on it at all.

If you don't have a machine to help with the polishing then pick up Meguiar's Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner, Deep Crystal Polish, and your choice of wax/sealant. For over the counter stuff I'd go with Meguiar's Gold Glass or NXT. Wash and clay the car first, then use the paint cleaner. Wash and clay are very easy steps, but using a paint cleaner by hand is hard work - no way around it. You need to work the paint cleaner with a good deal of muscle, and wipe it off before it dries. Just work a 2' x 2' section, wipe it off, and move on to the next section. The DC Polish is an easy wipe on/wipe off process - again, don't let it dry but you don't need to work it as hard as the paint cleaner. Just do the same 2' x 2' sections and you'll be fine. When it comes to applying the wax just make sure to use really, really thin coats. I can't stress this enough - if your car is white or silver you'll have a hard time even seeing it on the paint if you do it right. But you can achieve killer results by hand if you do it right. Having a machine opens up a whole new world of products though.

Just an example: I was invited by Meguiar's to be part of their detail and maintenance team at SEMA last week. We did all the cars for the Ford booth and for CEC Wheels - something like 58 cars in all. CEC did an off site event on Thursday and we had to detail another 8 cars, but we were stuck doing it all in a parking lot so it was all hand work. The car in the worst shape was, of course, black - it was a swirled mess with bad rotary holograms, etc. But it was also a Bentley GTC and since it was going to be driven by Barry Meguiar in the event, it had to be perfect. It was just me and one other guy working on these cars and this is what we ended up with on the Bentley - and this is actually before we waxed it!!:

(I've got a bunch of other pictures from SEMA, including most of the cars we detailed, HERE)



Stay away from the Turtle Wax Ice stuff - it's more a pure polish than a wax and it will literally wash off after a few washes. And their liquid clay bar is a joke.