Best Wax to use?

[Ncbosshoss]

I ordered the Zaino yesterday so hopefully I'll have her coated by mid week if the weather will hold up. Thanks for the tips.

Chris

 

[Aurora40]

I prefer Zaino. Meguiars and Zymol come in second.

Meguiars has some very fine polishing compounds in it and it is possible to wear through the paint after many years of use. I've seen it happen on a Z28. Both Meguiars and Zymol can only be built up so much (only so many layers). Then you have to strip the wax off and "start over". With Zaino, you don't have to strip layers off; you can build as many layers on the car as you want. In fact, after it has cured on the car, the only way to strip it off is with alcohol.

I know Zaino is the darling of most Corvette forums and Corvette owners, and it is a great product that does a great job. However, the idea that other products will somehow ruin your paint is a bit ridiculous.

What exactly happened to that Z28's paint? Did the clear bubble? Was it a 1-owner car? Had it ever been machine polished? Would the paint have failed with nothing on it, or with Zaino on it? Was it parked outdoors its whole life? Most bc/cc cars from the 1980's suffer clearcoat failure due to the quality of the paint, though regular waxing with any product can help prevent/slow it. Also, Meguiar's makes many different products. Something like Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax will quite obviously have some fine polishing compounds, as it's a cleaner wax. Does a wax like Meguiar's #26 or #16?

I know people like things simple, and it's easy to simplify Zaino as "layers/non-abrasive" and other stuff as "doesn't layer/abrasive" but in reality, that's not accurate. I've used Zaino Z2 with ZFX to clean my counter tops before, and it removed dirt that a Clorox Wipe, and a cleaner/wax couldn't remove. I've also removed black paint from non-clearcoated side mirror housings with it. Is this because it's abrasive? Or because that single-stage paint oxidizes very easily, and the solvents in Zaino plus the mechanical action of rubbing it are enough to take that weak oxidized paint off the mirror.

Everything is abrasive to some degree. You could strip your paint off with just water if you applied it properly. A cleaner/wax applied by hand with a foam pad will be much less abrasive than a carnauba paste wax applied by rotary buffer with a wool pad. Can you layer a product? Yeah, probably, if it is applied very gently and the product is light enough in solvents and abrasives. Will the extra layers add durability? Maybe, maybe not. Can you layer indefinitely? I wouldn't think so. I always find it odd people will readily believe a liquid product will layer, but find it so hard to believe a carnauba would. Anyone who's ever spit-shined a shoe knows that it is possible to layer a natural wax. Is it hard and do you have to be careful? Yeah. Does it last? No, not really. But you can layer shoe wax on so thick it will start to crack when you wear them. Can you layer it on until it's 10" thick? Probably not.

Zaino is great stuff, and if you like it, then that's reason enough to use it. Meguiar's also make some great stuff, and that's the right stuff for some people too. As is Liquid Glass or any other product out there. Use and recommend away, but I don't think it's necessary to promote one product by casting aspersions on others.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Collinite and formula 113 mixed.

 

[sherry_ridgeway]

Hi all
I havent as yet tried any of the zaino products "im waiting on the weather" I have however used "liquid glass" and was very happy with the results, it takes a while to do it properly "step by step/inch by inch/slowly i turn LOLOL
actualy its a very good product , naturally be sure to read the destructions first
Sherry