Well, isn't this pathetic. A bunch of car guys relying on Consumer Reports for a wax test!
The fact is, no detailing professionals use any of the highest rated products in the CR test.
I'm continually amazed at how many car enthusiasts think they can slap a coat of wax on their car and get any decent results. This is evident by the comment on this thread advising against paste wax because dabbing into the jar will get dirt in the paint??!!??
As much as most of guys will hate this, there is absolutely no one-step product that you can put on your paint to achieve any kind of decent result unless yopu are applying it to perfect paint.
The wax marketplace place creates alot of misinformation regarding paint care. Companies like Mothers and Meguiar's rely on consumer-line sales for much of their revnue. When competing for sales at Walmart, these companies always seem to go up against the lastest one step miricle product. There's a bottle of Nu-Finish. It says I can put it on my car by hand in twenty minutes and it will last through 342 car washes! Wow!
In order to comptete, reputable paint-care companies can't emphisize the correct multi-step procedures required to get a great paint finish. In fact, Barry Meguiar dislikes his employees demostrating products using an orbital buffer. He often demands had application demos. You can't outsell Nu-Finish or that new clear Turtle Wax by telling people about $129 orbital buffers.
Wax is a Last Step Product in achieving a great paint finish. There are no miricale one-step shortcuts. First, you must evaluate the condition of the paint. Next, you must eliminate the defects in the surface of the paint (scratches, cobb-webbing, swirls, embedded contaminents, etc.). This normally involved several different products.
Tyically,you start out with clay using a quick detailer as a lubricant. Much like rubbing an eraser on your paint, clay will lift off embedded contaminents like fall out, rail dust, etc. from your paint.
Then, select the least abrasive polishing compound that will remove the scratches or swirls your paint has. It's best to be overly conservative, applying mild polish two or three times instead of something too agressive.
To get the paint to shine, you must remove scratches and swirls, and that means removing paint (clearcoat is paint, too - without the pigment) to the level of the scratch or swirls. If you think you can do as good a job by hand as with a proper orbital polisher, FORGET IT. You can't. The right kind of buffer is a Porter Cable 7242 or similar (Meguiar's G100). You must also have a selection of the appr0priate polishing pads. A ten inch buffer from Pep Boys won't do it, either.
Once the paint is perfectly smooth, you apply wax. You never apply wax on dirty paint, therefore the comment about spreading dirt into a jar of wax is groundless.
Instead of relying on Consuimer Reports, ask the experts. Get ahold of the guys at Mothers or Meguiar's. I did. Meguiar's holds free detailing classes at their Irvine, California HQ almost every Saturday.
Mike Phillips teaches the classes at Meguiar's and is the administrator of
http://www.meguiarsonline.com
The website has detailed instructions on how to use every product Meguiar's makes and should be required reading for anybody weho cares about how his car looks.
Can you shoternthe process? Sure Mothers and Meguiar's make quality cleaner waxes. Just don't expect the same results.
Again, learn from experts, not Consumer Reports. That's why I addrtended two classes at Meguiar's, plus I had Mike Phillips detail my cars just so I could learn the proper techniques.
After all, Mike's detailed far more cars at Pebble Beach, Barret Jackson, etc. than I or the idiots at Consumer Reports.
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