Best Car Wax On The Market? Consumer Reports Tested Them

[Corpsman]

Originally Posted by brohymn626

what would you guys recomend

Check out this thread Best Car Wax On The Market? Consumer Reports Tested Them

[Corpsman]

Will Claybar remove hard water deposits from glass?

[Sam388]

Originally Posted by Corpsman

Will Claybar remove hard water deposits from glass?

Use cleaner wax. If that doesn't work get some #0000 steel wool.

[06civicsiguy]

I use Mothers Reflections. by far this is the best wax iv used. iv tried many different kinds and it works the best and really is good with beading water off the car.

[articsilber323]

if you really want a wax try out this


http://www.autogeek.net/pinsouvwax.html

i use it on my car in the summer

[j'sFG2]

Originally Posted by RaskyR1

I thought it was interesting how they said no wax will improve the shine of a new car....yet this forum is for new civic owners and everyone is saying how great this waxed made their car look....:rolleyes:

wax i considered a protectant, polishes are what makes a car shiny...

[RaskyR1]

Originally Posted by j'sFG2

wax i considered a protectant, polishes are what makes a car shiny...

That statement by CR can be misleading...while wax may not improve the shine of the paint, it will however make it look better by adding depth, gloss and filling in very fine scratches. However it's a temporary fix as it is only a protectant. Only a polish or a cleaner wax can actually improve the paint because it has cutting properties.

[sheek360]

nice find man

[janaka]

i have a store that sells zaino local to me.
Zaino is amazing when applied properly.
I did my wife's Accord (2004 with 120,000) and a lot of people thought the car had been repainted it looked that much better after clay and 3 layers of Zaino. Its a great product and it lasts too which is also nice, it doesn't NEED to be recoated every month like some products

[Garrison]

Good Info!!!

[taste]

Any positive or negative comments about Dri-Wash N Guard?

[Chase86]

Great thread!

I just washed/detailed/waxed my Si for the 1st time yesterday.

Turtle Wax Platinum for wash with a microfiber hand mitten.
Be sure to go over all areas atleast 2x and 3x just to be safe and to remove all dirt from the surface.

I then used one of the water blades to remove the water from large flat surfaces then moved onto to a synthetic shammy which sucked compared to those sheep skin ones which I ended up going back to. I took the car for a quick 2 min drive to get all the water out of the cracks and such and then pulled it back into the garage to complete drying and detailing.

I then used Black Magic Liquid wax to wax. Here's where this story goes downhill. I used a cotton pad to apply the wax and cotton towls to remove it. Apply is very easy and simple. Removal is a complete joke, it takes too much effort In my opinion. The shine is great but def not worth the time. It took me nearly 4 hours to wax my entire car which sucked. After using Black Magic in about %90 of the car I switched to Meguiars NXT Tech wax in the Liquid form. This stuff shinned just as good and came off in nearly a 3rd of the time that Black Magic came off.

Cliff notes: Black Magic shines great but takes too long to remove, Meguiars NXT is just as good and comes off in a 3rd of the time.

[Z1 Performance]

Eagle-One Nano wax is probably the easiest wax to apply that I've ever come across in the consumer market. It's pretty easy to remove as well and leaves behind a nice finish. It fills minor swirls well, but doesn't have much longevity.

Unlike NXT, Nano wax slick-ness isn't dead after one wash but I don't think Nano protects as long as NXT does (which isn't saying much).

For a truly one step product, Klasse All-In-One is nearly impossible to beat. It's an amazing cleaner that is easy to apply and leaves behind an impressive finish. Plus, it's incredibly durable! You don't have to wait for Klasse AIO to dry either - you just work it in with a damp soft microfiber and wipe it off.

[bilzfan]

I like Meguiar's Gold Class Liquid Wax. I've used many other brands with varying success. I find that Gold Class is a good compromise.

I usually strip with Dawn detergent and clay, once in the Spring and sometimes once in the Fall.

Then I lke to use Meguiar's Show Car Glaze #7 to really get the paint to pop.

Last I put down one or two coats of Gold Class. I've used a few other Meguiar's waxes but Gold Class seems to last longer and produce nearly the same shine for me. I just lay down another coat of Gold class as often as time permits, to keep the shine and beads.

This procedure produces a good "wet" look to the paint (RSX-Eternal Blue Pearl) that seems to last for about 6 weeks. Beading can last longer if I keep the car clean. I live in upstate NY and don't have a garage to keep this up through the entire winter, so durability is important to me.

Sometimes in the very late Fall I'll use a synthetic wax to get the added durability but the shine suffers.

I find that sticking to Meguiar's also allows me to easily get supplies at discount prices in stores like Walmart.

[dt07Si]

Alright I don't want to turn this into a Zaino argument but I too have been using Zaino products for years now and I have nothing but good things to say about them.

I agree that the difference between say a Meguiars or 3M paste wax and the finished Zaino'd car isn't so much the immediate result but really how long the wax lasts and holds up to bad weather and still protects your car. That to me is what makes spending what some of you consider an insane amount of time washing and waxing your car and the price of Zaino worth while.

Originally Posted by etf

Zaino is insaino. It takes one all day to wax your car with Zaino!

And it's well worth taking all day or taking a long time to properly detail your car and protect it with a quality wax which in my experience only needs to be done once or twice a year if it is done properly

Originally Posted by spear85

it may take all day...because its supposed to take that long when you do the ENTIRE process of prepping the car to be polished. Think about the imperfections you are covering up with wax when you dont claybar the vehicle first. Nothing wrong with Zaino itself...some people dont like to spend a day treating the paint the way its supposed to be.

I completely agree with this. Zaino isn't the best wax for say Detailer or Body Shop guys where their time is money and spending the extra time to say Zaino a car properly doesn't get them payed anymore than they would if they waxed a car with a paste wax in half the time.

Originally Posted by RaskyR1

Well I wish I could find the site that show's how much more the zaino costs per application that other waxes but I'm not going to spend all night trying to find it again. I'm not saying Zaino doesn't work great because it does, but when you consder that you have to mix the Z1 with the ZFX accelerator and what ever is left over is waste....I suggest you get good at mixing the exact amount you need. Plus it's anyoying that if you run out of ZFX you have to go and order more even though you have plenty of wax left. Plus it's way too time consuming....having detailed cars for over 17 years now I've become used to working fast and I don't have time to wait for the wax to dry. If you have all day to wax your car and don't mind all the BS that goes along with Zaino that by all means buy it...it does work great! But there are other waxes that require far less work, less $$$ and look just as good. I guarantee that I could wax half my hood with zaino and half with a wax of my choice and nobody will be able to tell the difference....because I've done it!

I understand everything you say and even agree with you on some things but do you really think that the other waxes you are using hold up and protect the car as well as Zaino does?

Originally Posted by Sam388

I used to use collinite because it lasted way longer than anything else I ever used. The car would bead these little tiny beads for alot longer than other waxes I have tried. When I read the big wax test in Guru Reports a while back they felt the same way that I did about the collinite. Being that we seemed to have similar opinions and the Zaino rated number one I decided to try it. It is by far the best there is. It takes getting used to I admit, just give it some time. I mix just the right amount every time and you should go thru ONE bottle of ZFX for every two bottles of Z2 Pro. A little goes a long way so put it on thin. It doesn't take me any longer to use Zaino than any other wax and it doesn't have to dry that long either. If it is hot out, by the time you get done waxing the whole car you can start taking it off. You guys are right, all the waxes look good especially on new cars, but Zaino looks noticeably better after a few applications. I'm not talking all at once, just waxing as often as you normally would. None of you seem to go long enough between waxings to ever know how long your wax would last anyways. Those cheap waxes are junk and they always have been. If your not going to wax frequently or your putting that last coat on before winter wouldn't you rather have something that lasts? What's 40 dollars man? You'll spend more than that on junk waxes that you will use once and put on the shelf or just throw away. Big deal, it lasts a long time.

Well said. I completely agree, and the only bad time to wax a car with Zaino is on a real Humid day where it can take a long time for each coat to dry, but live and learn. Now I know when to do it and when not to.

Bottom line is we all have our favorite car wax's, and we all have our own ideas of what we are willing to spend to get a quality wax. On top of that I think time is obviously a huge factor when it comes to waxing cars, and some people are just lazy. It takes time to properly was and wax a car.

Recently I have started to use Zymol Titanium wax and Zymol Japon Wax which are also both great wax's that I would recommend and go on a lot quicker than Zaino (depending on how many coats you apply).

Sorry for the long post, I am just bored and I hate to see people say negative things about Zaino bros., especially when they have never used it.

[FA5SI]

no Zymol wax!
must be OTC waxes...

[firmhonda]

Originally Posted by FA5SI

no Zymol wax!
must be OTC waxes...

Zymol spray wax was listed, it just didn't fare well. BTW, you can pick up Zymol OTC @ wal mart these days.

It's not listed on walmart.com though.
I know it's there 'cause I thought about picking some up yesterday.

[EconoboxMan]

Originally Posted by Z1 Performance

Eagle-One Nano wax is probably the easiest wax to apply that I've ever come across in the consumer market. It's pretty easy to remove as well and leaves behind a nice finish. It fills minor swirls well, but doesn't have much longevity.

Unlike NXT, Nano wax slick-ness isn't dead after one wash but I don't think Nano protects as long as NXT does (which isn't saying much).

I've tried the Nano wax (liquid)... turned out really nice. Like you say, it's easy to use.

[06 Civic Ex]

yea ive seen zymol many many times at autozone and walmart.

i dont like it very much

[irichard]

black magic liquid wax.... best in both quality and price! i researched online already and currently using the product.