Best car wax/polish

[RT/M]

Hi all,whats the best car wax/polish available, are they all much of the same, or do you get what you pay for?? Do the more expensive ones like Zymol or Harly polishes really work with a shine with a difference?or do the mid range ones like Auto glym do just as well?
Has anyone tried most of them?

[Cooldudeoli]

I have tried many of the polishes, and in my opinion if you have the most expensive products, yes they do have a stunning finish but most importantly it is the technique used to clean your car. Imho detail makes all the difference, you can apply any polish and take your time doing 1 panel at a time, as compared to someone who rushes using the most expensive polish on the market, and the cheaper polish looks far nicer. The more expensive polish is said to last longer and has better protection, I cannot comment on this, so maybe someone else can help you out there. But if you want a lovely looking car, my advice is take your time and blind people as you drive past (Y)

[jedi-knight83]

to be honest the key is the paint preparation. The better the paint looks before wax.. the better it will look after the wax.

That being said you can notice differences in the different waxes / sealants on the market... but thats mainly about personal preference.

If you cant afford the hundreds or thousands of pounds for some of the zymol waxes (and thats not a criticism... they are expensive!) then i have been having great success with dodo juice waxes.

[RT/M]

Hey thanks for the advice to you all so far.If there`s one thing i do try to do when i clean a car is do a very thorough job of preparing and polishing,so i should be alright there.
Has anyone heared of or tried Harly wax with yellow carneuba or what ever it is? i have heared its ment to be the one of the best on the market .But if its the same as ordinary polish i will stick with what i use at the moment.

[jonlwright]

I have used Harley and it is very easy to use and leaves a good protection. I have since moved to using Zymol Creme (the cheaper end of the Zymol market but 5 times the prices of Harley) and find that the protection lasts much longer. After about 6-8 weeks the Harley would appear to have worn off and need a reapplication, but the Zymol seems more like 4 months.

I have Swissol Best of Show on the Porsche and 4 months down the line I still only have to show the car a drop of water and all the dirt falls off leaving a nice shine!

I think the problem with Harley is that no-one seems to know the percentage of Carnuba in it, but having used others with 35-50% in them, I suspect it is quite low (maybe 15% or so) hence it wears off quicker, but the £15 price reflects that.

[Mr OCD]

Wax is the finishing touch... if the paint is poor / dirty / swirl then a wax is not going to make this any better...

Prepare the paintwork properly THEN add the wax to protect.

Zaino / Zymol and Swissvaux are all superb

[MaKSiNG]

Here is my dilema:

I am a newby to the detailing world. At the same time I am not completely obsessed with detailing. And am looking at Carnuba waxes at the moment. I doubt I would be able to tell the difference between a car waxed with a lower end wax and one waxed with Zymol Royale or Vintage (although I have not had chance to compare so I might be completely wrong).

All I am after is a really nice shiny car. So I am a little loathed, at this stage to pay £50 or more for a tub of wax, when I know there are waxes out there for £15 or so, which are rated by some people.

I know even the cheapest Zymol wax has something like 35% yellow carnuba in it. And Swissol has 30%.
I am however, looking at something like P21S or Poorboys due to the price and because people rate it and wondered if anyone knew what sort of carnuba content was in these?

[Anatol]

There is an argument that waxing is only still going on for reasons of tradition. Waxes were used on paintwork in the past because naturally occurring wax was the only option. Modern chemistry has moved on, but a lot of people aren't aware that wax is old technology.

Have a read of:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-wax.html

for a well-written article on the subject of carnauba, wax in general and modern paint sealants from someone who really knows the industry...

HTH

Tol

[domster]

Also, don't become obsessed about carnauba percentages. One day when Watchdog and Which? magazine get around to analysing all products and claims there will be some almighty surprises in store... it is like comparing one tuner's dyno claims with another on an engine they have built themselves and no one else has tested.

Secondly, carnauba itself has to be used as just one of many ingredients in a wax, and the other ingredients and the overall formula and production process are arguably more important. (Just like adding raw cocoa to chocolate doesn't necessarily make it taste nicer!).

The most important things to consider are how a wax applies, looks and lasts. If one wax does it better than another, that is the one to use.

[hutchingsp]

MaKSiNG said:

All I am after is a really nice shiny car. So I am a little loathed, at this stage to pay £50 or more for a tub of wax, when I know there are waxes out there for £15 or so, which are rated by some people.

Buy a 3oz tub of Victoria Concours Wax and some of their paint cleaner.

It'll cost £30 for both and will last for ages (3oz is a hell of a lot given how little you use per application).

Don't rule out a sealant though, I'm using some stuff on my Boxster (which does have 99% perfect paintwork) called Fire Glaze and frankly I haven't been tempted to go back to the wax as the sealant requires much less maintenance and IMO looks every bit as good.

Spend money on applicators/towels/wash gear first then product.

[MaKSiNG]

Interesting.

I currently use Autoglym SRP then Autoglym EGP on top (as you probably know from the other thread) and I get a pretty good finish. I would say it is as good as it needs to be for my untrained eye, but I am intrigued to see if wax does a better job

I also noticed that although the water beads on the car when it rains, it does not bead as well as it does on a car that has been waxed. But this might be due to my only having applied one coat of sealant (EGP), where in when I get time I will try to apply 2 or 3 coats.

[markbigears]

Try a good quality wax over the top, I use P21S, of the autoglym products. This is what I use, followed by a final layer of Mothers reflections Top Coat. This stuff is fantastic and won't strip the wax layer.

Edited by markbigears on Monday 9th July 13:08

[belleair302]

Its not necessarily the wax that matters but the preparation and the colour of the paint before you begin. A glaze and a decent sealent will help the wax shine the paintwork, but do you want a 'wet look' or depth of shine? Clearkote make some great waxes, Collinite, Meguiars (Trade range not consumer), Swissvax and Zymol are all considered excellent. How much do you want to spend and how long do you want the wax to last for, a week or three or a month or three?