car wax tests...

[shorty123]

Has anyone ever done an unofficial test on Car polishes?
there are some really expensive ones, namely Swissol. Then there are the moderatley priced ones - Meguiars and Autoglym... but has anyone got any specific recomendations. I use Autoglym and turtle wax colour polish, and have used Mer but i wonder if the significant hike in price is worth paying for the premium waxes... these generally boast higher Carnuba wax content by percentage.

There is a confusing array of waxes at the local halfrauds. Has anyone done any comparisons on the products offered by the polishing company (ads on PH)

Ta - Chris

[xxplod]

I'm a bit pished so I'll keep it short. Meguairs is a bit better than Autoglym. No residue. You want the polish then the carnauba wax. Superb results and good value.

[BURNIE]

I used Mer for many years and thought there was no better how wrong i was!!

Now gone onto the crazy price of Zanio fantastic but be warend you need three days to get it sorted!!But what a finish.

Complete kit set me back £50 cla bars etc all in that price !!Must be mad!

>> Edited by BURNIE on Thursday 9th June 00:18

[rude girl]

Was tempted to spend a fortune on preparation and waxing, until I saw Pies' car. Stunning, and not resprayed.

I took his advice and went with P21S prep and carnauba wax. It's fantastic. Get it from here: www.seriousperformance.co.uk/

I do my alloys with it as well and you can just hose the brake dust off.

[Martin W]

Just done my car with P21S; brilliant results and little effort to achieve them! I found the microfibre cloths really do make a difference too. Don't know how they work but they do. I got mine from:
www.thepolishingcompany.com/

[bluebottle]

I have been using Zymol with good results (smells nice too
Has anyone got experience of Zymol and the P21S you are mentioning here?

[Dutchone]

Not wanting to hi-jack Shorty's thread, but I use MER generally and I am satisfied with the results but if I look very closely and obliquely to catch the light reflection along the top of the front wing I can see one or two very small surface scratches which are very light and only in the clear laquer coat.
My question is: What product is recommended to remove these very small scratches - apart from elbow grease of course!

Thanks, Paul.

[targarama]

Dutchone said:

Not wanting to hi-jack Shorty's thread, but I use MER generally and I am satisfied with the results but if I look very closely and obliquely to catch the light reflection along the top of the front wing I can see one or two very small surface scratches which are very light and only in the clear laquer coat. My question is: What product is recommended to remove these very small scratches - apart from elbow grease of course! Thanks, Paul.

3M Finesse It.

[hobo]

Dutchone said:

What product is recommended to remove these very small scratches - apart from elbow grease of course!

Zymol.

Firstly, use thier Klay baar to get rid of all the crap on the car, then use the HD Cleanse, which is the stuff that gets rid of the scratches. Then use thier wax.

Obviously the more times you do the HD cleanse part of the process, the better the results.

[dickymint]

Dutchone said:

Not wanting to hi-jack Shorty's thread, but I use MER generally and I am satisfied with the results but if I look very closely and obliquely to catch the light reflection along the top of the front wing I can see one or two very small surface scratches which are very light and only in the clear laquer coat. My question is: What product is recommended to remove these very small scratches - apart from elbow grease of course! Thanks, Paul.

You need to polish it first then wax it.
I highly reccomend this stuff....
www.thepolishingcompany.com/foryourcar.html

[Pum]

My mechanic recommended Mer for wash'n'wax in one, which I use, followed by Autoglym wax, when I can be arsed . I'm happy with the results, but I'm not going for ultimate finish, as it's a 94 Grif that's starting to show it's age

Pum.

[2Munkys]

Dutchone said:

Not wanting to hi-jack Shorty's thread, but I use MER generally and I am satisfied with the results but if I look very closely and obliquely to catch the light reflection along the top of the front wing I can see one or two very small surface scratches which are very light and only in the clear laquer coat. My question is: What product is recommended to remove these very small scratches - apart from elbow grease of course! Thanks, Paul.

Check this out Paul:

[url]http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=180966&f=136&h=0[/url]

I guess at the end of the day it's the condition of the paintwork that's gonna prove to be the most significant factor in a good finish. I recently spent a day prep'ing my paint with Farecla G10 before waxing (see thread). I really didn't realise just how significant those microscopic imperfections would be in dulling a clearcoat; maybe I should use a sponge instead of a doormat when I wash the car?!

As for waxes I've always found Simoniz maxwax to give great results. I don't buy it coz it's cheap but because it's easy to apply and shines up luverly; sure, it won't endure like some of those exotic aardvark ear wax formulations, but for me, it gets a .

[markbigears]

Unfortuately there is no magic wax, polish etc out there. At the end of the day its all prep work and that does take time and many products used in a certain order. To give you some idea, i spent 6 hours on the bonnet of my "S" alone. But then it has no swirls and looks and feels like glass even under garage lighting, but then i'm mad. If you think you can just use a wax, any wax on poor untreated paint you are in for a major disapointment. FYI I use P21s as the final coat.

[Dutchone]

2munkys: thanks for the link. I don't think my light scratches are as numerous as yours were because the basic appearance is still shiny.
I understand Marks comments and I think I will try a polish with a buffer and then a wax (or is the other way round) and see what result I get.

Cheers, Paul

>> Edited by Dutchone on Friday 10th June 12:35

[FlipFlopGriff]

If it's only light scratches the P21 will remove them with little effort.
It is great stuff and the P21 wax is also excellent.
FFG

[millerman]

My Car does not need waxing.......its not Hairy.

But I use Autoglym on its baldness, seems good and lasts

[rude girl]

FlipFlopGriff said:

If it's only light scratches the P21 will remove them with little effort. It is great stuff and the P21 wax is also excellent. FFG

Yeah, I should have made that clearer - the P21S system consists of 'gloss enhancing paintwork cleanser' which you only use periodically, and carnauba wax, which you use as often as you like.

I use them on the Skoda as well, which does a 100 mile per day motorway commute. I gave it a wax at the end of November, and then had a 'holiday' from waxing because it was cold outside, and it was still beading in May when I gave it a spring clean.

Got to be worth a try when it performs like this - and look at Pies' profile - that's the original paintwork on his S!!! I can't see how much better something costing more than double would perform to be honest.

[stesrg]

rude girl said:

I do my alloys with it as well and you can just hose the brake dust off.

And how long does that take you just curious
Ste..

[Pies]

bluebottle said:

I have been using Zymol with good results (smells nice too Has anyone got experience of Zymol and the P21S you are mentioning here?

Far too much for a sane person

The zymol waxes require more effort to apply and buff up,the P21S is easy to apply and buff,and umless you leave it far too long it will leave no residue.The P21S lasts longer too.

The Zymol only scores (IMHO) if you have to apply it it direct blazing sunlight

Oh and dont forget the price diference too,£30 quid for a bottle of polish and tub compared to seriously inflated prices for Zymol

[stainless_steve]

Pies said:

Far too much for a sane person The zymol waxes require more effort to apply and buff up,the P21S is easy to apply and buff,and umless you leave it far too long it will leave no residue.The P21S lasts longer too. The Zymol only scores (IMHO) if you have to apply it it direct blazing sunlight Oh and dont forget the price diference too,£30 quid for a bottle of polish and tub compared to seriously inflated prices for Zymol

Can you give me the addy of the bloke to buy some more of the p21s please

Steve