How many times do you wax/polish your car in a year?

[gb387]

How many times do you wax/polish your car in a year? Can you do it to much?

I use to wax every 6 months, then moved to every 4 months now I am thinking of going to every 3 months. With the purchase of my porter cable last year it makes thing much easier!

[Slats]

I usually wax every 3 months or so. Whenever the water doesn't bead very good or when the surface isn't as slick as it should be. Do you keep your truck in a garage? If so, every 6 months may be fine. It just depends.

Slats

[Mike Phillips]

Hi all,

Meguiar's generally recommends 3-4 times per year minimum for good protection.

Now, if you want to talk about eye dazzling show car results, then I would recommend polishing or waxing often. With products like any of Meguiar’s pure polishes, #81 Hand Polish being a favorite of mine, you really can't do any harm, even if you applied it daily!

Same goes for most of Meguiar's waxes. It used to be that applying a wax to often was considered a bad thing because you could get a wax build-up on your paint.

Now days, a wax build-up is a good thing, only it’s called, Layering.

Go figure... :confused:

(The times they are a changing.... "Bob Dylan")

If you always want your vehicles finish to look it's best, then polish, or wax often. By that I mean every other week, or every other washing.

If you do this, your finish should always be at or near it's maximum potential. Here at Meguiar's, a lot of management have their cars on a maintenance program with a couple of reputable detail companies, You can see them here (http://www.showcargarage.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=300)

With these maintenance programs, the cars are washed once a week, (with Meguiar’s car washes of course), and every other week, they are waxes, usually with Gold Class, but now that Tech Wax is out, they may have switched over.

Point being, if you always want your finish to look it’s best, then find something you like, and use it often. If you like it, the it’s obvious it looks good in your eyes, and if you use it often, well just the act of pushing as smooth creamy product with a soft foam applicator has a polishing effect, even more so when the smooth creamy product is actually formulated to make the paint look good! (note my sig line)

Mike

[Mosca]

I waxed my car 9 times in January, 8 in February. I don't think you're in any danger of polishing it too much.


Tom

[1 Clean WS6]

I think the question should be "how many times per month do you wax your vehicle"?:D

Screw the protection, screw the shine...I just actually enjoy the physical act of cleaning my own car...it's my "zen" time!:)

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Mosca
I waxed my car 9 times in January, 8 in February. I don't think you're in any danger of polishing it too much.

Tom

You need a bigger car, say... like an older Cadillac!, or a Continental, perhaps a Suburban. You know, something with some surface area, how about a Milk Truck?

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/2MilkTruck-med.jpg

That'll cure what ails you!

Mike

[Mosca]

Y'know I used to be a Good Humor Man, back in the early '80s. I had a Ford P-350 van (like a parcel van) that I waxed inside and out. Back then I wasn't real sure about car-care, though. I washed with anti-freeze and a pushbroom, polished with Clorox, and once a year I had the truck resprayed, every spring.


Tom

[Don]

Originally posted by 1 Clean WS6
I think the question should be "how many times per month do you wax your vehicle"?:D

Screw the protection, screw the shine...I just actually enjoy the physical act of cleaning my own car...it's my "zen" time!:)

You too? Cool, a fellow zen waxist (I sometimes wax multiple times a week :D )

[gb387]

Originally posted by 1 Clean WS6
I think the question should be "how many times per month do you wax your vehicle"?:D

Screw the protection, screw the shine...I just actually enjoy the physical act of cleaning my own car...it's my "zen" time!:)

This is where I was going, I really enjoy washing and waxing my truck, I don't think there is anyone on here who dosen't enjoy it. I wash it atlest twice a week, this would be a wash clean interior, then about once a month I will do a more detaled wash such as door jams, engine, wheel wells and so on. I would like to wax it more too but I wasn't sure what or if there was something like "to much" waxing and polishing as Mike said layering is a good thing. If I had time I would love to do it once a month but summers can get a little busy.

[corics]

every time i got my car washed, i see to it that i put a (thin) single coat of wax. and i do this at least once a week!

i really enjoy seeing my car at its best shine (and reflection!) and that's the reason why i have it waxed weekly.

then every quarter, i have it gone thru 3-step cleaning/waxing, that is, paint cleaning, polishing, and waxing.

i dont believe that applying wax too frequent will do harm/damage to the car's finish. in fact, i've been doing the weekly waxing/quarterly detailing for the past two years and my car's finish is much better when i first owned it!

just avoid using the wool pad in cleaning the paint, only when really necessary. i usually use w-7000 with either diamond-cut or medallion paint cleaner in paint cleaning...

[mopar]

from may until october i wax once a week usually every saturday afternoon so it looks good for the cruise at night ,between that i use a booster wax dureing the week,i love the feel of a freshly waxed surface so soft and smooth

[Slats]

I have to disagree about waxing. For a while, I was waxing my Buick at least once every month with Meguiars Cleaner/Wax and it began to have a build up. The water quit beading and the surface wasn't smooth. After striping the wax off with a strong cleaner and re-waxing it felt much smoother and had better reflectivity. Trust me, you can wax too much!

However, if you use the clear coat body scrub, Deep Crystal #1, or a clay bar before you wax, then it is no problem to wax as often as you like. Also, remember than a thin coat is better than a thick coat of wax because it doesn't leave as much residue.

Slats
;)

[mopar]

i only do a surface prep twice a year and clay twice a year thats all i have to do .you shouldnt be useing a cleaner wax once a month unless yuo park under a smoke stack beside a factory,last year i used gold class with the quick wax and no problems of build up and this year its nxt and anybody should know that thicker isnt better when yuo put it on thick you are wasteing half the wax you just applied there is some waxes that shouldnt be applied alot becuase they hvae strong cleaning agents in them and then to much of a good thing is bad but as far as gold class and nxt i dont see any problem at least on my paint

[Slats]

Wow, that was a long sentance!!! :D

[Blake]

I do two thorough preparation-details with a glaze, polish, and wax spending a full day. During the months of April to October I probably apply a thin coat of wax 3 times a month. With the new products and NXT will be a perfect example, it takes very little time to apply a light coat of wax. It's like a thorough going over with a quick detailer (but better).

[Rockpick]

Originally posted by Slats
Wow, that was a long sentance!!! :D

HA HA! I'll say! Big mouthfull!


I'm very similar to every post in this thread as I wash whenever I can however, I'll veer from it if the forecast is for rain the next day. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of a 'beater' and my truck (I know, the truck is a truck... use it... I just don't see it that way. LOL!)...

On average, my truck gets waxed AT LEAST once per month. But now that I'm utilizing the PC, it could be more frequent. ;)


RP :D

[iceman]

Hi all! Darren here from the UK.

I started cleaning my cars about 7 years ago when i got my first car and never really thought much about looking after the paint work, until now.

Recently i bought a brand new peugeot 206 convertible (visit www.peugeot.co.uk) and click on 'new cars' and then on '206cc', Thats my baby in silver.

Ive recently got into the modding world of cars and added lexus lights,chrome roll bars and a performance air filter. But know the attention is all on the looks of the car and how amazing they look when given a good rub:) . Because of my passion for cars it led me to meguiars who sponsor some of the major car events in the UK.

Since using the meguiars 3 step system ( which i use 3 times a week) i have never seen a car so beutiful and rich with colour. I am truly gob smacked (well done meguiars). Because of this ive wanted to spread this throughout my county which is why i am now setting up my own business in car valeting using meguiars products only, which is launching in the uk in june!!!!!!

thanks meguiars youve led me to my destiny!!!!!

Darren:)

[rusty bumper]

I do most of my detailing in warmer months due to the fact that the summer sun can dry out the paint...The rest of the time, I rely on washings whenever posible.

I think that washing a car often with the correct products will give you the best protection...Provided the car gets detailed a few times a year.

[FlaresideLariat]

I wax every time I wash... which is about, every 2 weeks or so. I use spray polish too. :)

[Larry A]

I wash my car 2 to 3 times a week. My wifes van I wash once a week. I wax my car once a month , the van every 3 months. Between these cleaning I use E.O. Wipe n Shine and somethimes Wax as you dry.Last time I waxed the cars I used NXT on my car and Color X on the wifes van.

[Sledhead]

I wax my car once every couple of weeks, and the wife's once a month. Both cars get the full treatment 2-3 times a year. Because of the climate up here, the winter months don't really offer the ideal conditions if you know what I mean. :D

[electricgreen]

I only clay bar/clean paint/polish/ax about 3-4x a year on the stang. However, it is a garage kept, weekends only car that I wash each time we drive it. I don't wax the DD bronco-I leave that beastie to my husband! It's not really waxed much, because it's got rust that needs taken care of, along with factory flaking paint-hand waxing seems to accelerate the flaking process. Once we complete the other projects, it'll be taken apart, rust repaired, repainted-then it'll be waxed regularly (probably monthly)....

[Dnz]

im more of a 3 or 4 months kinda guy -

How do you guys prevent wax from coming out of cracks after youve polished it? Do you just leave like a small gap between wax and any plastic/seals? If so, is it ok that that section will never see wax?

I like waxing, but i hate it when i find wax a few days after ive done it!

[rusty bumper]

How do you guys prevent wax from coming out of cracks after youve polished it? Do you just leave like a small gap between wax and any plastic/seals? If so, is it ok that that section will never see wax?

Get some masking or painters tape to cover those areas before you apply any paint cleaners, polishes, or waxes...I like the painters tape the best.