How Long Will A Coat of Wax Last?

[DaGonz]

How long will a coat of wax last?


How do you respond when the owner of the car you just finished detailing asks you

"How long will the wax on my vehicle last?"


This is a nearly impossible question to answer, as there are so many variables, such as...

• Is the car parked in the sun all day?
• Is the car parked under trees all day?
• Is the car garaged when not in use?
• Is the car in an urban/suburban/rural setting?
• Is the car parked in an industrial area?
• Is the car parked in a dusty environment?
• Is the car parked in a salt air environment, near the ocean?
• Is the car parked near railroad tracks or a major highway?
• Are the roads paved, dirt or gravel?
• Is there construction going on in the area?
• Do you hand wash the car or take it to the car wash?
• What do you use to wash the car?
• How well is the paint prepared to accept wax? (Wax will stick better to clean paint versus dirty, stained, contaminated paint)
• If you take your car through a car wash, what kind of car wash? Touch-less? Hand Wash? Spinning Brushes?

The list of questions has the potential to go on and on!

I know what I tell my clients.. I am curious as to what you tell yours?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Answering "the Question"...

Ron this is a great list, I know we've written something similar in the reply to the question of

"How long will a last wax"

question before in the past but we think this is worthy of becoming a thread in the "Hot Topics" forum. We also address this in all of our Saturday classes as well.

So we're going to change the title of the thread to, "How Long Will A Wax Last" and move it to Hot Topics.

Would anyone else like to contribute any other questions that will affect how long a wax will last on paint? We'll take a stab at adding a few more factors;

• How well is the paint prepared to accept wax? (Wax will stick better to clean paint versus dirty, stained, contaminated paint)
• If you take your car through a car wash, what kind of car wash? Touch-less? Hand Wash? Spinning Brushes?

As to your question,

I know what I tell my clients.. I am curious as to what you tell yours?

When we detail a car for a customer before ever take on the job we invest some time into educating the customer about how long our work will last and we explain that if after we return the car to them they then take and neglect the finish, run the car through a car wash, or are not careful in how they wash it themselves that the wax will not last long and more important the appearance results will not last very long.

Evaluate the customer, after deciding that "yes", you will work for them and detail their car then spend a little time educating them on some of the basics as well as making sure their expectations are real. Nothing lasts forever, that is no detail job in and of itself is going to keep a car looking showroom new forever. to maintain a show car finish, the paint is going to have to be continually maintained, that is unless the car is parked in a garage and covered with a car cover and never driven again and that's not reality for the majority of people.

Thus...

"Find something you like and use it often"

If you like a product, a wax for example, then obviously it looks good on your car in your eyes, you likely also like the wipe-on and wipe-off characteristics. If you use this wax often, your car will alway look showroom new. It's only when you neglect your car's finish over time, when the car is a daily driver, that the finish quality goes down hill.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How Long Will A Coat of Wax Last?

Everyone is encouraged to add any factors they think will affect how long a coating of wax will last as well as share what they tell their customers when asked this question.

[buckshot333]

Re: How Long Will A Coat of Wax Last?

This is a pretty sweet thread!!! It brings up some good points. I am curious what people tell their customers when asked this though? I didn't really see the answer to that question addressed yet. Or do you just tell them it depends on all of the factors that are listed? Thanks!

If anyone else has more factors that go into how long a coat of wax will last, post them!! I can't think of any more!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How Long Will A Coat of Wax Last?

This is a pretty sweet thread!!! It brings up some good points. I am curious what people tell their customers when asked this though? I didn't really see the answer to that question addressed yet.

Dang...

We typed up an answer but it disappeared! That happens for some quirky reason sometimes when you use a comma.

Dang.... we'll try to re-think what we typed and then type it again. (like we have time for this)

[TrufflePig]

Re: How Long Will A Coat of Wax Last?

• What type of soap do you use to wash the car?
• Are you using the two bucket method
• Do you clean your cax off with a soft brush after it snows or the squeegee?
• Do you wash your car right away after you're driven on the highway that's freshly been salted (liquid salt usually now) which is probably worse because of the spraying?
• What do you do if ice builds on the car?

some questions Canadians probably have to ask themselves.

[Detaillab]

Re: How Long Will A Coat of Wax Last?

I typically tell people that it will last for three to six months depending on seveal factors.

[TrufflePig]

Re: How Long Will A Coat of Wax Last?

I typically tell people that it will last for three to six months depending on seveal factors.

but wax in Canadian right now will not last three to six months for sure. with all this snow and salt.