Carnauba vs. Synthetic

[rherring16]

Im pretty new to the forum and I was just wonder what the difference is between Carnauba and Synthetic waxes?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

Synthetic= manmade
Carnuba = natural

[79elcamino]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

carnauba usually doesnt last as long as synthetic wax, meguairs nxt2.0(synthetic) gives more of a gloss while carnauba gives more reflection, like everyone will say its all a matter of opinion and what your looking for, if u want protection and a wet look go with a synthetic if you more want reflection go with a carnauba, but carnauba will give you a shine but i think a synthetic gives more,to see what you like you should do a side by side on a prepared panel and see what you like more

[searle]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

They also have slightly different properties. Carnuba can help enhance the depth of color on red or dark colors. Synthetics tend to enhance the glassy reflective properties of white or light colored paint finishes. Synthetics also tend to last a little longer (although #16 carnuba is extremely durable), and the Meguiars synthetics have polymers which enhance water sheeting ("water phobic"). Many "waxes" now have a combination, such as the new Gold-Class enhanced wax which has some polymers and other synthetics (and even some glaze/oils etc).

In the end, try each (say #26 pure carnuba and NXT2.0 pure synthetic) and see what enhances your cars paint finish in the way that most appeals to you. Or, go with something like Gold-Class and get a nice blend of both.

But, regardless of what wax you choose, remember that a huge difference comes from the initial preparation of the paint finish (claying, paint cleaner. glaze/oils). The greatest wax, covering a poor paint finish, will only give mediocore results.

And, after the wax job, remember to use a Ultimate-Quick-Wax (or U-Q-Detailer) after a wash to top-up the wax in between complete wax jobs, regardless of what wax is used as the base.

[rherring16]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

I use the Gold Class now. When at I was at Advanced Auto today they had the Mothers SynWax liquid for .95 cents. I bought a couple of them and figured I would try them out. I like megs products but thought I would give the SynWax a try. Thanks for the help!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

If you want to try a good full synthetic product and a big Meguiar's fan (thanks for that, by the way ) give NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 a try. NXT is our best protecting, longest lasting wax/sealant.

[searle]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

I use the Gold Class now.

Gold Class is a very nice all-around wax, Carnuba oriented. Note that the brand new 2010 Gold Class "Enhanced" has some additional synthetics/polymers.

You might want to try doing half the hood using Gold-Class (as a representative Carnuba) and half using your SynWax (or even better using NXT20) and see what style of wax/sealant looks best to you. Even that is only a partial test, since different Carnubas and different Synthetics do produce slightly different results. Spend a couple of hours one nice spring day, and carefully decide side-by-side what style looks best to you. Then you can just keep on using it (although if you change cars you should repeat the test since different paint colors really are optimized by different styles of wax).

You can even do a mix-and-match (typically a pure-carnuba coat over a pure-synthetic base) but you must be very careful that your topping product is "pure" without any cleaners (or it will clean away the bottom coat). For example, you can add Meguiars DeepCrystal-3 or #26 (both pure Carnuba waxes) over a synthetic base coat ( my particular favorite), or you can add NXT2.0 over a Carnuba base. NOTE: "pure carnuba wax" just means no other waxes or cleaners, it does NOT mean 100% Carnuba since that would be harder than concrete and impossible to apply. Also, regardless of the main wax coat you can (and should) do weekly touchups using Ultimate-Quick-Wax (primarily synthetic polymers) and it will work wonderfully.

To me this is the real strength of the Meguiars line (I am not knocking any other companies), they have a huge breadth of products and you can choose exactly what product(s) you want for your particular purpose. Other companies have some nice products, but I love being able to choose the exact combination I want. In any case, find what works for you and have fun.

[CieraSL]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

Here's something for you to read: Carnauba Car Wax vs. Paint Sealants

[Caress Detailing]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

If you want to try a good full synthetic product and a big Meguiar's fan (thanks for that, by the way ) give NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 a try. NXT is our best protecting, longest lasting wax/sealant.

To some it may not mean much since this is a Meguiar's Site, but even after going through a plethora of different LSPs, NXT 2.0 still stands as one of the best value and best looking synthetic waxes in my arsenal. Same with M21 2.0 (Despite the streaking issue with that product)

[rherring16]

Re: Carnauba vs. Synthetic

Thanks for all the quick responses!