Questions about White Wax

[OhioCarBuff]

Ladies and Gentleman,

I've had a tube of White Wax for at least 2 years (just haven't had a good reason to use it yet) and finally tried it out on a spot with some isolated scratches, I used it in a similar manner that I've always used scratch-x or ultimate compound and I gotta give this product a two thumbs up, with a yellow foam pad by hand WOW, it was at least as strong as scratch-x, perhaps as powerful as ultimate compound or at least close! I'm very impressed Meguiar's!! Ok I got a question for all you experts out there. I have a friend who does not have much money, he just bought a 1999 buick, dark green and I agreed to wax it for him. I don't care about making all the swirls perfect, just want it to shine really well and leave protection. I have been using Color-X for the last 10 years which works great for this type of thing, the paint on this car looks very much like 15 year old paint, very dry and rather lifeless but I know it has potential to shine. Should I use White Wax or Color-X for this? One of the main reasons I'm asking this is I know White Wax has more corrective power BUT I suspect Color-X has more oils which I think this 15 year old dark paint would really benefit from. Thoughts please.

Let me just add I'm not making money on this, just doing a friend a favor so want the best shine a Clay + one step Cleaner/Wax can give me. The main thing I want to know is does white wax have enough polishing oils for dry/lifeless 15 year old paint. For what its worth I've been using color-x the last 10 years on a lot of paints similar to this and I can tell it has a lot of oils.

[overseer1234]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Well, I'd go ahead and do a test spot with the white wax, I'ts a pretty strong abrasive cleaner wax, and if the paint is on the soft side the result may be a bit hazed. I which case I'd grab color X (or black wax) since its a bit milder (or a lot milder in case of black wax).

If not then I'd stick White Wax, as most of the shine comes from defect free paint. The polishing oils are only the cherry on the cake together with the carnauba.

White wax does have some polishing oils, just less so then Black wax (not sure about colorX)

And if you think it's not wet/glossy enough for you with just the white wax, then you can always top it off with a coat of gold class to compensate the lack of polishing oils a bit.

Hope this helps.

[The Guz]

Re: Questions about White Wax

You would be fine with either one. I would lean more towards white wax or black wax for the sole purpose of them having SMAT technology for better correction.

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Overseer1234, have you seen white wax haze soft paint? For what it's worth the car I used it on was my mothers 2011 black Chrysler 200, there was some scratches on the side from shopping carts, I usually reach for ultimate compound or scratch-x for this kind of thing, perhaps even 105 by hand but was shocked to see that white wax had the power to take em out, granted it did take some elbow grease and a couple applications, but so would have any of those other products and it did not haze the black paint on this car, now keep in mind the last 5 seconds or so of rubbing I really lighten the pressure a lot and I find with any product this lessens hazing.

Has anybody out there used both Color-X and White Wax and can give some thoughts about the comparisons?

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Anybody out there use both white wax and color-x and give their thoughts about the comparisons?

[davey g-force]

Re: Questions about White Wax

I haven't used WW, but from what I've heard, it has more cleaning/correcting ability than ColorX.

[Murr1525]

Re: Questions about White Wax

As a side note, the Black Wax and ColorX are DAT, not SMAT.

I don't know that either would have enough oils to really make a difference... As noted, the Black Wax would be where that is at.

[The Guz]

Re: Questions about White Wax

I thought black wax was SMAT. Hopefully Mike chimes in.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Both White Wax and Black Wax use SMAT abrasives, but the abrasive load in Black Wax is quite low while in White Wax it's actually quite high.

With that out of the way, it must be said that either of these can be used on any color paint as neither contain any sort of pigments, dyes or colorants. While it may seem odd at first to select White Wax when working on a dark colored vehicle, it can be a huge benefit if the goal is to remove some level of defect and apply wax protection at the same time. Essentially, when doing a "one step" detail, White Wax may very well become your new best friend.

Have a look at this article to get a feel for what White Wax alone can do to a very neglected white finish, in this case on a Dodge Sprinter Van. As the article points out, WW was treated as if it were a compound during the application. That means speed 5 on the DA, not speed 3; a polishing pad instead of a finishing pad; moderate pressure instead of light pressure; small work area instead of covering the whole vehicle; slow arm movements instead of working quickly; repeated passes over a given area instead of just one or two.

OK, so that was on a white vehicle, how about a darker color? Again, as a one step, WW proves itself to be nothing short of amazing. Treated as compound and not a wax, on a metallic black 2012 Jaguar XJL sedan, below are before and after close ups of the paint after a single application. Applied with a DA buffer on paint that did not like the DA Microfiber System (it caused quite a bit of haze on this car), WW was an absolute champion. The whole intent when this car was detailed was for the paint to be "shined up" and not fully corrected. The car owner was not looking for a true show car shine, he was not looking for perfection. He just wanted the paint shiny again. A true "one step" situation if ever there was one. And talk about exceeding the customer's expectations!

This is what we started with - heavy swirls in black paint with a fair amount of blue metal flake in it. All those swirls made the paint look really dull and lifeless from a few feet away.


After a single pass (up and down, side to side, X3) with White Wax that was treated like a compound during application. Wipe off was immediately after buffing, and we even did a double IPA wipe down following the application just to make sure we weren't just hiding things. Yes, there is still a visible RID in this shot - bit whoop. Look at the difference in a single go. With a "consumer grade" wax!!! No haze, no marring, just a beautifully reflective paint. And remember, this paint was easily hazed by the DAMF System, so WW is not scouring the surface at all.


Bottom line - if you're looking for a really fast way to make a huge improvement in the finish of a vehicle, regardless of the color, use White Wax the same way you'd normally use Ultimate Compound, and call it a day. Quik Tip: when you're done with the WW application, give the whole vehicle a final wipe down with Ultimate Quik Wax (or D156 Synthetic Express Spray Wax) to ensure that you've removed all wax residue while adding some additional polymer protection at the same time.

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Wow thanks Mike! I too was quite impressed with the corrective ability of the white wax when just rubbing out a few deeper scratches by hand the same way I would use scratch-x, seemed to work about the same! So then is there any advantage to using Color-X any more now that we have white wax? thats what I'm trying to understand.

[The Guz]

Re: Questions about White Wax

If the car doesn't have major defects as shown in the above photos then opt for colorx. If it does then opt for white wax.

[gclark26]

Mr. Stoops
With WW performing at this level of correction and finish as a AIO does it replace D151?

[davey g-force]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Well apparently it has about the same level of cut as D151, but I don't think it will replace it.

You can buy D151 in bulk (1 gallon), so it works out much more economical, especially for pros.

[ffboy]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Read this from post#28 about white wax, accdg to Michael Stoops "There is a certain similarity in that both are technically cleaner waxes, but the user experience is very different with White Wax and D151 - the White Wax is a much smoother, butter like application, wipes off easier and offers a bit more protection."

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Questions about White Wax

Wow thanks Mike! I too was quite impressed with the corrective ability of the white wax when just rubbing out a few deeper scratches by hand the same way I would use scratch-x, seemed to work about the same! So then is there any advantage to using Color-X any more now that we have white wax? thats what I'm trying to understand.

The Guz nailed it right here.....

If the car doesn't have major defects as shown in the above photos then opt for colorx. If it does then opt for white wax.

Mr. Stoops
With WW performing at this level of correction and finish as a AIO does it replace D151?

And Davey nailed this one right here.....

Well apparently it has about the same level of cut as D151, but I don't think it will replace it.

You can buy D151 in bulk (1 gallon), so it works out much more economical, especially for pros.