Strip off last years' wax?

[Qranc21]

I store my car in the winters.
I have been in the habit of striping
off last years wax by washing with a
dish soap, before I was with nxt wash,
clay, and nxt wax.
Should I be striping off old every spring?
Or is this something I really need to do?

Thanks in Advance!

Qranc21

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Qranc21,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

If you're storing your car in a garage through the winter, then chances are you don't really need to strip off the previous coat of wax as a coating of wax is microscopically thin to start with, it wears off with use or when washed, and your car, (your coating of wax), isn't getting dirty from exposure to the elements.

That said, if you love your car and you enjoy polishing it, then when you bring it out of hibernation and want to take your car's finish to its maximum potential, then nothing looks better than a just detailed car.

Instead of using a detergent dishsoap, try this instead, use a product specifically formulated to clean automotive paint and perfectly prepare them for application of a pure polish, or a coat of wax, or both if you so desire.

Meguiar's offers two safe, gentle and effective paint cleaners for cleaning your cars paint, removing any unwanted surface contamination and even previously applied coats of wax.



The Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner is a chemical cleaner only and is very safe and effective for a light paint cleaner. The ScratchX is also very safe and gentle to the paint, but contains a microscopic diminishing abrasive to help remove below surface defects.

For your application, Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner would be the way to go. Afterwards you like, you can apply an application of Deep Crystal Polish, or any of our other pure polishes, and after that an application or two your favorite wax.

What are you working on?

[Qranc21]

Thanks for the info and welcome!

I am working on a BLACK
99 mustang.
It doesn't ever see snow or rain,
and never comes out if it is dirty.
I know I am kinda anal.

Any suggestions for black?

[SVT Lightning]

Though I am still waiting for some decent weather (NO RAIN) to try this out, I've read here that 2 thin coats of NXT applied 24 hours apart and then topped with #26 after 24 hours is a KILLER combo on black paint. NXT looks incredible by itself I have to say.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Qranc21
Thanks for the info and welcome!

I am working on a BLACK
99 mustang.
It doesn't ever see snow or rain,
and never comes out if it is dirty.
I know I am kinda anal.

Any suggestions for black?

When working black paint, or in many cases, clearcoat over black paint, you must do everything you can to reduce the potential to instill any swirls, scratches, dull spots or micro-marring. To do this, always use the best quality products for both applying and removing product as these materials will be coming into direct contact with your car's paint.

Also, always use good technique, at least as good as you can within your own abilities and skill sets and most important, focus on the task at hand.

As far as product choice goes, after you've done the necessary prep-work, (Clay, Paint Cleaners, Cleaner/Polishes and Pure Polishes), two thin coats of any of these three waxes will usually take your results over the top for true, show car results in any light.

NXT Tech Wax
Gold Class Wax
M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax

Some people like to top the NXT Tech Wax with either the Gold Class Wax, (a [b[polish/wax[/b]), or M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax, (a pure wax[/i][/b]), but before going down either of these roads, read this article first.

Topping NXT or other products

One thing to remember, after wiping off you last coat of wax, try to walk away and let the wax set-up. I always see people wiping and wiping and wiping, their car's finish after finishing it because that's kind of human nature to touch the things we love an we're often times so happy with the results that it's just to easy to continue wiping the finish even though all of the wax has been removed. Immediately after wiping the wax off, the wax you leave behind is still in a process of setting-up, each time you wipe the finish with a cloth, you disrupt this setting-up process and potentially remove wax.

Stop.

Walk away and leave the wax alone. Come back the next day and at this point give the car some gentle last wipes for any smears or streaks you see.

Also, on this note, I often see people moving their polishing cloth quickly, almost frantically over the finish when wiping polish and wax off, sometimes you're better off to slow down..., as in slow the movement/speed of your hand down and thus move the polishing cloth slowly over the finish allowing the fibers to attract, collect and remove whatever it is you're trying to remove instead of move the cloth at breakneck speed over the surface.

Practice technique for both application and removal.