durability of wax or sealant?

[CieraSL]

This might seem like a stupid question, but I'll ask anyway. How is the durability of a wax or sealant (like Gold Class or NXT 2.0) affected when a vehicle is infrequently washed? Does the wax or sealant last less than if you washed it on a regular basis? The reason I ask is because with my car, I wash it frequently and I can usually get 3-4 months of protection before I'm looking at a re-wax. However, on my younger sister's car, I've only waxed it 2 or 3 times; she only washes that poor thing every 3 or 4 months ( ) and it seems that the couple of times I have (clayed first) and waxed it, the water from rain or whatnot is just sheeting within 4-6 weeks. She doesn't give a flip and she pitches a fit whenever somebody else goes near her car, so there's nothing I can do about it. All I've ever done is clay and wax to her car because I'm not going to put a lot of time into something like that if it's going to turn out exactly the way it was just a few weeks later. I was just curious why this seems to be the case regarding durability. Both of our cars sit outside 24/7, by the way. Thanks for your thoughts on the matter!

[Bounty]

Re: durability of wax or sealant?

This might seem like a stupid question, but I'll ask anyway. How is the durability of a wax or sealant (like Gold Class or NXT 2.0) affected when a vehicle is infrequently washed? Does the wax or sealant last less than if you washed it on a regular basis? The reason I ask is because with my car, I wash it frequently and I can usually get 3-4 months of protection before I'm looking at a re-wax. However, on my younger sister's car, I've only waxed it 2 or 3 times; she only washes that poor thing every 3 or 4 months ( ) and it seems that the couple of times I have (clayed first) and waxed it, the water from rain or whatnot is just sheeting within 4-6 weeks. She doesn't give a flip and she pitches a fit whenever somebody else goes near her car, so there's nothing I can do about it. All I've ever done is clay and wax to her car because I'm not going to put a lot of time into something like that if it's going to turn out exactly the way it was just a few weeks later. I was just curious why this seems to be the case regarding durability. Both of our cars sit outside 24/7, by the way. Thanks for your thoughts on the matter!

Many things can affect the durability of a wax...lack of maintenance is one of them. Contrary to conventional wisdom, when you wash the car your removing the surface dirt, contaminants, bird droppings, dried water spots, etc and if the soap used is a lubricting car shampoo you're not removing wax (or only minimal amounts). All these things when left on the surface can degrade the protectant level and erode durability. A regular weekly wash would extend the time needed between wax applications and of course reduce swirling, etching from corrosive materials (bird bombs, acid rain, etc). If she's only washing once every 3 or 4 months then all of these are eroding your wax layer. Obviously in this case you'd want to go with NXT over the Gold Class or other carnauba waxes as the sealant will last substantially longer...

[Bunky]

Re: durability of wax or sealant?

I find that parking near certain trees when it rains seems to zap the wax very quickly. This residue seems to wash off but leaves the wax dead (it is there but just lost all its beading capabilities).

[spamlova]

Re: durability of wax or sealant?

I find that parking near certain trees when it rains seems to zap the wax very quickly. This residue seems to wash off but leaves the wax dead (it is there but just lost all its beading capabilities).

Isnt that weird, i've found this too. It's almost like there's a coating or something is leaching from the leaves into the water which lands on the car.

[roger 668]

Re: durability of wax or sealant?

So many factors enter into this question,but frequent washing will NOT extend the time between waxing.I always advise my customers OIL CHANGE, WAX JOB!

[Larry A]

Re: durability of wax or sealant?

Isnt that weird, i've found this too. It's almost like there's a coating or something is leaching from the leaves into the water which lands on the car.

Elm trees seem very bad for this.