how much wax to use

[chrisalvarez]

i hope someone can shed some light on a question of mine about waxing. i have a black car and it garaged at night but during the day i commute on the interstate and i work at an industrial manufacturing plant. so when im at work the whole parking lot is under constant attack from dust and various debris. i use gold class carwash clay bar if needed and swirl x if needed ultimate polish and either ultimate wax or tech 2.0 but i have only been using one coat of wax so is it better or will i get more protection with 2 coats? also will it make maintaining a little easier? like i said in those harsh conditions it seems that i have to use ultimate deatailer every day to maintain until my weekly wash.

[Murr1525]

Re: how much wax to use

I think 2 lasts a bit longer, but not like you are layering wax 2 layers thick.

Do you use UQW after your weekly wash?

[chrisalvarez]

Re: how much wax to use

i do so im just trying to figure out not only is it better to apply 2 coats but how often like once a month?

[Murr1525]

Re: how much wax to use

Well, 2 coats of wax, plus UQW weekly is a pretty good amount for most people, would likely last more than a month for most people. But hard for us to say just what the factory would do.

Do you seem to lose the smoothness quickly?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: how much wax to use

You're not going to make any serious gains in protection by applying a second coat of wax, although we do recommend two thin coats to ensure uniform coverage and appearance. But if you're doing very regular UQD wipe downs to remove loose contaminants and then washing weekly, you're doing what is probably the optimum maintenance routine under the circumstances. It's probably not a bad idea to add some UQW into the routine, and a great time to do that is actually while drying the car during your weekly washing.

After the final rinse take the nozzle off the hose and let a steady stream of water run over the vehicle. This will sheet off the majority of the water beads, and it works best on a well waxed vehicle like yours. Then, as you go to dry each panel with your water magnet waffle weave drying towel, give that panel a quick spray of UQW and then dry. Continue around the vehicle like this until finished. Doing so will help a bit with the drying process while adding that extra little bit of protection and gloss that UQW provides.

[gtrspeed]

Re: how much wax to use

Michael - would that be the preferred technique for UQW application after washing? For the past three months, my maintenance routine between waxing has been to wash with UW&W, dry completely with Water Magnets and my leaf blower, then apply UQW to the car with one MF towel and do a final wipe with a second, dry MF towel. It seems like the method you recommended would save a bit of time by combining the drying and wax boosting steps, but I'm curious as to whether one method is discernibly better than the other when it comes to maintaining the existing layer of sealant.

I am getting fantastic results from my method, but now that I'm starting to do a bit of detailing for friends and family, any way that I can speed up the process without sacrificing quality would be a good thing.

[chrisalvarez]

Re: how much wax to use

hey thanks for the advice. i too was drying completely and then uqw with microfiber towel. i do use the final rinse with the nozzle off the hose after i saw it on the website. and it works extremely well, before i was using a california squegee to get majority of water beads off but i find that some water left does help prevent water spotting when drying. thus eliminating one unneccesary thing from the trunk with my array of products lol. next time i wax i will definately try using 2 coats if anything just to see if there is any significant difference. also i have gold class carnuba+ and tech 2.0 both are great and someone else suggested uw but besides longevity, what difference if any between the 3?

[jfelbab]

Re: how much wax to use

I also worked in an environmental nightmare. Freeway on three sides, A coal fired power plant two blocks to the west, two metal foundries to the south and Lake Michigan to the east. Thousands of seagulls too. I found the best protection could be had by applying two coats of sealant and then topping with a Carnauba ewax. The sealant was good for most things but the carnauba offered better protection against acid ran and seagull droppings. I also used a gloss enhancer after every weekly wash. My favorite protection products were #21 and #16. Today I'd go with Ultimate Wax for the sealant and still use my #16. IF you can't get #15 maybe #26 or Collinite 476.

[chrisalvarez]

Re: how much wax to use

hey thanks for the advise man, i think you also been helping me on the cold weather topic. hey where do you get the #s for the products i noticed a lot of threads mention products by # (i.e.) #26

[jfelbab]

Re: how much wax to use

hey thanks for the advise man, i think you also been helping me on the cold weather topic. hey where do you get the #s for the products i noticed a lot of threads mention products by # (i.e.) #26

Here you go.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?1293-Meguiars-Online-Acronyms-Product-Links

[chrisalvarez]

Re: how much wax to use

thanks again. very helpful to be in the loop lol. but thus far when i wax i use either gold class liquid or nxt 2.0 after 1st applying ultimate polish and claying if needed ofcourse but i will try the 2 coats after ultimate polish. speaking of that if you apply another coat of ultimate polish after a wash in the later weeks will it strip off wax or will it boost protection at all until the next wax application?

[jfelbab]

Re: how much wax to use

thanks again. very helpful to be in the loop lol. but thus far when i wax i use either gold class liquid or nxt 2.0 after 1st applying ultimate polish and claying if needed ofcourse but i will try the 2 coats after ultimate polish. speaking of that if you apply another coat of ultimate polish after a wash in the later weeks will it strip off wax or will it boost protection at all until the next wax application?

Ultimate Polish will remove any wax or sealant you have already applied. Might I suggest that you look instead for a bottle of Ultimate Quik Wax. After a wash I use this to refresh the slickness of the wax or sealant. This is a wipe-on/wipe-off product so it only takes about 10 minutes to apply. It works very well on glass and vinyl trim too as it don't stain trim and doesn't streak on glass. I use it every week after a wash or after I use a Quik Detailer to remove dust and fingerprints.

[chrisalvarez]

Re: how much wax to use

oh i was just wondering if there was anything other than actual real waxing i could do to boost protection. yes i use uqw after my weekly wash between regular waxing. also do u have any experience with the da polisher i have a cheap orbital that i apply wax with but i take off and buff with mf towel. i plan on getting the da polisher nxt spring but i mean is it like night and day between hand application and or random orbitals? the one i have is a turtle wax i bought for like $30 and it does ok for waxing compared to applying by hand, especially with all the work that goes in to my detail, i mean wash, clay if necessary, ultimate polish and then wax. but i realize its not powerful enough for corrective actions (swril x) application however for a little less workload and less bending over for wax it serves its purpose.

[jfelbab]

Re: how much wax to use

It is like night and day. I bought my first DA, a meg's G100, back in 1995. It remains today the best single tool I've ever purchased for detailing. I also have a Makita 9227c rotary that now sits on the self most days. I can heartily recommend a G110V2 and the Microfiber pads and polishes Meg's has recently introduced. I have been detailing cars for over 50 years and seldom do I see products in the industry that really excite me. This Microfiber pad/polish combo has really got my vote. If you want a game changer buy a G110V2 along with the Micro Fiber Pad combo kit. This will make polishing and waxing your cars at least ten times faster then doing it by hand and will be able to achieve correction that you could only dream about by hand. It's that good, IMO.

[chrisalvarez]

Re: how much wax to use

yeah i thought it might be. i hate doing it by hand especially on a black car. the tech 2.0 isnt bad but when i try to take off gold class liquid or paste it is a nightmare. i want to invest in a da especially for the corrective purposes (i.e) swirls, etc. i tried, by hand to use swirl x and sorry to say no real results. so i have done some shopping around and found a polisher comprable to the da but for much less. has variable speeds and is from 200-3300 rpm. on the reviews ppl say they love it and a lot of them actually use the meguiars pads as they are compatible and they also use a lot of megs products. so i will give it a try, on the low settings ofcourse because i have never used anything that powerful but its gotta be better than by hand and for waxing better than a random orbital.