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This weekend, I'm planning on following up my tire dressing comparison (http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...Gel-Comparison) with a comparison of waxes. I'll be using my trunk lid as the test panel, so I don't have a whole bunch of room to work with, but I'm thinking that dividing it into thirds will give me sections of a reasonable size. I've already decided that M21 Synthetic Sealant 2.0 and Collinite 845 will be two of the products compared, but I'm open to suggestions for the third. Right now, I also have A12, M26, NXT 2.0, and ULW on hand. If you want to see one of those tested, please vote in the poll. I'm always willing to add another product to the collection, but it would have to be available locally (Pep Boys, Advance Auto, AutoZone) as I don't have time to order something online if I'm going to start the test this weekend.
I clayed and polished my trunk three weeks ago, and the paint is in excellent condition (car has less than 3k miles on it), but I'll go ahead and clay it again for the sake of consistency. I'll also give it a good APC+ wipedown while washing to make sure that I strip the existing coat of UW. After washing, I'll tape the trunk into thirds and apply one coat of each product by hand, allow them to cure for roughly seven hours, then apply a second coat.
After the initial application, I'm going to continue washing my car as usual (every 5-7 days) with Ultimate Wash & Wax, but I will not be using D156 as I usually do. Obviously, UW&W has some wax-boosting ability, but I'm going to avoid using anything else that could affect the comparison to the extent possible without totally changing up my normal car care routine. I'll take pictures about once a week, to include during washing (or after it rains) to compare beading. I'll also keep track of mileage. The car is a daily driver, and will be parked outside in the South Florida weather 24/7, so it will get plenty of exposure to heat, humidity, rain, etc. I'll keep the test going for as long as the trunk appears to still have some wax protection, so I'm guessing this will go on for at least two months. My primary goal is to evaluate the durability of the selected products, with appearance being secondary - I maintain a couple of friends' cars on a semi-regular basis, so I want to be able to provide them with the longest lasting protection available without using something permanent like Opti-Seal.
With that said, if anyone would like to recommend a change to my planned surface preparation, application, or comparison method, please let me know - I'm no expert! As I said, I'll be starting this comparison over the weekend (probably Saturday morning), so I do have time to make a run to the local store if there's a strong preference for testing a wax I don't already have.
I clayed and polished my trunk three weeks ago, and the paint is in excellent condition (car has less than 3k miles on it), but I'll go ahead and clay it again for the sake of consistency. I'll also give it a good APC+ wipedown while washing to make sure that I strip the existing coat of UW. After washing, I'll tape the trunk into thirds and apply one coat of each product by hand, allow them to cure for roughly seven hours, then apply a second coat.
After the initial application, I'm going to continue washing my car as usual (every 5-7 days) with Ultimate Wash & Wax, but I will not be using D156 as I usually do. Obviously, UW&W has some wax-boosting ability, but I'm going to avoid using anything else that could affect the comparison to the extent possible without totally changing up my normal car care routine. I'll take pictures about once a week, to include during washing (or after it rains) to compare beading. I'll also keep track of mileage. The car is a daily driver, and will be parked outside in the South Florida weather 24/7, so it will get plenty of exposure to heat, humidity, rain, etc. I'll keep the test going for as long as the trunk appears to still have some wax protection, so I'm guessing this will go on for at least two months. My primary goal is to evaluate the durability of the selected products, with appearance being secondary - I maintain a couple of friends' cars on a semi-regular basis, so I want to be able to provide them with the longest lasting protection available without using something permanent like Opti-Seal.
With that said, if anyone would like to recommend a change to my planned surface preparation, application, or comparison method, please let me know - I'm no expert! As I said, I'll be starting this comparison over the weekend (probably Saturday morning), so I do have time to make a run to the local store if there's a strong preference for testing a wax I don't already have.
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