Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

[wifpd4]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

Just another clarification question, did you clay before starting with Ultimate Compound?

I had some difficulty a bit ago with Gold Class liquid on the hood of a black car. I usually apply wax with a buffer and get it thin, however I used a applicator by hand and got it too thick. It took quite awhile to dry and more work than usual to remove. When taken out into the sun, the owner and I found a few areas needing to be wiped again.

Folding a towel into quarters and placing another towel folded into quarters on top of the first, has helped in some cases.

[ffboy]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

Try using more than 1 microfiber towel for wax removal. Gold Class is a polish-wax, so maybe some of the ingredients in the gold class has built up in you microfiber so instead of your the wax being removed completely, maybe some of the polishing oils, etc may be unconciously being spread on the panel instead of being picked up or absorbed by your towel.

Sometimes those little things really affect the overall effectiveness/results of the product used. Even if a product is applied real thin and instructions on removal are followed, towels that aren't that clean will cause problems.

[Nezil]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

ffboy / David / CHzo6,

Thank you all of your tips. I'll try to answer your questions but I think I've got to the bottom of the problem actually.

David - Yes, I clayed the car before Ultimate Compound.
David & ffboy - I'm not sure that it was a problem of not wiping enough, and I tried using some brand new microfiber towels, so it couldn't be that they were clogged I don't think.

After this afternoon's bad results, I decided to try the paste version of Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax. There is a Pepboys just down the road from me, so I popped in there quickly and picked some up. This is the first ever paste wax that I've used, so I was slightly apprehensive, but was excited to give it a try.

I started with the same two panels that I'd tried this afternoon - the hood and the trunk. I applied the wax by hand, using the included applicator, and it went on quite easily. My arm was slightly aching by the end of those two panels though, so I guess it must require more effort than the liquid. I also found it quite difficult to get a thin coating of the wax when applying by hand. I don't think I applied too much, but it just wasn't as thin a coat as I was able to get with the liquid form.

Anyhow... this time the swipe test was far far more conclusive, after only 15 minutes the wax was ready to wipe off, though I left it some more just to be sure. The liquid wax never really seemed to cure, even after 2 hours, but the paste was far faster.

Wiping off was actually easier than the liquid wax, and everything came off cleanly to leave a really dark, super glossy finish... way way better than the liquid wax. I've now done the whole car using a DA and a 4" pad.

Of course it's night time now, and there is only artificial light, but first results seem much better, and the problem appears solved.

So my initial conclusion was that the paste wax must just be much better than the liquid....



The thing is, this forum has so many users, you'd think others would have noticed this weakness in the liquid form more than they appear to have done. Maybe it's just me... maybe there is still something I'm doing wrong.

As I was applying the paste wax, it occurred to me that it's obviously much thicker than the liquid, and then I remembered how I'd thought that the liquid wax was so thin and watery that I found it difficult to use, kind of the consistency of salad dressing rather than mayonnaise.

Maybe the liquid wax was not mixed properly... maybe I hadn't shaken it enough before use?

Could the problem be this simple?

Could I have been this stupid?

[ffboy]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

Shaking the product is absolutely necessary, but it can be more complex than that. Even with the NXT 2.0, streaking CAN still occur, even if shaken. To say to yourself that you're stupid due to this experience is being a bit too harsh... The paste may require a bit more work than the liquid, but at least it seems you got more even results on your paint. I'm a bit surprised you found wipe off easier with the paste compared to the liquid.

With paste, it is also easy to get too much product. All that's needed is a very slight swipe of the applicator over the wax, just enough to liquify the paste and allow it to migrate into the applicator, apply thinly and evenly. But yes, similar experince with NXT 2.0 paste. Quite difficult to apply thinly, but it does dry faster than the liquid. But removal for me was a bit harder too, but leaves a more even, non-blothchy finish.

[CHzo6]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

This has been an issue since the original NXT Tech wax, and who knows if even before then. Liquid waxes have been causing "streakiness" and cloudy, blotchy spots for a lot of people, including myself. It's not just the Meguiar's waxes, but NXT, Gold class and even Ultimate wax, in liquid form, have given me and many others problems. I bet if you do a search on here you will find a lot of threads on it. I'm not bashing any of them, I've got many bottles of each, and subsequently, many "tins" of them as well.

[wifpd4]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

We've been using the word blotchiness, but if you look at the fourth photo it is relatively even. Not the kind of streaking or blotchiness I've seen in my limited experience. I also don't see the circular patterns or linear streaks typically made by a DA when applying wax.

I only use liquid waxes (NXT, M21, M26, Gold Class and Ultimate) and have only seen streakiness when I overwork Ultimate Wax (going over the same spot multiple times) or when I put Gold Class on too thick.

Please keep us up to date on your efforts to achieve a desirable result, it will be helpful.

[ffboy]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

I have experienced a bit of streaking with NXT 2.0 liquid, seems that the thin layer I applied was still a bit thick, but I've been able to apply it quite thinly, as in barely seeing the layer of wax. But I can still just about see a slight unevenness after removing the product. With the paste, I really get more even results, but i still prefer the liquid since it's easier to apply a thin even coat. What i did or still do is to reapply a thin coat even if the NXT 2.0 has not cured yet, sort of like using a fresh coat to redistribute the wax coating. I have tried letting it cure for a few hours before applying another coat, results have been similar.

So far, it helped my minor streaking/smearing problems with NXT 2.0, I still love it though. I consider NXT 2.0 a great product, it's not perfect, but its still good for me.

[BillE]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

We've been using the word blotchiness, but if you look at the fourth photo it is relatively even. Not the kind of streaking or blotchiness I've seen in my limited experience. I also don't see the circular patterns or linear streaks typically made by a DA when applying wax.

I only use liquid waxes (NXT, M21, M26, Gold Class and Ultimate) and have only seen streakiness when I overwork Ultimate Wax (going over the same spot multiple times) or when I put Gold Class on too thick.

Please keep us up to date on your efforts to achieve a desirable result, it will be helpful.

I think David is on to something here. I have noticed the exact same thing...overworking the wax.

There is a vid of 'How to apply liquid wax' with a DA somewhere here on MOL. It REALLY shows the technique well.

Can someone please find and post a link?

Bill

[Nezil]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

Sorry guys, was out of action yesterday; one of the days I wasn't working from home and spent most of the day in San Francisco.

I did go to a Jaguar driving event in the morning though, which was great fun... got to drive the XFR, XJ Supersport, XKR and the limited edition XKR-S - damn that thing is quick! But that's another story for another day.

As I mentioned in my last post, the paste wax did appear to give a less streaky blotchy finish when I applied and remove at night. It's in the day that I really notice it though, so yesterday morning was the first chance I got to really check it out.

Although far better, it's still not perfect. On the trunk lid, it's clear where I've removed the wax after curing because there is a lighter strip alongside the spoiler / trunk lip. I typically remove wax in a roughly circular motion, but near to edges like the top of door panels, or the trunk lip I have to go in a straight line to make sure I remove all of the excess wax. It's here that I noticed the problem.

David may indeed be on to something re. overworking. In all cases (apart from my first application of paste wax), I've used a DA to apply the wax. In the case of the liquid, I used a 6" pad or 7" Soft Buff 2.0 pad, in the case of the paste, I used a 4" pad so that it would fit in the tin. In both cases the wax was applied far thinner than would be possible by hand, but it is feasible that the DA 'overworked' the wax I suppose. Perhaps someone from Meguiars could chime in with information on if that's even possible.

I'm going to try a full hand application today, and see if that prevents streaking, but I've got to admit I'm getting pretty tired of this; never before have I experienced so many problems from an LSP...

[Nezil]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

OK I've just come back to my (home) office after giving the hood and trunk another going over. I started this process, since I'd drive about 100 miles yesterday, with a careful dusting, followed by Gold Class Quick Detailer.

The QD make the finish really streaky, especially noticeable on the horizontal panels. I think this streakiness would fade away as the QD totally evaporates (around 15 minutes I guess), but it really didn't look good.

Once I knew that the finish was clean, I set about applying the paste wax by hand to the hood and trunk. I did try to get the application thin, but was obviously not able to get it as thin as with a DA. As is common when working by hand, sections just after you've dipped the pad in the wax are thicker than those just before. As a point of interest I kept a mental note of where the thick and thin areas where.

After letting the wax cure, to my surprise, the areas where the wax had been thicker wiped off much easier than where it had been then. These more thickly applied areas also had far less smearing than the thin areas.

Did applying by hand produce a better (i.e. less smeary blotchy) finish than when using a DA? No, not necessarily. Where it was applied slightly thicker it did seem to be better, but I'm not 100% sure that is a solution to the problem.

My best description of the problem would be to say that the wax is not curing to a uniform coating over the paint, no matter how long I leave it to cure. It's only slight, but I feel like I can still move the coating around hours after application. This is, I believe, what is causing the smearing blotchiness. Paste seems better than liquid, but not by a huge amount.

[ffboy]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

A bit unusual, applying the wax thin should give the best streak free results. As for overworking the wax, maybe overworking or trying to stretch a certain amount of wax over a very large area means some wax may not be applied as ideally as it should. Leaving some areas with a bit less wax than it should and when buffed off, leaves the slight unevenness. And when applied a bit thick (thick but not excessively thick), maybe you were able to get a more even coat leaving, making it easier to get the result you wanted.

But it seems the paste has at least partially solved the smearing.

[Nezil]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

First I'd like to say thank you to everyone for supporting and trying to help me achieve the results I'd like, it's truly impressive how responsive people are on this forum.

Switching to the paste wax does seem to have partially solved the smearing, yes; but it's not a 100% fix.

I did notice when I went out today, that the smearing is not visible in the sun, it appears to only really be visible in lower natural light, like in the shade of my garage with the door open. It's been several hours now since I waxed the hood this morning, and the smears that were there at that point are still visible after the car was parked in the sun for 4 hours, so I don't think they're just going to go away on their own.

Like I said before, I am getting tired of this, having waxed the whole car several times over the last few days.

The only think I have left to try, is using a different wax altogether. I do have some P21S Concours wax that I've not used for about a year. I'm pretty sure it's still OK, so I think I'll give that a go on the hood and the trunk to see if a completely different, but similar product from a different company has the same issue. I'll make sure to do an IPA wipe down before hand, and use different cloths to ensure no cross contamination.

[ffboy]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

It's sad things didn't work out with the gold class carnauba plus. Sometimes things don't work out, regardless of how much we like a certain product. If i remember correctly, P21s is a wipe on, wipe off product. What you do with the gold class or whatever wax you choose, you should keep the Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. It will come in handy as prep products for wax, and you in time you will have to re-correct the car so having the 2 ultimates is a big plus.

[Nezil]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

It is indeed sad...I tried the P21s just now, and it's a very different kind of paste, doesn't dry like the GCCP does, though I don't think it's exactly wipe on, wipe off. It just never really hazes over.

Anyhow, the important point is that it didn't seem to streak or smear at all, it just gave a dazzling gloss. To be honest, it wasn't nearly as dark a gloss as GCCP, more like a synthetic sealant to be honest. Since I've not got time to do the whole car in P21s, I'm just going to re-apply GCCP to the panel I tested, and try not to make it too thin an application.

It has been interesting testing these products, and you're absolutely right that the UC and UP were great. I will definitely be using these in the future, most likely on my wife's car first!

To be honest, I'm very tempted to go back to a Zaino regime. Now that my whole car is nearly complete (only bumpers left to do) with UC and UP, I am in a position to be able to do the whole car with the Z2/Z5 + ZFX. I do prefer the way that GCCP looks, but I've got to think about long term care since this is a daily driver. I wash my car once a week, and was hoping that a weekly application of Gold Class QD, followed by GCCP Quick Wax after washing would give me a great, long lasting shine and protection for several months, when I would strip off the old wax and re-apply GCCP.

Zaino requires at least a whole afternoon to go through the whole 3 layers process, but afterwards the upkeep with Z6 and Z8 is so straightforward and easy, plus the shine is excellent (although not dark).

Before I do that however, I'm going to get hold of a small tin of Dodo Juice Supernatural, since I have heard amazing stories about this product, and I'd like to see if it really is as good as they say.

I really wanted to like Meguiar's Gold Class system, but I have to say that in conclusion, having bought the liquid wax, paste wax, quick detailer and quick wax, that I've probably wasted close to $50 on products that I'll likely never use again... Like you said... sad indeed.

[Murr1525]

Re: Can't remove the haze / blotchiness after applying Gold Class

The QD should be usefull... but otherwise, if not satisfied with things, there is always a guarantee if dissatisfied with something.