In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

[Saumil]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

quick question...i was told that cleaner waxes should only be used 4 times a year MAX..is this true?..this is the reason i went out and bought Meg's GC..used Megs Cleaner/Wax once before..was about to repeat..but read that you shouldnt...

I dont plan on using the pro line yet (newbie)..

[imacarnut]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

i can't say it enough, colorx is an excellent product!

[Mosca]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

Mosca is right. Sorry to hear about the tornado damage. Hope everything is getting back to normal for your family.

Thanks. It was a few months ago. We needed a new roof anyhow, this way we didn't have to pay for it. The only bad part now is that the garage is full of debris we have to sort through when it gets warm. I swear, I felt like some kind of sad sack last year, every time I turned around there was some crisis we had to deal with.

A part of my point also is that the consumer/over-the-counter products are the way they are for a reason, and sometimes that reason is correct. If you're going to be waxing every couple weeks anyhow, do something to compensate for the extra touching. Because if you pull out the #80 every month, your paint is going to be mighty thin after a couple years.


Tom

[kellyinkc]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

I like cleaner wax on white cars! Topped by #20 or #21.

[tguil]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

Mosca is right. Sorry to hear about the tornado damage. Hope everything is getting back to normal for your family.

Amen.

I have started to use ColorX almost exclusively on my white trucks. I'll add an application of NXT when the "spirit moves me to do so."

Tom

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

Mosca is right. Sorry to hear about the tornado damage. Hope everything is getting back to normal for your family.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

Met a guy at a GoodGuys Hot Rod Show with a flawless finish on a old school full-bodied hot rodded Model A black in color.

Now in case you haven't looked at Model A recently, they have lots of body lines and curves and actually lots of raised areas and raised body lines.

Careful inspection of his car's finish as it sat in the middle of a grass field in the bright summer sun revealed a completely flawless finish with a deep wet shine. When asked what he used to get his black paint to look so good he simply opened the deck-lid on his car and sitting in the back was a bottle of Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax with a couple of terry cloth towels.

Said it's all he ever used; said he's been using the product for about 20 years on his car's paint.

His car was surrounded by high dollar hot rods yet his car's finish made his car stand out.

[Larry A]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

Mosca, you are a 100% right.

[Stangfan]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

Nothing wrong with cleaner wax. That is what I use on my daily driver 07 Focus ZX5. It sits outside because my Mustangs occupy the garages. Cleaner wax not only protects the paint, it also removes the extra stuff that builds up on an 'outside car'. The Mustangs....well that is another story altogether.

[HagFan]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

I still like the notion of claying it a couple of times a year just to avoid swirling in some of those contaminates that the cleaner might loosen.

[CWM3]

Re: In praise of... CLEANER WAX!

I love Cleaner Wax and use it almost weekly. Great stuff.

[Mosca]

LINK TO THIS THREAD --> Mosca's article on cleaner wax

Hello, I haven't posted here in a while. No real reason, just some time off from the forums. It's been a rough year for the Mosca household, but nothing we couldn't handle, with the help of insurance adjusters. (Never in a million years did I think that my house would get hit by a tornado, let alone in December.)

Anyhow, here's my trick of the trade. After all these years as a self-professed fanatic, I have finally come full circle to a real appreciation for and recommendation of the regular use of cleaner waxes!

There are a few reasons why, and it certainly doesn't mean that I'm against getting out the G-100 and pads and #80 and having a day of it. But hear me out.

First, find and read Mike's excellent article, "A Lesson From White Paint". The link I gave is Autopia, I couldn't find the article here. There is a lot of GREAT information in that article, but the essence of it as it applies to cleaner waxes is this: "The paint on cars becomes stained and dirty when continually exposed to outdoor environments and inclement weather. Dirt and pollution, both in the air, and the water in the form of road spray on wet roads, accumulates in the pores of the paint. The paint on all cars used as daily drivers becomes cloudy and gray from exposure to outdoor environments and inclement weather, not just cars with white paint (it’s just more apparent on white paint). The average person cannot see this staining taking place because it happens slowly over time, and builds up evenly over the entire surface, so in most cases, there is never a contrasting section to tip-off the owner that their paint is becoming more cloudy and less clear. This staining effect grays your finish and hides the true color and beauty of the finish. This is especially true on cars with medium to dark colored finishes."

What I drew from this is that, contrary to our desire for "pure" protectants that have no cleaners in them but that will only serve to protect our finishes after we've polished them, we can actually maintain a better appearance over time by cleaning a little bit with each application of protectant!



Secondly: It's about basics, and how the basics are the backbone of any successful job. Clean materials. Proper technique. And the correct tools.

Now, clean materials, we agree. And proper technique, that's why we have these forums.

So, correct tools, right? OK. What makes us fanatics different from Joe Sunday, who waxes his car once in May and once in October? It's that we might wax our cars once a month, or more frequently; we'll wax for enjoyment if the weather's nice and the Pirates are on the radio!

And one thing that we often forget is that touches = swirls. No matter how hard you try, wash mitts and drying towels leave traces. What that means, to me, is that I need a different tool for my specific way of working. And since the wax is one of my tools, I need to choose a tool that will help to control swirl buildup; after all, I'm prone to touching my finish more than Joe Sunday! A good cleaner wax is perfect for this! Will you still get swirls? Sure. Eventually you will always get swirls. But if you use clean materials and proper technique and a good cleaner wax you can double your time between complete details.

A few more ancillary points: length of protection is a non-issue for frequent waxers. A-12 or #6 or ColorX (the strongest of the three) all last plenty long, as do the waxes with slight cleaners (GC and NXT). And appearance is generally excellent for these products. They are all within the "Meguiar's family look" of balanced brightness, gloss and depth.

So, that is my "trick of the trade". Save yourself time and energy with cleaner wax! Only your detailing friends will know for sure... but only if you tell them!


Tom