Ultimate Wax

[I Shine]

Re: Ultimate Wax

So now that ADS has Ultimate Wax in stock when should we start seeing it at places like Wal-Mart ???

[cv_soccer]

Re: Ultimate Wax

NXT has virtually zero cleaning ability in and of itself. Like we said, you'll get more cleaning action out of your applicator than you will the NXT itself.

So this product has no cleaning agents, and if this product was applied right after you clay your car, how long would you need to wait before added a second layer of this product?

As you have stressed the 'butter' like consistency of the new product, and because of that the layer of protection is very thin would mild clay strip it off?

To date, I have not been disappointed with any of your offerings, and use NXT 2.0 almost exclusively on my 06 MkV GTI. I wait with great anticipation the arrival of this new tool to my suite of an option in car care.

[joaks]

Re: Ultimate Wax

I might have missed it, but are there actually any polishing oils in this product? I see it referred to as LIKE a polish/sealant due to darkening but have not found if it actually has polishing oils.

[mb911]

Re: Ultimate Wax

Ok...

I have waxed an entire black car with Ultimate Wax.

This wax feels different than any wax I have used previously.

The smell is different too. A bit like a sweet cream, or rich cream cake. A bit of a cream/dairy smell to it.

It applies unlike probably any other product I have used. The butter reference is not far off, but the product (I used liquid) is probably runnier than Gold Class or NXT2 by a good margin. Not a bad thing at all, just pointing it out.

The product just keeps spreading and spreading, which does encourage you use less product I believe.

It feels good applying the product.

The wipe off?

It's hard to get the streaks out, or at least was for me. Could I have used too much product? Perhaps, but I tried hard not to. If I scrubbed and scrubbed with multiple towels, I was able to get most of the streaks out.

Besides the streaks, the finish is GREAT on the black car. It's hard to believe there are no natural waxes in the product, it looks that good. Therefore, I think surely, there must be some rich polishing oils in the product or it would not make the finish pop like it does.

The finish feels nice to the touch as well, though not necessarily better than other Meguiar's products.


Overall, I like the product, but unless I get the streaking under control, I may still reach to Gold Class for my go to product. Truly, Gold Class wipes off so easy, it's no big deal to use it every few weeks, or once a month.

Gold Class leaves one of my favorite finishes on Black Cars, and I will admit that Ultimate Wax probably leaves the finish looking just as good as Gold Class, again, my guess that would be down to some polishing oils.

I also did the hood, bumper, and rear end of a silver car. It was less impressive on this color. I would prefer NXT or Gold Class on the silver car.

The black is what it really popped on, again perhaps due to polishing oils?

Overall, a fine product. Thus far, in my limited time, I would prefer it on dark cars and watch out for the streaking.

Very nice to have a new product to choose from in my Meguiar's arsenal.

[Mongoose]

Re: Ultimate Wax

Did you apply it by hand or with a d/a?

[rfinkle2]

Re: Ultimate Wax

imo meguiars really needs to get streaking under control when using their lsp's. i've read all the how to's on thin application, the swipe test etc. and have not used some of meguiars products on black for just this reason (and kept myself from ordering either of the ultimate waxes <liquid or paste>, for that matter).

that being said, meguiars uqd clears most of the streaking up, but i've got a ton of waxes that I can apply and buff off without a "surprise" when i pull my car out of the garage.

sometimes, the paste versions are less streaky, but i'll wait on the reviews.

[davey g-force]

Re: Ultimate Wax

Good review mb911.

I'll wait to see what Mike Stoops says about the streaking. I think I recall him saying it's easy to correct simply by lightly misting some water on a mf and buffing off.

[rfinkle2]

Re: Ultimate Wax

i've heard about misting with distilled water and even going as far as re-washing the car etc., but imo, who wants to rewash, or go over a polymer lsp they just applied with water?

not trying to be combative davey g-force or meguiars. i like alot of meguiars products, i just think it is really strange that this "streaking" issue plagues my collection of meguiars lsp's.

BTW... thanks for the review mb911

[mb911]

Re: Ultimate Wax

Thanks. It was indeed applied by hand. I'm always lazy about getting the G110v2 out.

[mb911]

Re: Ultimate Wax

I was going to post some images of the AMAZING packaging the Wax comes in.

However, I found a couple bad quality pictures already online:

http://www.germanautodetailing.com/storage/post-images/P1000818.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1294782133725

http://www.germanautodetailing.com/storage/P1000821.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1294782143279

I'll try to post my own higher quality images later. You won't believe the packaging. It's big though will take up store shelves a bit.

The black towel is very cool, so I will probably save rather than actually use it.

[seb1294]

Re: Ultimate Wax

i used the ultimate wax liquid version and i also got the streaks. they only show in the sun. use of it was very easy and only needed a little product to do the entire truck. i tried using a microfiber cloth with water to remove the marks but it only helped a little is there any other way to remove them?

[Mongoose]

Re: Ultimate Wax

Maybe application with a d/a would make a difference...

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Ultimate Wax

OK, streaking on a dark finish...... we understand how frustrating that can be at times and there are a few potential causes for this. We posted the following recently in another thread, and although it specifically addresses the issue with NXT Tech Wax 2.0, the same holds true for Ultimate Wax.

From that post:

Streaking or a patchy appearance usually comes down to a couple of things - not allowing the product to dry fully and/or not applying it evenly.

NXT Tech Wax 2.0 can noticeably darken paint, especially darker colors. If you don't apply it evenly then there is a chance that, at least initially, you'll see more darkening in some areas than others. You've probably all heard the recommendation for letting synthetic polymer sealants cure for 12-24 hours before applying a second coat. Well, the reason for that is because a synthetic polymer product like NXT (and many more products on the market) cure through a process known as cross-linking. This linking together of the polymer chains is what makes a synthetic product generally last longer and protect better than a carnauba product. Generally. But while this cross-linking is taking place, it's fairly amazing just how dynamic the polymers can be on the surface. You can literally still push them around during the cross-linking process.

In a discussion with our VP of R&D recently we talked about a phenomenon observed recently: after allowing a polymer sealant to haze over and the excess was wiped off, if we shined a Brinkmann swirl finder light on the paint and wiped a towel over it, we'd see a smearing or streaking that showed up as a broad stroke in the direction we wiped the towel. Now, if we wiped the towel 90 degrees to the first wipe, that broad stroke of a smear would move 90 degrees. If we let things sit for a while and came back for another look, the smearing was gone.

Here's where it got interesting: the next morning, if we wiped with the towel again, we would still see a smear in the direction of the towel swipe, but it as a very short stroke and we could literally watch it disappear before our eyes. That's what prompted the discussion with R&D. The explanation? The polymers had not even come close to fully cross-linking immediately after wipe off, hence the long smear stroke we saw. By the next morning, most of the cross-linking had taken place, so the polymers could not be moved as much, and they would "settle" back down quite quickly.

Now, this translates quite well to the patchy darkening effect that comes from an uneven application of the product. Quite often things will settle out on their own, but you can help the process along quickly and easily. After you wipe off the hazed product, if you do see a bit of patchiness or unevenness in the color, take a clean and dry microfiber towel and fold it in quarters. Now spray a very small amount of plain water onto the towel - but go real easy on this, don't even get the towel quite damp. The easiest way to do this is to hold the towel flat in the palm of your hand, spray the water in the air and let it just fall onto the towel. One or two sprays is literally all you need. Now wipe the towel over the area of uneven color, and only add more water (using the same method) if you need to wipe another panel. Never let the towel become truly "wet" - barely damp is more like it. This tiny bit of water, and the gentle wiping action of the microfiber, will redistribute the polymers and even out the finish.

There does seem to be a correlation between the level of polymer present and/or the type of polymer used, and the amount of unevenness that can potentially occur. But the quick solution is the same, regardless.

From personal experience, using UW on my wife's Victory Red Chevy (a color second only to black in its ability to frustrate, or reward) I did see a bit of an uneven appearance in some areas. But using the very light misting of water as described above and quickly wiping over the car instantly removed the uneven appearance, and for the reasons explained above.

This is no more work than going over the car a final time just to make sure you've got all the product off. Or if you've used a wax that creates a lot of dust and you need to get the last of that off (actually, it's a LOT easier than that scenario!). Or if you're the type of person who likes to use a QD spray after waxing. But I used plain old, room temperature tap water - and very little of it.

Hope that helps you out when using this new product.

[jfelbab]

Re: Ultimate Wax

FWIW, the process of wiping with a damp towel to eliminate streaks is not new. I've been doing that to "level off" both carnauba wax and sealant for some time. I learned this trick back in the late 50's when Blue Coral and Simonize were popular and they streaked a lot.

I'm not sure that water is especially good for the cross-linking process of sealants but I use so very little water that I doubt it has much effect. The technique is quite effective, especially if you don't have the time to wait for a full cure. (i.e. customer will be here in an hour.)

The streaking described is often discussed by some users as a huge negative but it will usually disappear completely if left alone for a day. In my experience, sealants always look better the day after application.

My suggestion to any users that are new to using sealants is to give it a day and see if you don't notice an improvement in appearance.

[Mongoose]

Re: Ultimate Wax

Would a car cover on the vehicle adversely affect the curing after wipe-off?