Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

[overseer1234]

I recently found a UK seller that still sells M16 and shipped to Belgium for a reasonable price together with some m26.

Now I've read about M16, and every review stated that it should be applied as thin as possible, and the slightest bit of over applying would result in an real pain in the but to buff this stuff off, and when left to cure for to long it would also buff off like cement, you'd buff so hard your hand will catch fire and burn down your car,.........

So I decided to first try the M26 paste wax first as it seemed to be a lot more n00b-friendly.

Well the m26 was a real pain to apply with foam or MF applicator alike (nothing like the gold class, or any other paste wax I ever used).

I felt I was either using to much, or nothing at all, and buffing off was pretty dusty for my standards.

At least where I saw some stuff haze it was, and where it wasn't,.... well..... I doubt there was any wax on those spots....

The M26 was applied to the entire right side of the vehicle (a panther black ford focus wagon)




I was expecting the M16 to be even worse and "harder" then the m26 and I braced myself, but.... its a pretty soft wax actually, and rubbing it with a foam applicator immediately results in scooping the stuff out...

So I tried simply tapping the wax with the applicator until it looked wet, which worked pretty good. I also tried this with a microfiber applicator which worked even better (I came a lot further with a tap of the MF then with the foam).

The application felt like spreading a thin clear oil film over the car which gradually hazed over (I over applied a bit on one spot which turned really white). Buffing off after applying it to the hood, roof and trunk-lid, (and while waiting for the swipe to test positive I vacuumed the car...) was also a whole lot less dramatic then expected, and no more difficult or dusty then any other wax (Black, white, gold, cleaner,...).



The the difference in reflection between m16 and m25 was noticeable however, as m26 gave more dept to the paint and indeed make the metalic pop up a lot more (my girlfriend said a "glowwy" like reflection) , and the M16 gave a really hard (my girlfriend even said "cold") mirror like reflection



Now, Is it just me or is this M16 myth about it being a pain to work with really overrated? Or did I just get lucky and really screw up the M26?
I also heard that M16 "milks" black paint, as some seem to find it to leave a white-ish film... bit i didn't notice this at all. (did those people buff all off?)


P.s.: I know you must be thinking I forgot about the left side of my car, but for that side I used another wax I had ordered which is NOT a meguiars wax....

[Stephan]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

I can tell you this:

M16 has apparently been discontinued since sometime before 2009 and is a hand applied wax (low working temperature meltpoint). If you like it, store it around room temp somewhere.

p.s. Your girlfriend has a good eye. She's a keeper!

[mb911]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

M16 isn't quite as bad as some claim. I do have a can of this, but I have not used it in several years.

The last time I used it, results were nice, as you described, cold and glossy. However, a week later I found several spots I thought were "Scuffs," in my paint. Turned out, it was just areas I had applied M16 too heavily and not gotten off the car, a little cleaner wax cleaned it up. So yes, it is possible to have small issues with the product, but it's not so horrible, just be careful with it.

M26 I haven't used in a few years either, but I found it fairly easy to work with.

The Gold Class you mentioned is oh so easy though. It's ideal for anyone to put on or off quickly, really hard to mess it up, besides getting it on trim and whatnot.

[overseer1234]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

I can tell you this:

M16 has apparently been discontinued since sometime before 2009 and is a hand applied wax (low working temperature meltpoint). If you like it, store it around room temp somewhere.

Apparently the shop's pretty well stocked. I do like the M16, so if the durabillity is as good as the claims of others (I hope it's not the same people who claimed it to be the "hardest wax to apply" ), like if it lives through the crappy Belgium winter...
Then I'll probably order some more cans.

M16 isn't quite as bad as some claim. I do have a can of this, but I have not used it in several years.

The last time I used it, results were nice, as you described, cold and glossy. However, a week later I found several spots I thought were "Scuffs," in my paint. Turned out, it was just areas I had applied M16 too heavily and not gotten off the car, a little cleaner wax cleaned it up. So yes, it is possible to have small issues with the product, but it's not so horrible, just be careful with it.

M26 I haven't used in a few years either, but I found it fairly easy to work with.

The Gold Class you mentioned is oh so easy though. It's ideal for anyone to put on or off quickly, really hard to mess it up, besides getting it on trim and whatnot.

Thanks for the heads up on those white spots.

M26 really was a pain to work with, starting with getting the stuff on the pad (I usually hold the pad against the paste and twist the can, but the damn lump of wax sits loosely in the can, so I needed to realy firmly rub it in the pad), then when applying it to the pain it felt like I was either over applying it, or simply not applying anything. Also I found that I needed to rub the wax way more often then I needed to with other paste waxes I used (this includes but is not limited to all meguiars consumer line paste waxes)

And you're right about the Gold Class, its REALLY easy to use (like you said, cant really mess up with that, apart from maybe a bit dusty when over-applied) and for the price you can't beat the look either with al those polishing oils in it, but durability is the price you pay for this very easy and really good looking wax.

hence my attempt at M16 and M26, because I wanted a nuba wax with better durability without having to pay over 4 times the price of the gold class...

[BillE]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

I can tell you this:

M16 has apparently been discontinued since sometime before 2009 and is a hand applied wax (low working temperature meltpoint). If you like it, store it around room temp somewhere.

M-16 was discontinued 'here', but is still available in many other areas of the world.

Bill

[Stephan]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

Ahh, now we know what the US Environmental Regulators have been doing...

[overseer1234]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

Noticed something I didn't expect from the M16 today.

The sun came out, and after work while I was inspecting the roof and the hood for the mentioned white patches, and I noticed the fine spiderwebs were all gone.

Apparently M16 has some pretty good filling capability's, which is really icing on the cake.

I guess I'll be stocking up on the stuff while it's still available here...

[the other pc]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

.... you'd buff so hard your hand will catch fire and burn down your car,.......

Yeah, I hate it when that happens.

... lump of wax sits loosely in the can, so I needed to realy firmly rub it in the pad), then when applying it to the pain it felt like I was either over applying it, or simply not applying anything. Also I found that I needed to rub the wax way more often then I needed to with other paste waxes .....

Sounds like you weren't able to get a thin enough, even enough coat on the applicator, which ended up producing a very uneven and mostly way too thick layer on the paint.

I've heard of some people actually removing the wax from the can and rubbing it on the pad. (But I wouldn't, I'm sure I'd drop it on the floor if I tried.)

Some people have had success re-melting wax. I don't know how sensitive M26 is, heating wax too much, or unevenly can cause it to separate. Those that have done it successfully heat the wax gently by placing the can in hot water (In the US we call that a double-boiler, the French call it a bain-marie).

However you go about it, the wax needs to very, very thin and even on the pad and even thinner on the paint. Applying it to the paint really should feel and look very close to "nothing at all."


pc

[Garage Troll]

Re: Am I missing something here? Megs 26 vs 16

It doesn't sound like you're missing anything at all. And it also sounds like you applied M16 perfectly on your first try. I have over applied it before and yes, it can be very difficult to remove. I like M16 very much. M20 is another great product.