Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

[Meticulous-Detail]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

My philosophy is learn how to wash, dry and maintain w/o inducing swirls or scratches first. Then correct the vehicle and maintain the finish with the ant-swirl knowledge you've gained. So instead of a swirl fest every year, maybe you only have to correct after several years. I do agree with the theory that polishing every year will eventually destroy the clear and glazes definitely have their place in detailing. I like CG Glossworkz allot.

I have come along way since washing cars without grit guards, in old buckets, with 10 yr old sponges, dish washing liquid and drying them with old bath towels my Mom didn't want anymore. Oh and lets not forget putting way to much liquid wax on with my Strauss buffer to the point I couldn't get it off with my terry cloth towels. Gee I always wondered why they still looked like **** after I got done.

Collonite 476s is probably one of the most inexpensive and durable paste waxes that exist. It is more for the daily driver then a weekend cruiser or show car, but I do use it on my wheels and it is very durable. A nice THIN coat on a daily driver will last 6 months and beyond, even through the auto swirl car washes. If you let it dry too long or put it on too thick, good luck trying to get it off.

I plan on maintaining my Shelby with a glaze and Megs UPW, which I haven't tried yet

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

Yes, I think most of us do our best to wash, dry and maintain our cars' paint finish without instilling swirls, and in my experience, a person with very good practice can induce a lot less swirls on paint than someone who has no idea what they are doing. A really bad person can instill swirls in 1 month than a well-learned person can in 1 year. Glazes are good in my opinion, it does conceal swirls good enough and adds depth and makes paint especially dark colors real wet and rich. But nothing is better than having a really swirl free finish, it's just that it seems impossible to keep the paint that way most of the time.

Collinite 476s is an old school wax, has good depth but I find it's more of a "bright" wax than a deep, rich looking carnauba wax. Yes, it has to be applied real thin and per section. Let it dry for too long, you put yourself in deep trouble. So remove it just as it begins to dry to a haze. For a durable wax, it is quite inexpensive.

Ultimate wax I haven't tried too... Embarassing for me. It's been around since 2011, and during that time it was only the main distributor here in Manila carrying it. It's only now that I'm slowly seeing it around retailers that carry megs products. It's about time they carried it in the outlets...

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

Thanks for the info FFboy - Forgive me, but you haven't been able to get the Ultimate wax line yet over there? Oh...and what's 476's? I've waxed my car so much this week...and washed it that I need a break. I lost my desire to do it at the moment. lol.

Well, we actually have ultimate wax, but it wasn't carried by most of the car shops, or home hardware stores that also carry meguiars. Only the Megs distributor carried it, and I didn't have the time or patience to go the distributor. Yes, I should have been able to get it. I was expecting to see it around the retailers but maybe the prices turned them off a bit, so because of my impatience, the place ultimate wax should have taken in my detailing arsenal has been taken by other products so I'm not able to get one. At least we have the deep crystal coating, which costs about 2x the price of ultimate wax. Maybe i'll get that, but it seems to have a different application technique and other requirements before application.

Sorry, 476s is actually Collinite 476s. It's an old fashioned hard paste wax, also known for its durability and offers good shine, maybe you'll like it. Whether it's better than Ultimate is a question mark to me, I'm sure Ultimate wax is no slouch.

[davey g-force]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

Thanks for sharing your experiences ffboy.

How about some pics of those two freshly detailed beauties (in another thread if you like)?

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

Well, I'll try. I'm just an enthusiast, I'm not too sure if the quality of my detail job is up to the standards set by others here. But I'll try to find time, most of the cars are used regularly.

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

Thanks for sharing your experiences ffboy.

How about some pics of those two freshly detailed beauties (in another thread if you like)?

Here's my try at posting pics in threads: I did this car arounf 7am, washed it first with calif. gold car wash, then had breakfast, cleaned the UC and swirlX'd the hood and trunk, then applied Mothers Prewax cleaner to the entire car. Waxed with Calif. Gold Synthetic wax, then finished off with collinite 476s. Finished just before 10am. Pics aren't the best quality, but I am quite happy with the results anyway. I got lazy doing the UC to the entire car so I chose the most critical areas where swirls are most visible, so I just used the mothers pre wax cleaner instead. Could have done better to hide the swirls, and maybe taking pics with better lighting could have helped.







I'll post other jobs I've done as soon as I find some pics...

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

This particular SUV which was done more than 1 month ago, it's a daily driver so it's not as shiny as what you see here, but still shiny though.

Used Carlack twins here, then topped with Collinite 476s













I have a bad feeling I just hi-jacked this thread, but I just wanted to share a bit of my work... Black looks fantastic if there are no swirls (whether removed or concealed), happily the products I used did a good job of hiding the swirls.

Took the pics just around dusk, so the lighting really gave me this kind of depth that I thought I can't achieve. Poor car wash practices by other people who try to wash this car means this shine rarely lasts, even with supposedly durable products used.

[BillE]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

ffboy...One word>NICE! Some good work there for sure.

Bill

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

It's hard work for sure, but the "problem" remains... I have to get my hands on Ultimate wax, regardless of whether it's the paste or liquid... I also have past work on both cars where I used NXT 2.0, honestly the NXT 2.0 isn't as crisp, but it has a different glow. I wouldn't say NXT 2.0 is inferior, just different in its gloss.. and compared to the collinites, it has a slightly thicker, darker look.

The same cars treated with NXT 2.0, but this was way back at least 1 year ago. Collinites seem to give a brighter, glassier shine that works better on silver well the 845 and 476s at least. The 915 has "slightly" more depth, but the basic shine from the collinites is very similar.






Not bad for NXT 2.0, a product many say is inferior to Collinite waxes or carlack 68. In terms of looks, Carlack 68 gives a highly refelective shine, but certain times or sunlight intensities, it looks a bit sterile... this is where NXT 2.0 has the advantage, while it may not be as reflective or bright, it looks very good in most light intensities. Hard to fault NXT 2.0, as seen it can compete with other waxes out there, but is a lot easier and straightforward to use. When I get the ultimate wax, I'll also post the pics in some thread to see how different it looks, but it may take a while before I can since with proper maintenance I expect the jobs i did to last, but the weather here is stil erratic and it really shortens any sealant protection. So who knows? Maybe I'll be able to post it.

[Blue Apollo IV]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

I got lazy doing the UC to the entire car so I chose the most critical areas where swirls are most visible, so I just used the mothers pre wax cleaner instead. Could have done better to hide the swirls, and maybe taking pics with better lighting could have helped.

Looks great to me FFboy! Don't let the perfectionists get to you. Most people have better things to do than to worry about a swirl here or there that is only visable under certain light conditions....lol. Anyone should be proud to drive the cars in the pics you posted. I might pick up the Collinite that you mentioned whenever I feel like something different...however, at the moment my love affair with Meguiars Ultimate Liquid wax continues...it's now become an "X" rated affair! LOL!

I think I've waxed the car at least 10 times total with ULW...as recently as this morning - I'm lovin' it...to steal a marketing catch phrase:

[Blue Apollo IV]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

It's hard work for sure, but the "problem" remains... I have to get my hands on Ultimate wax, regardless of whether it's the paste or liquid.

what would be your preference in liquid or paste? I don't know if it's possible to send a bottle or container to you? I would be willing...free of charge...if you think it would get to your doorstep. Let me know via private message if you are interested.

[davey g-force]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

Thanks very much for sharing the pics ffboy - the cars look great!

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

what would be your preference in liquid or paste? I don't know if it's possible to send a bottle or container to you? I would be willing...free of charge...if you think it would get to your doorstep. Let me know via private message if you are interested.

Thanks, that's very nice of you to offer but it's ok. I am way out here in asia, and I don't mind buying one.. I prefer the paste since most users had better experience with the paste than the liquid. But I am equally open to either version.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I'm pleased I shared these modest works of mine.

[ffboy]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

You guys just put me in a sharing mood... Here's another car, again treated with carlack 68 and insulator wax approximately 2 weeks ago... This car isn't used as much, but when it is used it gets quite dirty... Just washed it this morning, wasn't that dirty so just hosed it down and gently removed all the dirt and grime, no shampoo or car wash solution whatsoever... Intant detailed it after drying.. Should have applied tire dressing, but I had no time...

The Joys of Silver Cars



At this angle, not much depth from this shade of silver



But at different angles, the depth does come out.

Silver... Easy to make look decent/good, but quite hard to make great. But it's easy to maintain, I'm happy with that compromise... 1 black car is hard enough, having a silver colored car is a welcome change. Not spectacular, but good enough in my opinion. As for people not noticing any swirls, I agree... average people don't really notice them even if I wasn't exactly trying to hide them, so it's not really a bad thing. I've used M07 on this car before, and it does make a difference, not that big but looking at it carefully, there is an improvement.

Blue Apollo,If you're happy with Ultimate wax, and you seem to be at the moment, I don't see any reason why you should get the collintes. As for the Collinites, it might work nicely on your car, since most collintes seem to leave "brighter" gloss and crisp reflections. It also has incredible water beading, but I doubt it would be much better than Ultimate Wax. Even if collinites are known for its durability, I wouldn't underestimate the Ultimate Wax at all.

[davey g-force]

Re: Now a 100% Ultimate Liquid Wax user

wasn't that dirty so just hosed it down and gently removed all the dirt and grime, no shampoo or car wash solution whatsoever...

Not sure that was such a good idea.

Oh well, as you alluded to... silver hides a multitude of sins!

I know I've committed my fair share on our silver car (the one I care less about)