The 9 wax showdown!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Pinnacle Souveran

What I will say is that this is what you call a wipe on, wipe off wax; no dry time.

As far as application and removal, it was different removing it wet, and strangely it didn't make it any easier or harder than the Meguiar's products to remove.

In terms of user friendliness, it is on top simply for the wipe on, wipe off factor.

Something to think about any time you use a paint protection product that tells you to wipe it on, and then wipe it off.

If you wipe it on, and then wipe it off before any component of the product dries, how much product are you leaving on the surface?

Isn't that the goal of a paint protectant? To leave a sacrificial barrier coating on the paint to protect it?

Been reading gurus on other forums preach the WOWO method for a number of years now about a few popular products in the Cyberworld and been pointing this out for just as long...

If you wipe a product on and the immediately wipe it off... how much product could you possibly be leaving on the surface to protect the paint?

Just something to think about...

It's actually the opposite of what the other side of the spectrum is always jabbering about and that's layering, at least the people that think they're layering are allowing the products to dry before removing them.

[davey g-force]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Wow, what an awesome write-up!

I'm very keen to see the results...

[CAShine]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Awesome post. Thanks for taking the time to compare the different waxes. How would you compare the price to the quality of each wax>?

[TKDDAD]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

very nice work Wolfstrong!...looking forward to the results...

[Wolf-Strong]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Something to think about any time you use a paint protection product that tells you to wipe it on, and then wipe it off.

If you wipe it on, and then wipe it off before any component of the product dries, how much product are you leaving on the surface?

Isn't that the goal of a paint protectant? To leave a sacrificial barrier coating on the paint to protect it?

Been reading gurus on other forums preach the WOWO method for a number of years now about a few popular products in the Cyberworld and been pointing this out for just as long...

If you wipe a product on and the immediately wipe it off... how much product could you possibly be leaving on the surface to protect the paint?

Just something to think about...

It's actually the opposite of what the other side of the spectrum is always jabbering about and that's layering, at least the people that think they're layering are allowing the products to dry before removing them.

I agree, but I am just following the directions on the box

[Wolf-Strong]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Alright, I am having one heck of a time with these videos! First, they don't want to download on my computer (beading one did, sheeting ones are still on camera), and now I had to wait 20 minutes for it to compress the beading video only to find out it is still too big for youtube! If anyone has any input on a video compressing program, PLEASE let me know! I am going to go buy some batteries for the camera, and if worst comes to worst, just take it to Staples and have them put it on a CD. I was really hoping to post it tonight, but it seems something is against me doing it tonight!

What I have done tonight though is left beaded water on the hood to purposely get water spots on the hood; I am testing how well they protect against such a thing. So, when I wake up tomorrow, I am not going to be wiping it off, oh no. I am going to let them sit on there through the whole day in the sun to really put these waxes to the test! We will see which ones truly protect the best!

As far as looks goes, this is the one thing that I was expecting to write up a long review on how each one produced its own unique shine and such, but here I am left a little dumbfounded. What I will say is that if this were a flawless paint surface with zero orange peal, I could probably give you a much better idea, but that is not the point of this review, rather how these waxes react on a factory paint job with a car that is driven daily. I wanted to save this for last, but due to the camera problem, I thought I might as well post it up next. Going by looks alone, I will say that NXT and Souveran were the two that took me by surprised the most, so read on to find out why!

I will be rating the waxes ability to darken/give a wet look on a scale of 1-5
(3) Gold Class
(4) Meguiar's #26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax
(5) Meguiar's NXT 2.0
(N/A) Turtle Wax ICE Polish Paste
(4) Pinnacle Souveran
(2) Collnite #476 Super DoubleCoat
(3) Liquid Glass Auto Polish/Finish
(1) Turtle Wax Super Hard Shell
(3) Eagle One NanoWax® Paste

I swear to you guys, I had to look twice before posting this, but I can honestly swear that those ratings are an honest picking and I can easily say that. The one that truly surprised me the most was NXT V2, and again I have to stress that before this, I was not a huge supporter of the first version and tended to use M26. The other big surprise to me was Souveran, as I was expecting this wax to do something spectacular, but the simple fact of the matter is that it just didn't. Don't get me wrong, it defiantly had an improvement, but is it really an improvement that is worth the $80 premium is the question. Now to be perfectly fair, I am not testing just how well these waxes are reflecting the depth and colors, and the reason is simple: on anything outside of a Pebble Beach winning, orange-peal-free, flawless paint finish, it would be near impossible to tell! I took it out in direct sunlight, and probably looked like a moron standing there for at least half an hour trying to eye it from all different types of angles with both naked eye and polarized glasses, and couldn't see anything outside of the darkening ability of the waxes, and yes, I do have fantastic vision (actually slightly better than 20:20).

What I must stress here, and is mostly the whole point behind this review, is that unless you are working under absolutely perfect conditions with the perfect paint job, chances are that an unbelievably small level of wax (even when compared to the clear coat), is not going to make or break the look of your paint, rather the prep work is what gives the whole effect. To me, a wax is something like a cherry or sprinkles on top of the ice cream sunday; nothing to dwell over, just a nice finishing touch to an already incredible, mouth watering beauty. Now, to add to that though, I also believe that a wax does more than just being that simple cherry, rather also provide a much needed part of your paint work; to make it easier to maintain by protecting paint. The better a wax protects the paint, the less abrassive method you need to use to clean the containments, which means the less you have to worry about the paint being in harms way of scratches and ultimately, fading!

This is why I am so excited to get the sheeting video up, because it may shock some of you on just how different some waxes perform! That, and with this water spotting test, I think will provide a clear prospective on what wax may best suit your needs for your daily driver!

[nothelle]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Wow... can't wait to see the pics & vids on this! great review wolf-strong.. you saved thousands of car enthustiast from pain-stakingly finding the best wax out there!

[Tom Weed]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Hey Wolfstrong,
I for one am enjoying this post, thank you greatly for taking the time to do all this work. What would really be neat if they had 21 2.0 out that you could test as well. The older version of 21 has always been my favorite but after using the new NXT 2.0 about a month ago, my daily driver even when dirty has never beaded better.

I too look forward to seeing and reading your conclusions, Thanks again!

Tom

[Michael Stoops]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Looking forward to pix and vids. Thanks again for tackling this very interesting project.

[Wolf-Strong]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

I tried so very hard to take pictures of the different looks, but I could not for the life of me get it to show up on the camera, so all it looks like is a shinny hood no matter what angle/lighting I get. What I will do instead is photoshop the scale of 1-5 on the looks, and what I believe you will find is that the differences are very subtle and small, and when we are talking about even a well maintained factory paint job, you will not even notice unless you are doing a comparison.

For this reason, I am taking a firm stance in that you should always get the paint to look the way you want it to look before you apply the wax. For me personally, I see a wax as a way to protect the paint and make it easier to maintain the high gloss that you achieved in your prep work.

I will save my opinion on which one I feel does this best as I am still testing the water spotting and will have the results tonight.

[davey g-force]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Awesome review Wolf-Strong!

I just have one question and I hope it doesn't sound too stupid:

In your post above where you rank the waxes from 1 - 5, is rank number 1 the best or the worst performer? The way I understand it, rank number 5 (NXT 2.0) is the best?

[Jimmy The Detailer]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Great writeup! But, wonderful comparison work aside, NXT 2.0 is in an elite class all by itself, no surprise there, and all other waxes can only hope. Add in UQD, then well... you know :0)

[yalerd]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Thanks wolf, keep us updated

[CarbonBlack]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

I'm with the other guys on this - THANK YOU! Thanks for not only spending your time and money but for doing such a great writeup and posting for everyone to read. I'll definitely be following this thread.

I agree! I own about 4-5 of these, so i will be following this
that $80 is alot of money to spend

[cafemoc]

Re: The 9 wax showdown!

Great work Wolf!!
I would give 5 for NXT TechWax 2 as well.
I enjoyed reading your post, looking forward to see your video. Thanks!