How to test wax

[Wesley B]

Hi guys! I just registered, but I've been on here for a while. Well I am doing a science project for high school on the best brand of wax(I know the answer, Meguiars.LOL). But anyways I would like to know some ways I could test waxes. I was thinking use Gold Class, One mothers wax, and One turtle wax. Please give me some ideas, guys. Thanks

[Calais]

Re: How to test wax

That sounds like a great idea and maybe a lot of fun. Your best bet is to apply them to taped off sections of a junk hood. Leave this hood in your backyard and test the beading qualities after "x" intervals.

[Wesley B]

Re: How to test wax

Hey man, thanks for the idea. I think I can find a hood somewhere or I might just use my car. Keep the ideas for obervations (experiments) coming guys.

[Deaner5]

Re: How to test wax

I would say make sure you take before and after pictures to help document/show the differences. Don't forget to test a few different properties as well like, gloss/clarity after waxing, water protection and other properties, like ease of use, directions on the bottle or even customer service.

[Tuck91]

Re: How to test wax

How do you plan on prepping the paint?

[Wesley B]

Re: How to test wax

How do you plan on prepping the paint?

Polish and clay. Then wash with dish soap to get any residue off.

[SVT Lightning]

Re: How to test wax

Polish and clay. Then wash with dish soap to get any residue off.

I would wash first...then clay and polish.

[Wesley B]

Re: How to test wax

I would wash first...then clay and polish.

I don't know that seems kinda out-of-step.

[Justin A]

Re: How to test wax

Test criteria that I use:

mass used per waxing
price vs. mass per container
from that you can solve for price per waxing
You could also measure density - measure a mass of the wax, put it into a known volume of water and measure the displacement. This gives you the needed information to calculate density.

Durability - self explanitory
Sheeting ability - a stopwatch and a fixed volume of fixed temperature water are used. Measure the amount of time that it takes for the water to stop flowing off of the test area - you can add a fixed mass of an observable substance to the water to make measurements more visable.
Beading - the number and average diameter of beads that remain on the surface after sheeting has ceased.

You could use a light meter to measure the amount of light reflected from a fixed source at a fixed difference from the surface. This would provide an objective measurement of reflectivity.
Use a typed sheet of paper (like an eye doctor chart) propped near the test area (same distance and relative position on each test spot) and use a camera and/or the naked eye to record how many lines down are readable in the reflections - an objective measurement of reflection clarity.

You also have subjective criteria such as ease of application, ease of removal, odor, etc.

Maybe a bit more than you were looking for?

I'm going to have to get a junk hood to perform these tests myself...

[Wesley B]

Re: How to test wax

Test criteria that I use:


Beading - the number and average diameter of beads that remain on the surface after sheeting has ceased.
Maybe a bit more than you were looking for?

Yes that is the kind of info I was looking for! What kind of beads are better, a lot of small diameter beads or fewer but larger diameter? I'm thinking smaller because it will take less for them dry and might cause less spoting. It would be nice to hear how Meguiars acutally tests their waxes.

[Justin A]

Re: How to test wax

Yes that is the kind of info I was looking for! What kind of beads are better, a lot of small diameter beads or fewer but larger diameter? I'm thinking smaller because it will take less for them dry and might cause less spoting. It would be nice to hear how Meguiars acutally tests their waxes.

Better is a subjective term. In science, you never report anything as "better" or "worse" - only give facts. If you want, you can give your opinion in your report, but make sure that it is clear that it is your opinion.

Report your findings as
Wax X:
Sheeting time : 3.5 seconds
Beading Performance: 27 beads with average diameter of 3.7mm
Reflectivity: 38.4 lumen loss from 100 lumen source at 2m
Clarity: Line 7 on standardized chart

You can probably figure out where I'm going with this

[Wesley B]

Re: How to test wax

Better is a subjective term. In science, you never report anything as "better" or "worse" - only give facts. If you want, you can give your opinion in your report, but make sure that it is clear that it is your opinion.

Report your findings as
Wax X:
Sheeting time : 3.5 seconds
Beading Performance: 27 beads with average diameter of 3.7mm
Reflectivity: 38.4 lumen loss from 100 lumen source at 2m
Clarity: Line 7 on standardized chart

You can probably figure out where I'm going with this

Cool, where can I get a light meter and what does it look like?

[Justin A]

Re: How to test wax

Cool, where can I get a light meter and what does it look like?

A local photography shop might be able to rent you one - they tend to be somewhat pricey if you're not going to use it alot.
This is the cheapest one that I could find on amazon, but I might question it's accuracy for scientific inquiry. Since this sounds like a highschool project, I think it would be within acceptable margins of error but might not be accurate enough to detect variances in reflectivity between waxes - but at the same time, it might just be a hell of a deal! I'd call your local photography shop about a rental before you go out an purchase a meter for one project.

[Wesley B]

Re: How to test wax

Can I have a link to the amazon one? Please.

[Justin A]

Re: How to test wax

Can I have a link to the amazon one? Please.

fixed above - sorry about that.