Does Waxing Give A Significant Visual Difference?

[Raymond Lin]

Currently having this debate with myself! Going to be taking it in for a decent machine polish and paint correction and finding a lot of people are pushing ceramic coatings.

More durable and I find it repels dirt better too. That's not even the professionally applied stuff, this is the in a bottle spray on stuff and I wipe it off by hand.

 

[lordrobs]

Wax probably makes water marks worse. As you then have beads of water that evaporate leaving lots of round water marks.
An unwaxed car the water doesn't bread so watermarks aren't as noticeable.

Definitely this! My car often goes from the best looking one in the works car park to one of the worst when we've had a shower. All the dust pools due to the water beading and once evaporated off leaves dust blobs all over the paintwork.

At least it makes it easier to clean afterwards though.

 

[tom_nieto]

More durable and I find it repels dirt better too. That's not even the professionally applied stuff, this is the in a bottle spray on stuff and I wipe it off by hand.

Which do you find works the best? I’m keen to find something that does this job.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Which do you find works the best? I’m keen to find something that does this job.

I’ve only tried Gyeon wetcoat and Meguiar’s ceramic coating. The Meguiar’s seems noticeably better to me. Clay the car, then spray and wipe off like a liquid wax. You don’t need much at all and instant bond.

I do throw that microfibre away because when dried, the chemical will harden so the microfibre becomes like sandpaper, you don’t want to use that again.

 

[Kenai]

You should only need to apply the Megs HCW once with the wipe off method anyway, after that it's a spray on, spray off application.

Also you probably should be polishing the car if you're claying it.

 

[Raymond Lin]

You should only need to apply the Megs HCW once with the wipe off method anyway, after that it's a spray on, spray off application.

Also you probably should be polishing the car if you're claying it.

Of course.

 

[tom_nieto]

I’ve only tried Gyeon wetcoat and Meguiar’s ceramic coating. The Meguiar’s seems noticeably better to me. Clay the car, then spray and wipe off like a liquid wax. You don’t need much at all and instant bond.

I do throw that microfibre away because when dried, the chemical will harden so the microfibre becomes like sandpaper, you don’t want to use that again.

Thanks. Might be worth a try! How does it deal with minor imperfections? Does it act as a bit of a filler too?

@Kenai - what exactly is the spray on spray off method? Wash off with a hose or something else?

 

[Raymond Lin]

Thanks. Might be worth a try! How does it deal with minor imperfections? Does it act as a bit of a filler too?

@Kenai - what exactly is the spray on spray off method? Wash off with a hose or something else?

First use is spray and wipe, after that you spray it all over and then use a pressure washer to rinse it off. That’s it.

It won’t fill, you might need something like a SRP to do that.

 

[Drumroll]

Title really, I currently just use the 2 bucket wash method. Is Waxing every 3 months or so worth it? Will it give a significant noticeable increase in visual shine and deepness to the car, or is it more a case of it just protects the paint etc?
Thanks

Yes and no.
As someone who spend sometimes a whole day claying, polishing, sealing, depends on the paint condition and colour.
For colours like red, or other dark colours, I would recommend a wet look glossy wax. For white cars, despite using wax now, sealant was much easier to use and more efficient. And I'm not talking about the long term ones like ceramic coating, which I've used, but apart from longevity, can't justify how tricky can be to apply and hard to fix if there's any blemishes later on.
For wax, I use the mid range from autoglym. Clearly not the best, but quite decent, to be honest. Sealant I've tried the one from gtechniq but again, the autoglym was easier to use and lasted quite well.
You can also get some decent wet look using sealant, but between the freshly clean paintwork, some filler and then sealant.
Just remember, sealant won't be effective over wax. You can use wax over sealant, not the other way around. But using sealant, should be enough. Or if waxing the car isn't a shore but a therapy for you, like is for me, no problem.
And remember that most of the acid based concrete cleaners used at carwashes strip wax.

 

[Participant]

For wax, I use the mid range from autoglym. Clearly not the best, but quite decent, to be honest.

What product are you referring to please? HD wax (as opposed to UHD)?

 

[timmeh]

I used the Meguiars spray ceramic stuff the other week. It does say not to use in direct sunlight and I'd follow that advice if I was you. The sun came out right as I started spraying and it took me about 30-40 mins to get the stuff rubbed off. I probably used too much too - first application used about half of the bottle. The finish is really nice though, I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[Kenai]

Half the bottle???? Jesus Christ no wonder you had trouble getting it off, a couple of sprays per panel is plenty.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I used the Meguiars spray ceramic stuff the other week. It does say not to use in direct sunlight and I'd follow that advice if I was you. The sun came out right as I started spraying and it took me about 30-40 mins to get the stuff rubbed off. I probably used too much too - first application used about half of the bottle. The finish is really nice though, I'd definitely recommend it.

The ceramic stuff you only need to apply very little.

 

[Dominic-Toretto]

Thanks for all the input guys. I have given the car a good wash today, and determined it would benefit from a clay bar application as well prior to the wax. I will post back once I have used the clay bar, and spray on wax

 

[timmeh]

The ceramic stuff you only need to apply very little.

I just sprayed it all over the car, gave it a good coating. I don't know how I could have used less and still covered the car

 

[Raymond Lin]

I just sprayed it all over the car, gave it a good coating. I don't know how I could have used less and still covered the car

3 spray across per panel, wipe 90 degrees to it.

You won’t need half a bottle.

 

[timmeh]

3 spray across per panel, wipe 90 degrees to it.

You won’t need half a bottle.

Noted. I'll see how I get on next time.

 

[mrk]

Title really, I currently just use the 2 bucket wash method. Is Waxing every 3 months or so worth it? Will it give a significant noticeable increase in visual shine and deepness to the car, or is it more a case of it just protects the paint etc?

Thanks

Every 3 months? You need to buy a wax that isn't absolute butt juice. Collinite is the wax of choice. It lasts up to a whole year.

And yes, it does make a big difference, but mostly when used in conjunction with a polish underneath such as Autofinesse Triple. The polish will reduce, fill in and mask away light scratches, webbing and so on leaving a deeper gloss. Polishes don't last long at all, maybe weeks to a couple of months in UK weather. That is why a wax on top of that will provide year long longevity and amplify the deep gloss.

You don't need anything else. This is my experience on my cars over many many years of trying many different products and settling on the two mentioned for paint care.

 

[Invertigo]

Made a similar mistake when I applied CarPro Reload the first time after the CQUK. Sprayed too much on per panel and it became awful and tacky. Took a good 3 high concentrate washes to get it back to the CQ layer, now I just spray on a spray or 2 per panel when still wet and wipe off, followed by buffing.

 

["andy"]

First use is spray and wipe, after that you spray it all over and then use a pressure washer to rinse it off. That’s it.

It won’t fill, you might need something like a SRP to do that.

Do the ceramics stick to a glaze/filler polish though ? I always assumed not so have just been sticking to fk1000p which ive loved for years