How often should I wax?

[titanic]

I know waxing is supposed to protect the exterior but how often should I really be waxing the car? Some suggest that I should wax a few times to build up a protective layer, is that really the right thing to do? And also what's the difference between polish and wax? Which is better and more durable for the car? Thanks.

 

[waynechai]

Re: How often should I wax?

Sharing with you the suppposed danger of waxing.
I wonder how many people buy the line of argument below.

I am at the moment thinking abt grooming for my E90, and reading the below, I am rather turned off by waxing.

The Dangers of using cheap waxes and polishing products.

Waxing has been the most popular choice for auto paint maintenance since the beginning of the 20th Century and consumers have been naively following this ritual blindly without realizing that waxes cannot withstand our tropical climate or temperatures above 26 deg.C . Even the car’s warm engine will cause the wax’s oil to migrate, causing them to haze, blur and worse of all, creating a oily and sticky surface that actually attracts more harmful airborne pollutants and road sands to settle onto the waxed surface. That is why when you wash a waxed car, the trapped fine sands in the cool wax will always creates hairline scratches.

So is waxing your car a good thing or is it the opposite? Another fact that is of considerable importance is that etching chemicals and solvents that are blended together into the waxes to make the products more pliable for applications, and also to prevent wax properties from hardening into its original hard form (e.g., Candle is Solid Wax, these chemicals are still active and reacting with the paints’ molecular properties even after the waxing jobs are completed. Thus, the consequences are that these harmful chemicals will accelerates the oxidation process to the paint properties.

Remember that each time you wax or polish your car, due to the product’s powerful etching solvents added, not only will it remove stubborn stains and oxidized paints easily, quickly and effectively, but inevitably will also removes micron layers of good paint. Having said that, do you know that your car’s paint thickness is between 80 mils. to 110 mils? (1,000 mils = 1 millimeter). That is about the thickness of a strain of hair, and if you’ve ignorantly removed thirty (30%) percent of those micron layers of paint through waxing or polishing, the paint’s original Ultra Violet (UV) rays inhibitor properties will be extremely weakened, thus causing the paint properties to irreversible oxidation process by our Sun's strong UV radiation.

 

[titanic]

Re: How often should I wax?

Great but I still need a solution to car grooming i.e. how to leave my car clean, shiny and protected?

 

[totoseow]

Re: How often should I wax?

i m using zymol....its 100% natural. n they supposedly do not eat into paint or cause haze. so far very happy...always wet look and super shiny. water, mud, bird shit etc...doesnt stick...they just run off easily...

 

[BZSAB]

Re: How often should I wax?

i m using zymol....its 100% natural. n they supposedly do not eat into paint or cause haze. so far very happy...always wet look and super shiny. water, mud, bird shit etc...doesnt stick...they just run off easily...

Totoseow,

I know recommedations are already available in some other threads, but appreciate personal recommendations on where to get Zymol for my E60 and approximate cost. By the way, groomer in the East would be ideal for me since I live there

 

[kenntona]

Re: How often should I wax?

I swear by Zymol too, until I met McGuire's NXT. Good stuff. Recommended by Blackstealth.

 

[Mockngbrd]

Re: How often should I wax?

i use Meguiar's Gold Class... (so far, trying to slowly switch all my car washin stuff to meguiars...)
kickass... But doesn't last as long as turtle wax...so my diy solution, wash -> turtle wax -> meguiars wax

 

[totoseow]

Re: How often should I wax?

i do my zymol at bronze carmen...toh guan centre...owner is ex-pml....has a beemer too. he knows his stuff n he offers advice on other complicated issues too...so i m happy there...
yes its far...n zymol is not cheap...but i think if u love ur car...u will go all out to pamper it. not saying that others r not good etc...but u hv to c zymol to believe la...why dun give them a shout..

http://www.bronzecarman.com

 

[waynechai]

Re: How often should I wax?

seems so far the recommendation I am seeing are:
1) Zymol
2) Zainol (are they the same) - from another thread
3) Spa for Car (which is believed to be usin Zainol
4) Meguiar's Gold Class

 

[waynechai]

Re: How often should I wax?

By the way, Zainol used by Spa for Car is available off the shelf (as in via internet). fyi.

 

[louis]

Re: How often should I wax?

i recommend meguiar's #21 sealant. shine is as deep as gold class and lasts a lot longer too.

waxing doesn't harm your paintwork. whoever doesn't believe, keep your new car unwaxed and we'll compare our rides at every meet-up... i can even give you a handicap- my car is more than 6mths old and parked outdoors, rain or shine, 50% of the time.

 

[Puny]

Re: How often should I wax?

I know waxing is supposed to protect the exterior but how often should I really be waxing the car? Some suggest that I should wax a few times to build up a protective layer, is that really the right thing to do? And also what's the difference between polish and wax? Which is better and more durable for the car? Thanks.

Hi Titanic,

It depends on the durability of the wax used. Some brands are much more durable than others. I do feel that in most cases, 3-5 weeks should be a conservative period before the effects of the wax fade away. Weather, number of washes and type of shampoo used affects the durability.

As for layering of wax, zaino advocates swear by layering (it's even recommended I think). However, there's always the diminishing effect of gains versus effort. It's generally good practise to do two layers (the second time to cover areas that may be missed the first time, or to even out the layer). Personally, I feel that anything more than 2 is not really worth the amount of wax used. Consider this. A car with 50 layers will not really look any better than one with 1 or even 2 good layers.

Secondly, alot of combination waxes have cleaning/polishing properties. There's little point in layering such waxes because the subsequent layers will strip the layers below. So for those who mix different brands/layers, it's paramount to know which wax has cleaning properties.

Everytime you wash your car with shampoo, the wax should diminish. So more washings should equate to more frequent waxing. keke.. I was pleasantly surprised when one of the petrol station hand-wash kiosks told me that their shampoo is strong enough to strip most waxes. I went ahead anyway (coz I was lazy). Sure enough, the wax layer from 2 days ago is no longer smooth to the touch. Felt squeaky.

As for the bad effects of waxing. I think there's some truth to it.. However, it's not as bad as it sounds. Just experiment and you may find that some paste wax don't buff off as well. The surface turns coarse and trap dirt easily. Perhaps the layer is too thick that time for me (it was a cheap paste wax).

I also like NXT alot. keke. Very easy to use with little residue..

Cheers,
Alvin.

 

[gabey]

Re: How often should I wax?

This link provides useful information:

http://www.meguiars.com.au/Get_Schooled.htm

 

[gadaffi]

Re: How often should I wax?

i'm using the amyway products, washing n waxing. Its an American brand. all the dirt doesnt stick. Place a cloth n impressively it roll down on its own... do it under a shaddy plc not direct sunlight. do it try bro...