car wax?

I'll be interested to hear what people have to say too. I've never waxed a car, but if it would be a good idea to wax the Prius, I'm all for it.

 

I'm no expert, but on my other forum, someone who DOES know, suggested the following, all ordered from carcareonline.com.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pete bogumill @ Jul 8 2006, 02:57 PM) [snapback]283085[/snapback]</div>

Here's the original thread. It's more informative than I could be.

 

That's a good start, but I'd add two things.

1. Use a grit guard in the bucket. In fact, use two buckets, one for shampoo and one for clean rinse water. I have a grit guard for both.

2. Never use a leaf blower to dry your car. You could be blowing grit back on your car.

I like the detailing advice on Meguiarsonline.com. You can use their method with any product, but I like Meguiars.

5 step paint care plan

Here's a whole set of links.

 

I enjoy cleaning and waxing my cars, I have found what I think is the best and easiest wax to use and the fastest. Check this link out and you can order from this on-line store http://www.zainostore.com/, I liked how my Prius looked when I was done, also it has held up well.

 

Consumer Reports (July '06) found that liquid "wax" usually beats paste. Unfortunately, Zaino was not included in the test.

The top rated liquids were Black Magic Wet Shine liquid, Turtle Carnauba, and Eagle One Nanowax. The best paste, Nu Finish NFP-80, overall score was lower than the top four liquids (tied with the fifth highest liquid).

Overall scores were based on gloss, durability, ease of use, cleaning, scratching/hazing, and compatibility with plastic. And I have greater trust in controlled comparisons (even CR's) than anecdotal reports--excepting those for weight loss products, of course!

 

Not to start another Zaino fan thread, but I detailed my Zaino experience here:

http://priuschat.com/index.php?s=&showtopi...ndpost&p=259377

Several months later, I'm still very pleased with the results. A friend used the Meguiar's products on his Crossfire and said he was pleased with the results, as well.

 

If you have a black car - Zanio Zanio Zanio.

I use Eagle One Quick Wax (spray wax) which is now called "Wax as you dry". It has a supringly good shine that seems fairly durable. I wax it on once a week or so... amazing.. I use it on all of my classic Austin Minis with great results.

 

If I were going the paste wax route, I'd buy a dual action polisher and sets of pads and learn how to use it properly. I tried paste wax by hand once...never again.

BTW I have a GS-100 DA polisher and use it with Meguiars new NXT products. Love it.

And I love their ScratchX.

 

ZAINO
check out my pics.

 

I second (or fourth) the Zaino recommendation. It takes quite a bit of work to get started (6 hours to claybar and apply), but worth the effort. Great stuff.

 

Pete-
since the car is new you can probably forego the claybar unless you really have a lot of sticky bug grime. Dawn does remove alot of it. I skipped it the first application but will probably do it next time-

 

The claybar is intended to remove a great many things that can be found on even the newest of cars. Zaino's claybar product info page gives some good examples of what the claybar is intended to remove. Small snippit:

So you are probably asking if I ran a claybar over my entire car. No, for no other reason than I was lazy and knew I still had a lot of work ahead of me. I just hit the "key" areas like the front, around the wheels and around the portions closest to the road.

 

I'm wondering if I should break out the G100 porter and Zaino the Vaio magnesium lid. It gets oily. Maybe claybar first.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pete bogumill @ Jul 8 2006, 02:00 PM) [snapback]283069[/snapback]</div>

I'm one of those people who enjoy hand waxing a car... I've tried a lot of products, but the best I've used is "One Grand, Blitz Wax". Easy to apply and wipe off. Easier the second time. It's made in Ventura California and has instructions like.... "use 100% cotton diaper, or t-shirt material". We have a black Prius and our other car is silver. The Blitz wax really makes the black a glossy-pitch-black. The metallic silver is really brought out as well. Strange looking stuff when you first use it. Carnauba Paste Wax.... not a polish that can use abrasives.
You pay a bit more, but lots of uses and a very good product. $20 or so per can.
One Grand Products, Inc. is the company name and they have a web site. They make other detailing products.