WAX!!!!!!!!

The carnauba base Scuderia Swissol wax looks the best on single stage paint IMHO. I used it to wax my car on the Wednesday before the recent FFQC, drove it the over 500 miles in the rain from Atlanta to New Orleans on Thursday, then drove it on the track on Friday. I had it washed(no wax) on Friday night and for the concours on Saturday morning it still looked like it did the day I first waxed it...GREAT! It is much better than the NXT which I had used before I got the Swissol. Try it yourself. www.swissol.com

 

See the reprint of my FCA column article at www.fca-se.org/conc_14.htm

Mike

 

Polymers help protect against UV and carnuba is a natural occuring substance that comes from Brazil. It's UV protection in its basic form is nearly 0. The reason you are getting red on your cloth is because the car is a single stage paint. It is a base coat paint. Carnuba has poor temperature traits. It evaporates or "melts" under UV and heat situations while polymers have a better tolerance and usuallly dissapate under wear. I don't know about the longevity of nanowax because I have just discovered it. But I will be more than happy to sample it once a week for 6 weeks.

parkerfe:

Carnuba holds up very well against water and low temps. Thats why the car looks good. Again I am back to the point of time vs. final product. When I used Swissol it was a very time consuming process. Nanowax was as quick as could be. I am the type of person that stays extremely busy. Time is essential for me. I personally enjoy to detail the Ferrari but hate and will nnot do the Hummer for time purposes. This wax would make me contemplate on the Hummer now. That is the wonderful factor of this product. I also do not mind waxing a car once every 6-10 weeks.

smhockeydefense:

I would be completely amazed if this wax lasted only 10 days. I have only used on wax that only lasted that short of a while. Can't remember the name of it but it was sold by AutoMagic, I think it was actually called QuickWax. It was nearly a liguid for an left a small amount (2-5%) of wax behind but had a fast drying agent to make the process fast. It would last about 10 days, even in summer. Of course all of this is dictated by how often you wash your vehicle and how much time it spends in the sun.

 

I understand your time demands, but other than the use of the Swissol Cleaner the first time, I did not notice the Swissol took any longer to apply and remove than the NXT I had been using. You should note that you do not have to use the cleaner every time before you wax.

 

I never use a "cleaner". I only polish a car, once that is done it is just maintenance for a while until the paint has impurities or scratches. My novelty cars & motorcycles are driven only about 2-5k miles a year so I don't have to worry about the effects of weather and sun very much.

 

How does Nanowax compare with Zaino? I have used Zaino for a few years with excellent results. It is more expensive, harder to purchase because it is not readily available, and takes longer to apply than Nanowax.

Has anyone tried Nanowax that has also used Zaino? Any comments?

 

Hey mcharness:

Are there some fun roads up ther in Huntsville??? We will have to make a trip sometime soon. Maybe a breakfast run on a Saturday morning???

 

I really don't know. That may be a great question for mcharness. The nanowax is a quick wax with little haze and a lot of tolerance for missing spots and mixing with water if you wax shortly after a wash. I noticed it also does not leave a white residue on body trim.

 

355flyer. you will get much better results with Swissol, or any other product for that matter, if you will first use the paint cleaner and then a clay bar before applying the wax. What's really neat is after using the cleaner, your paint will actually sqeak, hence squeaky clean! As in most things in life, preparation is the key to the best results.

 

I'm definitely not the most qualified to throw around my opinion, but I'll do it anyways

I used to detail cars for a living, and while they weren't all Italian imports, I used Fast Wax, and it does a great job. You can actually just apply the Fast Wax, and not worry about your car being dirty. So in one application, it would wash AND wax the car. It actually works on all exterior parts (paint, chrome, glass) except for rubber. Seriously! The car can be DIRTY, and this stuff just wipes it away and leaves NO scratch or anything.

I used to be able to find it at Super Wal Marts, but I haven't seen it there for the last few months. It's about $5, and one can will do from 4-8 vehicles, and you only really need some terry cloths and tire shine stuff to make any car look sexy.

I have used it on Ferraris, and it looks fine. The thing that I like about it most is that for someone not having their car judged, a $35 detail looks VERY close to a $200+ detail (and it takes a LOT less time).

www.fastwax.com

 

Please understand I am already past that step. If you truly prep your car and then keep it maintained after that you will rarely use a clay bar. When I first bought the car I clay bar'd a couple of spots and 1200 grit wet sand a couple of hard water stains that were there before. I used New Car Glaze from AutoMagic which is a high petroleum content polish and then Perfecta 1500 to get out mild to thin scratches then used an orbital with pink fill-n-glaze and then another orbital with swissol. Just recently I went back over the car with nanowax because my wife decided to wash the car for a surprise and cleaned the wheels first (and all of the semi-metallic dust too) and then the car and left cobweb scratches all over the car. I used a real light mixture of perfecta 1500 and then Nanowax and was completely amazed.

 

Cochese:

Any wax that will remove tar, bugs and grease has to have a solvent in it. I use Kerosene to remove tar because it is less harmful than most other solvents if used properly. I fret to think about spreading dirt and grime along my car with the wax. It will have to act like an abrasive agent and usually leave cobwebs behind. Maybe your experience was different. I usually do a quick wash then a quick 170 MPH blow the excess water off (just joking--normally it is only 160 ) Then a quick wax over with a silicone spray agent if the paint is in good shape.

 

Hopefully you can appreciate that I was not at liberty to drive my customers' cars over 150, so I couldn't dry them that fast. But yeah, as amazing as it sounds, take a dirty car, spray on the Fast Wax, wipe it, then buff it, and there are no scratches, and the car is cleaned and waxed.

I remember there was a junked old car getting overtaken by the brush in the yard behind my shop. I used the Fast Wax on it for shoots and giggles one day, and while it didn't leave a smooth surface, it did clean away years of whatever-gets-left-on-cars-that-sit-outside-in-bushes-for-years. However, I would guess that most people reading this don't own any vehicles that are left in, on, under or around any bushes for any extended period of time.

 

To hell with the "wax talk", I'm suitably impressed with all the driving!! Great to hear that wonderful BBi is getting properly "exercised" both on the street and track!

 

Absolutely! Let's not hijack this thread... let's discuss in the Regional chat at
www.ferrarichat.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=20

 

I second your observation of NanoWax.. It is amazing stuff.. I am not as experienced as you but I have tried Mother's, Meguiar's (all and NXT, Zymol, Zaino, etc and I have yet to find one that does what Nanowax did for my black NSX.. Black is a pain in the butt and it looks amazing after I apply it. I must confess I have done it by hand and I will try an orbital buffer soon..

I posted a rave on Nanowax back like 6 months or so when I first used it and it got little or no attention.. Glad to see that someone else is using it... Oh did I mention that it comes off easy and is cheap?

 

OK I tried it and I definitely third your observation! After I read the thread I went and bought Nanowax. I was using NXT on my Chiaro Blu 328. It was nice, but when I tried this Nanowax I could really see a difference. Much deeper color and much greater shine. I'm going to, buy a couple more bottles just in case Eagle tries to discontinue it some day. THANKS ANDY!!

 

That's excellent! I am glad to see a thread do something for somebody. I have had the wax on now for about two waxes. It still beads fine and seems to be holding up great. I am very impressed with this stuff so far. What is amazing is how fast it is to apply and then take off. You can use a Ca. Feather duster as long as the car is clean and wax your vehicle in 15 minutes!!!! Hey Spyder guys.....use it on your rear windows...it works great....

 

I used Nanowax on my red 328 with excellent results. I am not convinced it is better than Zaino, but definetely faster to apply. I have washed it only once since applying the wax so I have no opinion on the durability just yet.....

 

I believe that Zaino is a better "wax". Preface it with nanowax and it is even better. Zaino is not good at getting rid of cobwebs and definatelt not swirl marks. This wax is top notch for that and so dang easy to boot.