Can you wax a car to much?

No, but you can polish your helmet too much.

 

i think i have to take issue with that.

 

What type of wax are you using? Based on your obsessive behavior I would recommend meds., carnauba wax with no abrasives or cleaners, foam pad wax applicator, and micro-fiber wax removal cloths.

 

My father once waxed the paint off of his Porsche 912. Keep in mind, however, paint in the '60's was quite a bit less resilient.

 

YES!

You can wax a car too much. A neighbor of mine used to wash and wax his car every weekend. It built up so much you could scrape off wax with your finger nail. No kidding you could.

 

Reminds me of an old George Carlin bit:

Seven Day Beauty Cream. Just rub this cream into your skin for seven days

... taking time out for meals, of course.

 

I'd say you're not helping the car. One properly applied coat of wax should last a few months, unless you run your car through a car wash or park it outside all day in the sun.

FWIW, I drive my 328 in nice weather only, and do a quick detail (using Griot's Speed Shine, although other products could probably do just as well) after every drive -- after the body has cooled down. It only gets a full wash/wax every 6 months, or before a major show where it's being judged.

The quick detail process removes the light dust, but it's also therapy for obsessive owners (not that I know any personally, but hypothetically... ) who feel the need to constantly be doing something to their car. Pure cotton cloth, little to no pressure, easy strokes, one panel at a time with the quick detail product and you get to fondle your car without wearing out the finish by constant buffing.

 

Many detail/body shops like to use high-speed orbital buffers to do car waxing/polishing. These machines are high-speed devices that WILL remove paint and enamel from surfaces of the car if the moron kid using it doesn't know what he's doing. A friend lost paint on the door of his TR from someone detailing his car with a high-speed orbital, and I have had the enamel stripped off my Ferrari front-emblem from a high-speed orbital machine. If your detail/body shop is too L-A-Z-Y to do waxing/polishing of your Ferrari by-hand like they're supposed to, don't let them do you the 'favor' of damaging your car with a high-speed orbital machine.

 

I agree with what's been said - too much of anything isn't good - the paint needs to breath, I use to detail cars along time ago owned the shop for 11 years. tho' the paint technology has changed since.. once every 4-6 months is all anyone needs

 

The importance of waxing is how you prepare it...you have given us no info. Turtle Wax or other crap? Caranuba? Synthetic? You need to start with a wax-free car, use a cleansing polish, clay car, then if caranuba you'd put on a coat, wait 24hrs & do it again. That would last you a couple months. Synthetic will last you 6-12mths. I prefer the look & ease of a caranuba such as Pinnacle Souveran, but if you are just waxing it everytime you wash it, I hope to hell it is REALLY clean or your going backwards.

 

These results sound typical of the non-orbital or straight drive polishers with wool pads attached. These polishers produced a cutting action and high heat which burns through clear-coat and damages or removes paint.

I agree that good old elbow grease is definitely the way to go. However, today's variable speed random orbitals along with a micro-fiber wax removing pads will not harm clear coat or painted surfaces IF used properly. And rubber, plastic, emblems and any open seams should be masked prior to applying wax.

 

It's synthetic. One coat will last easy 6mths...you MAY get a deeper finish if you prepped properly & did 2 coats. IMO, put some Dawn in a bucket of water, this wills strip it & start over.

 

^I don't want to call you out, or start anything, but you are giving very bad advice in my area of expertise.

NXT is a synthetic sealant, yes, but it will not last near 2 months, let alone 6 months. Just like everything in life, their are different quality products. Among professional detailers, NXT is a laughing stock, and recieved such huge flak from the detailing community for its poor durabilty, as compared to other products. NXT does look very nice for a short time, because it is very heavy in oils. Because of this, it attracts dust, and when exposed to sun, degrades very quickly.

Infact, Meguiars recently admitted that NXT features kailon clay (which acts as a filler and abrasive) and thus changed their classifcation of NXT to a cleaner/wax. It is mildy abrasive and does remove paint.

Why is this important? The question of the thread is can you wax your car too much? The answer: depends. I know this isn't a terribly exciting topic so I won't bore anybody too much I hope..

A pure wax (such as a quality carnuaba) cannot be layered because the solvents used to soften the carnuaba (in natural state, carnuaba is harder then concrete!) act to remove the previous layer of wax. That is each coat, softens and removes most of the coat underneath. So can you wax to much with a carnuaba wax? Yes, in a different sense. A pure wax will not harm the paint, but since the benefit of each additonal coat is negliable (because of the self cleaning properites) it probably isn't the greatest idea. Everytime you touch your paint or wipe it, you run the risk of inducing micro scopic marring into the paint.

A sealant (such as Zaino) is a synthetic polymer sealant. I won't go into much detail because these types of products range considerably in properties and are not created equal (where as with carnuaba, there is only such much that can be done, with a synthetic its new stuff created in a lab). Zaino, which is a pure sealant, for example, bonds using a cross linked poylmer system, CANNOT be over applied. Each coat will stick to the previous coat (like painting a wall in your house, paint sticks to paint) so it can be layered infinitively.

A cleaner wax (cleaner/sealant) is designed to lightly "etch" the paint to ensure proper bonding. These are generally consumer brand waxes that have to work for the general consumer who doesn't understand the proper techniques required to prep paint for perfect adhesion. They require less work (such as NXT) which is nice for the general consumer, but for the enthusastic owner, tend to fall flat because of the comprimises made. Because cleaner/waxes do lightly etch the paint, you can over use them over a long amount of time to thin the paint. This is more of a problem on the older, soft lacquer paints (esp. old black single stage lacquer which uses carbon for pigment) rather then modern paints, which use a catalyized clear coat which is much "tougher" and resistent to removal.

 

i have recently been introduced to Klasse which is a German product.As you all know nobody takes care of their cars more fervently than the Germans! their web site is very interesting ( just google the name )

has anyone else tried their product? i think it is very similar to Zaino but I must say i got really great results from it with less than a tablespoon for my entire 355 spider!