That's funny.
A lot has to do with the color of the car. If you have a black car, you'll see any defect pretty easily. If it's metallic, it's harder to see. Sounds like you've never polished/clayed your cars and I bet that a professional detailer could improve the paint by a large margin and be able to point out a number of corrections that he would do. It's not about eyesight, it's about attention to detail. Not saying you aren't detail oriented, but a detailer is going to be looking at different things than you. Saying that, the correction he does may not matter to you and you may not even notice the difference. Back to the OP, if you like detailing your car, I love this stuff http://www.autogeek.net/pinsouvwax.html Downside is it doesn't last very long. Upside is that it's very easy to apply, basically a wipe on/wipe off. However, waxing is only a part of the detailing process. Proper wash technique and polishing with a polisher are probably more important.
Waxes can include fillers that hide or mask defects like light scratches, swirls, and dull paint. This is a possible reason why your paint looks decent. The best way to see the true condition of your paint is to wipe the paint w/ a microfiber towel and isopropyl alcohol (also known as an IPA wipe down). IPA will remove any chemicals lingering on your paint and reveal the paint's true condition. Do this with a high-intensity light and you'll see things on your paint that you hadn't seen before. Your eye sight probably isn't bad, it's that sometimes we either don't know what to look for, or how to look for it. This is all conjecture; your paint might be in perfect shape for all we know. Another notion to keep in mind is that while a car might look great when all of the panels are at an equal level of condition, that changes when half of a panel is properly polished and the other half is left in its original state. Then you can see whether your paint is in optimal shape. If the polished half and the non-polished half look roughly the same, then you know your paint is in fantastic shape. The below picture is an example, albeit slightly extreme given the terrible state of the paint, of a door panel that had the right side polished while the left side was left in its original state. Funny story, the predecessor to Zymol Vintage is what got me into detailing in the first place. My father had a Lambo LM002 when it first came out, and when he used Zymol on it, the smell was intoxicating and I wanted to know more about it. Twenty years later and I'm still infatuated with car paint. I admire the Zymol brand for the prestige it has developed for itself. Just look at Vintage's case: it looks like it contains some rare and precious resource. Even though most of the brand is the antithesis of cost effectiveness, I still admire their product's ability to stir passion in its users. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I guess I need to clarify my "red on the towel" statement. I first found out about Zymol when I had my '85 308 back in 1990 and at that time I DID indeed get red on my towel when wiping off the wax I was using at the time. I switched to Zymol back then and have been using it ever since.
Thats Fine... Personally...I prefer the paint coming off on the rag when waxing.. Its the equiv of skin exfoliation...a new fresh untouched surface appears. Some laquer painted cars of the 70's and early 80's had upwards of 24 coats, so if you removed a half dozen..it was a new finish altogether.. Todays Epoxy and 2 stage clear coats vs. the old Laquers and or 1 step enamels are the equiv of turntable record players and CD players...which one sounds better to you! I'm a turntable Guy for sure! Heres a pic of my last Laquer Hand rub out and 10 coat Zymol wax..can anyone top this.. Dozens of Micro Fibre cloths were destroyed in this process Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm surprised there aren't more posts for Zaino. It has a different look than carnauba wax. Some describe Zaino as too "sterile", which is probably true for some colors, but on red, Zaino is hard to beat. It's pretty easy to use (must follow directions exactly). It requires several layers to really look great, so it takes some time, but it looks GREAT on red if you take the time. Zaino is also really durable. Prep is critical for any wax or polish, so it's important to use clay first to create a super smooth surface for polishing. Mothers clay bar is pretty idiot proof compared to others I've tried.
Yes. Zymol excels in marketing their product. I use their products because I love the application process. I do not discern a difference in finish between Zymol and other products.
Wow, that sure looks great!! The problem with my 308 was that I could see a light area on the edge of my rear wheel well (same edge that appears on the picture you attached of your car). Naturally, I was very nervous about losing any more paint in that area which made me search for a non abrasive wax and Zymol was one of the answers.
Waxes are not abrasive, polishes are abrasive. Waxes are for protecting your finish, polishes are for correcting defects in your finish. Massive difference between the two. If paint is coming off when you wax, you're doing something wrong. The sole purpose of waxing a car is to protect the finish you're applying the wax to, not "exfoliating" it. Hard wax is applied by hand (liquid waxes are usually applied by machine), so the only way I can see someone removing paint during the waxing process was if they generated a massive amount of heat during the application, but that's highly unlikely if done by hand. Also, when you apply a fresh coat of wax over an existing layer of wax, you were most likely removing the previous layer. Waxes contain solvents, and the only way to prevent a secondary layer of wax from removing the previously set layer is to spritz the surface w/ cold water. The cold water reduces the wax's surface temperature so that the next applied wax's carrier solvents do not dilute the previously applied wax.
That is quite common...called burning through...machines even orbital do it in millisecs if paint is thin...there is a way to get it back if you are good..I have done it with touch up paint..layer it on and polish back down to a feathered edge...it takes patience.
yes.... Zymol sells an entire experience, not just wax. That is great marketing. But in addition their high concentration carnaubas are actually easy to apply, compared to some others that are just too fussy for me.
http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/machine+polish+collection.do Had a couple of Requests to tell how I got this shine... Really doesnt matter what paint is on car or if it has a clear coat.. the resurfacing is universal Remember when you were in wood shop in Jr. High..the teacher started you out with 80 grit, then went to 120,240 and 400 in order to get a scratchless finish on the wood.. its no different on a paint finish..I am not affiliated with Griots, not even crazy about thier re branding of already available products but they do have a nice system for polishes..start with the coarse and end with the fine...all by hand using one direction back and fro movement..top it off with any carnuba wax...I used Zymol Blue...with about 10 coats. their machine system is good too.. If all that is too much I'd go with Meguiars scratch remover paste, and water it down use with micro fibre to do it in one step then Wax.. Waxing without polishing first is never the way to perfection. Heres another one of my Cars I hand polished waxed same way. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm not sure but as an old Boxer owner, I seem to recall that they were painted in the Glasurit lacquer formulation (at least the early ones, I had a '79). It was soft enough to be polished to absolute morror perfection. This is not achieveable with today's finishes.
Once the surface of your car is ready (cleaned and polished to the point where small scratches and swirl marks are history) for the final product (which most call "wax"), I recommend a product called Rejex. It is avaliable at rejex.com. Rejex is a liquid polimer used by NASA. I have been using it for years. My cars are daily drivers and the get Rejex every 3-4 months. I put it on the entire surface, let it dry, buff it off and let the car sit inside for 12 hours so the Rejex can cure. I use only top quality microfiber products to apply and buff. I also wash my car weekly myself using a good car wash soap and quality microfiber wash mits and drying towels. What Rejex does betther than anything that I have ever used (and I have tried almost every product mentioned above) is protect the paint. The shine is good to the point where I cannot tell the difference between a Rejex shine and anything else. But the important thing is the protection factor. If i get a bird dropping or a bug splatter on my car and it dries in the sun, a microfiber towel dampened with a little detail spray wipes it right off with no residue or paint damage. Furthermore, because i never get swirl marks or fine scratches, I never have to polish my car.
I use Rejex on one of my daily drivers. It is very durable, but IMO doesn't give the depth or gloss of carnauba wax. Where I find Rejex to be the best is for the wheels. Makes wheel cleaning much easier.
