Wash & Wax Recommendations

Power4 · May 3, 2007

I finally have an opportunity to hand wash and wax my baby and I'm thinking of going to Autozone or something to pick up some stuff. What do you guys recommend for brands of wash and wax? I'm not looking for the combo stuff that's both in one bottle.

Fourth Horseman · May 3, 2007

I've tried just about all the waxes out there and I keep coming back to Mother's California Gold 3 step system. Not only do my cars look awesome when I'm done, but the wax lasts longer than most of the other brands I've tried. The first step is a cleaner, then second is a polish and the third is the wax. It yields a very deep, glossy finish and deals well with any swirl marks or scratches you might have in your clear coat.

For ease of use I like MeGuiar's NXT synthetic, but it's a dust magnet and doesn't last very long. But it does go on and come off easy and looks spectacular when the car is clean.

07BLKSTANG-GT · May 3, 2007

Mothers California and McGuires are the two top brands. If you have one other person and time on your hands, Mothers California would e your best bet. If you don't have alot of time on your hands then you should go with McGuires.

seanthenerd · May 3, 2007

07BLKSTANG-GT
Mothers California and McGuires are the two top brands. If you have one other person and time on your hands, Mothers California would e your best bet. If you don't have alot of time on your hands then you should go with McGuires.

I second that...

07gtfolife · May 3, 2007

Sorry to jack but would you recomend a buffer of some sort or just good old elbow grease?

Mr_Q · May 3, 2007

You need to head over to www.autopia.org best resource out there. Personally I use Zaino, but Mothers or Meguires is very nice too.

You can see some shots of my recent buffering and wax in this thread...
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=699172

kooldawg6 · May 3, 2007

http://forums.stangnet.com/forumdisplay.php?f=146
Here you will find a bunch of helpful hints and people. Justin(member) is very helpful and sells products. I have bought products from him and love them.

bluecar · May 3, 2007

I might be a sucker for advertisements......

If I hadn't already gotten my car perma plated by the dealer, I would have tried the product on the the previous page link for 5starshine (Never wax your car again). Looks good to me. BTW, the perma plate is holding up very well and I just hose off and gently dab with a bath towel between washes.

Spdfreak · May 3, 2007

Zaino. No contest.

A&B 06GT · May 3, 2007

Meguiars always.....

Hawk08GT · May 3, 2007

I've just been using the Mr Clean Auto Dry to wash, then I use ICE liquid Wax. Goes nice a quick, about half the time as using any other wax.

Also, I've been using one of those "Absorbers" to dry the car...works wonders and no scratches.

Jenns01TA · May 3, 2007

07BLKSTANG-GT said:
Mothers California and McGuires are the two top brands. If you have one other person and time on your hands, Mothers California would e your best bet. If you don't have alot of time on your hands then you should go with McGuires.

seanthenerd said:
I second that...

+3

07gtfolife said:
Sorry to jack but would you recomend a buffer of some sort or just good old elbow grease?

Elbow grease. Buffers, if not used properly, can burn clear coat, cause swirling and create premature failure/loss of the "metallic" aspects of the modern "clear coat metallic" paint. Modern metallics do not use a true "candied" paint process, in that the metallic flake is added at the final coat stage. Be cautious using an obital buffer on metallic and dark paints.

A&B 06GT said:
Meguiars always.....

Spdfreak said:
Zaino. No contest.

Zaino Bros. IMO is superior. Unfortunatley, it is not something you can hop down to AutoZone and pick up, so it loses often to convenience.

Meguiars Professional Series is my next favorite to Zaino and then Mother's.

Mother's Clay Bar is better than Zaino's for cost and material quality.

Fourth Horseman · May 3, 2007

07gtfolife said:
Sorry to jack but would you recomend a buffer of some sort or just good old elbow grease?

If you get a random orbit polisher you won't have to worry about burning your paint the way you can with a rotary buffer. Porter Cable makes a nice random orbit polisher that I use on my cars with excellent results. I got mine from http://www.properautocare.com/ but they are widely available, and probably for somewhat less than what I paid.

homebrewer · May 4, 2007

Typically, I like all the products from mother's. I used to be a Maguire's guy, until I was a friend "showed me the light". Mother's products are without a doubt the best you can get at Autozone or the like. Their "show time finish" looks and smells so good that sometimes I'm tempted to drink it.

But as spdfreak said, Zaino is the way to go. I've seen a few friends cars that have thew full zaino system on it, and the shine will change your religion. Granted, it is relatively expensive, and not available in stores, but I've never seen a black car look like a mirror. The shine is so high, that the paint is almost as reflective as chrome. After seeing a few cars using it, Zaino will definitely be my next purchase.....

yzfmik · May 4, 2007

Nothing but Zaino touches my car. I've been using Zaino for about 7 years now, and would never use anything else.

1Bad67 · May 5, 2007

I've been using Zaino for the past 4 years and will never go back to any other. Easier to apply, lasts 2-3 times longer than other waxes, insane shine.

hedgehogrgc · May 5, 2007

ice

i like the mother's but if you get it on your trim it is a pain in the butt! I have this new one , you can do it in the sun and it doesnt hurt the trim(so it claims).I think its called ice?
and the mr clean auto dry is awesome!

Radman · May 5, 2007

Ice , ice baby!

ScottM · May 6, 2007

Very nice line up you carry there Justin. I've been using Poorboy's products for several months now with my PC 7424 and have had good results. I just recently picked up some Opti-Seal and put my first coat on and love it. The shine is great and went on real easy. For polishing, I've been using PwC on a white LC pad and want to switch to either Professional Polish or Optimum Polish. Have you found one easier to work in then the other? I still have some light swirls that I need to work on. I'm still learning on the PC, so I don't want anything that is going to be to difficult to work in.

I've used Zaino in the past and liked it, but If you limit yourself to Zaino, you're going to miss out. There are other products that work every bit as good as Zaino if not better.

ScottM · May 6, 2007

By the way, here's a pic of my passenger door after one pass of Poorboy's World Polish with Carnuba applied via PC with a white pad. I know the lighting isn't the best, but I thought the reflection looked pretty dang good. I haven't had a chance to take a picture yet with it topped with Opti-Seal, but trust me, it looks unbelievable.

Also, it's actually funny trying to wash it after I polished it. The water beads up and runs off so fast, I have to keep applying water to it to wash it!

Remember, you can get a decent shine from just throwing some wax on there, but you'll get better shine and depth with the proper prep work. If you've never done it before, do some research on "claying" the car to get rid of all of the contaminates in the paint as well as polishing, that will help out a lot before topping it with a wax or sealant.

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Power4

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07BLKSTANG-GT

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seanthenerd

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Mr_Q

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mine works really well and can take a fair amount

bluecar

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Fourth Horseman

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homebrewer

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mine works really well and can take a fair amount

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