Do I need Carnauba Wax? - and have I been missing out all these years?

rgb8888

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Hi

For years I have used the following products to achieve what I would consider (and others often comment) showroom results on my Purple Golf VR6 Highline, Red S2000 and now Dolphin Grey S3.

Turtle Wax Extreme car shampoo - every time car is washed
Autoglym (Red Label) High Resin Polish (every 2-3 months)
Autoglym (Gold label) Extra Gloss Protection (every 2-3 months)

The Gold label stuff I put on and leave an hour before wiping off and it appears to seal the paint work leaving it really smooth.

I have an open mind and would appreciate tips / advice

Question 1)
Would I then benefit from applying Carnauba Wax on top or is this "Gold label" stuff already a wax?

Question 2)
Lots of people seem to rave about Meguiars and Mothers products and if I can perfect the finish then I am happy to try them. However I am a little baffled as to what I need to use - what is the best polish and wax combo?

I don't want to go crazy but there must be a 2 or 3 step process like I have been doing with Autoglym

Question 3)
If the paint is fine and it is regularly polished is it worth using a Clay bar periodically and is this easy to DIY?

Any thoughts tips appreciated?

Cheers

RGB
 
Just jumping on the back of your post; what I'd like to know is if the trade Auto Glym products are better than the normal ones. Like you I use Auto Glym Red and Gold at the moment.
 
hi there

hope i can shed some light on this for you.

For ease of reference

AG = Autoglym
SRP = Super Resin Polish (Red Label)
EGP = Extra Gloss Protection (Gold Label)

Firstly AG SRP and EGP were made for each other. Neither are natural wax products. SRP is actually an acrylic sealant with quite a high amount of fillers. Its a great all in one product for filling minor swirls, hand polishing minor oxidisation etc and leaving a waxed like finish. It doesnt last very long though. The fillers will last maybe a week- two and the wax like protection about 1-2 months.

EGP is a sealant with some man made wax. It works perfectly ontop of SRP and leaves a very nice finish. Best applied in a thin layer to the entire car, left for up to 2 hours out of direct sun and then buffed off. You can also wait 24 hrs and apply a second layer (after shampooing the car) this will improve shine and durability. The durability coupled with SRP is probably 4 months or so.

Now... onto Natural Carnauba Wax. There are many out there, some are better than others. I personally use Collintie 476s at the moment and im looking into using zymol destiny (very expensive at £480 per pot though). These are both very durable waxes. Anything from 6 months minimum to 12 months. The destiny wax is made from white carnauba which is clearer so gives a 10/10 finish. the collintie 476 is yellow carnauba and i would say gives a 8 or 9/10 finish but only costs £15.99 per tin. The benefit of the natural wax is mainly the higher quality finish and the greater durability.

Something i put under the carnauba wax is megs #7 show car glaze. this is an oil based product and under the wax leaves a brilliant glossy long lasting finish.

Personally i detail cars in this order

Wash
Clay (yes it is worth it every 6-12 months)
Seal with AG SRP
Glaze with megs #7
Wax with collintie 476s

Hope that helps.

Natural Carnauba wax isnt essential. But its just a bit better. SRP and EGP are very good products though. I use them in the trade form for my work.
 
Guys.

Can you let me know what the clay bar is I haven't come across this before
 
rgb8888 said:
Hi

For years I have used the following products to achieve what I would consider (and others often comment) showroom results on my Purple Golf VR6 Highline, Red S2000 and now Dolphin Grey S3.

Turtle Wax Extreme car shampoo - every time car is washed
Autoglym (Red Label) High Resin Polish (every 2-3 months)
Autoglym (Gold label) Extra Gloss Protection (every 2-3 months)

The Gold label stuff I put on and leave an hour before wiping off and it appears to seal the paint work leaving it really smooth.

I have an open mind and would appreciate tips / advice

Question 1)
Would I then benefit from applying Carnauba Wax on top or is this "Gold label" stuff already a wax?

Question 2)
Lots of people seem to rave about Meguiars and Mothers products and if I can perfect the finish then I am happy to try them. However I am a little baffled as to what I need to use - what is the best polish and wax combo?

I don't want to go crazy but there must be a 2 or 3 step process like I have been doing with Autoglym

Question 3)
If the paint is fine and it is regularly polished is it worth using a Clay bar periodically and is this easy to DIY?

Any thoughts tips appreciated?

Cheers

RGB

Basically yes, use carnauba on top of your extra gloss protection. I personally use Blitz wax £14 on my show car. There are much more expensive wax's out the but IMO not worth the extra as its the prep beforehand that makes the difference. One great tip i got at a show was not to use carnauba too regularly. Keep a micro-fibre cloth specifically for buff off the carnauba, why?. Because you car will have a coating of wax on it already so you just buff it up with the same cloth rather than putting more wax on top. Think of it as like buffing an apple. Get too much of a build up of wax on the car and you'll find you get a hazy film on the car in hot weather.
 
leecs3 said:
There are much more expensive wax's out the but IMO not worth the extra as its the prep beforehand that makes the difference.

just to say... yes that is true.. it is 90% in the pre wax prep and i thought the same about expensive wax's.....before i tried them. They do make a difference. Not much sometimes.. but i guess it all depends what you want for your car.

90% of the time a £15 pot of wax will be brilliant for most applications. But sometimes the owner of a car wants the best regardless of cost.
 

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