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03:28:03 - 12/24/2024
General Dakota Board
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Ken
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2005
23:36:47
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 Subject: What kind of wax?
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Used some old wax about a month ago. It was a liquid
"Turtle Wax", kinda old though, actually I don't even
know how old it was. Anyway, it left some little white
dots that I didn't notice right after I waxed it, but noticed
a couple of weeks after I waxed it. I didn't wax the whole
truck, I was just trying it out. And, well, about a month
later I've washed it a few times and tried to scrub it off,
but their still there.
I was just wondering, first how to get those little spots
off, and second what wax to get.
I know someone out there has found a GREAT wax, so
what is it? I'd appreciate the help. Thanks.
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Craig
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2005
03:48:51
|  RE: What kind of wax?
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Well, my favorite is Meguires Gold Class wax. Some people prefer the Carnuba Wax that Meguires sells, but I don't. Gold Class is easy to apply, easy to remove, paste wax. It lasts decently and prvides protection, but has no cleaning properties. Tech Wax by Meguires is probably not worth the cost, but can give the illusion of removing scratches. It is easy to apply, but somewhat harder to remove, and leaves white dust everywhere. Makes as good of a shine and lasts longer than Gold Class though.
Both of the above waxes will leave white on your black plastic trim, so be careful using it. I detailed cars for a while, so it's not a big deal for me. If you do get wax on black plastic, use Mother's Back to Black. It will remove the wax and shouldn't come back in the rain.
To remove spots, and make a nice quick detail, I recommend BeadX. It's a liquid spray, that works great, makes a good finish, and can remove fresh bird poop and fresh bug guts. It's mild on the finish, and you can do your whole truck in like 15 minutes. It even works on the wheels.
The above products are my PREFERANCES based on doing this stuff for a living. I have used a large number of waxes, but those are the best balence between quality of finish, time required, and durability of finish, IN MY OPINION.
You could try what I suggest, or try a couple of different waxes on your own, and develop your preferance. You might start from my suggestions, but if you see something that looks interesting, give it a try. You won't know if you like it until you try it! :-)
Hope this helps.
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best
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2005
09:40:05
| RE: What kind of wax?
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all around is NUfinish.
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Ken
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2005
12:51:05
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Thanks Craig for your input. I will definately try the Gold
Class. I might look at that NUfinish too. I think I have
some of that NUfinish, but its really old.
I've never heard of that "back to black" before, I'll have
to check that out.
I have a buffer that attaches to a drill, so I use that to
buff, and apply it with the application pads, or microfiber
towels. I've heard it's good to buff with the microfiber
too.
Thanks for the input.
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Craig
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2005
21:11:54
| RE: What kind of wax?
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It might be prudent to hand wax using the Meguire's gold class. It's personal I suppose, but I always prefer a hand applied finish. Buffers are really only for light polishes/compounds. Waxing with a buffer really won't save you much in the long run.
That's just my opinoin. You'll find that Gold Class applies so easily that using a buffer won't make much difference anyway. Use the foam applicater they give you with the wax, or get a Turtle Wax foam applicator- both work equally as good. A Terry Cloth towel is probalby the best and cheapest way to remove wax. A terry cloth applicator may also be used- they generally have a foam inside. The advantage is that they can be reused while the foam ones basically can't. Foam and terry cloth function based on similar principals.
See, the point of a towel or an applicator is to hold dirt away from your finish. I think that foam pads have superior cleaning charactaristics compared to terry cloth, but a terry cloth applicator can last many times longer than a foam one, and can be machine washed (in theory).
Ah well, I hope this too helps.
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Ken
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2005
23:02:31
| RE: What kind of wax?
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So Craig, you're saying that I could just use a terry cloth
to apply and to buff out? Does a terry cloth do well at
creating a shiny finish?
Have you ever used the microfiber towels? I used them
to buff out the wax, and they did really well.
Thanks for the advice Craig.
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Craig
Dodge Dakota
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10/09/2005
02:15:38
| RE: What kind of wax?
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When in any doubt, read the directions on the can. You should rub the wax in by hand using the applicator that comes with- a foam applicator. Allow the wax to set up briefly- it will go from a cloudy to a whitish color. When you start to notice the whitish color occuring, you should start buffing it off with a cotton terry cloth towel. The finish will be plenty shiny. You should frequently refold the towel so you're using a CLEAN surface at all times. You may want to go over the truck with a fresh terry cloth towel when you're done to remove white dust.
I have very little experience with a micro fiber cloth. From gut instinct, I would say you're less likely to put little scratches in your finish when using a Terry Cloth versus a microfiber, but I can't prove it. :-)
Definately try new things- it's the only way you'll know if something works better or not.
In my time detailing cars, I rarely touched a buffer. I don't believe in them for light waxing. I suppose wet sanding or large compounding areas might call for buffers, but most of your light waxing duties don't benifit from it. It won't really save any time, and doesn't really do a better job. That I can prove. :-)
I don't suppose I have to mention this, but to remove any doubt, you should always start with washing your truck, and drying it completely. You don't want to wax on a dirty finish, particularly when you're dealing with a wax like Gold Class, which has basically no cleaning properties. A dirty finish can also lead to scratching in your paint.
If you see housepaint, or other little blemishes you want to get rid of, please DO NOT turn to a heavy duty compound. I had a customer once who used old No.7 Rubbing Compound. This is not the right thing to do, as rubbing compound will scratch your paint. Start by trying to remove light scratches and paint with Meguire's Swirl Remover 2.0. I've had good luck with that. If you have some really heavy latex paint, you might turn to Old No. 7 POLISHING COMPOUND, not rubbing compound. Even still, this is a very gritty compound, and is not to be used with a buffer. It will remove almost anything (including your clearcoat if you're not very carefule with it).
I'm hoping this helps clarify.
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Mac
Dodge Dakota
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10/09/2005
09:48:18
| RE: What kind of wax?
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I just wanted to add to what Craig said about Mothers Back to Black. I finally got a hold of some 2 weeks ago and used it on my Dakota. The door handles and bumpers and most of the plastic on it were pretty faded from the sun and this stuff made it all look damn near brand new....great stuff!
good luck with the Wax.
Mac
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ObieWonDakota
Dodge Dakota
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10/09/2005
10:28:22
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Nothing beats the microfiber cloths for taking the wax off. No streaking at all with those.
Eagle One is a geat wax and doesn't leave the white residue.
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Ken
Dodge Dakota
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10/09/2005
10:41:53
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Back to Black:
Do you have to make sure and not get it on the paint, or
does it matter. Is it kind of like an armor all?
Microfiber Towels:
ObieWonDakota, Do the microfiber towels scratch the
paint at all that you can tell? I used them once(it was on
an old car), and I couldn't really tell if it scratched or not.
Headlight lens coloring:
Craig had mentioned "wet sanding", and I was just
wondering if that was how you get the yellowish color
off the headlight lenses. I have a 99, and on the top of
one of the lenses, its already turning a color. Just
wondering.
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ObieWonDakota
Dodge Dakota
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10/09/2005
14:22:11
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Microfiber towels are one of the best things to come out. Won't scratch anything. I even use them on the windows and the dash.
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Craig
Dodge Dakota
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10/09/2005
14:43:20
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Like I said, I never really use 'em. When you're in business, it's cheaper to just keep using what you got, so I stuck with terry cloth as I had a zillion of them lying around.
Back to Black will not damage paint, but if you get it on your freshly waxed surface, you should get it off as it will leave smears on your nice finish. There used to be a product I preferred to Back to Black called Black Chrome. I can't find it anywhere these dasy though, so I started using Back to Black, which works well.
Your lenses are due to a chemical reaction in the PolyCarbonate. There is nothing that you can do to permenantly fix the lenses. I wouldn't wet sand a headlight lens though- probably cloud your lenses worse. You might try a mild polish, like Swirl Remover 2.0. I've heard of mild steel wool (like 000) being used, but I have not tried it personally, so I make no garuntees.
About the windows bit- when you're cleaning your windows, the cheapest way to clean them is with a paper towel. The paper is a semi-abrasive, and will get dirt of the window more efficiently. There's this really good glass cleaner I use, called SprayWay. The can looks like a 1950's commercial, and is white and blue. Try some of that if you can find it- it's good stuff. If paper towel doesn't work, sometimes newspaper will. Newspaper is eveen more abrasive, although you migth consider wearing gloves, as you will not want to touch your car with black hands. :-)
Good Luck!
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ucimaplaya2
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
11:29:41
| RE: What kind of wax?
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My favorite waxes are Meguires Cleaning Wax and Meguires Gold Class (both in liquid form not paste). I've only used the cleaner wax a couple of times, because it was when my truck hadn't been waxed in about 4 months. Meguires acutally recomends using the cleaner wax instead of using the gold class if you haven't waxed it in a while or have spots like you said you had (acutally even says it on the gold class bottle). Then the next time you wax it you could just use the Gold Class instead. Believe me it they are right about that. I tried using the gold class before I bought the cleaner wax and it worked good, but it is definitely worth it to hold off on it for a month and use the cleaner wax first.
I do use a slow speed powerbuffer to apply the wax, because it does save time and I feel that it always does a better job. Its not a professional high speed buffer like for buffing out paint scuffs using rubbing compounds etc. (leave that to the pros, because its very easy to ruin a paint job with those). All this one does is simulate the circular strokes that a person would do when applying wax by hand just many more strokes, faster, and usually very evenly. Its not a drill buffer is just one made by craftsman for waxing cars and its slightly off center rotation to make it vibrate a little and not leave swirl marks.
Oh yeah and back to black does work great. Also for interior stuff I recomend meguires nxt gen interior protectant, shines, cleans, and smell great too. I know that seems like I like meguires too much but I do use other stuff too. Im thinking of trying some zanio, i think its called, next. Ive heard nothing but great stuff about that.
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ucimaplaya2
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
11:32:48
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Sorry its Zaino wax. www.zainobros.com
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Entiland
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
12:12:01
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Get a can of Liquid Glass. It's like $20 for 12 oz. or so, but it's a really great product. After you wax, you can put a lit cigarette on the hood and the paint will not be affected. I'm not saying this is a superior wax of all the others mentioned, just is in my personal experience. Good luck in your search.
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Craig
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
13:40:27
| RE: What kind of wax?
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I have heard of Liquid Glass, but never used it. In working on cars professionaly, I rarely felt the need for a buffer, but that's a personal taste. I generally only used mild polishes applied by hand; it's gentler on the finish.
Cleaner Wax by Meguires is one of the best deals out there. It's great for owners that only wax like once a year, makes a good shine, has good cleaning properties, and isn't hard on your finish. It's also cheap, and lasts a looooong time. I like it, but for MY truck that I keep after constantly, and for the $120,000 Mercedes S600 that I detailed, I prefer Gold class.
Myself, I find the paste easier to use with Gold Class, for hand application anyway... I would assume paste would be rather hard to use on a buffer though. :-D
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ucimaplaya2
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
14:37:29
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Yeah the cleaner wax does last quite a while and it is cheap, and you can't argue with results which is the most important part. I had to use it on sunday because I am a college student who lives in an apartment so my truck sits outside all day, and theres no place to wax it since I don't have a garage and there isn't anyplace shady enough. I live in florida so its either full sun or raining or night theres no hope for a cloudy day to wax it. So I have to drive an hour and a half to drive home for the weekend and do it then. So I don't always get to wax it when I want to. It had been about 2 and a half months since I waxed it, but the cleaner wax made it look like new again. Oh yeah my truck is white, so its harder to notice differences in the shine of waxes, but the gold class still shows an improved shine over anything else.
Craig I was wondering if you think there is an advantage over gold class being in paste form instead of liquid, or have you tried the liquid because I still haven't tried the paste.
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Viking
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
15:02:01
| RE: What kind of wax?
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ZAINO
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Craig
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
16:15:13
| RE: What kind of wax?
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Different people have different opinions on the paste vs liquid debate. I have a friend who was also in the detailing buisiness for a while. He wouldn't touch a paste; said they were harder to apply. I think the exact opposite. I think that generally the pastes are easier to apply. As for gold class liquid, I have some, but have not had the ocasion to try it out.
I can tell you IMO the paste just glides on and off really easily; I can have a coat of Gold Class paste on and off my truck in 45 minutes doing everything by hand, and not missing anything. It's definately the fastest wax I've ever used.
Turtle Wax Platinum paste is too hard to get back off once it's applied. Tech Wax applies really nice, but doesn't come off as easy, and leaves a lot of dust. I also don't care for the smell. Even the genuine Carnuba wax is harder to remove, although it makes almost no dust, which is nice.
So that was a long way of saying I don't know if one is better than the other. Personally, I can usually make better time with the pastes. One trick with a paste is to use a foam applicator, over a terry cloth. The foam will hold the wax better then the terry cloth, meaning less trips to go back and "recharge" your applicator.
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bigj
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
20:14:49
| RE: What kind of wax?
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ZYMOL! Best wax in the world. Will never use anything else. You can get it anywhere that car products are sold.
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Kevin
Dodge Dakota
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10/12/2005
23:40:31
| RE: What kind of wax?
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I have to agree with best Nufinish is the best wax I have ever used. It comes in paste and liquied form (I use the liquid). It goes on and comes off very easy no hard buffing required. It puts on a great shine that lasts for a long time. It is also pretty inexpensive I think I paid like $6 for the last bottle that I bought. You can get it any where too like walmart.
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