Unlimited

This GM mechanic guy told me that waxing your car more than once a month will fade the paint even more through time. Is this true? it seems like wax will only make it better!

and yes...I did a search

ls1amit

I wonder about this as well?

LS ONE

You could wax it once a week and not hurt anything. If you were buffing it once a month yeah that would be bad. The mechanic should stick to mechanical things. LOL

Tim Noel

Oh, how ironic that a mechanic is giving paint advice.

Waxing your car does not affect anything in a negative manner, as long as the paint is at least 90 days old. Wax seals and protects the paint. It does not hurt it.

lbls1

Unless it was freshly painted, you can apply as much wax as you see fit.

Tim Noel

As I clearly stated above..

bandit4

He Would Be Wrong.

THE_SUPRA

when i wax my car the rag always has a small bit of a red tint to it. i buff by hand so im wondering if this is what he meant?

'Trust'

iTrader: (24)

Some of the older type of waxes are more abrasive and can have a sanding effect and you can eventually sand off the clear. Although most now a days are different to stop it.

Tim Noel

Let's clear some things up, so to help everyone who may not be aware.

People confuse true wax with polish. Polish is to clean up minor scratches, remove oxidation and contaminents in the paint.

Wax is to protect the paint and does not have abrasives in it. It is designed to protect the paint from the elements. Basically, a top coat of protectant.

Polish does have abrasives/levelers to help fill and polish out imperfections. Wax only sits on top to seal and enrich the paint. No working of the paint.

If you have a car that is single stage paint(non-clearcoat), it is very possible to remove some color with polishing by hand(using polish, not true wax). Thus, you got the red tint on your rag.... Either that, or someone may have used a red tinted polish in the past to polish over the car, and that is what comes off on your rag. If you use true wax, you will not have any of the cars paint/color being removed.

I hope this helps some people who may have not known this.

Unlimited

Well said, thanks! as far as buffing goes, isn't taking the wax off by hand with a terry cloth considered "buffing" as well? I'm guessing the electric buffer would be bad then. confused

lbls1

Well I'll just second the motion!

Tim Noel

You always want to wax by hand for the best results.

Using an electric or air powered buffer can produce swirl marks. Buffing by hand does not produce this issue.

If you are reviving an old finish, or wet sanding a new finish, a machine buffer is great to use with cutting compound to level the surface and take out the deeper imperfections that you can't get out by hand.

Your final step of polishing/hand glazing, and then applying a coat of wax over that should be done by hand( wax only after the paint at least 90 days old if you are speaking of new paint)..

letsrun97z

iTrader: (7)

he is saying dont buff with an abrasive wax or polish it say's on the can or bottle howmuch it cuts if its just wax (no abrasives) a buffer is fine i hand wax then take the buffer to get it off i like the nano wax spray and the black magic spray foam, spay it on after you wash and wipe in to the water and dry or do it when the car is dry

lbls1

There are several products on the market that do similar jobs. You would be surprised in knowing that there are many products which provide protecting qualities to paint which are not really true waxes. A "true" wax will typically have a combination of paint enhancing ingredients, no cleaning or stripping agents, a varying amount of natural and synthetic oils, and significant amount of the actual carnauba wax product.

Sealants, however, will accomplish the same task, except that these products will have a majority of ingredients which are not defined as natural "wax". These ingredients will coat and protect the paint, as well as render a nice appearance, similarly to wax.

These products will have confusing names, as some of these "Last Step Products" will be called sealants, glaze(s), even polish (in the case of Zaino).

But basically, a polish (as explained above) by definition is supposed to clean and equalize paint from contaminants and minor swirling, and a last step product (natural waxes or synthetic sealants) will provide protection from the elements and provide an enhancement of the paint's appearance.

Waxes and sealants IMO are essential for preserving the life of your single stage or multi-layered paint surface.

THE_SUPRA

the car is a 94 with beautiful red paint so i assume the previous owner was using a tinted polish.

thanks

lbls1

You can also polish and wax with using an orbital buffer "PC" and not produce swirl marks. For polishing IMO a buffer (which can be either a rotary, which is a more aggressive buffer designed to produce more heat effect in polishing a surface, or the random orbital (Porter Cable...PC) which oscillates at very rapid speeds and will polish the surface of your paint with less heat and more gentle strokes) will be an essential tool in working out the issues in the paint.

You can also wax with a buffer and have great results. There are several pads that are used with buffers which will compound, polish or finish-wax the surface. Depending on the type of wax that you use, (a few exotic waxes only permit hand application), some waxes will afford you to either wax by hand or by machine.

As a side note, you may also want to check out a couple of detailing boards to learn helpful tips on the various products and methods in the endless hobby of detailing. Autopia.org is a very good site to use as a good reference.

Tim Noel

No matter what, the best results are to final glaze and wax by hand, not machine. You use your buffer to work out the issues in the compound stage(1st step after washing/cleaning the car), not on the hand glaze/polish, and the final step of wax.

Just see what guys like Foose or Boyd Coddington do. That's what it takes to achieve the best results, and I have used the same system to prep many show cars for people over the years.

P.S. As with anything, there is more than one way to do a job. I just prefer the best way to achieve optimum results. Best of luck all!

lbls1

Check out Autopia.org, as well asking a few other detailing professionals, and you will find a lot of answers to polishing and waxing facts. It isn't set in stone that hand waxing is the best way of finishing a car (a lot of detailers will disagree that hand waxing is the best way. It is purely subjective, but not an absolute fact that hand waxing is the best method).

Your absolute best recourse is to try a few methods for your own observation, in order to determine which products and methods work the best for your car.

Tim Noel

I have painted and done body work for more than a decade, so I have plenty of experience on this issue. I am considered a "professional" in my field, so I rest assured with the info I give on here to be accurate, and see the results I achieve on a daily basis for our customers. Not trying to sound cocky, but just letting you understand my background.