Are Waxes & Sealants Even Necessary??

**mattkrmp80** · 03-20-2011, 01:47 PM

I came across this and wondering? Anyone have any thoughts?
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...necessary.html

**Dr Oldz** · 03-20-2011, 01:57 PM

To answer.....Take a look at Shane's (CieraSL) car and tell me that if he didn't use waxes or sealants if it would still look that good!

**Spicy McHaggis** · 03-20-2011, 02:04 PM

Why not polish and wax? Honestly the question doesn't make much sense to me. You are suppose to do them together not just pick one.

**Kristopher1129** · 03-20-2011, 02:04 PM

Yes they are.

**BobbyG** · 03-20-2011, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by Dr Oldz

To answer.....Take a look at Shane's (CieraSL) car and tell me that if he didn't use waxes or sealants if it would still look that good!

I completely agree! Shane's taken good care of his Ciera SL and it shows!!

The finish on your car or truck must endure blistering sun, frigid temperatures, snow, sleet, rain, wind, dirt, dust, and airborne contaminates. While finishes have come a long way over the years they've also become thinner and thinner.

Have you ever heard of oxidation? This is the paint breaking down due to the relentless attack by both nature and man made causes.

By the way, here's a photo of my 1999 Dodge Dakota SLT taken late last summer.....

Just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it's true. Let common sense be your guide.

You be the judge...

**boatmangc** · 03-20-2011, 02:25 PM

Did you notice who the OP is?

**Shane731** · 03-20-2011, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by Dr Oldz

To answer.....Take a look at Shane's (CieraSL) car and tell me that if he didn't use waxes or sealants if it would still look that good!

I'm flattered!

Seriously, my car has only been polished one time, and that was a year ago. I'm going to try to give it a light polish with PO85rd and a gray pad if I can before I go to Detail Fest, but if that doesn't happen, I won't worry too much about it. It only has light swirls in a few spots, some light toweling marks, etc. But it is a daily driver that gets used every day of the week and sits outside every day of the week, so that's OK. My point being, in the almost 6 years I have owned the car, its primary care has consisted of regular washing, claying, paint cleaners sometimes, and waxing/sealing the paint. That's it. Simple and sweet. Once you polish, if you are doing everything else correctly, you shouldn't have to polish all the time. As far as the "super light hazing" David Fermani mentions you put into the paint when washing, if you can't see it, why would you worry about it? Nobody I know looks at their car's paint with a microscope. I would rather have protected paint that 100% perfectly polished paint. Here's a quote from Mike:

Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek

Frosting on the cake

After all the hard work of claying, compounding and then polishing your car's paint to perfection is over... it's time to put the frosting on the cake...

Taking your car's finish to it's maximum potential
Assuming the paint on your car is truly in excellent condition, a finishing wax, sealant or hybrid will take your car’s paint to it's highest level or it's maximum potential.

An analogy would be,

Like frosting is to cake a finishing wax, sealant or hybrid is to a highly polished automotive finish...

Cake is good, but frosting on cake is better. It's the finishing touch or last step which creates a work of art to gaze upon and a taste of heaven that's sweet and delicious...

If you were to use a cleaner/wax after using a dedicated cleaning and polishing process that would be what we call working backwards because you’re going back to the cleaning step and you’ve already done this step when you used the compound, polish or swirl mark remover.

What you should be doing, what you want to be doing is working forwards towards the goal, which is a show car finish. Thus you want to use a finishing wax, sealant or hybrid.

Here's a list of finishing waxes, sealants and hybrids extracted from this article, in paste or liquid form.

The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

Finishing Waxes
Pinnacle Souverän Paste Wax
Pinnacle XMT 180 High Gloss Carnauba Paste Wax
Griot's Garage Best of Show Wax
Griot's Garage Carnauba Wax Stick
Finish Kare 2685 Pink Paste Wax
Collinite Paste Fleetwax # 885
Collinite Marque D’Elegance Carnauba Paste Wax #915
Collinite Super DoubleCoat Auto Wax #476
Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wax Liquid
Dodo Juice Supernatural Wax
Dodo Juice Supernatural Wax Machine Stick
Dodo Juice Banana Armour Hard Car Wax
Dodo Juice Blue Velvet Hard Car Wax
Dodo Juice Diamond White Hard Wax
Dodo Juice Hard Candy Hard Wax
Dodo Juice Light Fantastic Soft Wax
Dodo Juice Orange Crush Soft Wax
Dodo Juice Purple Haze Soft Wax
Dodo Juice Rubbish Boy’s Juiced Edition Carnauba Wax
Dodo Juice Austintacious Soft Wax
P21S 100% Carnauba Wax
P21S Concours Carnauba Wax
S100 Carnauba Paste Wax
Mothers California Gold Pure Carnauba Car Wax
Poorboy's World Natty's Paste Wax
Poorboy's World Natty’s Paste Wax – BLUE
Poorboys World Natty’s Paste Wax – Red
Dodo Juice Supernatural Wax, 250 ml. Refillable Hardwood Pot
Collinite Liquid Insulator Wax #845
Mother's Power Wax

Finishing Sealants
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0
Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze
Duragloss Clear Coat Polish (CCP) #111
Finish Kare 218 Poly Wipe Sealant Conditioner
Griot's Garage Paint Sealant
Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection Boosted with Polycharger
Finish Kare 1000P Hi-Temp Paste Wax
3M Perfect-It Show Car Liquid Wax
3M Performance Finish
Meguiar's M21 Synthetic Sealant
NXT Tech Wax - Liquid
NXT Tech Wax - Paste
Liquid Glass Auto Polish
Poorboy's World EX-P Pure Sealant
DP Poli-Coat Paint Sealant

Hybrid Finishing Waxes/Sealants
Wolfgang Füzion Carnauba Polymer Estate Wax
Pinnacle Liquid Souveran™ Car Wax
Mothers Reflections Advanced Top Coat
Poorboy's World EX Sealant with Carnauba
DP Max Wax
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #26 Hi-Tech Paste Car Wax
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #26 Hi-Tech Liquid Car Wax
Dodo Juice Blue Velvet PRO Hard Wax
1Z Einszett Glanz Wax
Poorboy's World EX Sealant with Carnauba
Finish Kare 2685 Pink Paste Wax
3M Perfect-It Show Car Paste Wax

How many car waxes do you need?

"Car waxes and paint sealants are to men like shoes are to women, you can never have too many"- Mike Phillips

How To Videos
How To Apply A Carnauba Finishing Wax By Hand Using The Straight-Line Technique
How To Apply A Synthetic Paint Sealant By Hand Using The Straight-Line Technique
How detailing clay works and how to use detailing clay to remove above surface bonded contaminants
How to use the Cyclo Polisher to remove swirls and scratches
How To Remove Swirls, Scratches and Water Spots using a PC 7424XP, Meguiar's G110v2 or Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher[

How-To Articles
The Final Wipe – Tips for creating a streak-free, show car finish
Tips & Techniques for using a Spray Detailer to Remove Light Dust, Fingerprints and Smudges

Miscellaneous
LSP - The definition and the story behind the term

Resources
Autogeek's Complete Selection of Car Waxes, Paint Sealants and Hybrids

**Cruiser57** · 03-20-2011, 06:10 PM

I have come across alot of 5 year old cars that have never been waxed and the clearcoat is blistered off of them and the people want me to fix it. When I tell them its to late you should have waxed it they just say, the dealer said it had clearcoat and didn't need to be waxed. Usually seniors that a salesman can fool to make a deal.

**StoneRaizer** · 03-20-2011, 06:14 PM

After several months of salt and sand, I looked at my car that I threw a coat of Collinite 845 on before winter and saw that it looks a whole lot better than other cars that weren't waxed. There was less dirt and grime on it, which I'm guessing is from the wax reducing particles sticking to the paint. There's basically my reply to the topic's question.