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  1. #1
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

    The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

    Subtitle: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant for your Detailing Project



    Cleaner/Waxes


    Finishing Waxes



    Have you ever been confused as to which car wax to use? There are so many car waxes on the market and all of them claim to be the best? Some say they’ll last through 52 car washes? But are you waxing your car just so it will make it through 52 car washes? Or are you waxing your car because you want the paint to look good again? Like it did when it was new?

    Or what if you’re taking your special ride to a car show or on a cruise? Do you really need a car wax that will bead water after 52 car washes or is there something better that will really make your car’s paint *POP* especially if hundreds and even thousands of people will be looking at it all day long while it’s on display?

    2- basic groups of car wax
    Let me see if I can remove just a little bit of the confusion… There are two basic groups most car waxes and paint sealants fall into, these would be,

    • Cleaner/waxes or Cleaner/Sealants
    • Finishing waxes or Finishing Sealants


    A cleaner/wax or cleaning/sealant would offer some level of cleaning ability using either chemical cleaning agents, solvents and/or some type of abrasives and often times a combination of all three. Cleaner/Waxes are also referred to as One-Step products or All-In-One products. Cleaner/waxes can be used to restore neglected paint to good to excellent condition depending upon how bad of condition the paint is in and the cleaning ability or strength of the cleaning agents in the cleaner/wax.

    A finishing wax or finishing sealant would not contain any ingredients with the intended ability to clean or abrade the paint. Products in this category should only be used on paint in excellent or brand new condition or neglected paints that have been previously cleaned and polished and thus restored to new or excellent condition.

    Besides dividing products into two groups by whether they have the ability to clean the paint or not, paint protection products are also divided into two other groups or categories and that's car waxes or paint sealants.





    Car Wax
    Contains some kind of naturally occurring waxy type substance, for example Carnauba wax.

    Paint Sealant
    Made from synthetic or all man-made ingredients.

    So from the above, we can have,

    Cleaner/Waxes
    A product that cleans, polishes and protects and contains natural protection ingredients like Carnauba

    Cleaner/Sealants
    A product that cleans, polishes and protects and uses all synthetic protection ingredients

    Finishing Waxes
    A product that offers no cleaning ability with the focus on maximizing beauty with the protection based upon naturally occurring ingredients.

    Finishing Sealants
    A product that offers no cleaning ability with the focus on maximizing beauty with the protection based upon synthetic ingredients.

    Hybrids
    There's one more group into which waxes and sealant fall into and that would be the hybrid category. Hybrids contain a combination of both natural and synthetic ingredients.

    If we use the loose definition above for car waxes and paint sealants, (For the wax group the primary protection ingredients are naturally occurring waxy substances and for the sealant group the primary protection ingredients are man-made or synthetic substances), then since hybrid products use a combination of both it would seem natural to group them and place them into their own category with both words, wax and sealant used to describe the category.

    My comment...
    Since no one to my knowledge has ever separated and placed the different products on the market into their own categories I decided to step up to the plate and take a stab at it myself, feel free to create your own categories and write your won article if you feel so compelled.


    Let's take an in-depth look at the two basic groups, (the hybrid products will also fit into either the cleaning or finishing group).


    Cleaner/Wax or Cleaner/Sealant
    Now a cleaner/wax is just that, the formula will contain a blend of chemical cleaners and often times some type of abrasives, either diminishing or non-diminishing.

    Together the chemical cleaners and the abrasives will remove oxidation and road grime from the surface which will restore clarity and richness of color. At the same time they’ll leave behind a layer of protection to help lock in the shine and of course protect the paint from the elements.

    When you go to your local auto parts stores, most of the retail waxes on the shelves do in fact fall into the cleaner/wax category as they are targeted at the average person and the average person is driving what we call a Daily Driver, that is the car they drive back and forth to work each day and most of the time it’s parked outside. Over time, the finish quality deteriorates and in order to restore it with just a single product you’ll want a cleaner/wax.

    A cleaner/wax is also what we in the detailing industry call a One-Step product or an AIO.

    AIO stands for All-In-One. AIO products will do multiple processes in one step, that is they will,

    1. Clean the surface
    2. Polish the paint to a high gloss
    3. Leave behind a layer of protection



    The problem for the average Joe Consumer is that most retail products don’t specifically state what type of product they are? The tell you how to apply it, how long to let it dry and then how to remove it but they leave it wide open as to what the product is and how its best used.




    A cleaner/wax is best used on a neglected finish because a neglected finish needs to be cleaned. Cleaner/Waxes, or All-In-One products are designed for a large market which includes do-it-yourselfers and detailers that want to restore a bright, shiny finish to the paint but want to do it in one-step. Their goal is to get a great looking finish without having to invest the time and effort associated with a multiple-step approach which usually includes,

    1. Dedicated compounding or paint cleaning step
    2. Dedicated polishing or glazing step
    3. Dedicated sealing step using a finishing wax or finishing paint sealant



    Keep in mind besides the above 3 steps that are the norm for a multiple-step process, there's also,

    1. The washing and drying step
    2. The claying step if the car is parked outside a lot and has built-up above surface bonded contaminants. (Most daily drivers need to be clayed).



    If we add the above two steps, (washing & drying step and claying step), together with the multiple 3-step approach that would make the average car detailing session 5 steps at a minimum.

    1. The washing and drying step
    2. The claying step if the car is parked outside a lot and has built-up above surface bonded contaminants. (Most daily drivers need to be clayed).
    3. Dedicated compounding or paint cleaning step
    4. Dedicated polishing or glazing step
    5. Dedicated sealing step using a finishing wax or paint sealant.



    Because the majority of people in this world look at their car as a mode of transportation instead of an extension of their personality, its' easy to understand that most people want and only need a one-step cleaner/wax.

    A cleaner/wax doesn't need to be used, and in most cases shouldn't be used, on a car in which the paint is in excellent condition, for example a brand new car or an older car in which the paint has been properly cleaned and polished. For finishes on both of these types of cars the paint would be better served using a finishing wax or finishing sealant.

    Another example would be a brand new paint job after the regular 30 days air-cure waiting time. Brand new paint should look great after you pick it up from the painter but most painters will tell you to wait at least 30 days before sealing the paint with either a wax or paint sealant.

    After the 30 days have passed, a finishing wax should be used not a cleaner/wax because theoretically, the paint is supposed to be in excellent condition so you shouldn't have to use any product with cleaners or abrasives in it.



    Application Method
    In most cases, a cleaner/wax type product needs to be worked over and into the surface. Cleaner/waxes are not wipe on, wipe off products. Part of the cleaning action comes from you either working the product over the surface and engaging the cleaning ingredients with the paint or you running an electric polisher and the polisher is engaging the cleaning ingredients against the paint. The worse condition the paint, the more you'll need to work the product.





    Finishing Wax or Finishing Sealant

    A finishing/wax is much different than a cleaner/wax. A finishing wax either doesn’t offer any cleaning ability at all, or at least not enough to be a usable feature of the product.

    A finishing wax is just that, it’s a wax or paint sealant used to add the finishing touch to a car in which the paint is in excellent condition to start with and/or in situations where the owner has just cleaned and polished the paint to perfection and the next step would be to apply a finishing wax.

    If you use a multiple step approach to polishing your car’s paint, that is you use a dedicated compound or SMR, which stands for Swirl Mark Remover, to first remove any defects like swirls and scratches, and then follow this with a polish to further refine the paint to show car quality status, then what you want next is a finishing wax, not a cleaner/wax.




    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 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.




    Application Method

    • Wipe-on, work in and then immediately wipe off with no drying time.
    • Wipe on, allow the product to dry and then wipe-off.


    Since finishing waxes and paint sealants should really only be applied to a finishes in excellent condition, there's no need to aggressively work the product over the surface like you would a cleaner wax. With a finishing wax or sealant you would apply and spread the product out of a section of a panel and then work the product gently for 2-3 passes over each square inch just to evenly cover the paint. You would not work the product like you would a cleaner wax with the idea of trying to remove defects.

    Finishing waxes and paint sealants are either wiped on, spread around and then immediately wiped off. On detailing discussion forums, these types of products are referred to as WOWO products.

    Some manufactures recommends their products need to dry before removing, for these types of products you would apply and spread the product out to create a thin even coating and then allow this coating to fully dry before removing.


    No wrong choice
    It's important to note that one category isn't better than the other as both categories of products play important roles in the car world. The focus of this article was to explain these two different categories so anyone confused about waxes in general would have a better understanding of the two basic groups. And then the ultimate goal would be to help people to actually choose and use the correct wax for their application and goals.





    How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant for your Detailing Project

    The way you pick the right wax for your car's paint is you first evaluate your car's paint and then you evaluate yourself.

    Is your car brand new? If so they you probably want a finishing wax.

    Is your car older and the paint is looking dull and lifeless? Then you need to evaluate yourself? Do you want to do a multiple step process? Or do you simply want to wash and wax the car and then move on with life? If you want to do a multiple-step process the you're going to want a finishing wax, if you want to reduce your time and investment to the bare minimum then you want a cleaner/wax.

    As stated previously, in most cases, a cleaner/wax, cleaner/sealant, hybrid cleaner/wax or hybrid cleaner/sealant, needs to be worked over and into the surface. These are not wipe-on, wipe-off products. Part of the cleaning action comes from you either working the product over the surface and engaging the cleaning ingredients with the paint or you running an electric polisher and the polisher is engaging the cleaning ingredients against the paint.




    Summary
    The waxes and paint sealants in both of these groups can be great products, it just a matter of matching the right product to the condition of the paint on the car, your goals and how much time you want to invest into the project.



    List of Paint Protection Products

    Here at Autogeek we care a great selection of both finishing waxes and cleaner/waxes, below you'll find a list for both types.


    Cleaner/Waxes
    Menzerna Sealing Wax APO 60
    Collinite Paste Sapphire Auto Wax #73SS
    Mothers California Gold Original Formula Carnauba Cleaner Wax
    Poorboy’s World Polish with Carnauba (BLUE)
    Poorboy's World Polish with 100% Carnauba
    Collinite Liquid Sapphire Auto Wax SS216
    Dodo Juice Need For Speed Cleaner Wax


    Cleaner/Sealants
    XMT 360 All In One Cleaner Wax
    Griot's Garage One-Step Sealant
    Klasse All-In-One Polish
    Duragloss Polish & Cleaner 101
    Finish Kare 215 One Step Cleaner & Surface Sealant
    Finish Kare 2180 Ultra Poly Wipe Sealant Conditioner
    Optimum Poli-Seal
    Mother's FX Synwax Paste
    Mother's FX Synwax Liquid
    Mother's Reflections Advanced Car Wax
    3M One Step Cleaner 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 Cleaner Waxes/Sealants
    Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #6 Cleaner/Wax
    Duragloss Total Performance Polish (TPP) # 105
    Meguiar's M20 Polymer Sealant
    Meguiar's ColorX
    Meguiar's M66 Quick Detailer
    Meguiar's D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream
    1Z Einszett Metallic Polish Wax
    Duragloss Wet Look Paste Wax


    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



    Spray-on Paint Protectants

    Spray-on Carnauba Waxes
    Pinnacle Souveran Liquid Spray Wax
    Flitz Waxx Speed Wax
    Griot's Garage Spray-On Wax
    Mother's California Gold Spray Wax
    Poorboys World QW+ Quick Wax Plus



    Spray-on Synthetic Paint Sealants
    Wolfgang Deep Gloss Spritz Sealant
    Duragloss Aquawax - 22 ounce
    Duragloss Aquawax - 128 ounce
    Meguiar's NXT Generation Spray Wax
    Mothers FX Engineered Spray Wax
    Optimum Opti-Seal
    Stoner SpeedBead One-Step Quick Wax



    Spray-on Hybrids
    Pinnacle XMT 360 Spray Wax
    Four Star Ultimate Spray Wax Boosted with Polycharger
    Meguiar's X-Press Liquid Wax
    Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax
    Mother's Reflections Advanced Spray Wax
    Optimum Car Wax
    Stoner Bead Max


    Wheel Waxes
    Detailer's Pride Wheel Glaze
    Wheel Wax
    Poorboy's World Wheel Sealant



    Question: 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


    Resources
    Main Store Webpage for Autogeek's Car Wax and Paint Sealants



  2. #2
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant

    Quote Originally Posted by akimel View Post
    Mike, I note that you have distinguished cleaner/wax and cleaner/sealant from hybrid cleaner/wax/sealant.

    I presume that the products that fall into the "cleaner/wax" category contain only natural ingredients.

    Is that in fact the case?
    That's kind of the idea but it's hard to be real exact because a formula can use Carnauba Wax as it's PRIMARY PROTECTION INGREDIENT but contain man-made ingredients just as a matter of creating a medium in which to hold or suspend the Carnauba, that's why I worded the above article by defining a category by the primary protection ingredient. Truth is none of will ever know all the ingredients whether natural or synthetic in any product, so we have to go by the general information provided.

    So if a product is touted as being natural or the primary protection ingredient is a naturally occurring ingredient then I placed it into the car wax group.

    If product is touted as being synthetic or at least the primary protection ingredients are primarily synthetic ingredients, then I placed it into the synthetic paint sealant category.

    And if the product is touted as including a combination of both natural and synthetic ingredients for protection then I placed it into the Hybrid category.

    Not all products will fit EXACTLY into a specific group so the idea was to get it close, not exact.

    Actually my original goal was just to separate paint protection products that also clean the surface from paint protection products that only provide protection and no cleaning ability. This goal is actually for another goal but it's all about education and enabling a person to choose the right product for their needs.

    The reality that there's so many great products on the market makes the job difficult and thus the reason I thought I'd let others chew on this and add their thoughts.

    You know as well as I know that online enthusiasts are a lot more AR about a topic like this than Joe Consumer, thus putting this together in a way that will satisfy everyone's opinion will be impossible but if we can reach some kind of general consensus that will be good enough.




  3. #3
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant

    Autogeek's Showcase of Paint Protectants


    Cleaner/Waxes




    Cleaner/Sealants





    Finishing Waxes








    Finishing Sealants





    Hybrid Cleaner Waxes/Sealants




    Hybrid Finishing Waxes/Sealants





    Spray-on Carnauba Waxes



    Spray-on Synthetic Paint Sealants




    Spray-on Hybrids



    Wheel Protectants




  4. #4
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant

    I think it's finished and mostly accurate.

    It can be hard to find out exactly which category a product falls into because it's normal not be able to find out exactly what's in the bottle.

    If any sees a mistake, or a broken link, instead of posting it to the thread, please send it to me via PM or e-mail and I'll make the adjustment as I want this thread to be a resource and not a dialog about changes.

    Thanks!

    To make the above request easy...

    Private Message: Send a PM to Mike
    E-mail: Mike.Phillips@Autogeek.net





  5. #5
    Newbie Member gjohn28's Avatar
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    Re: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant for your Detailing Project

    This is an extremely helpful, thorough and well done topic/thread. The time and effort it took to not just list all the different types/brands of products, but show pictures of each must have been overwhelming.

    Thank you Mike!


  6. #6
    Regular Member acc1079's Avatar
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    Re: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant for your Detailing Project

    Agreed, GREAT topic and information!!

    Outstanding job once again MP!!
    Last edited by acc1079; 02-10-2010 at 06:51 PM.

  7. #7
    Super Member Bunky's Avatar
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    Re: How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant for your Detailing Project

    If anything, it shows you just the wax/sealant products that AG carries --a lot.
    Al
    The Need to Bead

  8. #8
    Junior Member prostar's Avatar
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    Re: The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

    I love this thread Mike! Thanks for the info.

    I'd like to follow up with a question or two.

    1) I've been reading on the forums that certain car manufacturers use "harder" clear coats, while others like Honda will use "softer" clear coats. Knowing this type of information is very useful when sizing up which product/pad combo to use. Do you happen to have a quick reference guide for some of the major car manufacturers? Ford, Chevy, Honda, Toyota, etc?

    2) In your experience or other members' experiences, are there certain products that make specific paint colors "POP!"?

    Thank you to anyone willing to share your input!

  9. #9
    Junior Member
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    Re: The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

    I have a quick question also. Is Menzernas Powerlock Paint Sealant a cleaner sealant or finishing sealant?

  10. #10
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

    Quote Originally Posted by prostar View Post

    Do you happen to have a quick reference guide for some of the major car manufacturers? Ford, Chevy, Honda, Toyota, etc?
    No, I don't honestly thing it would be very useful and it would need to be updated forever and it wouldn't take into account cars that have been repainted or cars with panels that have been repainted and most people cannot tell easily if a panel or a car has been repainted.

    The best thing to do is a Test Spot. This is all I need to tell me if my pad and product selection is working or not and if not then I simply test a new combination.

    Besides all of the above, car manufactures can change paint systems and this could cause confusion with a static chart or even a chart in which someone with extra time would anoint themselves...

    "Keeper of the Chart"

    Great idea though...


    Quote Originally Posted by prostar View Post
    2) In your experience or other members' experiences, are there certain products that make specific paint colors "POP!"?
    I think the first most important step to making any color of paint or any metallic flake paint *POP* is to first make the clear layer of paint a clear and smooth as possible which are both done by claying and with machine compounding and/or polishing steps.

    After you create the most perfect finish possible to the best of your abilities, then "The Best Wax" becomes fairly subjective and the topic of may wax wars which I try to avoid becoming a veteran of...

    Great question...


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