Frosting on the cake

Mike Phillips · 03-31-2010, 03:08 PM

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

**Herzog** · 03-31-2010, 03:34 PM

Hey Mike, I was under the impression that the new DP Poli-Seal was a Cleaner/Sealant. Is this not correct?

Thanks, man--

Mike Phillips · 03-31-2010, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by Herzog

Hey Mike, I was under the impression that the new DP Poli-Seal was a Cleaner/Sealant. Is this not correct?

Thanks, man--

I was told there's a bonding agent in the product to better enable the protection ingredients bond or stick to the paint so it will last longer and thus protect longer.

I also rubbed a sample of this against the single stage paint on my truck where I had compounded the paint but NOT applied any wax or sealant and I pulled no color, that's a pretty good sign it has little or no cleaning ability because it's pretty easy to pull color or pigment off single stage paint even with Spit.

So for now I've placed this product in the Finishing Sealant category.

I know better than anyone how IMPORTANT it is for everyone to know which products fall into the cleaning and non-cleaning category after the Wax Wars that raged through discussion forums over the cleaners in NXT.

Take my word for it, I'm pretty clued-in to the sensitivity of this issue among "online" enthusiasts. It's topics like this that have taught me hard lessons on how to write for the D.O. and sometimes confrontational segment of the online world.

The sample I received was a "Lab Sample", I have not tested production run product but I don't thing it will change anything.

**Grizzly** · 03-31-2010, 04:20 PM

I dont know, a light duty cleaner wax such as M20 Polymer Sealant still looks really great and is still frosting on the cake in my book. It would not be working backwards for me.

As for the NXT cleaner debate, try using it on a neglected surface and then you tell me how much cleaning ability it has. I never understood why some folks think it has these all powerful cleaners in it.

Mike Phillips · 03-31-2010, 04:41 PM

It's so unpredictable which direction a thread can go...

Originally Posted by Grizzly

I don't know, a light duty cleaner wax such as M20 Polymer Sealant still looks really great and is still frosting on the cake in my book. It would not be working backwards for me.

I have an entire article that talks about talks about the difference in cleaner/waxes and finishing paint protectants here,

M20 is a light cleaner/wax or cleaner/hybrid for the D.O.

I personally used a M20/M16 system for almost every car I buffed out from 1990 to 2000 with great success. Because M20 does have the ability to be used on neglected paint, I didn't want it to place it in the Finishing category but I hear you on the working backwards idea and no need to take that portion too literally, but instead just keep the bigger picture in mind.

Originally Posted by Grizzly

As for the NXT cleaner debate, try using it on a neglected surface and then you tell me how much cleaning ability it has. I never understood why some folks think it has these all powerful cleaners in it.

I've seen people use it on oxidized single stage paint and it will do a good job of cleaning the oxidation off and restoring a good shine to the paint but two things,

1) It's not intended to be used on neglected paint - How people use a product is up to them but the manufacture does not market it as a cleaner/wax for neglected paint.

2) Some people don't consider that "Application Material" and "Application Process" are both an important part of how aggressive or how gentle ANY product is and to prove this I can use spit on terry cloth, (Application Material), to remove oxidation off a single stage paint and create shine just by rubbing hard, (Application Process), but there's no cleaners or abrasives in spit.

**Grizzly** · 03-31-2010, 06:57 PM

Not sure how many people here use M20, probably not that many. But I think removing it is extremly easy, even when applied too thick.

I bet after a long day of polishing and compounding the last thing you wanted to do is deal with any wax or paint sealant that is hard to apply and remove.

**tenorplayer23** · 03-31-2010, 09:22 PM

Hi Mike,

No Optimum products on the list??

Let me know.

See ya.

**Herzog** · 04-01-2010, 10:11 AM

I was told there's a bonding agent in the product to better enable the protection ingredients bond or stick to the paint so it will last longer and thus protect longer.

I also rubbed a sample of this against the single stage paint on my truck where I had compounded the paint but NOT applied any wax or sealant and I pulled no color, that's a pretty good sign it has little or no cleaning ability because it's pretty easy to pull color or pigment off single stage paint even with Spit.

So for now I've placed this product in the Finishing Sealant category.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Mike! I plan on using the new DP Poli-Coat this weekend and it appears I was confused about its cleaning properties (or lack thereof).

I just placed an emergency order for some Klasse AIO to use as my paint cleaner. Come on UPS!

Mike Phillips · 04-01-2010, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by tenorplayer23

Hi Mike,

No Optimum products on the list??

No. This was a list of "Finishing" waxes, sealants and hybrids. Sorry about being so exact with wording but my life of posting to detailing forums has taught me there's always a handful of people that will take issue with me over a single word, so I don't type on the fly, I type very specifically and choose each word I post very carefully.

I mentioned above that it was extracted from this thread,

The Difference Between a Cleaner/Wax and a Finishing Wax

If you click on the link above and read the ALL ENCOMPASSING article on "Paint Protection Products" you'll find Optimum products.

The Optimum Poli-Seal is listed as a Cleaner/Sealant

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
Wheel Wax Glacier Polish & Sealant
3M One Step Cleaner Wax

And I listed Optimum Opti-Seal in the Spray-on Synthetic Paint Sealants category (This article was for pastes and traditional lotion-like liquids)

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

And I listed the Optimum Car Wax in the Spray-on Hybrids category

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

I am VERY liquid on the placement of any of the products, if anyone thinks I have a product misplaced in a category then PLEASE send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE and let's take a look at the product placement. I will not let this thread or any thread turn into a silly argument over car wax.

By the word liquid I mean open to suggestions and changes but please have the courtesy to use the Private Message option like others have used and don't just post your 'opinion' in this thread or I will clean the thread.

Great question tenorplayer23