Opinopns on SOAP /WAX

[RoundBoy]

looking for opinions on a good car soap and wax... starting now to treat my car right .... :)

[Opie]

[url]http://www.griotsgarage.com[/url] The Carnuba Paste Wax is awesome...easy to use, smells great, and lasts a long time. They have a lot of awesome products...Speed Shine, Vinyl and Rubber Dressing, Fine Hand Polish, Clay Bar...all personal favorites

[Trent Bates]

[url]http://www.zainostore.com/[/url] I've been using Zaino Bros. for about 5 years. It's really nice stuff. The sealant lasts at least 6 months for me. I always got stares and questions about it from friends and co-workers after polishing my other cars. Haven't done anything to the GT yet. Here's an example picture that will give you an idea of what it looks like. [url]http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/photos/rearlg.jpg[/url]

[arcsine]

Soap has never been a big deal to me, I just use a good wash mitt. I usually end up going with Eagle One, or just going to the local ghetto-ass hand wash place which I think uses the same. As for the rest of the detail, I usually use Meguiar's three-step "deep crystal" system. Paint cleaner, polish, and wax. Armor All for the interior plastic, whatever foam glass cleaner is reasonably priced, Meguiar's hot rims and again, whatever tire cleaner is inexpensive. Clay bars as necessary, but rarely, brand irrelivant. A brush and minivac for the interior also helps.

[BoxerGT2.5]

NXT or crystal gaurd. Zaino is great, just expensive. Soap I just happen to use the NXT...reduces static?? Or so it seems..lol. For the tires Meguires Hot tire shine or shining monkey....awesome.

[STG]

I use Meguiar's products. I like the NXT wax and NXT booster wax, aslong with thw appropriate polishes/componds for the condition of your paint. Check out [url]http://meguiarsonline.com[/url] The site is run by Mike Phillips. He knows alot about car care and will answer any questions. Zaino? Too many steps, too much time. Mike is going to detail my GT tomorrow - I'll stack the NXT against anything on the market. :D

[Trent Bates]

[quote name='STG']Zaino? Too many steps, too much time.[/quote] Forgive me for this, but is that "your"opinion or someone else's? I've heard that many times and it always seems to come from the same source. IMNSHO - Having to polish you car ever 6-9 months instead of every month or so (and still never get the same shine and depth) is well worth the extra time! But I haven't tried anything from the NXT line except for the wash solution yet so maybe it's worth it. I was a die-hard Meguiar's user prior to giving Zaino a try. After that I started giving away all of my Meguair's stuff because I didn't want to have it sitting around and wasting away. I sure didn't want to use it anymore. That's just the opinion of a converted Meguiar's user. I had much more time after switching to Zaino Bros. 8)

[STG]

Trent,

 

 

That's MY opinion of Zaino. My '04 Mustang Mach1 had NXT applied back in May. 4,000 miles later, the paint looks great. I applied NXT booster wax (spray on, wipe off) once. I do use Meguiar's Last Touch detailing spray often, thouigh.

 

Here's my Mustang (Dark Shadow Grey Metallic) with NXT:

 

Tomorrow, I post pictures og my Garnet Red Legacy after applying NXT.

 

NXT - it's just a wax, not a religion!

[Trent Bates]

That looks pretty good STG. Might be a bit hazy but that could be the photo itself since I see some pixelation on the right. Maybe I'll give it a shot someday. Like you, I'm already sold on what I currently use. Having used both Meguiar's older products for many years and Zaino for the last 5 years, I feel that I've made the best decision already. But I'm going to go take a look at the NXT products really quick and see what they have improved on since I last used Meguiar's.

[Ken S]

Klasse All-in-One! It's a long time favorite of many detail-fanatics for it's ease of application, durability and deep gloss. Some hard-core fanatics will use Klasse as a base layer and then top it with a layer of carnauba. I used it exclusively on my previous 98 Forester and it kept the paint smooth and shiny even after 6 years and 100K+ miles of daily driving. Chosing a wax/sealant is a lot about your personal tastes. For the ulimate deep-gloss shine, nothing beats a traditional wax. For ease of use and durability, nothing beats synthetic/acrylic sealants. With soap, I'm not too picky since it doesn't stay on the vehicle long enough to make a huge difference. Just make sure you're using a car-wash soap that's designed for car paint and not your dirty dishes! Ken

[liquidiq]

[quote name='Ken S']Just make sure you're using a car-wash soap that's designed for car paint and not your dirty dishes! Ken[/quote] Well, you're going to want to do an initial wash with dishwashing liquid to get the previous wax off. I usually do two washes with dishwashing soap before I wax (the same day) to make sure I get it nice and wax free. Then I start the Zaino process, and drink lots of iced tea :)

[Th3Franz]

[quote name='liquidiq'][quote name='Ken S']Just make sure you're using a car-wash soap that's designed for car paint and not your dirty dishes! Ken[/quote] Well, you're going to want to do an initial wash with dishwashing liquid to get the previous wax off. [/quote] I still hear mixed opinions, but a lot of people say that's not the best way to remove the old wax.. I think I heard the dishwashing soap can hurt the car's finish.

[RoundBoy]

you have to use a special brand of dishwashing soap.. ivory , gentle hands or something... the blue stuff.. no abrasives for hands = no abrasives to hurt the car. Is this *REALLY* needed to get the old gunk off ? EVERY time ? I was planning on choosing a nice soap... and also a clay bar to help with the hard to get crap... then finish with a ncie wax ( still TBD) How about WINDOWS? Anybody have a good way to stop the buildup on the windshield? Thoughts on using a clay bar on the windshield ?

[liquidiq]

I use Stoner Invisible Glass, I like it quite a bit. Yea, don't get a dishwashing soap with abrasives, Dawn is the most common because it's quite good at cutting grease.

[Trent Bates]

Okay, I just spent a while reading what other people on roughly 20 other forums are saying about this topic. I have to say that I have changed my mind a bit because I used to be such a hardcore Meguiar's fanatic. The general consensus seems to be that most people find Zaino to be the best for making your car look really good. Meguiar's NXT is being mentioned over and over as a contender to Zaino. Many are claiming that it's easier to work with as well. There seems to be the belief that Meguiar's NXT is still not quite as good as Zaino but I can't determine if that's because these are Zaino zealots or not. :) I will say that in all of the pictures I've looked at, I don't find NXT to be as good looking as Zaino. Still, I may give NXT a shot. I've done nothing at all so far to my GT so I could easily go either way. The idea of being able to get NXT at the local store instead of ordering Zaino is appealing, and I'd be okay with less shine if it's more convenient. I still believe at this point that Zaino is the best (and it seems that I'm in the majority from all that I've read) but the NXT product is fairly new and may not have won over many Zaino users yet. BTW, Did any of you get a 16oz. bottle of MetroTech Exterior Renewer with your new car? I found it in the glove box and I haven't even opened it yet. Their web site is [url]http://www.firstplacefinish.com[/url] for those that are interested. It's a "use every six months" product.

[gtguy]

Sorry, but Griot's wash, followed by Best of Show Wax, owns. The first question to ask is if you want a natural or synthetic polymer shine. Some say that the latter lasts longer, but the former lets the paint breathe. I dunno, but having tried a lot of stuff, I'm a Griot's fan for life. I think that people don't try Griot's stuff because they think it's too expensive, or don't believe that it's as good as it is. Others, on Autopia, etc, say that you can get the same stuff cheaper, but nobody ever says where. Griot's is a re-seller for some stuff, but AFAIK, their actual car care stuff is their own formulation, and boy, does it work. Nothing like cleaning a wax and/or polish pad with soap and water. Kevin

[STG]

Here's my car w two coats of NXT.

[STG]

Can you attach more than one image per post?

[STG]

Another one.

[STG]

I wish it was later in the afternoon. Nikon D100 / Nikkor 17 - 55mm f2.8 DX.

[Trent Bates]

After seeing those pics (as well as the earlier pics I looked at of NXT jobs) I'm wondering if a person could do multiple coats (4 or so) of NXT to give the illusion of depth. All the reflections are still looking "blurry" and "shallow" to me somehow. I'm sorry. I'm just not seeing the look that I was hoping to see from Meguiar's competition for Zaino. :( To be fair, I'm still seeing a noticeable amount of pixelization in the images though. Are the wheels coated too? I always take the wheels off and give them the same treatment to make wiping the dust off easier. My neighbors probably think I'm crazy by "waxing"/"polishing" the inside of my wheels every 6 months or so but it sure makes them easier to keep clean! Am I seeing the front bumper correctly. It looks to me that they drilled the holes for the license plate WAY off center! If so, that really sucks! If it were me, I'd never take it back to the dealer to have it fixed though. I'd be afraid that they'd mess it up even further. Garnet Red Pearl is a nice color! The GT I saw in that color seemed to have a hint of gold in it.

[STG]

The only reason for two coats was to insure coverage. For crying out loud! Ther original images are 3008 x 2000 NEF (raw) 10 mb. What you see here has been reduced to 40 -60k 700 x 466. I guess I lost some pixels somewhere. Get a botytle of NXT and try it yourself. Yes, the trained monkey drilled the bumper incorrectly. He also scratched the left rear window with a razor blade. A new window is on order and the bumper will be swapped out with aone frtom the next Garnet Red Legacy (UNDRILLED) that comes in at my dealer.

[S4]

Just a tip, when resizing an image, don't do it in one large step. Instead, make the image 75% of it's image size, and repeat until you get to the size you want. You'll have less loss that way.

[RoundBoy]

[quote name='STG']Th Yes, the trained monkey drilled the bumper incorrectly. He also scratched the left rear window with a razor blade. A new window is on order and the bumper will be swapped out with aone frtom the next Garnet Red Legacy (UNDRILLED) that comes in at my dealer.[/quote] yep.. i had them totally replace my bumper with a non-hole one.. The dealer put on a wax that I can't remember the name of... supossedly only avaialble to dealers? and contains teflon? It was the same wax they used on my previous car... and the ersults of the rain were very nice... perfect beading and slid right off.. On my last car, it also made wiping bugs / bird crap off as simple as a damp rag...

[Th3Franz]

I was very happy when I applied Meguiar's NXT Tech wax to my Garnet Red sedan. :D Too bad my car is dirty right now.. she'll get a bath this weekend I think.