Old Dec 12, 2007 | 10:09 AM
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Mike-in-Orange
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Default Re: I'm a little concerned about waxing - my thoughts

You think carnauba waxes are too abrasive for clear coat and would rather use a polish designed to remove scratches from plastic? Sorry, that makes no sense.

A good quality wax, whether a carnauba based product or a full synthetic, is so mild as to be inconsequential with regard to removing clear coat. I've see plenty of tests using paint thickness gauges where the paint was polished using a fairly abrasive polishing compound with a high speed rotary buffer. Even then, in experienced hands of course, the amount of clear removed is minimal.

Your swirl marks don't come from the carnauba, but from the application method and materials. For example, terry cloth has quite a bite to it and can mar the paint quite easily. You should never use terry cloth as a wax applicator, only a soft foam applicator pad. Removing the hazed wax should be done with a clean microfiber towel, a good one, with only enough pressure to pull the hazed wax off the surface. There is no benefit to repeatedly "buffing" the area in an attempt to bring up more shine.

Further, I've been involved in plenty of polish product testing on black body panels. Even after wet sanding and compounding with a wool pad and a very aggresive cutting compound, then following up with a less aggressive polish on a soft foam pad using a DA polisher, there is no marring to be seen even under extreme lighting conditions. A wipe down with a 50/50 water/alchohol mix proves that the scratches are gone, not just filled in. A further hand application of a liquid polymer sealant only serves to protect this perfect finish.

Honestly, on a modern clear coat finish, provided you use the proper tools and wax/sealant you could wax the car every week and not run out of clear coat for decades. Heck, you could polish with a DA polisher every year (with proper maintenance you shouldn't have to do it more often than that) and still never worry about eating up all the clear.
 
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