Swissol Car Bath

BigWig · 09-20-06, 02:36

Has anybody used this before? I'm thinking about ordering a bottle!

Cheers

BigWig · 09-21-06, 02:52

Surely somebody has?

Wise 85 · 09-21-06, 03:15

Yes, i have used it,along with other swissol products.It is a good product,but it is very *mild*,designed to be gentle on their waxes,smells of coconut,and is a kind of grey colour and very thick.A brief history on swissol,for those that don't know.The swissol company is the original founder of 'high end waxes'.In the 1970's,a member of the Anwander family(swissol),came to the usa,from Switzerland,with the intention of selling some of the wax formulars,but when she found out that the usa market was only interested in 'mass production',it was decided that the formulars would be sold,and produced in the usa,not by the Anwander family,as this went against the family tradition of hand made products,in a carefully controlled environment.Theese formulars were Enzyme based(air acts as a catalyst to cure the wax),and were originaly distributed by Turtle wax,shortly before the Zymol(ZYM-FROM ENZYME) company was founded in 1980.

superstring · 09-21-06, 12:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wise 85

Yes, i have used it,along with other swissol products.It is a good product,but it is very *mild*,designed to be gentle on their waxes,smells of coconut,and is a kind of grey colour and very thick.A brief history on swissol,for those that don't know.The swissol company is the original founder of 'high end waxes'.In the 1970's,a member of the Anwander family(swissol),came to the usa,from Switzerland,with the intention of selling some of the wax formulars,but when she found out that the usa market was only interested in 'mass production',it was decided that the formulars would be sold,and produced in the usa,not by the Anwander family,as this went against the family tradition of hand made products,in a carefully controlled environment.Theese formulars were Enzyme based(air acts as a catalyst to cure the wax),and were originaly distributed by Turtle wax,shortly before the Zymol(ZYM-FROM ENZYME) company was founded in 1980.

Are you saying that the Swissol and Zymol formulas are the same? And Zymol bought/licensed the formulas from Turtle Wax?? I thought it was the other way around.

Wise 85 · 09-21-06, 02:09

No,Turtle wax were only ever the distributor of the waxes,the *Group* who owned the formulas at this same time was who we know today, as the Zymol corporation.The swissol waxes are not Enzyme based,that is they do not contain Bee propolis (the enzyme),to enable the wax to cure to the paint once exposed to the air.The swissol waxes can be applied to the whole car,and then removed,as opposed to section by section with the Zymol.Swissol (Anwander),only sold the Enzyme based formulas.

superstring · 09-21-06, 06:50

OK, let's see if I've got this straight. Swissol originally had 2 different wax product lines, one enzyme based, the other not. They sold their enzyme based formulations to Zymol, who then licensed Turtle Wax to distribute some of them. Is that correct?

BTW didn't Zymol launch a litigation against Swissol a few years ago? I forget the details.

Wise 85 · 09-22-06, 02:40

Basicaly,yes that is correct.At the time of selling the Enzyme based waxes,swissol was only a very small,family company and the formulas that they sell today,had not realy been established,so at this time they didn't actualy have 2 different pfoduct 'lines' to sell.As for the litigation,yes Zymol did file a lawsuit agaist Swissol,the latest being fully resolved,on 9th nov 2005,in favour of Swissol.Zymol had claimed ridiculous copyright infringement against Swissol,claiming that they would suffer tremendous losses,if the swissol waxes were allowed to be sold outside of the *Teritory*,Switzerland,Austria,Germany,Liechtenstien,such as in the Usa and europe.Swissol has agreed to change the 'suffix' of their name to end the constant feud between the 'OL' in Zymol and the 'OL' in Swissol, but in the *TERITORY* the company name remains as Swizol,regardless of how similar it is to Zymol.

superstring · 09-22-06, 11:10

This is all very interesting. I wonder if Swissol/Swizol ever regretted selling their enzyme formulas to Zymol, seeing as how Zymol became a VERY profitable company by virtue of making and marketing those "high end waxes"?

I don't understand what you say about Swissol changing the suffix "ol" of their name, though. It's still called Swissol/Swizol, as far as I can tell.

BTW, are you affiliated with Swissol at all? You seem to have a lot of "inside" information!

Wise 85 · 09-22-06, 12:37

I have a 'distant' connection with the company,as several relatives work for the Anwander family at their Switzerland headquarters.I wasn't to clear about the 'suffix' name change,the agreement between the two companies,states (among other things),that Swissol will have a new 'suffix' to the Swiss 'prefix,18 months from the date of the litigation settlement,so at the moment they are Swissol/Swizol as before,but will become Swiss** around May 2007.

superstring · 09-22-06, 08:50

Wise 85, our "conversation" has inspired me to delve a little more deeply into this issue. I've always been curious about the connection between Zymol and Swissol (the connection is obvious to anyone looking at the product names, packaging, product descriptions, etc.).

Anyway I came up with this thread from the Autopia Archives:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/archive...p/t-40724.html

Check out the post from myall00 "The real story behind Swissol and Zymol is this (it's confirmed)".......He implies the Anwander formula(s) were "misappropriated" (taken without permission/stolen) by a family member. It appears to me that the Anwander family, impressed with the commercial success of "their" waxes (Zymol) in the USA, decided to re-launch "their" waxes, using similar names, packaging, pricing etc. This is "slightly" different from your story, but what I'm really wondering is this: would the Anwanders have really gone to the trouble of re-formulating their waxes (without enzymes) to avoid a conflict with Zymol when everything else (aforementioned names, etc.) is so similar? And, last but not least, surely there would have been a certain amount of resentment having their products being "ripped off" by Zymol??? So, if they were that good to begin with, why mess around re-formulating them?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, far from it, it's just that you seem to have the "inside scoop" and I'm very curious!

Wise 85 · 09-23-06, 12:48

I can't really comment on where myall00 got his information from,but he is not correct in saying that the Anwander formula was stolen,or taken without permission.The Anwander family never 're -launched any formulas,the Enzyme based formula/formulas were sold to the *Group*,who shortly after founded the Zymol corporation,because the Anwander family didn't care for the idea of 'mass production'.The Anwander family always had the non Enzyme based formulas,which were considered far more *precious* as they were originaly only developed for the private use of Hans Anwander,grandfather and founder of the company.The *precious formulas*were known as ''Antikwachs'' and were made in Zurich,and today's waxes are a 'modified ' version of that original formula.The Zymol corporation got the Enzyme based formula(s),so there was no ''ripping off'' done to Swissol,what has happened is a long running feud between the two groups,fueled by a desire for ''mass profit'',and to protect this profit by making claims about the 'similarites' between products,eg colour,scent,and then launching litigation on the grounds of copyright infringement/sale losses.You could claim that some of the Zymol/Swissol waxes are similar,yes but how many other products 'look/smell' similar.The feud will stop,as Swissol will change the 'suffix' of their name,for trading outside of the *Teritory*,which was a voluntery undertaking by the Anwander family.I don't know if you are familiar with the Victoria wax company,one could claim their formulas are very similar(their best high end wax is called 'concours'),and the founder of the company used to work for the Zymol corporation,but i don't think that 'these' products are seen as a threat to Zymol,as the company operates from canada, and is relatively small.

superstring · 09-23-06, 05:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wise 85

.......I don't know if you are familiar with the Victoria wax company,one could claim their formulas are very similar(their best high end wax is called 'concours'),and the founder of the company used to work for the Zymol corporation,but i don't think that 'these' products are seen as a threat to Zymol,as the company operates from canada, and is relatively small.

Thanks for the reply. It's good to hear the story from "the horse's mouth", so to speak.

Coincidently, I am familiar with Victoria Wax. I actually live in "Victoria" and used to buy Zymol products from David W. when he was their distributor. Then he started his own company and I was one individual who got to try some of his original products. I also got to hear some interesting stories about Zymol.

BTW, just out of curiousity, do you mind saying where you're located? It's been good chatting with you.