Wax Application in Cold Weather: What Product?

CRXSi90 · 11-09-03, 03:32

I put my car away last weekend. It has been a good season, but I'm sad as always.

I guess I just gotta wait until spring.

Now I have some time to take care of family member's vehicles. My mom and I went out and washed her 2000 Jimmy and decided to give it a coat of wax since it had been a while, probably the beginning of September...which makes what was on there about 2 months old, not bad for Turtle Wax Finish 2001 applied with a PC, I suppose. Regardless, it was probably time for another coat of something...since the thermometer read 30 degrees F when I woke up, I thought of my choices of waxes, S100 would be best (others being Finish 2001, regular TW, Zymol Cleaner Wax, and Meguiars Gold Class). The S100 turned out pretty good and was easy to use, even on the coldish/windy day. Since there was still some protectant left on the paint even before the S100, I figured the S100 would go over it nicely.
Well, now it is protected for some time, but I know S100 isn't the most durable. What would another good cold weather choice be? I was reading earlier today that Klasse can have trouble in cold or humid conditions, and that is probably the same with most acrylic sealants. I'm thinking Collinite might be the ticket here, but I was wondering if anyone has ever tried it in the cold before. I'd say probably a paste Collinite would probably be a better choice than liquid also.
Does anyone have any thoughts on Collinite or any other wax for use in cold weather? Just for the sake of having some other info, we don't have a garage and it will probably be below freezing soon, but if there are any warm spells, what wax could I take advantage of? Maybe I should volunteer to do cold weather testing on Meguiars NXT wax.

Thanks Autopians!

scottabir · 11-09-03, 03:39

I used klasse the other day when it was about 37-40 degrees out and it did fine. #26 seemed to be a little harder to wipe off than the P21s, but neither were unbearable to remove. I never used collinite so I can't comment on it.

CRXSi90 · 11-09-03, 03:55

Thanks for the reply, Scott. In that case, I suppose I should have tried the TW stuff again since I have it and it lasted for a while before. It is good to hear that Klasse worked for you ...I've been thinking about getting it, but it is so dang expensive for AIO + SG! Next warm spell I'll give the TW stuff a shot, and if it works ok in the cold, I'll follow the advice relayed to us by Mike Phillips..."Find a product and use it often." And after I run out of that, I think I'll get Meguiars Cleaner Wax - inexpensive and seemingly pretty good, especially when the vehicle can stand a cleaning.

Thanks again.

C-MDX · 11-09-03, 04:18

Can Zaino do good in cold and humid weather or is it better in warmer days????

bimmer330 · 11-09-03, 05:17

I waxed my car today. I used S100 and it came out excellent. It was around 40 degrees today. Easy on and easy off.

AkronSi · 11-10-03, 06:04

I put a coat of Meg's # 20 on my girlfriends car last night, and gave Trewax 4 season boat wax a try on my car. It was in the mid 40's and cooling while I was working. Both worked great. The #20 took slightly little longer to haze fully than normal (but not really anything to write home about). And the Trewax did pretty good. I only did my hood (just a test) and it wiped off pretty easy. I put a thin coat on the entire hood and then started to immediately buff off (I've used P21S too much). Worked like a charm.

I did notice the my Pooboy's Spray & Wipe took a little more effort to fully come off. It didn't really "flash" like it normally does when I'm doing the final wipe. No biggie though.

TortoiseAWD · 11-10-03, 06:37

Quote:

Originally posted by C-MDX
Can Zaino do good in cold and humid weather or is it better in warmer days????

With ZFX, I've had good luck with temps in the low 40's. It takes a bit longer to dry in the cold/damp, but it seemed to work OK otherwise.

Tort

kgb · 11-10-03, 07:39

Poorboy's EX

Scottwax · 11-10-03, 06:51

Quote:

Originally posted by 2001civicex
Poorboy's EX

I've tried that in the sun on warm (not hot) days and was impressed with how easy it was to remove. Colder days are coming (unfortunately

) so I am sure I'll have ample time to see how well it works in the cold too.

I haven't had any problems using Meguiars, Clearkote or S100 in near freezing temperatures.

CRXSi90 · 11-10-03, 07:56

Thanks for the replys, I hope others can use this info too!

Boy, if #20 works OK in colder weather, then that'd probably be the way to go! I suppose NXT will be OK too, since it is a quality meguiars product. Sounded like it would have similar durability if not better than #20 according to another thread! I'm sure there are going to be a bunch of autopians running out in february to get some, so I hope they report back on it's cold-weather qualities.

Trewax, now thats something I haven't heard of before...I guess I really should go check out some local boat places! ...see what they have...

About the #20, how long would you guess that it took to set up and haze...like did you take 15 min to go inside for some hot coffee/cocoa or what?

S100 - great in cold but not particularly durable compared to some other "synthetics"

Meguiars #20 - works good, but takes a while to haze...but great otherwise + durable

Trewax - works great...wonder about durability...boat wax, hopefully good

Poorboy's EX - supposedly a synthetic, right, but also has carnauba in it, possiblyy making it less effective...but good in cold

Clearcoat products - good results

other Meguiars products - good results

Zaino w/ ZFX - longer to dry, but works good.....and it is ZAINO!!! lol

Lost Pup · 11-11-03, 04:34

I detailed on a cold day here and used 3M SMR, Meguairs#9, Klasse AIO and SG with no problems.

AkronSi · 11-11-03, 05:52

CRXsi90, I'd say that I waited about 15 minutes for the #20 to setup. I'm always too impatient to wait the recommended 20 minutes. I would swipe my finger across one of the last spots that I applied the wax to, and if I came off cleanly and easily I started the removal process.

While I was waiting for the #20 to set, I washed the windshield on my car (it had a bunch of wierd gunk on it), spray & wiped the hood and applied/removed the trewax to the hood. I got the trewax from Proper Auto Care because I was ordering a bunch of other stuff and didn't want to hunt down Collinite or order it seperately online. I found a comparison online that rated it about as durable as Collinite, so I hope a couple layers of that with the #20 will hold up all winter. It's supposed to be salt and detergent resistant too.