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View Full Version : Layering different brands of wax?



superstring
10-27-2007, 02:35 PM
I`m sure this one has been discussed before sometime, but I hope you`ll humour me! ;)



I been thinking about what products to use on my next detail. It may be awhile before I get around to it, as I`m recovering from shoulder surgery. Anyway since I own both Meg`s #16 and Souveran, I was thinking of applying #16 as a base, as it`s by far the more durable of the two, and topping it with Souveran. My thought is to get the best of both worlds - durability and looks. It`s easy enough to re-apply Souveran every month or so, but I can relax about it knowing the #16 is there doing its` job even if all the Souveran wears away. But I`m wondering if I`m going to miss out on the Souveran "look" doing it this way? In other words will the end result look like Souveran or something unpredictable?



Has anyone has tried something similar with different carnuabas and how did it work out "looks wise"?



Thanks.

Accumulator
10-27-2007, 07:20 PM
I`ve spitshined Souveran over 476S with good results, but somebody tried it withOUT spitshining and ran into solvent-effect-type problems, so be a little careful. I`d absolutely spitshine it.



Putting the Souveran over the #16 might give you a *little* more depth, but FWIW I wouldn`t do it. IMO the Souveran degrades and leaves "dead wax" (for lack of a better term :o ) on top of the #16.

superstring
10-27-2007, 08:19 PM
Hey Accumulator! Thanks for the reply. Could you elaborate a bit about the "dead wax" thing? Doesn`t wax just wear off or simply evaporate? And why would spit shining eliminate this "problem"?

lbls1
10-27-2007, 08:42 PM
I am not a fan of that practice. Its been my experience that the best results I`ve seen personally have been thru hard work and a steady progression of layers of one wax of choice, regardless of the brand.



You can get added depth from combining products, but the key to an excellent finish IMO is how transparent the paint texture looks, how vibrant the color gets rendered, the sharpness and depth of reflected images, and how well all of those talents gets translated into a brilliant finish. Its hard to accomplish with a lot of products paired together that IMO may or may not necessarily translate well.

Accumulator
10-28-2007, 12:37 PM
lbls1- Oh you purist you ;) With some LSPs you`re absolutely right, but I sure was surprised with the look I got when I did the Souveran-over-476S on the Volvo (last detail before I gave it away). 476S only offers so much and tweaking the look can make it a little better. Bet a coat or two of...uhm...costly stuff....would help it out too :D



SuperString- IME (as best I can tell...this is subjective stuff) the Souveran doesn`t just disappear but rather leaves behind a little film/deteriorated wax layer/something. This can often be cleaned off by simply rewaxing with a *little* muscle behind it (the new wax does a solvent action thing) but it`s been noticeable enough that I couldn`t help but mention it. It bugs me on the Jag; I have to start over long before I have marring to correct because the engine heat kills the Souveran and just rewaxing doesn`t work all that long. Happened less quickly on Audis when I was Souveraning them, but I still had to clean it off long before 476S woulda died.



OTOH, the Volvo`s new owner rewaxed it with 845 when it needed it, and I didn`t hear any complaints, so maybe I`m being too cautious about this :nixweiss

lbls1
10-28-2007, 09:30 PM
lbls1- Oh you purist you ;) With some LSPs you`re absolutely right, but I sure was surprised with the look I got when I did the Souveran-over-476S on the Volvo (last detail before I gave it away). 476S only offers so much and tweaking the look can make it a little better. Bet a coat or two of...uhm...costly stuff....would help it out too :D



SuperString- IME (as best I can tell...this is subjective stuff) the Souveran doesn`t just disappear but rather leaves behind a little film/deteriorated wax layer/something. This can often be cleaned off by simply rewaxing with a *little* muscle behind it (the new wax does a solvent action thing) but it`s been noticeable enough that I couldn`t help but mention it. It bugs me on the Jag; I have to start over long before I have marring to correct because the engine heat kills the Souveran and just rewaxing doesn`t work all that long. Happened less quickly on Audis when I was Souveraning them, but I still had to clean it off long before 476S woulda died.



OTOH, the Volvo`s new owner rewaxed it with 845 when it needed it, and I didn`t hear any complaints, so maybe I`m being too cautious about this :nixweiss



Haha!!!!! Knew that`d getcha!!!!!!! Ahahahaha!!!!! Makes up for that wax is a wax sctik you served me!!!! lol!!!!

superstring
10-29-2007, 11:08 AM
SuperString- IME (as best I can tell...this is subjective stuff) the Souveran doesn`t just disappear but rather leaves behind a little film/deteriorated wax layer/something. This can often be cleaned off by simply rewaxing with a *little* muscle behind it (the new wax does a solvent action thing) but it`s been noticeable enough that I couldn`t help but mention it. It bugs me on the Jag; I have to start over long before I have marring to correct because the engine heat kills the Souveran and just rewaxing doesn`t work all that long. Happened less quickly on Audis when I was Souveraning them, but I still had to clean it off long before 476S woulda died.







Accumulator, is this something that you`ve noticed with other waxes or is it just a peculiar characteristic of Souveran??

Accumulator
10-29-2007, 11:44 AM
Accumulator, is this [residue/remnants of deteriorated wax] something that you`ve noticed with other waxes or is it just a peculiar characteristic of Souveran??



I`ve really only noticed it with Souveran and Malm`s liquid, both of which I used on the Jag, which got waxed a lot more than it got driven. It was especially pronounced on the hood/bonnet of the car, which gets *HOT*. But note that I probably inspect/notice things a lot more readily on that car than on the others that I use waxes on (as opposed to sealants).



I`ve seen the same phenomenon with 845IW and, to a lesser extent, with 476S but *ONLY* when I`ve used them on plastic/rubber surfaces, so I dunno if that`s a valid example of the same thing or not :nixweiss



I somehow associate Souveran`s being a beauty wax with short-lived durability with this whole thing. And I did *not* notice it to the usual degree when I was experimenting with letting it set up for a long time (as opposed to W-O-W-O). But that was just on some limited areas and I`ve yet to do the whole car with Souveran using this set-up method. So I dunno if it`ll make a huge difference or not, but I *suspect* that it`ll make *some* difference. But my general opinion is that some waxes degrade "cleaner" than others and that Souveran is not a clean on in this regard.



Wonder what ScottWax would have to say on this matter; his use of it in Texas, on numerous vehicles, would be a *MUCH* more informed opinion than mine is.

superstring
10-29-2007, 10:00 PM
Scottwax, are you there?