9 Wax Unbiased Review

[JohnKleven]

An employee of mine has the perfect test vehicle for a wax test. His car is parked outside, here in Seattle we do get the "occasional" rain drop also. Since he has worked for me in the last 8 months, he hasn`t found a day to finally correct his paint. That still has not happened. I corrected his hood for this wax comparison, and unfortunately the rest of his car is not wearing any wax. His hood however has 9 waxes/sealants.



So here goes my unbiased review, the entire hood was corrected, using SIP and orange pad, and Super Finish and white pad. I cleaned entire hood using Menzerna Top Inspection. I took a gloss measurement after correction, and also after the wax was applied. My gloss meter takes a measurement at 20 degree angle, 60 degree angle, and 85 degree angle. Here are the surprising results.



The 9 competitors are as follows.

1. FMJ

2. 1Z Glanz

3. Sonax Nanotechnology Liquid Wax

4. Auto Glym HD

5. Sonax Premium Class Carnauba Wax

6. Dodo SN

7. Vintage brand wax

8. Titanium brand wax

9. Nanoskin Hydrophobic





Results will show as following



Brand

After correction reading - After wax reading

2=20 degree

6=60 degree

9=85 degree



FMJ

2=93.1 - 88.2

6=96.9 - 94.1

9=97.5 - 97.4



1Z Glanz

2=92.0 - 89.9

6=96.6 - 94.8

9=97.1 - 97.0



Sonax Nanotechnology Liquid Wax

2=89.8 - 90.5

6=96.5 - 95.1

9=96.7 - 96.9



AGHD

2=93.0 - 88.7

6=96.7 - 94.0

9=97.3 - 97.4



Sonax Premium Class Carnauba Wax

2=91.6 - 90.7

6=96.4 - 95.1

9=97.0 - 97.3



Dodo SN

2=90.6 - 90.8

6=96.4 - 94.3

9=96.7 - 96.9



Vintage brand wax

2=92.7 - 90.8

6=96.4 - 94.8

9=96.8 - 96.8



Titanium brand wax

2=92.0 - 90.8

6=96.4 - 95.0

9=96.7 - 97.1



Nanoskin Hydrophobic

2=90.9 - 90.8

6=96.2 - 95.1

9=96.1 - 95.3



As you can see, in this test all the waxes actually diminished the gloss from after paintwork correction. I think the Sonax Nanotechnology Liquid wax ,and the Dodo SN were among the best. I however am not performing laboratory testing, and with any test like this results will vary. Take it as you will. Gloss is not the only thing that adds value to a shiny car, as I WILL say that some of these more expensive waxes do give a better shine than some less expensive waxes, no matter what these test results were.





John

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

Very interesting



Within one test section was there variation in gloss? Meaning, within one section (one wax) if you were to take different readings in different areas of the same section was there gloss variation according to your meter or was it consistent?

[JohnKleven]

Very interesting



Within one test section was there variation in gloss? Meaning, within one section (one wax) if you were to take different readings in different areas of the same section was there gloss variation according to your meter or was it consistent?



It was actually very consistent throughout the entire area.





John

[Barry Theal]

John MY ? is. What is a high measure reading of gloss? I`m curious to know how gloss is affected on different colors. One thing I would also love to see is. The exact measurements in like a month, then 2 months. Just some thoughts ya know. This is a new must have in a couple of months.

[JohnKleven]

John MY ? is. What is a high measure reading of gloss? I`m curious to know how gloss is affected on different colors. One thing I would also love to see is. The exact measurements in like a month, then 2 months. Just some thoughts ya know. This is a new must have in a couple of months.



Good question. I will keep updating this post in the future, and I`ll take some waterbead shots tomorrow of the hood, and take future measurements, and see if a wax that is more durable will keep the gloss higher, or lower?

[wannafbody]

Thanks for proving that waxes aren`t optically clear.

[JohnKleven]

So yesterday, I rechecked all the gloss readings to see if anything had changed while the car sat inside our shop overnight. I`m guessing that some of the polymers had cross-linked and made a noticeable improvement. Pretty much all of the waxes had gained some gloss by sitting overnight. I also posted a picture of the waterbeading in the different areas.



Here are the results:



FMJ

2=93.1 - 88.2 - 87.1

6=96.9 - 94.1 - 95.1

9=97.5 - 97.4 - 96.4



1Z Glanz

2=92.0 - 89.9 - 92.0

6=96.6 - 94.8 - 96.5

9=97.1 - 97.0 - 97.1



Sonax Nano

2=89.8 - 90.5 - 92.5

6=96.5 - 95.1 - 96.6

9=96.7 - 96.9 - 97.2



AGHD

2=93.0 - 88.7 - 87.3

6=96.7 - 94.0 - 95.2

9=97.3 - 97.4 - 96.8



Sonax Premium Class Carnauba

2=91.6 - 90.7 - 93.4

6=96.4 - 95.1 - 96.9

9=97.0 - 97.3 - 97.3



Dodo SN

2=90.6 - 90.8 - 92.4

6=96.4 - 94.3 - 96.3

9=96.7 - 95.9 - 97.0



Vintage

2=92.7 - 90.8 - 93.0

6=96.5 - 94.8 - 97.3

9=96.8 - 96.8 - 97.4



Titanium

2=92.0 - 90.8 - 93.4

6=96.4 - 95.0 - 96.2

9=96.7 - 97.1 - 97.3



Nanoskin Hydrophobic

2=90.9 - 90.8 - 92.9

6=96.2 - 95.1 - 96.4

9=96.1 - 95.3 - 96.9



In conclusion Dodo Juice Supernatural, Nanoskin, Titanium and the Sonax waxes are on top with noticeable improvement overnight. Now on to the durability test. I will check the waxes in a few weeks and see how they`re holding up. Thanks for looking.



John

[getcha]

Thanks for the mini project here John.



Is the Nanoskin one the one that you sell??

[Camaro5Ryan]

I`m looking forward to the results

[rdorman]

Cool test and interesting results. Thanks!

[Tru_Shine]

subscribed....... GO!!!! DODO juice SN!!!!! woooo woooo wooo!

[JohnKleven]

Thanks for the mini project here John.



Is the Nanoskin one the one that you sell??



It`s one of the many many waxes in our arsenal. Thanks everyone, kind of a fun test.





John

[imported_fishbonezken]

AWESOME TEST! Thanks for sharing your results John. I hope you don`t mind if I compile it into a table and chart.



For the table, I calculated the average gloss after correction, waxing and curing. It makes it easier to compare single numbers.

Then, I also calculated the change in average gloss after wax and change in average gloss after curing.



In the table below, the ones highlighted in red shows a negative change, which basically means gloss fell after waxing. After curing however, there were some changes. The ones highlighted in blue shows a change in average gloss that is higher then the average gloss after correction. This is quite interesting as I have always assumed that gloss is at it`s maximum after correction. This shows that gloss can actually be improved after a cured layer of wax, although very marginal.



The largest change in gloss after curing from highest to lowest:



Nanoskin Hydrophobic (1.3)

Sonax Nano (1.1)

Sonax Premium Class Carnauba (0.866666667)

Dodo Juice Supernatural (0.666666667)

Zymol Titanium (0.6)

Zymol Vintage (0.566666667)

1Z Glanz (-0.033333333)

Autoglym High Definition (-2.566666667)

Menzerna Full Molecular Jacket (-2.966666667)



http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/rohteeplunta/new%20blog%20album/Glosstable3.jpg

*sry for the poor quality, double compression because of JPEG and photobucket*



I then created a chart to show the changes.

The blue bar shows average gloss after correction.

Red bar shows average gloss after wax.

Green bar shows average gloss after curing.



http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/rohteeplunta/new%20blog%20album/Glosschart.jpg



So waxes that have a green bar higher than the blue bar shows that it will improve gloss after curing. So based on the chart above, should we dismiss Menzerna FMJ altogether?



My opinion is that it is too early to tell. There is always a compromise in a detailing product(in fact, most things).



For example, in my wash and wax shampoo test (http://wetshinedetailing.blogspot.com/2010/04/mythbusting-wash-wax-shampoos-review-of.html), I learned that a shampoo that creates relatively strong water sheeting will have to compromise on suds.



So Menzerna FMJ may have lost a lot of gloss comparatively, but maybe it will outlast the rest? I don`t know, hopefully John will be able to monitor the durability to form a conclusion.



Another interesting observation is Zymol Titanium vs Vintage.

Both these waxes improve the gloss after curing. But one costs $71 and the other costs $2184 :eek:, how is the price difference justified?



Is the (much)more expensive one easier to apply and remove?

Could it be more durable and have better protection?

:nixweiss



Thanks again for your efforts, John! :bow

[JohnKleven]

WOW, that`s GREAT.... You put some time into this one. It`s so much easier to read now. What I will say is that this test will ONLY measure gloss with a digital meter. When you compare the Vintage wax and Titanium wax for example, there is no comparison. As a lot of the pros on here will also verify, a high quality carnauba has a very special "glow" and "depth" that are not calculated with a gloss meter. FMJ and AutoGlym HD are both very very nice products, but just don`t measure up with the others in "gloss". In my personal opinion, these look just as nice as some others on the list. No question. Thank you for your efforts fishbonezken.





John

[dasyce]

Can anyone tell me where I can get Nanoskin Hydrophobic ?



I searched with no luck.