Can A Store Bought Wax Compete With A Boutique Sealant?

[vdubrick]

Hi,



we are all talking about different products, waxing, polishing and the shine of our cars. Some prefer Klasse because "...it shines more than Zaino" or Zaino, cuz it shines more than Klasse. We can give thousands of examples here.



My question is, can we measure `shine` ? If yes, how?



Maybe an OT question but would appreciate any feedback



Deckard

[YoSteve]

Yes, you can measure the shine in % gloss. 100% being mirror finish. My dad has a gloss meter at work and I was going to experiement a little with it, but never had the time. If someone wants to wax some panels at least the size of a post it or whatever, I can have them read.

[DETAILKING]

Here is good test that included Zaino and a bunch of other kinds of waxes and polishes, it is from an old copy of Corvette World magazine, sorry for the quality, they guy who wrote it did a great job.

page 1 http://people.ce.mediaone.net/bcurrey/images/zaino_art1a.jpg (`http://people.ce.mediaone.net/bcurrey/images/zaino_art1a.jpg`)
page 2 http://people.ce.mediaone.net/bcurrey/images/zaino_art1b.jpg (`http://people.ce.mediaone.net/bcurrey/images/zaino_art1b.jpg`)
If you like looking at tests, check out the May 1999 issue of Corvette Fever, Zaino rated number one in gloss, durability, and ease of use, sorry I do not have this one scanned.

[forrest@mothers]

Is easy to do with a gloss meter - basically a light meter that sends a known amount of light down, and then measures the amount that comes back, converting it to a %.



You also measure standard deviation, which tells you how uniform the shine is - the lower the #, the more even the shine.



Honestly, you don`t want to know the % of light that comes back, as you`ll be really disappointed that all your hard work actually degrades the amount of light that comes back at you. (Any time you put something between the paint and you, it will keep a certain % of the light, in effect absorbing it.)



Go for the subjective "I like the look/shine",and forget about the scientific number - you`ll be much happier.

[YoSteve]

When testing I would think we would go for a relative number. Like testing 1 coat of SG versus 3. We would get a certain % on 1 reading (or set of readings) and 1 on another for comparison (not really considering what that number is)

[imported_BretFraz]

Like many of you, I have a huge collection of car care products. Over the years I have tested literally dozens of waxes, polishes, and sealants. I`ve used everything from waxes bought at Big Lots to exclusive sealants available only from their manufacturer.

My attitude toward "store bought" waxes is they are developed and produced to meet a price point, and to gain shelf space at mass retailers. The actual product in the bottle is compromised to a certain degree in order to meet these marketing parameters. From a business perspective, it is hard to argue with this philosophy. If you want to sell your products to WalMart and the national auto parts chains, you must have a product that meets their criteria in order to get into their product mix.

As serious car enthusiasts, however, sometimes our desire for class-leading products causes us to dismiss retail products simply because we assume they are inferior in performance and technology. In my testing of car care products, I can tell you that within certain price ranges, there is a great sameness to products. Occassionally, one or two stand out and when they do, I like to report on them.

Recently, Mothers sent me a pre-production sample of a new paste-style version of their FX Synwax. They asked me to test it on my vehicles and let them know what I thought. About the same time, I received a sample of a paint sealant that had received many positive reviews. I thought I would do a torture test on my truck to see if the new Mothers product could hold its own against a more expensive, mail order paint sealant.

The sealant I am testing against the Mothers product is Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection. You can read about it here: http://www.properautocare.com/blacallfinpa.html I`ve played with this product off and on for a few months until I decided to see how it stacked up against the new Mothers product.

The test vehicle is my 2004 GMC Sierra. I applied two coats of each product to the hood and front fenders, with the drivers side coated in Blackfire and the passengers side in Mothers. I prepped the paint by claying and polishing with Meguiars M205, followed by an IPA wipedown.

It has been about 6 weeks since I first applied the products. Since then the truck has seen only hand washes. No QD, no spray waxes or spray sealants, no "freshen up`s". My goal was to compare them fairly, side by side, to see if a product which will be sold at mass retail can compete with a boutique-style paint sealant.




In this first pic, all I did was lightly spray water onto the hood. The goal was to replicate a light rain shower, to show if the products were still beading after 6 weeks.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire006.jpg



I then decided to hit each side with a strong spray of water. This really shows off the differences of the two products. First, the Mothers Synwax side:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire009.jpg


Next, the Blackfire Wet Diamond side:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire010.jpg


You see that? The Mothers Synwax is sheeting water, while the Blackfire Wet Diamond is beading water. While I have not spoken to chemists from either company, it seems to me these products were designed to do this.




When I stopped spraying water onto the hood, I watched to see how the water would react to the products. Look at the Mothers side (passenger`s) versus the Blackfire side:


http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire004.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire011.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire012.jpg

Note that the Synwax sheeted water until most of it ran off the surface. The Blackfire side continued to bead water although the bulk of it ran off, too. The time elapsed from the first to the last pic is approx 45 seconds.

Finally, I trickled water on the hood to remove most of the water droplets. I wanted to see how dry the hood would be, a good sign of surface tension and a way to see if the wax is still holding up:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire014.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire016.jpg


As you can see, each product is different in how it reacts to water. However, the end result is virtually the same. Both sides show equal gloss after 6 weeks, the slick feel is about the same as well. My experience is Blackfire holds up for about 3 months. If the Mothers Synwax paste can hold its own against an expensive paint sealant, it might be worth checking out and recommending to friends who will not pay big bucks for a mail order paint sealant.




I am extending this test to other parts of my truck. I did some polishing today with Meguiars Ultimate Compound (review coming soon). I applied a coat of Blackfire Wet Diamond to the rear half of the truck bed, and a coat of Mothers FX Synwax paste to the front half:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire018.jpg

I`ll torture test these products throughout the winter to see which holds up better to rain, dirt, and road grime.




Hope y`all found this interesting. Feel free to hit me with comments, questions, and suggestions.

[imported_Luster]

That is quite a good test Bret.

This picture really tells the story. There are some who say that beading vs. sheeting is not a true sign of protection, but it`s pretty hard to argue with photos like this:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/bretfraz/mothersblackfire011.jpg

[Tuck91]

NIce test and nice truck as well :)

[Legacy99]

Nice test. Does one side look better than the other?

[supercharged]

Nice test...OTC products are OTC products...Duragloss is the only one I still can buy OTC and online and it is very nice product line... By the way, BF Wet Diamond is one of the very nest sealants out there, I knew it was gonna win!!!

[imported_Bunky]

As you can see, each product is different in how it reacts to water. However, the end result is virtually the same. Both sides show equal gloss after 6 weeks, the slick feel is about the same as well. My experience is Blackfire holds up for about 3 months. If the Mothers Synwax paste can hold its own against an expensive paint sealant, it might be worth checking out and recommending to friends who will not pay big bucks for a mail order paint sealant.


Nice review. Different sheeting, same slickness and gloss. It seems like the FX is doing better than some boutique products so once again OTC / bBoutique are just words.

Let us know at 3 months how it is going.

[imported_doctordon]

Outstanding review. Thanks for sharing your results.

[imported_BretFraz]

Thanks for all the compliments, everyone. I`ll keep testing this thru the winter.



Nice test. Does one side look better than the other?

On the hood, no. Both sides look and feel virtually the same. I cannot tell a difference looking at them from several angles.

On the truck bed I did yesterday, I noticed a difference as soon as I applied them. The Blackfire side has a more "silvery" look to it, much like Klasse SG. The Mothers side has a glossy finish which brings out the color. The reflectivity is not sharp like Zaino, which makes paint look like you applied a new clearcoat to it. Instead, it has a nice, crisp overall look that was immediately noticeable. We`ll see how they look after a few weeks when the "bling" has worn off some.

[imported_Flash Gordon]

Wow, that was a cool test. That color red is very pretty

What kinda camera are you using?

[imported_BretFraz]

Wow, that was a cool test. That color red is very pretty

What kinda camera are you using?


It`s a loaner from a friend. Sony DSC-P200. 7.2MP. No image stabilization so I have to be careful when taking pics. Has a decent Carl Zeiss lens for such a small cam. I was using the flash in the garage pics, holding the cam stable against the Brinkmann. The non-flash pics I took came out too blurry to be used.