Don`t have to wax??

[Nickshades]

Anyone have any idea why water beads on a car if its not waxed. I was looking at my grandfather`s cadillac today when it rained and noticed that water was beading on the surface, not sitting in sheets. However, I asked him if he waxes his car and he said no, but the dealership or whatever said that its protected with something so u don`t have to. I was like whaaaaaaaat? So I`m hoping someone can fill me in what`s going on here. Thanks a lot from the inquiring mind. :)

[Aurora]

I don`t know how that works, but I sometimes see beading on cars that I know don`t have protection on them. I have no clue. Somebody? I do like how the beads roll around my hood when I`m driving and that`s something I`ve never seen before while riding on someone else`s car.

[04BlackAV]

Same here I had a water tanker truck parked in my yard for a week and you could see it was something that doesn`t get waxed every week or year.Yet when it rained the water beaded up on the hood.:nixweiss

[kartoon]

I`m just guessing but maybe it`s a greasy film buildup. Grease would cause water to bead.

[Nickshades]

hmmm.........i don`t know, but its bothering me!:nixweiss

[topnotchtouch]

I wouldn`t worry about it too much, beading alone really isn`t a good indicator of protection anyway. All it tells you is that there is surface tension on the paint.



Another consideration is that most car wash products today contain oils that are left behind that promote beading so if the car was washed recently that could be the source of the beading.



Lastly, does your grandfather take the car to automatic car washes? If so, wax is applied during that process.

[Nickshades]

Originally posted by rjstaaf

Lastly, does your grandfather take the car to automatic car washes? If so, wax is applied during that process.



I know that he doesn`t take it to the car wash, but rather washes it himself sometimes. He told me when he bought it they told him that it was protected so he wouldn`t have to wax or anything. Could it be like a teflon coating or something. I think I`ve heard of something like that.

[Accumulator]

Nickshades- Whatever the dealership put on it is probably resposible for the beading. Wait and see how long it lasts.



Besides that, as rjstaaf said, beading really is just surface tension. A freshly painted panel, with *nothing* on it, will bead just great, for a while.



Oh, and try to convice your grandpa that his Caddy really oughta be treated right. My dad`s second wife bought the "not need to wax" line and her Volvo (now my beater) really suffered for it :rolleyes:



Heh heh, "teflon" on cars..heh heh heh. Not unless it was baked on at temps you can`t use on cars ;)

[Nickshades]

Originally posted by Accumulator

Besides that, as rjstaaf said, beading really is just surface tension. A freshly painted panel, with *nothing* on it, will bead just great, for a while.



Heh heh, "teflon" on cars..heh heh heh. Not unless it was baked on at temps you can`t use on cars ;)



Now, the question is how can u tell if it needs a wax if you are looking at the car and the water is beading. Usually I thought that was the determinent as far as waxing goes. Secondly, I`ve come across a website that offers teflon sealants. I have no idea what this is, but if you want to take a gander, the site is: http://www.detailworks.com/Teflon.htm. Thanks for the reply.

[Accumulator]

Nickshades- I checked out that link. IMO, they`re propagating, uhm, "questionably worded" information. Teflon doesn`t bond to things unless you apply very high temperatures. Someone posted the official info from Dupont a while back and it`s pretty conclusive.



That doesn`t mean that products "containing teflon" are necessarily crap, but it does give insight into the people who use the word "Teflon" to sell such things ;)



Once, back in the late `80s, just for the [fun] of it, I let a dealer apply "Teflon-based" stuff to a new beater vehicle that was gonna be parked outside (PST brand, as I recall). It behaved like a typical low-end sealant. Looked OK, lasted a few months, but it sure wasn`t a "non-stick surface" or otherwise anything special. A non-autopian friend of ours gets "Teflon" stuff on her leased vehicle (and they redo it frequently during the lease period). It`s OK, and the approach works for her, but it`s sure not like "nothing sticks to it". She has bird-bomb etching to prove it, and I`ve had to clay stubborn stuck-on stuff off of it a few times.



Here`s why *I* believe beading can be indicative of protection- and I hope this doesn`t appear to contradict what I posted earlier: Once paint isn`t new any more it looses its "smoothness" perhaps only microscopically; it won`t bead- no surface tension on the rough surface. If you polish it (but don`t apply a LSP) it will bead, but not for long (the roughness returns). When you apply the LSP it beads, and does so for a while (I`m leaving out the products that "sheet" for simplicity`s sake) because of the smooth layer of wax/whatever. After the LSP is gone, the paint is again exposed to the elements. It might bead *for a very short time* due to the previous polishing, but the paint`s smoothness/finish (and thus the surface tension) quickly degrades- resulting in no beading, but rather the "pooling" that you see on vehicles that "need waxed". And just the degraded remains of the LSP will usually cause such a rough surface that there won`t be any real beading (perhaps this is why some products "bead until they sheet" :nixweiss they`re still there, you can see and feel their presence, but no more beading ) All just IMO, of course.

[shaf]

Personally I use both slickness and beading/sheeting action to judge wax protection.



Seeing how water beads or how easily it runs off isn`t terribly reliable by itself, but if the water seems to bead up or run off well, and the paint feels slick and slippery (when dry) then I would bet the wax is still there.

[Nickshades]

what waxes in anyone`s opion is the sheeting more prevalent over the beading?

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Nickshades

what waxes in anyone`s opion is the sheeting more prevalent over the beading?



Supposedly some of the newer sealants sheet rather than bead. But KSG, UPP (formerly Platinum), and BF all bead for *me* so I really dunno :nixweiss Well, the SG starts to sheet about the time I redo it.

[imported_YouGottaBeLeaf]

I bought my car in 1999 and I paid extra for the permanent wax thing too. It`s supposed to last 10 years or so. Can`t remember what it`s called.



However, I have recently begun to do the whole clay/polish/wax thing because I found I was getting too many swirls (it HAS been 5 years).



I`m not sure what level the perma-wax thing was put on....i.e. I don`t know if it was part of the clearcoat or paint or if it was a separate layer of something they put on.

[shaf]

Originally posted by Nickshades

what waxes in anyone`s opion is the sheeting more prevalent over the beading? There really isn`t a "good" answer for this I think... some products such as Klasse have been known for sheeting, but for me it`s usually beaded.... A monkey wrench is thrown into this when you consider people might judge "beading" and "sheeting" slightly differently.