zaino drying time

[colche]

Hi all,



Let me first say that I am new to autopia having only discovered it about 1 month ago and have found it a wealth of knowledge and information. I have gradually become more `obsessed` with detailing but i see i am very much a greenhorn compared to many of the devotees on this forum.



Anyway, I recently recieved the Zaino pack for xmas, and did the the whole Dawn, Clay, Z7, AIO, Z1, Z2/Z6 combo (x3).



The car looks good, feels very slick and is beading nicely -- but something is still bothering me...



When I applied the Z2 it seemed to me to dry pretty quickly (almost instant). In fact I could have sworn the first section was dry by the time i did the entire car (20+ minutes?)



Now judging from the posts here and on all the instructions everywhere it is supposed to take a long time to dry? The instructions that came with the pack said to wait at least 1 hour, from memory other instructions i found on the web suggest to wait 6+ hours if in the sun or over 60oF or up to 24 hours if humid.



As I had the luxury of leaving the car in the garage over xmas I took no chances [I left each coat at least a whole night (8 hours) to dry and the whole day (12+ hours) to cure after wiping before applying another coat. ]. However, for future coats I will not be so fortunate.



Now is this `instant` drying time I witnessed typical? I am from Australia and it is summer here so most days it was around 25oc (77oF) and overnight even with rain outside it would average around 15oc (59oF). I was pretty sure it was dry as I ran my finger through a hazed section and it appeared to come off `crystal clear`. The only reason I didn`t buff immediately was I knew I had time to leave it, just in case. I wasn`t too skimpy on the polish either, the 2nd time around I made a concerted effort to form hazing using up about 1/2-3/4 ounces for a small-medium sized car. Any thoughts/opinions? Mainly is this drying time typical for my conditions or is this not realistic and could I not judging it being dry properly? - There did not appear to be any smearing whatsoever, it was a silver car under artificial lights so anything is hard to see but i shone various bright torches on it and looked from various angles.



One final thing, I doubt i have the Z2Pro formula? My Z2 bottle, whilst pinkish liquid has a red cap, and was ordered from a distributor in Australia in December, so I would assume a typical lag time in distribution overseas.

[imported_memnuts]

Welcome to Autopia!!!

One of the improvements from a couple of years ago with the Z2 was it drying time compared to 3 or 4 years ago. If applied thinly Z2 will dry quite quickly in warm weather and low humidity. I am sure the Z1 plus Z2 coat did not dry instantly. ;)

From my experience the old Z2 was quite user friendly so your experience is normal. Even though the haze maybe instantaneous I still, even with Z2-PRO with or with ZFX, allow 20 minutes of curing to occur. Is that necessary? :nixweiss

Hope this help. :wavey

[shumax]

Originally posted by blkZ28Conv

Welcome to Autopia!!!

One of the improvements from a couple of years ago with the Z2 was it drying time compared to 3 or 4 years ago. If applied thinly Z2 will dry quite quickly in warm weather and low humidity. I am sure the Z1 plus Z2 coat did not dry instantly. ;)

From my experience the old Z2 was quite user friendly so your experience is normal. Even though the haze maybe instantaneous I still, even with Z2-PRO with or with ZFX, allow 20 minutes of curing to occur. Is that necessary? :nixweiss

Hope this help. :wavey





I would agree with this statement. I`ve used Zaino now for a year and have had the exact same experience as outlined above.

[togwt]

:welcome to Autopia colche



:xyxthumbs with what`s been said so far about Zanio



What part of Australia are you from, we have a few Aussie contributors to this forum (and even us Brits will talk to them LOL)



JonM

[Mirror Images]

I have been using Zaino for 4 years now. I have noticed that the product seems to dry faster as well. However, it goes on so thin it seems to be dry in some cases when it really is not. I have noticed for me (in georgia) that the new imporved Zaino takes 3 to 4 hours to properly dry without using the ZFX. That is when the car is in the garage. Out in the direct sunlight it only takes 30 to 45 minutes to dry with out using ZFX. My .02

[aldive]

Here in Florida, Z2 as well as Z2 Pro, with or without ZFX, drys completely in less than 5 minutes.



What are your thoughts on buffing it off as soon as its dry?



Thanks .....

[imported_Axe]

OK this is a question of interest to me too, (my z2 is due to arrive soon) so I set about finding a good answer, i found this link http://home.flash.net/~hohne1/zainoinstructions.html which seems to address a lot of issues. I hope this helps you, I found it useful :)

[colche]

thanks for the responses and welcome peoples!



TOGWT: I am from Melbourne, Australia :)



I think the confusion arises from the from the range of weather conditions, as well as the various different zaino formulas that seem to have existed? Perhaps somebody can clarify the different formulas as I have only gathered pits and pieces of what i have read on autopia. What kinda temps and formulas are you guys using w or w/o ZFX...



i. old old z2 `orange pink`

ii. old new z2 `pink` or

iii. new z2 `thick pink` pro



Part of the reason i was so suprised is that some of the instructions i read were probaably catering for worse case scenarios. I was preparing for a 24 hour wait time, but was suprised when it was `done` relatively quickly. After speaking with the distributer I bought it from he also says that 40 minutes drying is not abnormal, especially if it is sunny. Could it even be I have the PRO? The distributer says he was sent new `trial` formulas when he restocked from zaino about 1 year ago, but he seemed unsure about the PRO version. To my knowledge only the white cap Z2`s are pros though, mine has a red cap, so I assume its the `older new` pink formula.



Anyway, it is not that I am impatient but it is more time constraints on when I need to use the car again. There is not much difference between waiting 20 minutes or a few hours, but it is if you have to wait 24, and then another 24 before the next coat. Judging from your responses though, even though it hazes almost instantly, and dries under 1 hour, I think its safer to assume 1-3 hours on my next coat just in case i am not judging the dryness correctly.

[colche]

Do you know if your Z2 is the Pro formula though? As for buffing off immediately I don`t see any issues with this -- even if it isn`t dry I think the most you would do would be to move/smear the polish around further (like reapplying it).






Originally posted by aldive

Here in Florida, Z2 as well as Z2 Pro, with or without ZFX, drys completely in less than 5 minutes.



What are your thoughts on buffing it off as soon as its dry?



Thanks .....

[aldive]

Originally posted by colche

Do you know if your Z2 is the Pro formula though? As for buffing off immediately I don`t see any issues with this -- even if it isn`t dry I think the most you would do would be to move/smear the polish around further (like reapplying it).



Yes. definately Z2 Pro.

[imported_Axe]

Question is colche, one assumes you have now completed the zaino application, one way or another ... so does it look impressively shinier, wetter, glossier - are you struggling to tell whether it made a jot of difference ? What is your verdict ? Any before and after pics ? :)

[paco]

Colche,



Sal is always tweaking the formula so the batch you have is probably very close to the Pro version. The whole drying time issue seems to be more related to Z5 than Z2 based on the post I`ve read but it could also be that it is a myth from older formulations of years gone by.



The new stuff seems to very user friendly and dries pretty quickly.



I`m actually going to be dropping Sal an e-mail and finding out why he still recommends using ZFX with Z2-Pro since the drying time is so low now. I don`t really see the need for it anymore if the end user is going the Z1/Z2-Pro route. You should be able to layer Z2 (3 coats etc) on a base of Z1 without ZFX.



The cap is a more defiinite change. It doesn`t mean your formula isn`t close to that of the final Pro version.



Paco

[imported_memnuts]

Originally posted by paco

I`m actually going to be dropping Sal an e-mail and finding out why he still recommends using ZFX with Z2-Pro since the drying time is so low now. I don`t really see the need for it anymore if the end user is going the Z1/Z2-Pro route. You should be able to layer Z2 (3 coats etc) on a base of Z1 without ZFX.



The cap is a more defiinite change. It doesn`t mean your formula isn`t close to that of the final Pro version.



Paco



Hi Paco



Do not confuse drying and curing. ZFX did improve drying time for Z2 but also Z5. But the main reason for ZFX is for accelerated curing. This is the only reason why up to 3 coats can be applied in one day. Without ZFX proper curing of a single application of either Z2-PRO or Z5 requires 24hrs.

Hope this helps. :wavey

[paco]

blkZ28Conv



I`ve been wondering about the curing versus dry time issue with Zaino for some time now.



Sal responded to my email today (very quick response and very pleasant) and he said that ZFX adds a lot to it and not just accelerated curing as he feels add to the shine as well, including durability as repeated use of ZFX can help bond everything.



However, he did say as well that as long as you use ZFX every 8 - 10 coats, that you don`t necessarily need to use it when layering. The questioning was related to Z2-PRO though and not Z2 (old) or Z5. :up Which was what I thought based on my experience.



The only thing though is that I do remember a couple of years back when I first started using Zaino that Z5/ZFX had a very slight different look that Z5/Z1. Unfortunately, I haven`t done that comparison with Z2, let alone Z2-PRO.



Unfortunately, the e-mail is on my work computer.



Paco

[colche]

Originally posted by Axe

Question is colche, one assumes you have now completed the zaino application, one way or another ... so does it look impressively shinier, wetter, glossier - are you struggling to tell whether it made a jot of difference ? What is your verdict ? Any before and after pics ? :)



My car is newish and silver metallic and so it is pretty hard to make substancial difference to appearance either way (whether it be dirtier or cleaner). I asked my partner about it and she said "Your car always looks clean it just looks cleaner now"!!!



What I can say is that the Zainos gave it a nice clear "glow" to the paint -- and I definately like the extra slickness. The main reason I gave Zainos a go though was its reputation for durability. Mine is a daily driver parked outside all day under insane summer heats (42C/108F) to torrential rain and hail and I was getting sick of my Meguiars only lasting 2 weeks tops. It remains to be seen how long it lasts, but I plan on reapplying 2 layers every 3 months.