Carnauba % content?

[blonzz]

According to this information the maximum quality carnauba wax a product can contain is around 30%.



Griot`s Garage (http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=11154)



Tech Tip



Companies that advertise 100% carnauba in their wax aren`t being truthful. The truth is, the maximum carnauba content of a quality carnauba wax is about 30%. Carnauba is rock hard, and to apply it easily to your paint`s surface you need petroleum distillates and naphtha to make it workable. We push the envelope with 33% carnauba content.



I see waxes that claim that they contain 51%, 55% and as high as "containing over 60% by volume of ultra pure Brazilian white carnauba." (http://swissol.com/E/US/Produkte_Lack3.htm)



"contains 61 percent Brazilian No. 1 White Carnauba by volume,.." (http://www.zymol.com/vintage2.htm)





What`s the truth on these claims?



John

[John N.]

Zymol states that its Royale wax contains 68-70% white carnauba by volume. They also state that pure carnauba in its natural state is harder than concrete. Zymol includes % by volume claims for carnauba based on sap / wax, not just wax, so that may be where the semantics come into play.

[John N.]

BTW many companies market waxes as "pure waxes" but only mean that the products do not contain cleaners, not that they are 100% wax. Whether they are trying to be misleading or not... :nixweiss

[Bobby G]

I guess what you really need to understand is what the term "by volume" means.



By volume of what?



68-70% total Carnauba content? Not a chance!

[RobDon]

PB polish with carnuba says 100% carnuba wax content, it can`t be then?



"This is a non-abrasive polish containing 100% carnuba wax. It cleans and seals a paint`s finish in one step. This is an excellent one-step product for paints in good condition. It works very well with orbital buffers."

[Setec Astronomy]

It means that 100% of the wax in it is carnauba, not that it`s 100% carnauba wax. Besides, if it was 100% wax, there wouldn`t be any polish in it, would there?

[RobDon]

Ah I see! :)

[John N.]

After a little research it seems that Zymol combines the percentages of carnauba sap with the percentages of carnauba wax to come up with a "__% carnauba by volume" number. Note that they often claim percentages of "carnauba" by volume, not percentages of "carnauba wax." The language they use on their website is confusing though. For instance, they say that their "Vintage contains 61 percent Brazilian No. 1 White Carnauba by volume, the highest in any automotive finish protective product." But directly underneath it they say that their "Royale Glaze contains 70% Brazilian No.1 White Carnauba by volume." Hmm...they are both automotive finish protective products, so the claim that 61% is the highest percentage doesn`t square with the claim that Royal Glaze contains 70%. :hm



The biggest ambiguity seems to be in the sap / wax distinction. To further complicate the issue, some manufacturers seem to use the sap and wax terminology synonomously when disclosing total carnauba content and some do not. Some seperate the two categories and some combine them. Zymol even lists the contents of some of their products as "sap AND wax," while combining others as "sap/wax." I guess the mystery continues. :chuckle:

[Bill D]

:chuckle: It would`ve been a lot less complicated to simply pick numbers out of the air.

[JasonD]

:chuckle: It would`ve been a lot less complicated to simply pick numbers out of the air.



Maybe that`s exactly what they did! :rofl Isn`t Zymol owned by Turtle Wax or something??