My Wolfgang Review

[BillNorth]

I wanted to wait a while before posting this thread. I had an opportunity to use WG on my car back on May 15th.



Prior to this detailing session the car had been clayed, 1 x aio via pc and polishing pad, 3 x SG spaced 1 week apart using WOO (obviously ) and 1 x blitz wax a week after the third SG coat back in August of 2003. The car was hand washed once every three weeks and during the winter months taken to the touchless automatic car wash at the local gas station once a month.



First I washed the car with Mothers california gold. Man did it look good for 8 months without any polishing/sealing/waxing. As a side note, WG has big shoes to fill. Klasse is such an outstanding product.



Next I clayed with Mothers clay using the mothers QD as lube. I dried the lube off of each section as I went along, so no need to rewash after.



Next step was the WG cleaner. I applied it via PC and polishing pad to all horizontal surfaces and all vetical surfaces above the middle of the door, and by hand to all surfaces below the door. My impressions: This stuff is total garbage. I absolutely hate this product. When I applied it via PC it would not diminish. It was like I was spinning my wheels. The product would not dust/break down. I finally had to stop and remove the majority of it with my MF. I experimented using little to no product on the pad and came up with the same result. Trying to buff the product off was a PITA as well. I was really starting to miss my AIO right about now. When I applied the product by hand using a dry foam applicator I had the exact opposite result. The product would not spread onto the entire section I was working. I tried using excess product and I was still having problems. Buffing was easy on this part since nothing was really on the paint. I didn`t notice any real difference in the appearance of the paint, but I don`t with AIO either. The paint didn`t feel extra smooth/slippery either. It was about equal to the post claying feel. One thing I did notice is that a lot of the fine scratches in my paint were filled in and nowhere near as noticable as before.



Next up was the WG sealant. I applied the product using a dry foam applicator. I applied it to the whole car and then immediately started buffing in the order I applied it. This sealant is a pleasure to work with. Goes on easy, and comes off just as easy. Once I was done the car had a muted shine to it. Much different than the bright candy shine of SG. This is a good thing, considering I bought the product looking for a carnuba appearance. It was also slick, but IMHO, the feel was not much different than SG. When I heard everyone rave about WG`s slickness I was expecting so much more. In this regard I was disappointed.



I noticed after the first rain storm, 3 days after application, the fine scratches were back in full force. WG`s fillers seemd to have washed away.



During the 1.5 month window I`ve only had a chance to hand wash the car once after three weeks. The WG beaded/ repelled water in a fashion similar to SG. Though the slickness was reduced dramatically. Again, simlar to SG.



During the rest of the 1.5 months it has rained quite often here. The water has beaded nicely on my paint during that time. I have no reason to believe that the WG has faded or is gone from my paint. I`ll get a better indication of this the next time I hand wash it though.



Based on my experience I would recommend the WG sealant as a good 2 month sealant (maybe more, depending on how mine holds up). I would not recommend you purchase the cleaner. Buy some AIO instead. It is a much better product.



Now a question I have. If the cleaner is loaded with so many oils and fillers, as I`ve observed, how can the sealant bond to the paint? I`m perplexed that my paint is still beading, indicating that the sealant is still present, yet the fillers underneath the sealant seem to have disappeared. Any comments on how this is possible?



Well, that`s my review. Thanks for reading.



Bill.



**UPDATE** - July 4, 2004



I finally got around to hand washing the car yesterday. I used eagle one car wash this time using the my own modified two bucket method. The results:



Beading/Sheeting - The water did bead and sheet off of the panels, though not as quickly as before, and not as quickly as I would have liked. When I doused the car with free flowing water after washing, I noticed that not as much of it sheeted off as before. There were still large beads of water sitting on all the horizontal surfaces.



Slickness - There is no slickness left. It literally feels like bare paint. When I run my fingers across the surface they drag. Not a good thing.



Look/Shine - The paint still looks good. It still has some of the wolfgang glow to it.



I`m inclined to say that there is still WG left on my car. Definately not as strong as 6 weeks ago, but something is still there.



I`m very skeptical that this product will last 6 to 7 months, as claimed by the manufacturer, but we`ll see...



**UPDATE - July 10th**



I hand washed the car again today using Mothers California Gold. I dried with my pak shak WW and followed up with a regular pk MF. My observations:



Beading/Sheeting - Almost non existent. It took about 3 minutes for the water to sheet off the roof. The actual sheeting I attribute more to the forces of gravity than the WG. After the first minute most of the water was still clinging.



Slickness - Same as before. Still no slickness left. It literally feels like bare paint. When I run my fingers across the surface they drag.



Look/Shine - Again, same as before. The paint still looks good. It still has some of the wolfgang glow to it.



Based on today`s wash, I`m inclined to say that my WG is dead after almost 8 weeks. The beading/sheeting, or lack thereof, is what is drawing me to this conclusion.



I went ahead and applied another layer of WG sealant to the car. I must say again, this sealant really is a pleasure to work with. Easy on, and sooo easy off. Even the areas that I applied it thick it still came off easy. Slickness was back to where it was at day 1.



As a side note, I also applied another layer of SG to the other car. Compared to the WG, the SG was a PITA to remove, even using WOO. It was pretty hot today. The SG was drying on the surface rather quickly, while the WG on the other hand was a breeze. Having both SG and WG frwshly applied side by side I have to say that the WG was much slicker than the SG. Though the SG holds it`s slickness for longer.



I may start layering the WG in the same manner that I do SG. I`ll probably do 2 or 3 more than top with my souveran (I`ve been anxious to use it, but have held back for this test).



My final thoughts:



The WG sealant is a good 2 month sealant. Eae of use and carnuba like appearance are it`s biggest assets. Longevity, compared to klasse and zaino, is not. If you purchase it expecting any more than 2 months than you will be disappointed. The cleaner, as stated before, is garbage IMHO. Save your money.



Well, that`s it! Happy detailing!



**Update** - July 12th



I wanted to pass on one more observation I just made. Today was the first time that I was able to view the car in the sun since applying the second coat on July 10th. It seems as though it is not just the cleaner that fills and hides swirls. The sealant also does a very good job of this. I have many north to south swirls from my old drying towels that are present under bright light. Well, today they are no longer present. The finish looks very mirrior like with very little, if any marring visible.



Evidently the WG sealant has fillers in it as well. I was under the assumption that only the `cleaner` had fillers. Interesting...



I wonder if the lack of `cleaner` used for the second coat will allow the second coat to bond better and last longer? And maybe the fillers will last as well, or maybe not, if they are just pure oil.



I don`t know yet, but I will keep this thread updated as the sealant wears out again.

[imported_memnuts]

Nice objective write-up Bill



Your statement :"WG has big shoes to fill. Klasse is such an outstanding product." Is so true.





AIO is really hard to beat.



I like the AIO/WG sealant combo.

[jimmybuffit]

Interesting.



Bill, thanks for the insight.



Jim

[imported_Intermezzo]

Nice write up Bill. Quite reminiscent of the early days in Autopia where a nice, indepth review like yours would make us feel like we were engaging in a part of the process. A refreshing change from the "wow, this stuff is awesome!" style of reviews followed by a barrage of pics.

[shaf]

Agreed. :up Well-written, in-depth review with enough background and application info for us all to understand exactly what you did. Good job Bill!



Sorry I don`t know about your question though......

[TortoiseAWD]

In my experience, the cleaner doesn`t diminish or break down. Just work a small amount onto a section, then allow it to haze before removing. I usually do several panels before going back to remove, and have found it greatly simplifies buffing off the residue. When I tried to wipe-on/wipe-off, the residue tended to be gluey and smear. When hazed, it removes pretty easily. That said, I`ve yet to leave it sit for more than five, maybe ten minutes at the most, so I can`t say how it handles after that.



It`s not my favorite polish, by any stretch, but I haven`t banished it to the back of my shelf; I`ll probably get around to using the rest of it. Currently, though, AIO seems to do a decent job pre-WG, and I think it`s easier to use, so that`s what I`ve been reaching for lately.



FWIW,

Tort

[BillNorth]

Thanks guys, I`m glad you like the review.



Tort,



`gluey` is a good word to describe the wg cleaner. I probably shouldn`t be expecting it to `break down` since it does not have any abrasives. I guess I`m just so used to the way AIO behaves. If I use it again I`ll let it sit before wiping it off. Thank you for the tip.



Bill.

[imported_BretFraz]

Great review, Bill. :up



My experiences are similar to yours. I`ll be interested in how your long term test goes. Wolfgang touts 6-7 months of protection in the Florida sun which is a bold claim in anyone`s book.



As for beading, well something is making the paint bead. Not sure if its the sealant, the oils in the polish, or what.

[ZaneO]

FWIW,I applied one coat of the Wolfgang twins on my girlfriend`s 4Runner on March 12, and while it has diminished in appearance and slickness, it is still on the paint. The paint still has a slight wet look to it and beads when wet.



This car sits outside during the day and has been washed about 6 times since applied.

[bigguy]

Great review Bill, I have a bottle of WG but have not used it to date.

[s2skimon]

excellent review.. i`m going to have to try the AIO then WG SG on top.. at the moment i have Klasse SG x 3 on.. and will be putting a coat of WG SG on top to test it out..

[Scottwax]

Nice review, Bill. I don`t know why you and some others have had such problems with the Wolfgang pre-cleaner though. Seems to work fine for about half and horrible for the other half. :nixweiss



For me, it seems to work best using a finishing pad set on 4, going over each section 3-4 times slowly. It doesn`t seem to break down so I don`t try. I wipe off that section and move on. If it doesn`t wipe off pretty easily, then the only thing I can think of is something is wrong with the bottle you have. IMO, it leaves the paint nearly as slick as the sealant.



I agree that SG and WG are similarly slick initially but SG seems a touch slicker at the 3 month point....but the WG sealant is much easier to work with (as in more forgiving).

[imported_Terry]

I too enjoyed reading your review:up

[Pats300zx]

Great review Bill.....:up



I got similar results when I used WG on silver. I had used Klasse SG in the past and noticed more of a "muted shine" to it.

[BillNorth]

bret,



You`re right, something is making the water bead. Right now I`m inclined to say it is the sealant. The only reason I say this is because my paint still has the muted WG sealant look to it. This leads me to believe that there is still some of it left on the paint. As for the pre `cleaner`, I doubt much if anything of it is left considering what I saw after only three days.



The only thing that confuses me is how the oils in the cleaner can wash away while sitting underneath the sealant? And then the next logical question is how did the sealant bond (if it actually did) to the paint with the oils present?



Scott,



I wish had the same success with WG cleaner as some of the other members. I`ll try tort`s tip if I ever use it again. That may help.



And based on what you just said about applying the cleaner with a finishing pad, it makes me wonder if the WG cleaner really is a cleaner at all, or if it is purely a glaze. I say this becasue when I apply AIO I do it with a polishing pad in order to bring out the cleaning ability of the product. I sometimes use AIO with a cutting pad to maximize the cleaning even more. With that said, I doubt I would see/notice any tangible benefit from using WG with any sort of agressive pad. This product to me seems like oil/fillers, and nothing more.



When I get a chance I may test AIO + WG on another car just to see how it holds up compared to my car.



Bill.