The Best Winter Wax Is....

[Swanicyouth]

I`ve been using Pinnacle Synergy as the wax on my daily driver since the summer. I`ve used Collinite, etc... and have decided Synergy lasts longer than any of them. I`ve been neglecting my DD because the weather here has been terrible: lots of snow and salt. Last winter I used Collinite 915 as my winter wax. While it`s an excellent wax, it did not hold up to the snow and salt on the lower panels of my vehicle.

It seems a lot of people look at beading on the hood or roof, the parts of the car that tend to stay the cleanest. The hood and roof tend to always bead for me - almost with any product. They don`t get much of the road sludge. I wanted to look at the filthiest part of the car - the car the gets the most snow and the the most salt - the lower panels. This is the real test of durability IMHO. Is there any wax left under all that salt?

So, I wanted to see if Synergy was holding up. It has been on there maybe 3 months. First, this is what I am starting with:





Yeah, it`s pretty bad. It`s been caked in salt for a couple of months. First thing I did was rinse down the left side of the vehicle; just the 2 panels (F & R doors). They were pretty filthy; so just water won`t bring back the beading as you can see:



Then, I got some highly concentrated CG`s Citrus Red (1:22) and cleaned just the bottom half of the rear door panel waterless wash style. The goal here was to have one clean panel to see if the wax was holding up and a dirty panel next to it to compare it to.

I specifically chose this soap because it`s fairly aggressive, has a reputation for "stripping" wax, and has no gloss enhancers that could cause false beading.

As you can see, Synergy is holding up to the snow and ice (after rinsing off Citrus Red):



Dirty panel / no beading on bottom half (just rinsed with water):



Here is a 50:50s of the dirty vrs clean areas (some clean overlap on front door):







As you can see Synergy is beading well (right) compared to dirty area. I`m convinced Synergy may be the only "wax" that can truly hold up to these conditions.

After the whole cleanup and another coat of Synergy & Tuff Shine:







Synergy may be expensive, but this truly is a case of you get what you pay for. Just as an FYI; I got Synergy for free. So if it sucked - I`d have no buyers remorse and would tell you.

[MrCleanit]

Awesome outcome. Thanks for sharing!

[Ronkh]

Luv me some wax !!!

[silver2kws6]

impressive ! I am so glad i no longer live in the north ! As my wax game continues to improve I love to learn about new products and test them out. Then give the old to my friends in Europe who would probably pay 3x the price for the same product.

[Meticulous]

Good stuff.

[EXPDetailing]

My first thought was,"It`s only beading were he used the CG soap, and everywhere else, ther`s no beading." I`ll take your word for it since you`ve been doing this a lot longer than I have, and I can tell you know what you`re doing. But, I wonder why a dirty panel that`s still protected, doesn`t bead? Maybe, the dirt is breaking the skin of the water, so there`s a sheating effect?

[wdmaccord]

My first thought was,"It`s only beading were he used the CG soap, and everywhere else, ther`s no beading." I`ll take your word for it since you`ve been doing this a lot longer than I have, and I can tell you know what you`re doing. But, I wonder why a dirty panel that`s still protected, doesn`t bead? Maybe, the dirt is breaking the skin of the water, so there`s a sheating effect?

Because there is still a layer of dirt film between the water and waxed panel. So when the film was cleaned away down to the wax, the water beaded again.

[Swanicyouth]

My first thought was,"It`s only beading were he used the CG soap, and everywhere else, ther`s no beading." I`ll take your word for it since you`ve been doing this a lot longer than I have, and I can tell you know what you`re doing. But, I wonder why a dirty panel that`s still protected, doesn`t bead? Maybe, the dirt is breaking the skin of the water, so there`s a sheating effect?

Citrus Red doesn`t have anything in it that will cause beading. In fact, you have to rinse it quite well off the panel to rinse away to soap film to have beading return. That is why I choose this soap.

So, I tried to prove 3 things with this thread:

1. Synergy holds up to salt, ice, and snow well.

2. Despite what`s advertised, Citrus Red does not strip wax (this wax - proved it with others as well). It`s advertised it strips at 1:128. It doesn`t strip at 1:22. I didn`t mention this before, but I added a 1/4 oz of neat Sticky Wheel Cleaner to the bottle (basic) to make the mix even stronger.

3. If I panel is dirty enough - it won`t bead. The only way to check your LSPs condition is to clean it with a soap that will not add to beading, then spray it down.

Synergy is probably the best all around wax out there. Only thing I don`t like about it is the baby puke color.

[Accumulator]

Swanicyouth- I too think that the panels that take the most abuse are the true test of how a LSP holds up to winter conditions, and while Collinite (I use 476S) is OK on the older Audi (too compromised to look OK with a "purer" LSP) it doesn`t hold up well enough for me either.

FK1000P gives me the same kind of "rinses clean" effect, probably even better as I don`t need the soap. After just rinsing, any non-Autopian would think that I`d done a full detail, and I often don`t rinse it off until it`s a *LOT* dirtier than that. Great beading without using any shampoo, and they`re the kind of beads that roll off the panels when I go over it with the AirWand.

Not saying you oughta switch or anything, sounds like you`re happy with the Synergy and I`m glad you found the right product for you, just posting my usual "gee, I love FK1000P!" stuff in case somebody wants to consider another route. MIA member UncleGrandpa gets the same kind of thing with Sonax, but I`ve never tried it.

[Swanicyouth]

Maybe one day I`ll actually buy another tub of wax and I`ll make it FK1000P. Right now, I`ve got enough wax for 10 lifetimes.

[The Guz]

Let me know if you want some samples of FK1000. I have two 2 oz samples I can send your way.


On a side note, glad to hear good things about synergy.

[addysdaddy]

Citrus Red doesn`t have anything in it that will cause beading. In fact, you have to rinse it quite well off the panel to rinse away to soap film to have beading return. That is why I choose this soap.

So, I tried to prove 3 things with this thread:

1. Synergy holds up to salt, ice, and snow well.

2. Despite what`s advertised, Citrus Red does not strip wax (this wax - proved it with others as well). It`s advertised it strips at 1:128. It doesn`t strip at 1:22. I didn`t mention this before, but I added a 1/4 oz of neat Sticky Wheel Cleaner to the bottle (basic) to make the mix even stronger.

3. If I panel is dirty enough - it won`t bead. The only way to check your LSPs condition is to clean it with a soap that will not add to beading, then spray it down.

Synergy is probably the best all around wax out there. Only thing I don`t like about it is the baby puke color.

And remember to keep it away from your wrap and stone guards - it will stain clear vinyl material. Trust me I know

[Ronkh]

And remember to keep it away from your wrap and stone guards - it will stain clear vinyl material. Trust me I know

synergy or cg red stuff?

[JSFM35X]

Jonny Walker Blue

[Swanicyouth]

^ are you drunk?