Second Coat Of Wax (or not): A Test

[rlmccarty2000]

Dodo has proven that colored waxes do change the color of a car, but I haven`t heard about layering the soft over the hard. Are there any previous threads discussing this?

[jrock645]

I have the blue/purple combo on my car now, but it`s 1 Coat blue and now 3 purple. I haven`t played with it enough to notice the differences in blue vs purple or the combo. Honestly, my car is coated with gloss coat so nothing sticks long enough to matter so I`m not sure it`s worth the effort. They`re definitely nice waxes, though- easy to use and the smell is heavenly!

[Lonnie]

Here`s ANOTHER wax-over-wax comb:
Finish Kare`s FK1000P (AKA Hi-temp Wax) as the base and 2685 Pink Wax as the second top coat/layer.
Never tried either, but I think Accumulator "suggested" this combo for someone who might want protection first and then the Pink Wax as topper for someone who still wants a nice carnauba glow/shine/gloss.
Actually, this is a pretty cost-effective combo for about $38.00 for the two tins (not including shipping costs) if you buy them from the Autopia Store on this forum website.
Anyone tried this combo and what were the results, (subjectively speaking)? Inquiring minds want to know....

[Accumulator]

Lonnie- Yep..that`s the combo if staying in the FK family. I can`t take credit for the idea though, they made the Pink specifically for that best-of-both approach.

Never tried it myself as (besides not caring all that much about subtle appearance diffs) I`d expect it to preclude putting on more FK1000P...though I guess you never know; Fk1000P is surprisingly (well, at least to me) compatible with some underlying products.

[Bob D.]

Excuse the dumb question here, I have a layering question but it has been quite a while since I`ve had a car worth detailing and I`m still trying to clear the cobwebs from my memory.

I recently bought an `05 car with original paint in excellent shape but in need of a little TLC. A few days ago I used Zymol HD Cleanse, which brought the color to life, then a couple coats of Wet Glaze 2.0 (really wish this stuff was still being made). Now I want to top the Wet Glaze with something offering some protection (especially since I might have to drive the car in the rain soon) but hopefully not hurting the killer shine that the Wet Glaze gave me.

What I have around the house are Zymol Concours, Zymol Destiny, and Wet Obsession Paste Wax. It`s 45 degrees here, so I`m thinking not ideal conditions for the high-carnauba Zymol waxes, but I could be wrong.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Lonnie]

Bob D:
Applying a wax in cold weather, while not ideal, can be done IF it is the ambient environment is dry. On a cold, humid (AKA rainy or foggy) day, forget it. Waxes tend to cloud up on days like this and are difficult to remove.

Hints for applying waxes in cool weather:
Indoor waxing, eat up a car panel with halogen light lamps (they throw off a lot of heat). Or use a hair dryer or heating gun to warm up a panel. Or best is to have a propane torpedo space heater (Reddy heater) because they generate large quantities of heat (BTUs). Waxing outdoors, if it is a sunny day, you can TRY to use that as a heat source especially now (late spring/early fall) when sun angles are more direct, even late in the afternoon.
One BIG mistake that many novice detailer make is over-application of wax, IE, using too much wax. This is especially true on a cool day. I still like the immediate wax-on-wax-off approach, but on a cool day you can wait awhile (3-5 minutes) for the wax to set up. That approach works well with Collinite waxes in my experience, so using Zymol waxes you may have to wait longer or just do some trial-and-error experimentation.

[Accumulator]

Bob D. - Welcome to Autopia!

Dumb Question? No such thing...and /but sorry, *your* Q is one that I can`t answer, not being familiar with the products in question. So...what Lonnie said.

Lonnie- I find it, well...interesting...how people differ on some things. You like W-O-W-O while I let most everything set up, sometimes for ages, yet we`re both happy with our differing approaches. (Not that I haven`t done a lot of W-O-W-O over the years..)

[Bob D.]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. And Lonnie, thank you for the reminder. Years ago somebody on this forum wrote something like "for almost any problem you are having with getting good results from a product, first try using less of it." When I read that the first time it was like a light went off in my head, and I followed that advice and it worked. In recent years, though, I`d forgotten that golden nugget. Your post reminded me of it, and as you said, it is probably never more true than in cold weather.

I put on a quick coat of Wet Obsession (really great stuff, see Review : Wet Obsession Wax and elsewhere--no affiliation) because I knew it wouldn`t give me trouble in cool weather and it looks great. When things warm up a bit here, which should be soon, I may experiment with the Zymol, although I`m wondering if to do it right I`d have to start over with surface prep, i.e. HD Cleanse.

Anyway, thanks again.

[Accumulator]

.. Years ago somebody on this forum wrote something like "for almost any problem you are having with getting good results from a product, first try using less of it." When I read that the first time it was like a light went off in my head, and I followed that advice and it worked...

That *is* good advice, especially when it comes to LSPs.

[Van185]

Great thread!

[Lonnie]

Bob D.:
I see you are using Wet Obsession car wax, which does not get much Autopia forum attention or comments. (This is not to be confused with Obsession Wax, which is a different wax manufacturer) I also see it is sold by The Rag Shack (again, not to be confused with The Rag Company, which is a different supplier/distributor of microfibers). I just do not know or hear (read) much about this wax.

Any thoughts on this wax and what you like most about this wax and how it compares to other waxes you have used? At $60.00 for a tin, it`s at that "too expensive" price point for many novice detailers who do daily-driver vehicles, but it might be a "less-expensive" alternative to higher end waxes, like Pinnacle Souveran paste wax, if it has the high-end carnauba look.

[Bunky]

I am totally in the camp that if you use a traditional wax or sealant, a little boost every few weeks really makes it last much longer. It is easier to clean and dry. As Barry M, says "frequent clean is easy clean" and applies to topping.

[Accumulator]

I am totally in the camp that if you use a traditional wax or sealant, a little boost every few weeks really makes it last much longer. It is easier to clean and dry. As Barry M, says "frequent clean is easy clean" and applies to topping.

While I let our vehicles get awfully dirty between washes, I do like using a leaves-stuff-behind product as my Drying Aid.

[jester7677]

What happened? Something should be at this point.