Airplanes

C

Chuckmotor

New member
It seems like Zymol would be something talked about at Autopia, considering 8 oz of some of their waxes go for hundreds of dollars. I did a search on Zymol, and most people seem to talk about it negatively. Why is that? How is their $110 glass of Estate wax not up to Autopian standards? Surely someone here has tried the basic Carbon or Creme wax for around $40.

But I doubt anyone here has tried the Zymol Vintage Estate Glaze which sells for $1,100.00. Zymol Vintage Estate Glaze
If you aren't happy with that, Zymol IS bad...
 
I am a Zymol detailer and fan of their products. Zymol is not bad, it is just thought to be overpriced by many people. The products are of high quality and last a long time if used correctly. I think the hardest part about Zymol is applying it the right way. Once you get the application down, it is a very easy product to deal with. All of their waxes are of high quality, even the Cleaner Wax with Turtle wax involved is better then most of your waxes on the market. The problem as many people see it is that the waxes do not last a long time. Well, this is a common problem with Carnauba waxes. Now, I find that the Zymol on my cars lasts for quite awhile. I wax my 540i about once every 2 months. The only areas that really need the wax at that time are the lower fenders and rear bumper due to the salt and road grime. For a little test, I did my '71 Monte Carlo half with Zymol Cleaner wax and the other half with Klasse. I only applied one coat of each (Klasse SG and AIO). To my surprise after 3 months, the beading is equal as is shine. From what I have heard, the Klasse is a long lasting product, so I am expecting it to out last the Zymol. I beleive that Zymol, along with any other carnauba, will last awhile as long as it is washed regularly with a specified wash for the wax(Zymol Carbon= Zymol Clear). As for their waxes, the Concours Glaze is great. Great depth of shine and lasts for quite awhile. Just my .02 cents.



T.C.

'97 BMW 540/6
 
First, Zymol is not just about marketing. Dura Shine is about marketing. ProLong car polish is about marketing. That GS27 stuff is about marketing. If you see an infomercial promoting some car care stuff, <em class='bbc'>that's marketing.[/i]

Zymol is about quality; it's about results; it's about the difference between winning a big show and losing. I guarantee you that you will never see Dura Shine or GS27 on the lawn at Pebble Beach or Meadowbrook, but Zymol is everywhere.

The biggest issue with Zymol is that it's not the best product for the daily driver. Most of us here at Autopia have to drive our cars every day, alot of people park outdoors, and others live in areas with harsh weather. Zymol doesn't offer enough protection for those conditions. Yeah, the product delivers on performance but if it won't hold up to snow and ice, it ain't gonna cut it for most people. Combine that with the extremely high price of Zymol products and it's just not practical for normal use.

Zymol makes great stuff. I've used it on concours-quality cars where a 1 point deduction on paint judging sends you home with nothing. The right Zymol product on the right paint job can be the difference in a show. But on a street car, it's too expensive and delicate.

Just my thoughts..............
 
If you visit their website they almost make you believe your paint needs to eat and drink and is living and needs these natural oils,etc,etc,etc. Again, this is only my opinion. I have used zymol in the past, and it is not a durable carnuba. No where near blitz or collonite. Maybe it will last 2 months on a car that is garaged in a cool climate that does not see rain a lot or get washed often. It does produce a nice shine, as all carnuba/oil products do. Also, it was hard to work with. Buffing off was a workout. Well, that is my take.



I never tried the high end products. I could never justify those prices for ANY product, but like others said, they are more about attaining a specific look at and for "the moment" and would be best suited for use at car shows if at all.
 
I have used Zymol. good quality stuff, overpriced as said above. You CAN get better shine, better longevity, better ease of application - in other products.



As for car shows? Zymol is NOT a big contender, nor is Zaino. Meguiar's is used more than any other product, by a wide margin. The most famous car show in the world is the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance. You can't even show there just because you want to - you MUST be invited. At the 2001 show, 21 out of 26 Best In Class winners, including best in Show, used Meguiar's. It is also used at most of the famous museums, like Blackhawk.
 
T.C., I think BretFraz put it best when he says that it really doesn't meet the needs of the majority (but not all) of the detailers here. I'm sure it provides a very nice shine though. Can you tell me a little more about the car wash though? Does it help replenish the wax?



Carguy, good point. I read about that on their website.
 
The most durable carnubas seem to be the harder to use ones. While carnuba durability has little to do with the amount of carnuba in the formula, my guess is the difficulty of usage with zymol has to do with the solvents they use. Some of their products need to be applied with your hands as your body heat melts the wax and smooths it out for application. This tells me that they probably have a low solvent content so as soon as they leave the bottle they tend to set up fast and be a little harder to buff off. Again, just talking though this.....make sense?
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by bretfraz [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>First, Zymol is not just about marketing. Dura Shine is about marketing. ProLong car polish is about marketing. That GS27 stuff is about marketing. If you see an infomercial promoting some car care stuff, <em class='bbc'>that's marketing.[/i]
[/b]</blockquote>
I agree on that. I like GS27 an awful lot but I don't ever pay for it. It is too freakin expensive for what it is. Meguiar's ScratchX works just as well and it's 5 bucks cheaper on the shelf. Anytime a product has a huge advertising budget you can bet the product costs more. That is sort of a good thing. I read a saying once in a Groo comic book that stuck with me. It said "Once everyone finds the best place on earth, it stops being the best place on earth." If Klasse was advertised to death then everybody would have it and the results wouldn't be so remarkable. It would be more like the standard.

I've seen some really good looking cars done with Zymol but if I had to choose between buying a 45 dollar can of Zymol or a couple bottles of Klasse then I'd get the Klasse every time. If I was going to show my car I'd invest in the best stuff on earth and if after all my resarch points to Zymol then I'd throw down that 45 bucks in a heartbeat.
 
When you get to to the level of Concours cars it's the skill of the detailer that matters more than the product being used.



In my expierence with Concours level cars Zymol is big in circles were the price tag is more appealing than the results it produces. Some people have the point of view that just because it costs more it must work better.



Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, if I am working on a concours winning car or a daily driver Zymol would not be my first choice.
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Chuckmotor [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>What do these concours champions use from Meguiar's? I assume not the normal stuff on the Meguiar's Website... [/b]</blockquote>
I was going to ask that same question. Does anyone know?
 
More likely to be the professional range of products, not the consumer range. But that may be changing as they introduce their Gold Class range.
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Intel486 [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>

I was going to ask that same question. Does anyone know? [/b]</blockquote>
If I were Meguiar's I wouldn't tell a soul. I imagine it's a special formulation they've done for participants. Zymol has done the same thing a few times.

One point I haven't read is about the quality of the paint job. Many of the Pebble Beach type cars have paint jobs so expensive that you could put a nice down payment on a house for the same money. The best car painter I ever met is Junior Conway of Junior's House of Color in Bell, CA. He's like the King of Ferrari Painters. He advertises in Cavallino magazine. Anyway, his "basic" Ferrari paint job costs $10,000. If serious body repairs are needed, the price goes up. Car and Driver magazine did an article on him many years ago.

I went to his shop one day and saw him and his assistant final waxing a new black paint job on a Testarossa. The wax he was using? One Grand Blitz.

When it comes to waxing a concours show car all the product has to do is enhance the paint for a few hours. Many Zymol products are formulated for just this task. I would guess Meguiar's offers a similar type product.
 
i don't know what products they're using from MG, but I seriously doubt they are specially formulated. Meguiar's Gold Class and Body Shop Professional lines are their best. The Body Shop pro line is MOSTLY formulated for new finishes, and, more importantly, for use with rotary buffers. The "Medallion" brand is being phased out AFAIK, and the stuff in the magenta bottles, like their "Deep Crystal" stuff, is their cheapest. They also have a line for detailers - where the emphasis is on large quantities and speed of application.
 
I was trying to refrain from posting, but I can't resist... When we tested the Zymol products (and bear in mind, I used to use Titanium exclusively on my cars), we quickly saw that there were products that were much better and cost a lot less.



A few that come to mind are Collinite, Gold Class, Griots, P21S, and even some of the lower cost waxes like the Turtle Wax offerings (as far as waxes go). Durability wise, the Zymols were horrible - they were the only test swatches that got scratched from twigs & critters crawling on the panels.



They were also pretty hard to apply & remove (ever wax an entire car with your bare hands? The novelty quickly wears off), and they all dried pasty white (when instructions required them to dry completely). I also have to believe that despite their claims, there are oils in the wax - otherwise, how would it deepen-up the look of the paint?



That said, we're looking forward to testing the really "high end" products - Atlantique, Destiny and Vintage. I'm not sure how they'll do, but it will be interesting. HD-Cleanse is a great pre-cleaner, especially if you're looking for something a little more agressive than say the Pinnacle or P21S cleansing lotion.



Zymol has it's merits, but I believe guys like Ralph Lauren & Franay get more out of the "shock" associated with an $1100 wax than they do from the actual product. Heck, look at John Travolta's requirements for his next movie, "Basic" - he requires 8 new Armani (or Versace, can't remember) plain black T-shirts PER DAY, at a cost of $350.00 each. He refuses to wear Fruit of the Loom or Hanes, and he doesn't believe in dry cleaning (something to do with Scientology).



So, I'm happy wearing a $1.50 T-shirt and using a $20 wax - works well for me, and no one will know the difference unless I tell 'em.
 
Unlike others here, I actually own these products and ...



I have tried Zaino , Klasse, Souveran & Zymol and I can say for a fact that Zaino only provides a shiny plastic look with poor depth.

Klasse is similar however if you top it with any Zymol Estate Glaze you end up with a Concours quality 3D gloss finish that no synthetic can match by itself.



Zymol Estate Glazes are as good as carnauba gets, they don't turn yellow and you can layer all you want, they don't stain the trim or turn into white dust like Blitz.



Having a shiny car is only half of the equation, Depth is the other side of the coin and only by using the best of both worlds will you be able to attain that AWESOME Show Car Look.



If you want the ultimate killer look use Blackfire with Zymol as a topper and WOW.



Why would anyone spend $1000 when you can have all 3 hi-end glazes for $160 if you buy the kit?



Imagine all the money you will save by not using applicators!!!!
 
Intermezzo330I:



Yes, the Zymol Clear is a great car wash. I beleive that it does replenish the wax to a degree as all of my family's cars hold wax for a long time (I am in Mass and most of them are parked in the garage). It is not sudsy (sp), but it cleans. It almost is like putting water over the car, sponge or mitt glides across the car surface not on it. You use very little per wash. Off the top of my head I would say the 8oz bottle lasts about 25 plus car washes. While Zymol is not a professional detailers choice of product, it works very well for the small hobby/detailer that I am. Try some out, I think you will be pleased with it. Good luck.
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Michael H [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>More likely to be the professional range of products, not the consumer range. But that may be changing as they introduce their Gold Class range. [/b]</blockquote>
More than likely, they are using Meguiars Body Shop Professional product line. Dual Action Cleaner/Polish is the best all around paint cleaner I have used. It starts off semi-aggressively but quickly breaks down so it doesn't scour the paint. It also has a lot of oils in it to give added shine. Hand Polish is much better than their Mirror Glaze Show Car Glaze-easier to remove too. Regardless of the hype over Gold Class, I think #26 is a better wax (definately lasts longer) and I think it has a richer shine. It also dries clear and doesn't dust up on low humidity days like Gold Glass.



------------------------------------

Getting back to Zymol:

I tried the cleaner wax, and while the shine was excellent, it was a pain in the butt to apply-left dark streaks everywhere, so I had to go back over my entire car with a QD to get rid of them, and it dried blue and left residue in between body panels in emblems. Durablity as others have pointed out was not good. Maybe their high end stuff is better, but the cost is too high for me to even bother.

I guess if you don't mind waxing a lot, it probably would be pretty good though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top