Carnauba wax percentage: What does it all mean??

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imported_Detailing Technology

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I have read all about natural carnauba wax percentages for years, and for the life of me, I cant figure out if a wax with 55% carnauba is better or worse than the wax with 61% and why? Our UK pal Paul Dalton is selling a wax with 76% by volume of ultra pure white Carnauba. (from his site)

Isn't Carnauba naturally yellow in nature, wouldn't having white wax require a bleaching process?



So why would or wouldn't I want a wax with more or less pure yellow or white carnauba wax?

Are there any distinct advantages in application, removal, reflection, clarity, shine, gloss, sheen, depth, and durability with a higher or lower carnauba content?
 
Yes, carnauba wax is pale yellow. Very fine flakes can look ivory but to make "white" carnauba, you must bleach it.



A wax, as a product contains solvents, emulsifiers, different waxes, oils and other minor ingredients. The mentioned percentage refers to the carnauba content of the total wax percentage, not including the other ingredients. So, when you talk about a 61% wax, it means that 61% of the wax content (as a package) is carnauba. The remaining 39% are the other waxes which help the spreadability, etc. That makes 100% wax - but the total wax percentage of a given product is largely unknown, because you don' know the exact solvent content, the emulsifiers, the biocides, oils and other stuff in it.

of the discussed product.



Higher carnauba content means a bit harder wax, which is sometimes coarser, has a gritty texture. Beeswax is softer wax which helps the ease of application, but the resulting durability would be slightly lower.



Edit: the upper limit of carnauba content is around 36% by total volume (not just the wax content), otherwise the wax will be unusably hard.
 
jsatek said:
I have read all about natural carnauba wax percentages for years, and for the life of me, I cant figure out if a wax with 55% carnauba is better or worse than the wax with 61% and why? Our UK pal Paul Dalton is selling a wax with 76% by volume of ultra pure white Carnauba. (from his site)

Isn't Carnauba naturally yellow in nature, wouldn't having white wax require a bleaching process?



So why would or wouldn't I want a wax with more or less pure yellow or white carnauba wax?

Are there any distinct advantages in application, removal, reflection, clarity, shine, gloss, sheen, depth, and durability with a higher or lower carnauba content?
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From what I've seen, not a whole lot. IME, the oil package makes more of an overall difference in looks. I would bet you that Collinite 915 or FK1 Pink is packing more carnauba than say, Souveran, but Souvy looks better.
 
Zymol gives us a hint at what some of the other "stuff" is in there. Cantaloupe, Bananna, Almond, Sunflower, Cinnamon Bark, Montan, Coconut, Clove, Honeydew OILS.......Then Propolis, Cetyl Esters, Glycerin, and Cocoamide. Then add your color. ---Yum--Yum---
 
If you have a dozen different Carnauba's, from a mix of Companies, I would think that the percentage is basically something that would make little difference at all.

The wax itself comes from the tree as we all know. It is quite hard in its natural state, and is then processed in a way to make it spreadable onto your car's paint.

What you then do is to apply it to your car.

The carriers, or the product that has the wax in the mixture, then flash off leaving the wax and some of the other particles on the surface.

You then buff that with a microfibre cloth.

You are removing the other particles and leaving just the carnauba on the surface, a very thin hard shell of the carnauba wax itself.

So, what you have done is to take a hard shell of carnauba protecting the palm leaf, and then convert it to a hard shell protecting your car's paint.

The remainder is in the mix to enable it get from point a to point b.

I might offer the suggestion that the percentage is irrelevant if you have one of the numerous good quality carnauba's.

The decision then is.............liquid or paste.



Tony.
 
That's the truly unknown factor... :)



If you buy the oils, lecithin, carnauba, etc in a cosmetic shop you'll get all the elements needed (excluding synthetics; for example silicones in Zymöls). It will be on the cheap side but obviously, bigger quantities mean significantly lower costs for the manufacturers.



It's up to you; do you wanna believe/accept that a "solar activated" wax costs US$30.000 and is it worth it? (Strictly product performance - "exclusivity" and other similar, subjective and highly meaningless perceived factors not included.)
 
jshillin said:
Most of it comes down to the brand name and marketing...
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WHAT?!?! It doesn't perform $7500 dollars better?!... uh oh! Some one tell Paul hes going overboard! ... i mean i could have sworn that the gloss added atleast 6,000 to my paint!
 
It's up to you; do you wanna believe/accept that a "solar activated" wax costs US$30.000 and is it worth it? (Strictly product performance - "exclusivity" and other similar said:
Heh, it's the Louis Vitton of detailing... 50 bucks worth of ingredients, and they charge thousands. Why? so you can get off on other people not being able to afford it.
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jsatek said:
So why such a dramatic price increase for the higher carnauba percentage waxes?
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I suppose it's a little like the big brightly coloured logo on a can of fruit that says 99% fat free.

Of course it's 99% fat free. It always has been. It's just that a clever guy in marketing suggests putting that on the can, and bumping the price, because people will pay for it.

People then buy that can of fruit because it is 99% fat free.

It's also like putting a use by date on those packages of salt.

Young Johnny pulls the half full package of salt out of the cupboard to fill the salt shaker. He sees the date on the pack.

'Hey, Mum, the date here was a couple weeks back'.

The half full pack of salt goes in the bin, and salt goes onto the grocery list for the next shopping excursion.

Salt is the preservative.



Suntan protection.

SPF 15 offers 97% to 98% protection from UV.

SPF 30 offers 98% to 99% protection from UV.

Compare the prices of the 2.

SPF 30 is a lot more expensive.



Specifically designed to get you to buy the product.



Carnauba is a hard shell, be it on palm trees or on your car.

It's that sacrificial layer of protection.



The bigger the number, the more attractive the product.



Tony.
 
I'm pretty content with sealants. Most customers have been conditioned to ask for wax, now I'm receiving multiple requests for Swissvax Mystery and Concorso.



At $1.50 per vehicle, Zaino with Z-8 is tough to beat.
 
jsatek said:
I'm pretty content with sealants. Most customers have been conditioned to ask for wax, now I'm receiving multiple requests for Swissvax Mystery and Concorso.



At $1.50 per vehicle, Zaino with Z-8 is tough to beat.
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Did you do the math out? Is this the price per car? WOW! I NEED to do this with all my products and find out my overhead.
 
jsatek said:
I'm pretty content with sealants. Most customers have been conditioned to ask for wax, now I'm receiving multiple requests for Swissvax Mystery and Concorso.



At $1.50 per vehicle, Zaino with Z-8 is tough to beat.
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jsatek - So if you stepped it up, your cost difference would be insignificant compared to the added profit/charge for your clientel specifically (high end clients). Sounds like a great upsell, don't you think? If you now charge $700 per detail, an extra $100 would be nothing for people that would love an expensiive wax on their luxury/exotics. ~6 details later, you break even on your Mystery, and you still have another 40++ applications left ($4000++ profit). Just from offering a high end wax to your clients that want the "best". Sounds like a win-win. :hifive:
 
This is a very old and widely discussed argument. First of all, carnauba is collected and graded starting at grade yellow#1. It is manufactured in varying grades of yellow, and with a select few of the exotic brand waxes touting a chemically refined process in which a "white" carnauba wax solution is made. It isn't an entirely correct term by referring to "white" carnauba as bleached. There are several methods in which raw carnauba is chemically made into white, including one method that is described as bleaching. I did some reasearch into this phenomena, and you can take a look at my findings here: http://autopia.org/forum/car-detail...e-buying-1100-zymol-vintage-7.html#post803713



In terms of which brand is better or produces a "more optimal result" (I am cautious about using the over worked term "best"); that can only be determined by an in-depth comparison by physically comparing several products over similarly prepped paint, as well as backing up the observations with good digital photos depicting the finishes in a variety of natural lighting settings. It is fair to say that in my travels with using various products, I have seen a marked difference between lsp products with differing wax content as compared with each other on similarly prepped surfaces. The real test is what any lsp will bring to the user, and at what price.
 
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