Carnuaba users

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imported_agentf11

New member
Why do you still use Carnuaba products. I know it is a matter of personal preference but with all of the great sealants on the market today that mimic the carnuaba look and 10 times the durability some people still tend to migrate towards carnuaba's. I was just wondering what the draw is. Not saying it is wrong since as we all know there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to detailing, just everybodies preference. Well, maybe using NOTHING is wrong. :nono
 
I use both but tend to prefer the look of a nuba yes they dont last as long but I wash the truck atleast once a week and wax it once a month so durability is not important to me.



There is just something to the paint when using a higher end nuba the car seems to shimmer or have a life of its own compared the the sterile look of a sealant



tho i do have zaino and I love it when I feel like having it on my car but for me i basically go bye how i want the vehicle to look and by that I decide which product to use.
 
Newer sealants are close to the nuba look, but not quite the same, especially on the darker solid colors. Some nubas can outlast sealants as well. I think there's also something to be said for the nuba experience...the smell and using a paste. Not many sealants come as a paste..NXT and 1000P are the only ones I can think of
 
Sealants have certainly gotten better in terms of looks and it's real hard to beat them in the categories of ease of use and durability. This being said I'm not even tempted to use a sealant.



First, I don't mind putting in a little extra effort during application or applying more often. It's the look that I'm after and while sealants look better than they ever have they don't come remotely close to matching the depth of a high end nuba like Zymol or Swissvax.



Second, I feel that a nuba laying on top of the paint acting as a sacrificial layer protects better than a sealant which cross-links with the paint. In all my years using carnauba I have never ever gotten an etching on my paint from a bird bomb, sap, or anything else that has landed on my paint.



Third, a high end carnauba sheds dirt and water really well. Sealants repell water fairly well too but water just slides off a Zymol or Swissvax treated finish. It's really something to behold. Dirt just releases from the finish so easily too.



That's about it.
 
I just perfer the look I can get with carnuba.

Even though sealants last longer in my experience the tougher nubas, 476, 16 ect. give much better protection against bird bombs and acid rain etching.
 
Havent used a sealant that compares to Carnauba look wise. Also, Ive experienced the paint dulling after applying Carnauba on top of some sealants. So I dont like to do that.
 
Sealants can NEVER give you the look of a carnauba no matter how advanced the formulation. Why? Chemistry.



The structure of a sealant after it cross-links is very different to a carnauba. The unique crystaline structure of a carnauba (some describe it as an 'egg-crate' structure at microsopic level) creates a 'shimmering' appearance which can't be duplicated by a sealant. This isn't a criticism of sealants, just a fact of chemistry.



The different chemical structures will always create a different look, no matter how close they get. As a result, never the twain shall meet. :cooleek:
 
I find myself wondering why so many people feel that sealants have become a seemingly mandatory part of a detail, as if they've simply *replaced* carnaubas :nixweiss



There are some good reasons to use certain LSPs on certain vehicles, but I don't think it really boils down to sealants vs. carnaubas. There are a whole lot of things to consider and all sealants/carnaubas aren't the same. Some people will simply prefer one over the other- beading vs. sheeting, preferences regarding the look, there are all kinds of reasons to prefer one product over another.



I always seem to use sealants on at least two of our vehicles, they just provide the best mix of what I want on *those* vehicles. But that's only two out of quite a few, sealants don't offer what I want for the majority of our vehicles.



Generally speaking, I simply *like* carnaubas. I like the sensory/tactile aspects of a good paste wax, I like how it looks, I like how it beads, I like how it can make (very minor) flaws less noticeable than a sealant, and I like the protection against things like bird bombs. I like the durability I get with waxes like #16 and 476S. I never feel that I'm making some sacrifice when I use a carnauba, I don't see waxes as simply being at a disadvantage compared with sealants.



And I've yet to see any other product look quite the same as Souveran on the Jag's single stage. But yeah, that needs redone pretty often. Somebody else might look at that paint and think it'd look best with [some other product], but that's them, and I know what *I* want.
 
i'm not trying to hijack the thread but i'll give everyone my reason why i use sealants instead, maybe i'm wrong in my reasoning. in winter time i don't use carnubas for two reasons, i have to go months without being able to add a new lsp to protect the paint. the other is i hose my car off at the coin-op sprayer, my thinking is that the high pressure along with the warm water would blast away any carnuba still left on the surface of the car. in the summer time my main reason is that on average warmth days the surface of the car (especially black) gets soo hot sitting in the sun most of the carnuba would be gone after one day of sitting in the parking lot at work. also have had trouble with carnubas getting tacking in the sun and dust sticking to it. those are my reasons, correct me if i'm way off. btw i'm using klasse this winter.



i want to try a carnuba this summer, as far as lasting protection goes is it better to bite the bullet and get a higher end product ( zymol, swissvax, or ps) over a nattys or cg product??



:usa
 
3wide said:
i'm not trying to hijack the thread but i'll give everyone my reason why i use sealants instead, maybe i'm wrong in my reasoning. in winter time i don't use carnubas for two reasons, i have to go months without being able to add a new lsp to protect the paint. the other is i hose my car off at the coin-op sprayer, my thinking is that the high pressure along with the warm water would blast away any carnuba still left on the surface of the car. in the summer time my main reason is that on average warmth days the surface of the car (especially black) gets soo hot sitting in the sun most of the carnuba would be gone after one day of sitting in the parking lot at work. also have had trouble with carnubas getting tacking in the sun and dust sticking to it. those are my reasons, correct me if i'm way off...
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Here's my $0.02...



I've had Souveran get a bit tacky on the Jag, but its engine compartment gets *very* hot. ScottWax uses it in Texas, on black vehicles, and says it works fine in the heat. I've *never* had any heat-related problems with other carnaubas.



For winter use, a few layers of Collinite 476S holds up just as well as a few layers of KSG (I use these exact products on the two winter-use dog haulers, so I can do a direct comparison). Six layers of KSG *will* last longer than four layers of 476S, but either will last much longer than just the winter season. I actually find that the 476S sheds nasty winter [stuff] a lot better than the KSG; the Blazer, with its 476S, looks a lot better between washes than the MPV with its KSG. The Collinited Blazer washes up a bit easier too, and between the two vehicles if I *had* to say which is better protected I just might choose the one with wax over the one with KSG...but it's really too close to call.



I run the Blazer through the local touchless from time to time, and it doesn't seem to have any effect on the 476S. For that matter, my wife runs her A8 through a touchless down in TN, and it doesn't hurt the #16 on that car any either. Some waxes are a lot tougher than people might think.



The one time I ran the KSGed minivan through the touchless it didn't work out well...the KSG didn't shed the dirt very well.



As for "is it worth it to try expensive waxes", you'll get a lot of answers on different sides of the fence. *Nothing* looks quite the same as Souveran IMO and when people say the same thing about Zymol and Swissvax I take their word for it. But that doesn't mean that *you* will think such products look right to *you* on *your* vehicle :nixweiss
 
In my experience, not all sealants last longer than carnaubas. For example, megs #21 does not last as long as collinite 845 for me. On my own car, I generally just use collinite 915 because although it does not last as long as a really durable sealant like jetseal, it comes very close, looks better, beads WAY (sealant beads tend to stay on the surface, while a good carnauba will let more water roll off the car) better than any sealant, and is far easier to clean.



I think that the ease of cleaning is another reason many people still use carnauba. Even if a sealant lasts longer, in my experience (as well as many others) sealants do a poor job of preventing water spots and stopping bird bombs.



If you think waxes are not durable, try collinite.
 
ron231 said:
In my experience, not all sealants last longer than carnaubas. For example, megs #21 does not last as long as collinite 845 for me. On my own car, I generally just use collinite 915 because although it does not last as long as a really durable sealant like jetseal, it comes very close, looks better, beads WAY (sealant beads tend to stay on the surface, while a good carnauba will let more water roll off the car) better than any sealant, and is far easier to clean.



I think that the ease of cleaning is another reason many people still use carnauba. Even if a sealant lasts longer, in my experience (as well as many others) sealants do a poor job of preventing water spots and stopping bird bombs.



If you think waxes are not durable, try collinite.
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How would you compare teh durablity of collinite to Meg's #16?
 
im a big nuba user for many reasons



1. I like the look, there is something about the deapth that sealents just dont offer as of yet

2. The carnuba glow.. the car almost has a aura that you dont get with a sleanet, most sealents are shinier but they dont glow ike I want.

3 Clean up, carnuba seams to clean up better, what i mean by that is it easier to clean the car when it has a carnuba over a sealent (thisis my opion and based on my experience, noone elses

4. I enjoy using paste waxes... there are no good paste sealents... well at least that i want to use

5. I was protection from bird bomds, rain, road crap.. was seems to prtect better from these... may not last as long but does a better job IMO



I have used my fair share of lsps... i am on a mission to try them all after all...



Sealents are not bad, jut diffrent. I prepere wax



as for the it comming off comment, well there is nothing to worry about.. I go to a coin wash and just rinse the car atleast once a week.. it steal beads and sheets like mad.. this is not an issue



and for the suin.. im from calgary but we do get some days in the low 30's (celcius) and i have never had an issue. So i think ythre is nothing to worry about in those two situations...again my opion
 
Civicman86 said:
J/C why not use both? Sealant then a nice nuba ontop?
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A lot of people do this. I don't because you don't get the same look as you do with just carnauba. Protection wise, it probably offers the best of both worlds. However, looks wise just carnauba is much more eye pleasing IMO.
 
seminolesilver said:
Scottwax-

Does the carnauba moose rival Collinite 845 IW in durability? Are they similar in looks?
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In my experience, the durability is similar. CMW has a noticably deeper and darker look, while 845 tends to be on the bright side of the scale, similar to S100.
 
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