I had a chance to try Zaino Bros. show car polish back on July 18th, and thought I would share my experience.
The Car:
2000 Oldmobile Alero with silver mist metallic paint. The car sits outside 24/7/365. It was previously detailed last October with a wash, clay with mothers and QD as lube, AIO with PC and polishing pad and SGx3 back to back (as an experiment - didn't like it) and 1x blitz immediately after (another experiment - again, didn't like it).
This detail:
This car was a total mess. My father used a hay broom on numerous occasions to clean snow off the car. You can imagine how swirled it was! For silver it looked really bad.
I started by washing with eagle one and drying with my pakshak WW and followed up with an MF to get the last bit of moisture.
I then clayed with mothers using the supplied QD as lube.
Next step was to remove the swirls. I had my trusty 1000 watt halogens by my side for this. I started with My PC, meguiars cutting pad, and 3M Finesse it II. Started on speed 3 for the first 2 passes (front to back, side to side), then up to speed 5 for the next two passes (front to back, side to side). After these 4 passes, the polish was pretty dry. I couldn't really work it with the PC anymore. I buffed the residue off with a clean MF. I believe the quick drying was due to the humidity. I ended up doing the entire hood 4 seperate times, the roof 3x, and the trunk 3x. I also did both rear quarter panels 2x. The rest of the car looked ok. Some swirls, but no time to get rid of them. The hood, roof and trunk really ate way at my time as they were the worst.
As a side note, I wonder why so many have stopped usings finesse it. This is such a great polish that produces consistent results time afte time. My paint looked great and it squeaked because it was so claen!
Next up was Klasse AIO with the PC plus a meguiars polishing pad. I started at speed 3 for the first 2 passes and moved up to 4 for the last few. Once dry I buffed the residue with an MF. AIO was not drying as quickly as the FI2. Once I finished, the paint had a very nice satiny feel to it. Typical of AIO. It was so great to use AIO again, especially after the WG polish debacle I endured earlier in the summer.
After the AIO step was complete, it was approaching midnight, so I left the car for the day and decided to z in the morning. I was working on the exterior for 6 hours, 5 - midnight, minus an hour for dinner. The interior took me 4 hours (1-5), it was fricken mess! Had I skipped that I would have been able to get the whole exterior done.
Next morning I woke up and applied z1 and z5 as per the instructions on the back of both bottles. I used a slightly dampened (with tap water) terry applicator. Both products went on easily. I let them dry for about 45 minutes before doing the swipe test on the window. The product came off clean, so I began buffing the residue with my MF. The z1/z5 came off very easily. I would say WG SG was a touch easier to remove, but not by much. Z has KSG beaten in removal even with WOO.
The car had a nice look to it. It definately was not plasticky as described by many. It had a very nice clear look to it. A look that enhanced the nicely polished surface underneath. I would say the main difference between z, WG and klasse sg is that z has a clearer look, which is not surprising since it is 99% optically clear, SG has more of a bright candy coated shine, and WG has more of a muted look, which lends itself well to darker colours. Both SG and Z look nice on silver (haven't tried WG).
Initial (5 minutes after buffing off) slickness was nothing spectacular. But after waiting an hour and going back, the slickness had improved dramatically. WG was a touch slicker to me. Z is definately slicker than SG. After giving it more thought, I would have to say that SG is not really a slick product. SG has more of a satiny smooth feel. It isn't really a slippery slick feeling.
I had an opportunity to wash the car on weeks 2, 3, and 5 (today). During weeks 2 and 3 I washed with eagle one. The water repellency of the z was excellent during both washes. I would say the durability was like freshly applied product. Slickness was down by 50%, but this is understandable considering the car is outside all the time. Z definately retained more slickness than wg at the 2 and 3 week point. ksg seems to hold onto its satiny feel for a fair amunt of time as well, though it isn't appreciated as much when compared to the feeling provided by other products. After washing today, I noticed that the water repellencey was suffering a bit. The z was still repelling all the water prior to the 1 minute mark. This was down from under 15 seconds on weeks 2 and 3. Still, durability was excellent.
I used my z7 when washing today and was very impressed with it. It provided the most lubricity out of the three car washes I have used. My mitt just glided over the surface. I really like z7.
I also tested z6 on one panel and was impressed. It brought back slickness to almost freshly applied status.
I also applied a coat of z2 today. I need to start layering before the cold weather comes in October. I applied the product in the same manner as z1/z5. Came off just as easily as well. I didn't notice a difference in depth, or shine. I should in a few days once the product has cured.
Now, onto the only thing I don't like about z. It really does magnify any swirls you have in the paint. My Father really went to town with the hay broom so I wasn't able to get all the swirls out. Some were really deep. I say the car is about 80-85% swirl free. Under the halogens the remaining swirls didn't stand out too much. But after z1/z5'ing and looking at the paint in the sun, I was disappointed at how noticable the last 15% of swirls were. Technically this should not be a criticism of z, but more of my surface prep. I cannot stess enough how important proper prep is, when using any product, but especially zaino. If you apply over swirls, then expect them to really stand out.
I didn't find the 1 layer of z5 to lessen any of the swirls. This was expected based on how much I read about the product prior to purchasing.
Overall, I would highly recommend z1, z2, z5, z6, and z7. They are all quality products. Just ensure you have prepped the surface well prior to using z2/z5.
Well, that's my review. I hope you enjoyed it.
Bill.
The Car:
2000 Oldmobile Alero with silver mist metallic paint. The car sits outside 24/7/365. It was previously detailed last October with a wash, clay with mothers and QD as lube, AIO with PC and polishing pad and SGx3 back to back (as an experiment - didn't like it) and 1x blitz immediately after (another experiment - again, didn't like it).
This detail:
This car was a total mess. My father used a hay broom on numerous occasions to clean snow off the car. You can imagine how swirled it was! For silver it looked really bad.
I started by washing with eagle one and drying with my pakshak WW and followed up with an MF to get the last bit of moisture.
I then clayed with mothers using the supplied QD as lube.
Next step was to remove the swirls. I had my trusty 1000 watt halogens by my side for this. I started with My PC, meguiars cutting pad, and 3M Finesse it II. Started on speed 3 for the first 2 passes (front to back, side to side), then up to speed 5 for the next two passes (front to back, side to side). After these 4 passes, the polish was pretty dry. I couldn't really work it with the PC anymore. I buffed the residue off with a clean MF. I believe the quick drying was due to the humidity. I ended up doing the entire hood 4 seperate times, the roof 3x, and the trunk 3x. I also did both rear quarter panels 2x. The rest of the car looked ok. Some swirls, but no time to get rid of them. The hood, roof and trunk really ate way at my time as they were the worst.
As a side note, I wonder why so many have stopped usings finesse it. This is such a great polish that produces consistent results time afte time. My paint looked great and it squeaked because it was so claen!
Next up was Klasse AIO with the PC plus a meguiars polishing pad. I started at speed 3 for the first 2 passes and moved up to 4 for the last few. Once dry I buffed the residue with an MF. AIO was not drying as quickly as the FI2. Once I finished, the paint had a very nice satiny feel to it. Typical of AIO. It was so great to use AIO again, especially after the WG polish debacle I endured earlier in the summer.
After the AIO step was complete, it was approaching midnight, so I left the car for the day and decided to z in the morning. I was working on the exterior for 6 hours, 5 - midnight, minus an hour for dinner. The interior took me 4 hours (1-5), it was fricken mess! Had I skipped that I would have been able to get the whole exterior done.
Next morning I woke up and applied z1 and z5 as per the instructions on the back of both bottles. I used a slightly dampened (with tap water) terry applicator. Both products went on easily. I let them dry for about 45 minutes before doing the swipe test on the window. The product came off clean, so I began buffing the residue with my MF. The z1/z5 came off very easily. I would say WG SG was a touch easier to remove, but not by much. Z has KSG beaten in removal even with WOO.
The car had a nice look to it. It definately was not plasticky as described by many. It had a very nice clear look to it. A look that enhanced the nicely polished surface underneath. I would say the main difference between z, WG and klasse sg is that z has a clearer look, which is not surprising since it is 99% optically clear, SG has more of a bright candy coated shine, and WG has more of a muted look, which lends itself well to darker colours. Both SG and Z look nice on silver (haven't tried WG).
Initial (5 minutes after buffing off) slickness was nothing spectacular. But after waiting an hour and going back, the slickness had improved dramatically. WG was a touch slicker to me. Z is definately slicker than SG. After giving it more thought, I would have to say that SG is not really a slick product. SG has more of a satiny smooth feel. It isn't really a slippery slick feeling.
I had an opportunity to wash the car on weeks 2, 3, and 5 (today). During weeks 2 and 3 I washed with eagle one. The water repellency of the z was excellent during both washes. I would say the durability was like freshly applied product. Slickness was down by 50%, but this is understandable considering the car is outside all the time. Z definately retained more slickness than wg at the 2 and 3 week point. ksg seems to hold onto its satiny feel for a fair amunt of time as well, though it isn't appreciated as much when compared to the feeling provided by other products. After washing today, I noticed that the water repellencey was suffering a bit. The z was still repelling all the water prior to the 1 minute mark. This was down from under 15 seconds on weeks 2 and 3. Still, durability was excellent.
I used my z7 when washing today and was very impressed with it. It provided the most lubricity out of the three car washes I have used. My mitt just glided over the surface. I really like z7.
I also tested z6 on one panel and was impressed. It brought back slickness to almost freshly applied status.
I also applied a coat of z2 today. I need to start layering before the cold weather comes in October. I applied the product in the same manner as z1/z5. Came off just as easily as well. I didn't notice a difference in depth, or shine. I should in a few days once the product has cured.
Now, onto the only thing I don't like about z. It really does magnify any swirls you have in the paint. My Father really went to town with the hay broom so I wasn't able to get all the swirls out. Some were really deep. I say the car is about 80-85% swirl free. Under the halogens the remaining swirls didn't stand out too much. But after z1/z5'ing and looking at the paint in the sun, I was disappointed at how noticable the last 15% of swirls were. Technically this should not be a criticism of z, but more of my surface prep. I cannot stess enough how important proper prep is, when using any product, but especially zaino. If you apply over swirls, then expect them to really stand out.
I didn't find the 1 layer of z5 to lessen any of the swirls. This was expected based on how much I read about the product prior to purchasing.
Overall, I would highly recommend z1, z2, z5, z6, and z7. They are all quality products. Just ensure you have prepped the surface well prior to using z2/z5.
Well, that's my review. I hope you enjoyed it.
Bill.
