Questions about the Absorber and wax durability/life

B

Bill1975

New member
Hey everyone, I appreciate the help I received here recently with my car detailing questions. Things have been ok, however I have a couple more questions. I tried searching for the answers in the forums but so much info got pulled up, what i read seemed inconclusive.



1) Is using the Absorber (synth chamois) good or bad for my car's (2004 VW) paint? Ive heard yes and no. Note that when I use it I lay it flat and gently pull it across the surface. I will most likely be getting a WW towel anyway, but for the time being I would like to know one way or the other. I'd hate to think I'm responsible for some of the light scratches/imperfections I've found in my cars paint, but its hard to tell, so if nothing else I want to minimize it until I can get the car professionally detailed, probably in the spring.



2) How do I know whether or not I need to rewax? Two months ago I did a wash, clay, paint cleaner, and polish and topped it with Mothers FX SynWax and Mothers Carnauba Wax (not the cleaner wax). Its been hard for me to tell just how long it lasts. when it has rained here, the water has always seemed to bead up reasonably well, but I'm not sure what to look for in the beading pattern, and I havent looked for any variation over the last two months. The SynWax, being a synthetic, seems like it should last a long time, so I havent re-applied it. The carnauba, I know has a short lifespan so I added another coat last week to be safe. But again, I'm just estimating based on what Ive read here and other places about wax life. I dont really know how to tell.
 
Dump the Absorber or only use it to clean engine areas. The Absorber has no where for any dirt to go so it get draged across your paint. Use only microfiber towels to dry your car.

For your second question, It's always time to re-wax. Why wait until the protection is gone or almost gone? If you some thing like S-100 or 845 IW it only takes 30 minutes to wax, so I would recommend waxing often. I try to wax at least once a month.
 
The absorber can be safely used on the paint, but in order to do this you must be very anal with how you use it. For one, your current method of laying the chamois on the paint and then dragging it across is the wrong way to do it. with your method, any dirt that was left on the paint from an improper wash or had just blown on to the paint from the wind will be dragged across the surface of the paint and cause a light scratch/swirl. The reason for this as Gears said is because chamois not not very plush (more technically, they have a very thin nap). With the chamois not being plush, the dirt cannot travel up into the chamois. instead, its dragged between the paint and the chamois.

To safely use the absorber, your going to have to change how you use it. Instead of dragging it across the paint, lay it on the paint and just let it sit there and absorb the water. Then carefully lift the chamois off the paint without dragging it. theoretically this should eliminate the chance of dirt particles being dragged across the paint.

As for when to rewax, the beading pattern deteriorates and the overall looks of the finish diminish. I find it quite easy to see when my carnaubas are failing. The paint seems to loose wetness and that "wow!" factor of a freshly waxed car.
 
Slight variation on what they said:



If you clean all the dirt off the car and work in a clean environment then there shouldn't be a problem using the abosorber. Those are big "ifs" though, hence the responses you've already received. Note that WWs can basically have the same issues. So work in a clean environment (easy for me to say, huh?), get the car really *clean* when you wash (consider spot-claying as needed), and try to dry gently (blot some of it and don't wipe aggressively).



When something changes (beading, looks, slickness), you need to rewax. I'd err on the side of caution and rewax frequently. I would expect the change in beading to be something that you'd notice, though I suppose that if it happens gradually enough you might not spot it until things look pretty bad. Heh heh, I guess I'd say to pay closer attention to such things :D IMO most waxes (other than Collinite and Meg's #16) don't really last all that long before they start to degrade.
 
I plan on getting a WW anyway, but until then I'll take everyones advice and be a little more careful with my Absorber technique. I have paid close attention to how it looks before and after i dry with it. Ive only seen dirt come off after drying maybe once or twice and the water always comes out clean.



I'll have to look a little closer perhaps, and pay attention to the finer details of how "slick" the car looks, but last weeks fresh coat of Carnauba sure helped.I washed and QD'ed yesterday. Hopefully the sun will be out so I can get a better look tomorrow (I always finish my cleaning/dtailing after the sun is going down so its hard to tell) Since I first detailed it two months ago, it still retains a fairly slick, glossy look, and the depth of the black paint still seems pretty good after each eash. It never seems to have degraded that much.



Thanks for the suggestions. Im glad to have some sound advice on drying materials. I'll have to look into getting a WW soon.
 
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