Well, this past weekend I finally did it. I was running low on Klasse AIO & SG, so I decided to give Zaino a try (after reading quite a bit about it here).
I purchased Z-AIO, Z-5Pro, Z-8 & Z-CS.
The method:
- Washed the car, then clayed with Griot's clay, lubed by their Speed Shine
- After that, polished the car with Meg's Deep Crystal #1 (all I had at the time) on Griot's Orange pad, wiped each panel after polishing with MF
- Applied Z-AIO using Griot's Red pad to entire car, wiped off using MF
- Applied Z-5Pro using the cotton applicator provided, waited 1 hour & wiped off with 100% cotton cloth
- Waited 18 hours & reapplied Z-5Pro using same method
- Waited 6 hours and applied Z-8, wiping off immediately with 100% cotton cloth
- All products applied by PC were done at speed=6
The observations:
- The Z-AIO seems to be a little thinner than the Klasse AIO, but it's just as easy to work in using the PC. Having to wait for it to dry was a little different, and to be honest, I prefer applying to a single panel, then wiping off (as with AIO). In this way you can spot any blems & touch up while you've still got the buffer out. That being said, the Z-AIO left the paint slick (not squeaky-clean like after the Deep Crystal #1), clean, and ready for the Z-5.
- The Z-5Pro applied easier (much smoother to wipe across the paint) than KSG. The KSG seems to be a little sticky, where the Z-5Pro is very 'lubricious' (if that's a word). Again, waiting for the product to dry is a little different (I normally use WOWO with the SG), but after drying, the wipe-off was almost effortless
- The Z-8 applied very easily, and wiped across the paint much smoother than the Sonus Acrylic Spritz that I used with the KSG. The Sonus, like the KSG, seemed almost tacky between the cloth and the paint. Any slight streaking left from the Z-5Pro was easily cleaned up by the Z-8 (I guess I wiped down one side of the car before it was COMPLETELY dried).
The results:
- I think that I need to get a finer polish than the Deep Crystal #1 (should've had it before starting, but . . . ); as the finish shows very fine, very short swirls. The Deep Crystal #1 removed almost all of the scratches & marring, but left very light, very fine marks behind. I'm certain that a quick pass with a finishing polish would clean that right up, and leave the paint perfect.
- I now understand what people mean when they say that the paint needs to be perfect before using Zaino . . . Upon inspecting the job outside, I immediately saw several slight blemishes in the paint (very small impressions/dents, and one place where Mercedes obviously buffed down a paint run in the factory) that were never visible before, whether using Klasse or Carnuba. I kept walking around the car and wondering why I'd never noticed those things before (it's almost 5 years old).
- The reflectance of the car is unlike anything that I've ever seen before. It's almost dazzling the way light and color reflects off of the paint. Reading a book in the reflection would be easy to do.
- The color (black) is almost muted or lost, due to the high reflectance. Your eye is so busy looking at the reflections that you can't really make out that the car is black. It's an 'odd' appearance, almost like the reflection is hovering above the paint.
- The Klasse definitely looked 'warmer', and you could see the black of the paint more more distinctly, although the reflectance was only about 3/4 that of the Zaino.
- The paint looks cleaner than it's ever looked before, and the car is certainly eye-catching, but I do miss some of the BLACK appearance that it had with the Klasse
I can't really say which products I prefer at this time. They both are relatively easy to use (after getting used to the Klasse products, applying THIN coats of the Z-products wasn't a problem), and they both leave the car looking great. The Klasse durability was impressive, as was the protection from bird-bombs, tree sap, etc. It's far to early to tell about the Zaino durability/protection, but from info here, it should be comparable, if not better.
I'm certain this thread will degenerate to a "Hooray for Zaino" versus a "Zaino is overrated" thread, but I just wanted to put out my impressions. Maybe they'll help someone to try a product (Zaino -OR- Klasse), as the information that I researched helped in my decision. It's hard to go wrong with either product. (Please note that I know there are even more products available, but I didn't try them, so I can't address them here)
Finally, I applied the Z-CS to the wife's silver Murano, but only as an 'emergency' measure, to get some more protection on it until Thanksgiving, when I have time to go over it completely. The Z-CS was easy to apply, and dried clear - but being silver it would be hard to see any streaking in it anyway. Hopefully it'll keep the paint in decent order for a couple of more weeks.
I purchased Z-AIO, Z-5Pro, Z-8 & Z-CS.
The method:
- Washed the car, then clayed with Griot's clay, lubed by their Speed Shine
- After that, polished the car with Meg's Deep Crystal #1 (all I had at the time) on Griot's Orange pad, wiped each panel after polishing with MF
- Applied Z-AIO using Griot's Red pad to entire car, wiped off using MF
- Applied Z-5Pro using the cotton applicator provided, waited 1 hour & wiped off with 100% cotton cloth
- Waited 18 hours & reapplied Z-5Pro using same method
- Waited 6 hours and applied Z-8, wiping off immediately with 100% cotton cloth
- All products applied by PC were done at speed=6
The observations:
- The Z-AIO seems to be a little thinner than the Klasse AIO, but it's just as easy to work in using the PC. Having to wait for it to dry was a little different, and to be honest, I prefer applying to a single panel, then wiping off (as with AIO). In this way you can spot any blems & touch up while you've still got the buffer out. That being said, the Z-AIO left the paint slick (not squeaky-clean like after the Deep Crystal #1), clean, and ready for the Z-5.
- The Z-5Pro applied easier (much smoother to wipe across the paint) than KSG. The KSG seems to be a little sticky, where the Z-5Pro is very 'lubricious' (if that's a word). Again, waiting for the product to dry is a little different (I normally use WOWO with the SG), but after drying, the wipe-off was almost effortless
- The Z-8 applied very easily, and wiped across the paint much smoother than the Sonus Acrylic Spritz that I used with the KSG. The Sonus, like the KSG, seemed almost tacky between the cloth and the paint. Any slight streaking left from the Z-5Pro was easily cleaned up by the Z-8 (I guess I wiped down one side of the car before it was COMPLETELY dried).
The results:
- I think that I need to get a finer polish than the Deep Crystal #1 (should've had it before starting, but . . . ); as the finish shows very fine, very short swirls. The Deep Crystal #1 removed almost all of the scratches & marring, but left very light, very fine marks behind. I'm certain that a quick pass with a finishing polish would clean that right up, and leave the paint perfect.
- I now understand what people mean when they say that the paint needs to be perfect before using Zaino . . . Upon inspecting the job outside, I immediately saw several slight blemishes in the paint (very small impressions/dents, and one place where Mercedes obviously buffed down a paint run in the factory) that were never visible before, whether using Klasse or Carnuba. I kept walking around the car and wondering why I'd never noticed those things before (it's almost 5 years old).
- The reflectance of the car is unlike anything that I've ever seen before. It's almost dazzling the way light and color reflects off of the paint. Reading a book in the reflection would be easy to do.
- The color (black) is almost muted or lost, due to the high reflectance. Your eye is so busy looking at the reflections that you can't really make out that the car is black. It's an 'odd' appearance, almost like the reflection is hovering above the paint.
- The Klasse definitely looked 'warmer', and you could see the black of the paint more more distinctly, although the reflectance was only about 3/4 that of the Zaino.
- The paint looks cleaner than it's ever looked before, and the car is certainly eye-catching, but I do miss some of the BLACK appearance that it had with the Klasse
I can't really say which products I prefer at this time. They both are relatively easy to use (after getting used to the Klasse products, applying THIN coats of the Z-products wasn't a problem), and they both leave the car looking great. The Klasse durability was impressive, as was the protection from bird-bombs, tree sap, etc. It's far to early to tell about the Zaino durability/protection, but from info here, it should be comparable, if not better.
I'm certain this thread will degenerate to a "Hooray for Zaino" versus a "Zaino is overrated" thread, but I just wanted to put out my impressions. Maybe they'll help someone to try a product (Zaino -OR- Klasse), as the information that I researched helped in my decision. It's hard to go wrong with either product. (Please note that I know there are even more products available, but I didn't try them, so I can't address them here)
Finally, I applied the Z-CS to the wife's silver Murano, but only as an 'emergency' measure, to get some more protection on it until Thanksgiving, when I have time to go over it completely. The Z-CS was easy to apply, and dried clear - but being silver it would be hard to see any streaking in it anyway. Hopefully it'll keep the paint in decent order for a couple of more weeks.
Hope you get the results you're looking for.