Mike Phillips said:
You know, if you read what I wrote, I tried to make it pretty clear, I didn't know what was on the car until after we selected it for the demonstration.
That's not the way it reads on MOL. You said, "Next up, our attention was focused on removing the swirls and restoring a rich, wet-looking high gloss finish to this black C5. The owner of the Corvette told us that he had over 12 layers of Zaino on his car..<snip>....when viewed up close, the finish is on the dull and hazy side because of the thousands of swirls in the finish. The black paint has what people call a plastic or plasticy look and lacks clarity and richness."
There were four (4) before photos, including the final photo that was captioned with this interesting comment: "Here's a dramatic before shot taken with my Sony camera which tends to capture cobweb-effect and
buffer swirl better than my Cannon."
So it sounds to me like the car was improperly prepped before it ever got the Zaino treatment. As anyone with any experience with a
true last step polymer will tell you, a LSP does not contain fillers or abrasives - the two items necessary to hide or remove swirls.
The test wasn't' a comparison about prep work. I was a demonstration to show the effects of NXT Tech Wax on a car that looks dull, hazy and filled with swirls.
Then the "test" was flawed, IMHO. You're comparing apples and oranges. One product is a non-abrasive, non-filling, synthetic protectant. The other is a cleaner wax with fillers. Or is it? I can't really keep track of it anymore, since when it was first released we were told it has "no cleaners - none/nada/zip," but then we were told it has "very sleight abrasives," and then we were told it has "no abrasives" just "highly specialized chemical cleaners." So, you'll understand my confusion.... I've never seen a product go through so many complex transformations in a matter of 4 months.
Most cars need prep work, but not all owners know how to do it, they might not want to do it, depends on their skill level and interest. For whatever reason, the owner bought off on the idea of layering Zaino on the finish he had.
So when a customer uses a product wrong, it's the product's fault? Ugh. But that's right, this wasn't a thread to "pick on Zaino."
12 layers of Zaino didn't look good on his garage kept Corvette.
12 layers of any non-abrasive, non-filling product would look like crap on any garage-kept car that had buffer burn on it. To me, it sounds like you're trying to insinuate that the Zaino either caused the swirls or it couldn't get rid of them. I agree with the latter b/c it's what I've said from the first day I tested the stuff - it's no cleaner and it isn't a filler.
1 layer of NXT Tech Wax restored a rich looking, more swirl free finish. The owner loved the way it made his car look and everyone there thought it looked better.
As any good, cleaner wax should. But, if it removes swirls, doesn't it contain an abrasive? And if it has an abrasive, should I be using it every month or so?
Now everyone is trying to blame the reason the 12 layers of Zaino didn't look good on lack of good prep work and it was an unfair comparison.
Should I have looked for a black Corvette in excellent shape to demonstrate on?
Well, if you wanted to do a fair, objective comparison, you'd pick two products that were somewhat similar to one another. To me, the comparison showed that abrasives and fillers will do an excellent job of removing and hiding swirls. Now, given NXT's (lack of) durability, I wonder how long those results will last? Being as it's a garage queen and all, they should last for quite a while, and I'm sure the owner will be happy.
Finally, I'm a little confused by one comment/comparison. In one spot, you said the finish was dull and hazy, yet in another you said it was plastic or plasticy looking. The "plastic" shine that people comment on usually refers to the finish being candy-like and too bright/reflective. I'm confused as to how it could be both dull and shiny at the same time.
