which direction to put wax?

D

dgcoupe

New member
I read people say go side to side or up and down... the bottle says circular motion? I have BFwetDiamond and using hands.
 
Personally I don't really prescribe to any specific direction on application of wax or sealant.
front back, up down, circles, depends on how my arms and hands feel.

But for sealants on the sides of the vehicle I try to also go up and down to change the "jetting" a little.

Anyone who says there is only one way to do something, imho = too much ego
 
You can put wax on anyway you like. Make stars, circles or squares - write your name even. The thing that is more important is try to work surgically clean on surgically clean paint. When I'm waxing a clean car, I always at least blow each panel off with a Metro Sidekick to get any airborne particles off the panel right before I touch it, sometimes I'll wipe it down with ONR as well. I also clean my applicator with a pad brush every panel or two.

The wax won't cause any scratches or swirls - but dirt will. Not to mention, every particle that is on your paint not only can scratch your paint, but it can contaminate your tub of wax. Add several of these particles and your fancy tub of high dollar wax becomes only useful as a paperweight. I'm always looking at the wax in the tub for particles or dirt. If there is pollen or bugs in the air I'll actually keep the wax in a gallon ziplock bag and just stick my applicator in the bag to load it with wax.

This goes back to years ago when I was a nooblet, I would always hate it because my wax (P21S - white) would get "dirty" looking in the tub after a while with little particles. At the time I didn't really know the benefits of clay or paint cleaners, although I did know they existed.

Recently, I started to notice this happening again with my tin of Collinite 915. I was thinking I was getting sloppy, when I realized it was little pieces of black foam shedding off the Meg's 3" black foam wax DA pad.

If you think it "matters" how you apply wax, think of how a DA applies wax - in a RANDOM oscillating pattern.
 
Personally, I find that the composition of the wax or sealant dictates how I approach applying it. As a general rule, however, I always try to apply in the direction that the wind blows - always in a straight line. For example, on the hood, I would move from the front to back (or think of it as bumper to windshield). On the door or fender it would be the same, front to back (side-to-side).

The reason I do this is just for safety, if there is some sort of contaminant stuck on the applicator pad the scratches would be in straight lines, not circles - a.k.a. swirls!

The main thing is just to find something you like. Many like circles because it was the way they thought they had to do it. Or better said it was the way that maybe their dad taught them when they were old enough to remember. I'm lucky to be young enough that I had the Internet to consult by the time I was 16 and got my first car. As Swanic pointed out, if you're working clean, it doesn't matter which direction you put it on.

Another thing that goes overlooked is taking the wax off. If you're working really hard to take it off, then you could be instilling swirls and scratches into the paint. If that is happening, take a look at how long you're leaving the wax on before removal and make adjustments. You hate to get to the very last step only to ruin what you worked so hard to accomplish.
 
As long as you work clean it doesn't matter to the paint. I prefer small overlapping circles simply to ensure complete coverage. Long, straight strokes can cause thicker coverage at the beginning and thinner at the end and you increase the possibility not overlapping
 
Put it on however you want mate, i personally apply in straight lines, the reason for this is if you have not cleaned your car thoroughly and have missed a bit or some grit or dirt has blown onto the panel you are waxing this when caught with your applicator could inflict a scratch, straight scratches are easier to machine out than circular ones.
 
If done by hand, I use a z pattern followed by circles so this would be across, back down diagonally, across, and then go over in a circular fashion to insure even coverage. The key by hand is to find something that applies thinly and evenly.
 
Most products I will spread by hand in a straight line then come back and work in little circles to ensure even coverage. As stated before, IF the surface is clean, it really doesn't matter. However, using straight lines does add some "safety factor" in that the IF you cause scratches they should only be visible in one direction.
 
Swanicyouth said:
You can put wax on anyway you like. Make stars, circles or squares - write your name even. The thing that is more important is try to work surgically clean on surgically clean paint. When I'm waxing a clean car, I always at least blow each panel off with a Metro Sidekick to get any airborne particles off the panel right before I touch it, sometimes I'll wipe it down with ONR as well. I also clean my applicator with a pad brush every panel or two.

The wax won't cause any scratches or swirls - but dirt will. Not to mention, every particle that is on your paint not only can scratch your paint, but it can contaminate your tub of wax. Add several of these particles and your fancy tub of high dollar wax becomes only useful as a paperweight. I'm always looking at the wax in the tub for particles or dirt. If there is pollen or bugs in the air I'll actually keep the wax in a gallon ziplock bag and just stick my applicator in the bag to load it with wax.

This goes back to years ago when I was a nooblet, I would always hate it because my wax (P21S - white) would get "dirty" looking in the tub after a while with little particles. At the time I didn't really know the benefits of clay or paint cleaners, although I did know they existed.

Recently, I started to notice this happening again with my tin of Collinite 915. I was thinking I was getting sloppy, when I realized it was little pieces of black foam shedding off the Meg's 3" black foam wax DA pad.

If you think it "matters" how you apply wax, think of how a DA applies wax - in a RANDOM oscillating pattern.
Click to expand...

Nice post!
 
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