[Torobimmer]

I was wondering which company/product produces the best car polish/wax/compound/spray etc. within the mainstream market.

Companies often release or reformulate their product lines for much improved offerings. I want to get your thoughts on which are your top performing products that can easily be found in Target, Autoparts shops, Target etc.

__________________________________________________ ___________ Found this blog. thought id share to start it up.

Reported in the November 2011 issue of Consumer Reports (CR) magazine.

According to CR, waxes can help protect paint. Some can also improve the shine of oxidized paint, but they won't improve the shine on newer cars because of clear-coating. The best pastes can provide longer protection than liquids. Their testing found ease of use about the same for both types, although some pastes were harder to remove. The following properties were tested:
Gloss improvement
Durability
Ease of removal
Ease of application
Cleaning
Resistance to scratching/hazing
Compatibility with plastic

In the table below, waxes are listed in order of performance. Although CR listed 12 waxes in this category, only the top 7 will be listed as those falling below were not recommended for consideration by CR. None was rated excellent overall.

Liquid or Gel Wax (Easier to apply overall than pastes)
1. Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 G12718
2. Nu Finish NF-76
3. Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus Premium Liquid Wax G7016
4. 3M One Step Cleaner Wax 39006
5. Meguiar's Cleaner Wax A1216
6. Mothers California Gold Carnauba Cleaner Wax 05701
7. Auto Glym Super Resin Polish SRP 2/2

In the table below, waxes are again listed in performance order. While 7 waxes were listed in this category, only the top 2 will be listed as those falling below were not recommended by CR.

Paste (Top scorers in this category are more durable)
1. Nu Finish NFP-80
2. Turtle Wax Ice Synthetic Paste Polish T-465

Long-lasting waxes:
Nu Finish NF-76
Nu-Finish NFP-80
Turtle Wax Ice Synthetic Paste Polish T-465

Waxes that deep-clean your paint:
Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus Premium Liquid Wax
3M One Step cleaner Wax
Meguiar's Cleaner Wax
Mothers California Gold Carnauba Cleaner Wax
Auto Glym Super Resin Polish SRP 2/2
Nu Finish NFP-80

Important Note
Don't assume that because a wax is highly rated in one category it will be similarly positioned in the other. For example the #1 rated Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 in the Liquid category is only #4 rated in the paste group, too low in performance in that group to earn a CR recommendation. In like manner, the #2 rated Turtle Wax Ice Synthetic Paste Polish in the Paste category is rated #12 (last) in the list of Liquid products, obviously not earning a recommendation.

Conclusions
Overall, liquid waxes performed as well as paste waxes, with the best liquids providing better shine on faded paint. Only two of the 19 car waxes tested were rated excellent for durability, Nu Finish NFP-80 and Turtle Wax Ice Synthetic Paste, both paste waxes. Regardless of your effort, how much you spend, or what longevity claims manufacturers make, CR recommends waxing new cars at least every two or three months for maximum protection.

In the next post I'll report my experience using one of these products.

Happy Motoring!

[Donny Rino]

What's your point..... Someone in the car detailing business doesn't use any of the products listed.

[Torobimmer]

::

my fault i should have known this forum is used exclusively for purist detailer. Mass market and dominating chunk of industry is not worth a damn. For sure you're missing the point there. for future if anyone else gonna respond like a high and mighty detailing purist then you can save ur cause obviously its

[Donny Rino]

I'm just saying when you report back that nu finish is the best product you ever used no one will care. Go to detailedimage.com to see what most guys on here use.

[Torobimmer]

article didnt test this one cause it was release after research was done by consumer reports in the same year. but after doing my own reading at Meguires forums NXT 2.0 no longer their front runner in longest lasting product. ULW takes it.
its Ultimate Liquid Wax > NXT 2.0

[Torobimmer]

an interesting info regarding curing time with ULW from Meguires instructor Mike.


Re: ulitmate wax vs nxt 2.0
Curing time and drying time are two different things. Drying time is the time difference between application of product and removal of the haze or residue. Some waxes, like Pinnacle Souveran and Wolfgang Fusion, have virtually no dry time at all and are essentially wipe on, wipe off products. Cure time is the time difference between wiping off that residue or haze and when the polymers of a synthetic sealant are fully crosslinked and bonded. True "curing" is more of a synthetic products thing than a carnauba wax thing, although there is still some level of curing with those types of products.

Ultimate Wax is a very unique formulation for Meguiar's in that the chemistry of this product, especially in liquid form, is vastly different from anything else we make. That means with the liquid you can apply to a panel at a time and wipe off as you go. The paste, due to ingredients used to make it a paste, behaves in a more traditional manner and should be allowed to dry fully before wipe off. Even then, the paste version won't show much of a haze, but it will pass the swipe test, whereas the liquid version really doesn't work with the swipe test.

Ultimate Wax is definitely our longest lasting and best protecting wax. The liquid version will not stain plastic trim but the paste can do so, so keep that in mind. Differences in appearance between this and NXT or anything are going to be highly subjective and preferences will be a very personal thing.

Marc's observations are spot on, and from purely personal experience I can tell you that UW paste is my new favorite wax, especially on darker colors and most notably on darker metallics.


What we can say definitively is that Ultimate Wax is now our longest lasting, best protecting wax - a title that NXT 2.0 used to hold. As 1994Gen1L points out, the liquid version of UW will not stain plastic trim, something we can not say about our other liquid waxes. How each looks is going to depend on a lot of factors, most importantly your own perceptions and likes.

UW will go on extremely thin and can be applied to a panel at a time and wiped off right away, which sometimes actually works better on darker colors. Other than that, we can't really tell you that you'll like one over the other - heck, some people prefer the look of a carnauba wax so they go with Gold Class instead of either one of these synthetics. Others will apply one of these synthetics and then top with a carnauba. As you can see, wax selection is a pretty personal thing.

[Bobble]

OK I'll bite, what's your affiliation in all this or better said why are you posting this as it seems you're not asking a question but rather making a statement?

Is your last post directly culled from MOL? Mike who, there are several Mikes past and present at Megs.

Seems to me you're trolling a bit but IMO Megs #26 is one of the best OTC waxes I've used in the last 30 years. If talking sealants or coatings there are way better products, normally not OTC but boutique products to choose from.

Kind of an interesting perspective to pit a higher end boutique wax like Fuzion against ULW or even the paste version. They are vastly different in looks and application like worlds apart. Also no one in the high end uses boutique waxes for their protection qualities since most of those applications are not on DD's so looks is the goal. Kind of like asking which is better fruit or veggies, depends on what you're doing.

And to answer what I think your question originally was for OTC products I would prefer Megs for some stuff and Duragloss for lots of others if you can find Duragloss at a Carquest/Napa/Orielly near you.

[r1concepts]

SMART WAX is the best.