Wax or sealant?

zilog_jones

I need to buy some proper wax/sealant but I'm not sure which to get. Basically I'm looking for something that's durable, offers decent paint protection and can be applied easily without fancy machine polisher yokes. I'm not too bothered about magical shiny glossy finishes or whatever. My budget would be around €20-30. Any recommendations?

Do the sealants generally last longer than waxes?

Anyone used Collinite 476S? It kinda sounds like what I want...

Neilw

Collinite is a wax, and a very durable one at that. If you have it already stick with it. Otherwise chemical guys jetseal is durable and easy enough to apply.
Remember less is more with sealants and waxes, thin coats is the way to go.
If you apply too much it will be hard to remove.

I'd recommend a good wash, detar, claybar and then apply sealant/wax of choice.

andyseadog

what colour is your car? sealants are generally better for lighter colours.

i'm currently using werkstatt prime on my (white car) and it seems to last an eternity, or at least a whole lot longer than the Auto Glym HD wax i was using on it before that.

vetstu

Check out http://www.detailingworld.co.uk
Great forum for this sort of stuff

I use Harly wax myself on red and find it very good

W.Shakes-Beer

Dodo Juice wax would be my choice (available on eBay)

easy to use and water still beads after a month

vectra

I have a white car and used products suggested to me that are better on white/light color cars.
So,
Bought them
tried them
Threw them on the shelf.

Reverted back to my Harly wax.
NOTHING beats a freshly waxed car..
Several months later and still beading brilliant..
Harly Wax



Next up I am getting some FK1000P
Have got excellent reviews for finish and durability.

Finish kare 100P

jozi

Thought you could use a sealant and then a wax on top?

vectra

jozi wrote: »

Thought you could use a sealant and then a wax on top?

Correct
who said you cannot?

jozi

No one, maybe I phrased it wrong as it wasnt mentioned in the thread. But I guess with the op's budget it was a case of one or the other

zilog_jones

Neilw wrote: »

Collinite is a wax, and a very durable one at that. If you have it already stick with it.

I don't have anything right now, but I've heard it mentioned before and saw it (along with Jetseal and other stuff mentioned here) on www.detailer.ie - is Separate around here these days? I have a clay bar, polish (Auto Glym SRP), some tar remover and Meguiar's ScratchX for the really bad parts.

andyseadog wrote: »

what colour is your car? sealants are generally better for lighter colours.

It's a Peugeot 406 in Monaco Blue, like these:
http://is01.thegumtree.com/image/big/49925745.jpg
http://www.pug406.com/wiki/images/7/79/Monaco.jpg

jozi wrote: »

No one, maybe I phrased it wrong as it wasnt mentioned in the thread. But I guess with the op's budget it was a case of one or the other

Yeah just one for now

vectra

zilog_jones wrote: »

I don't have anything right now, but I've heard it mentioned before and saw it (along with Jetseal and other stuff mentioned here) on www.detailer.ie - is Separate around here these days? I have a clay bar, polish (standard Auto Glym stuff), some tar remover and Meguiar's ScratchX for the really bad parts.


It's a Peugeot 406 in Monaco Blue, like these:
http://is01.thegumtree.com/image/big/49925745.jpg
http://www.pug406.com/wiki/images/7/79/Monaco.jpg


Yeah just one for now

Well then for durability gett he FK1000p I pointed to above.;)
Wash
De-Tar
Clay
Polish
FK1000P

you wont be dissapointed

If you're working by hand I find sealants to be a much easier to work with than waxes if you're chosing between the two and not going for both. Maybe it's me and my less than perfect methods, but I've found most waxes a bit of a pain to get buffed off nicely. Autoglym EGP may be a bog standard off the shelf product, but I love the stuff! Completely painless and quick application, time for tea and a bite to eat (or be a good little detailer and work on other bits...), and dead easy to buff off to a nice finish and some nice beading. Less is most definately more though remember, took me a while to figure that out

Seperate

I'd personally use a wax on that colour. I use a mixture of waxes and sealants in my workshop depending on the colour and type of finish on a particular car. Some people will tell you to only use sealants regardless, some will stick entirely to waxes but both have their pro's and con's.

I don't find one easier to use then the other. If you buy a good wax, it will be easy to use. A good wax doesn't have to cost the earth, but it all depends on your budget.

What I will say, and this counts wether you use a sealant or a wax, most of the initial shine is in the preperation. Claying & polishing make a huge difference. You've mentioned Super Resin Polish - again, this product has it's uses, but if your paint is tired, you'd be better off with a good, lightly abrasive paint cleaner. These will leave a perfectly clean, fresh finish for the wax or sealant to bond to.

If you're going down the sealant route, Chemical Guys P40 Polish, folowed by Jetseal 109 with a Blitz chaser (:)) would be ideal. Once the initial hard work is down, you can put the P40 & Jetseal in the shed and just top up with Blitz on a semi-regular basis. Every 3 or 4 months, you could recoat in jetseal and then back to the Blitz.

We do have another acrylic system which I use on light coloured cars alot - a brand called Werkstat.

If your budget can stretch, you won't go wrong with Swissvax Cleaner Fluid, followed by Swissvax Onyx. Both an absolute breeze to use, the results will be awesome.

vectra

Seperate wrote: »

If you're going down the sealant route, Chemical Guys P40 Polish, .

I simply cannot praise this stuff enough.

Leaves the paint squeaky clean and ready for the next product ( Personally I prefer wax ) but up to the individual

Seperate

vectra wrote: »

I simply cannot praise this stuff enough.

It's a very versatile product, works well by hand and by machine.

Does exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak

zilog_jones

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see how the polishing goes with what I already have this weekend (weather permitting ) and maybe get the P40 stuff if it needs more work. It's not in great shape, some pretty deep gouges on the roof (and rear window somehow :eek:), a lot of small scratches around the door handles, a few dents and some serious damage on one of the doors (paint mostly scratched off completely, I'll get to that when I have the money).

@Seperate: Have you used FK1000p or know how it compares to Jetseal 109? Been looking at the Detailing World forums, there seems to be a lot of praise of both and one test suggesting the Jetseal lasts longer. Doesn't seem to be any Finish Kare sellers in Ireland though, which makes things more difficult...

Also, what do you guys use applying this stuff? Are those foam applicator pads good enough?