How many times per year do you wax?

Mine gets done about once every 2 months by a professional. I have it detailed every month to keep it clean. I might add I sure miss doing it myself but can't where I live now.

at 02 Mar 2004, [ snipped-for-privacy@00.GT] wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I believe it depends on the climate and the wax used. Down here in Florida with the blazing sun it seems the wax just burns off. I've also noticed that if I use paste it stays on longer than if I use liquid wax.

The cheapy stuff appears not to last as long as like Meguilars, Mothers or my favorite, Eagle One.

I wax Pony about once a month on average with liquid Eagle One. I alternate between the cleaner wax and the Eagle One Wet. Every 6 months she gets washed with Dawn to remove all old wax and I put on a double coat after that.

Check the pics on the site in my sig to see how her paintjob looks...

with it. I wax my car 4

Listen up....

NEVER EVER wax your car unless absolutely necessary and then only wax the areas you need to!!!!! Always use Polish!

There IS a difference! Wax is abrasive, polish is not!!!! Use a poly based polish and you'll be good for the better part of a year depending on how exposed to the elements your car is. If your car is garaged once a year is enough.

Jeff Foglietta

keep up with it. I wax my car 4

is there a sure sign of when you *need* too? I've always enjoyed washing/waxing/polishing my cars. I was under the impression that here in San Diego, at least twice a year was a good rule of thumb. But, I have to admit, I'm not an expert on knowing the best ways to take care of the paint.

Also, I was driving from San Diego to Vegas. I passed a big 'ol truck that either kicked up a rock or dropped one off it's bed, either way, it hit the lowest part of the hood and took a nice little quarter sized chuck out of the paint. Any ideas how best to fix it. Is this something that can actually be fixed or am I looking at repainting the hood?

-brian

-----------------------

I would agree that the less you are buffing the paint, the better. But here's a question: what is the best way to WASH the car so as to not remove the wax? I find I can wax the car and the wax will last pretty long, however I need to wash the car pretty often to get off the bird crap, mud, road grime, etc. that accumulates every week or so. Is there a specific soap that is recommended that will cut through the bird crap etc without removing much wax? Plain water of course is not good, you need to use some type of soap when washing.

Also, how about the water temperature? I have been using hot water and not too much soap... the hot water tends to loosen up grime and bird crap better than cold water, thus less soap needed. However, for all I know, the hot water is also helping to remove the wax faster also. Not sure.

So what is the magic solution for keeping your car clean all the time while not removing the wax?

Using paste wax is not so bad now and then... yes, it is abrasive, but that helps remove paint oxidation and other nasty grit, road tar, grease, stains, etc. I try to do a good paste wax about once a year. This will not hurt anything.

I usually wash the car once a year in the spring, and wax about every other year. Granted, the car is garaged, and never sees anything but dry weather.

Jason

up with it. I wax my car 4

I think you have that backwards Jeff.. to the best of my recollection, polishes have abrasives in them, waxes do not.

I wax whenever i run the back of my fingers across the finish and it isn't slippery, prolly every 6 weeks or so. Not always all over all at once and i prefer Meguiars.

Kate

keep up with it. I wax my car 4

Are you sure about that? I thought that it's the polish that is abrasive with the wax providing the protective coat. See this link

with it. I wax my car 4

uhm, I think it's the opposite. Polish is sort of abrasive, wax is not.

Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying

at 02 Mar 2004, [ snipped-for-privacy@00.GT] wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Thanks! She does look better than most cars from that year.A few nicks and dings unfortunately but yeah, the paintjob stood up well against the Florida weather. But then again, she rarely is parked out in the sun for any length of time.

You are absolutely right, Kate. He has that bass-ackwards. Polishes contain abrasives in varying amounts, and are primarily used for removing small scratches or swirls. Waxes are for protection and shine, and should contain no abrasives. Pure carnauba wax is the standard in waxes and is used in everything from car wax to candy, which is why M&M's don't melt in your hands.

Ha.... that's cool RayS (M&M's)... LOL.

-Mike

Yeah Meguiars is the best I've found so far. Haven't heard anything about Eagle One except from Paul.. and he says it's good. Anybody else know?

-Mike

Sorry Kate, You're absolutely right. Thats what I get for multitasking at work. So let's try this again, shall we.

NEVER EVER polish your car!! ......... ;-)

Jeff Foglietta

i think you can polish your car... just not 50 times in a row ;)

-Mike

I use their chrome cleaner on my wheels, it is excellent. If their other products work as well as that, I would be willing to give it a go!

Kate

LOL, happens to me all the time.

Unfortunately, I need to polish my car right now.

A build up of road crud all over more than anywhere else From California to Tennessee. if you use something like Meguiars cleaner/wax for things like light road film, and an ORBITAL buffer it will take a heck of a lot to damage your paint no matter how inexperienced you are.

Kate

I don't have chrome wheels :/

-Mike