What do you look for in a wax?

Obi Dan Karnubi

Obi Dan Karnubi

New member
Hey guys and girls,

So what do you look for in a wax?

Colour?
Scent?
Gloss/wetness/Looks
Durability?
Water behaviour- beading/sheeting?
Cost?
Desired application - show/winter/hybrid/wheel/metal/custom wax?
Rarity?
Easy on and off?
Reputation?


For me, being a wax manufacturer and loving waxes myself, my ethos in the waxes i develop and use is, top quality product for a fair price, a good wax doesn't need to cost a fortune, it just needs to do when it says on the tin. But we are all different, so what is it you look for?

Obi - Dan
 
Obi Dan Karnubi said:
Hey guys and girls,

So what do you look for in a wax?

Colour?
Scent?
Gloss/wetness/Looks
Durability?
Water behaviour- beading/sheeting?
Cost?
Desired application - show/winter/hybrid/wheel/metal/custom wax?
Rarity?
Easy on and off?
Reputation?


For me, being a wax manufacturer and loving waxes myself, my ethos in the waxes i develop and use is, top quality product for a fair price, a good wax doesn't need to cost a fortune, it just needs to do when it says on the tin. But we are all different, so what is it you look for?

Obi - Dan
Click to expand...

In red is what I normally look for. Looks, protection and cost rank towards the top.

Dean. :bigups
 
Obi Dan Karnubi said:
Hey guys and girls,

So what do you look for in a wax?

Colour?
Scent?
Gloss/wetness/Looks
Durability?
Water behaviour- beading/sheeting?
Cost?
Desired application - show/winter/hybrid/wheel/metal/custom wax?
Rarity?
Easy on and off?
Reputation?


For me, being a wax manufacturer and loving waxes myself, my ethos in the waxes i develop and use is, top quality product for a fair price, a good wax doesn't need to cost a fortune, it just needs to do when it says on the tin. But we are all different, so what is it you look for?

Obi - Dan
Click to expand...

one that has a pumpkin on the lid and smells like chocolate hmmm yummy :lol2:

i have quite a bit of nubas in my fridges and yes scent is a huge factor for me. I love to smell the product as im applying it, makes it a little bit enjoyable.

Color i guess something out of the ordinary like i seen some vendors from the UK use florescent green and yellow. which makes it easier to apply on white and light colored cars, that way you can see if you missed a spot.

Durability it doesnt matter i'll prob end up buying both editions lol since my car is a garage queen durability isnt an issue, but for customers cars it is an issue.

Easy on easy off very important. Like collinite is considered one of the best out there for durability, but its a pain to work with 3 times ive tried using it and all 3 times ive had bad experiences. Could be that im just spoiled with these other waxes that make it easier for removal, who knows meh


Rarity always a must. gotta have that collect able hahahaha

My preference is the wet look over glossy
 
Depends on the car. For my daily driver I'm looking for longevity, beading, and ease of use. Most waxes will look good if the paint is pretty sound. For my garage queen, for a while I was all about "show car wax". But, most of those waxes seem quite fragile to me and beading seems to be heavily discounted after a few washes. I've really only found a few waxes that look glowingly great (to me), are easy to use, and seem quite durable.

To be honest, I'm getting back to layering a sealant under the wax - for durability. The best "all around" wax I've tried is NaviWax Ultimate, maybe Collinite 915 as #2 (I'm still testing it - I don't think it's better than NW so far). I do like the Dodo Waxes - especially Blue Velvet Pro. But when they say "a touch of sealant", I think they DO mean just a touch. As the stuff is not nearly as durable as a sealant. However, it's a nice compromise for the summer - as it looks great and is easy to use.

I'm also playing with Swissvax Best of Show. It's a nice wax no doubt - but durability isn't there. It does smell amazing and is very easy to use. Oddly enough, I haven't used any BlackFire waxes. Although I do own a new pot of MS.
 
psynx said:
one that has a pumpkin on the lid and smells like chocolate hmmm yummy :lol2:

i have quite a bit of nubas in my fridges and yes scent is a huge factor for me. I love to smell the product as im applying it, makes it a little bit enjoyable.

Color i guess something out of the ordinary like i seen some vendors from the UK use florescent green and yellow. which makes it easier to apply on white and light colored cars, that way you can see if you missed a spot.

Durability it doesnt matter i'll prob end up buying both editions lol since my car is a garage queen durability isnt an issue, but for customers cars it is an issue.

Easy on easy off very important. Like collinite is considered one of the best out there for durability, but its a pain to work with 3 times ive tried using it and all 3 times ive had bad experiences. Could be that im just spoiled with these other waxes that make it easier for removal, who knows meh


Rarity always a must. gotta have that collect able hahahaha

My preference is the wet look over glossy
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, what kind of scents do you find most pleasing? Citrus/floral/unique?
 
Swanicyouth said:
Depends on the car. For my daily driver I'm looking for longevity, beading, and ease of use. Most waxes will look good if the paint is pretty sound. For my garage queen, for a while I was all about "show car wax". But, most of those waxes seem quite fragile to me and beading seems to be heavily discounted after a few washes. I've really only found a few waxes that look glowingly great (to me), are easy to use, and seem quite durable.

To be honest, I'm getting back to layering a sealant under the wax - for durability. The best "all around" wax I've tried is NaviWax Ultimate, maybe Collinite 915 as #2 (I'm still testing it - I don't think it's better than NW so far). I do like the Dodo Waxes - especially Blue Velvet Pro. But when they say "a touch of sealant", I think they DO mean just a touch. As the stuff is not nearly as durable as a sealant. However, it's a nice compromise for the summer - as it looks great and is easy to use.

I'm also playing with Swissvax Best of Show. It's a nice wax no doubt - but durability isn't there. It does smell amazing and is very easy to use. Oddly enough, I haven't used any BlackFire waxes. Although I do own a new pot of MS.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, so a wax that has show wax looks with the durability of a winter wax would be a good all rounder ;)
 
What about a wax that has the look of a typical carnauba based wax but with cross linking polymers and ceramic/glass coating ingredients? So a wax that delivers amazing gloss/water behaviour and a long durable layer? But cost is higher, as the cost of ingredients are extremely high? For example look at your typical glass coatings like Modesta.
 
Colour and scent are important but not the most important. I rate gloss/looks higher than the former two. The smell and colour are more or mess less just a bonus. Also important is ease of removal. Why should I buy a wax that's a pita to remove when there's so many others on the market that can offer ease of removal. Durability I could care less about. I'm really interested in what the fresh coat of wax feels like in terms of slickness and looks like when first applied. I wax often enough to not care. Rarity is also nice but that can drive price up higher for no real reason other than because only x amount were made.

As for scents, anything fruity. Strawberry, blueberry (would be nice since the only blueberry scented wax I had was d301 and I barely used it), mango, pineapple, piña colada along those lines. Nothing too chemically smelling. Waxing is like the relaxing final step to detailing, a nice scent helps this. Leave the chemical smells to the chemicals doing the cleaning


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Obi Dan Karnubi said:
What about a wax that has the look of a typical carnauba based wax but with cross linking polymers and ceramic/glass coating ingredients? So a wax that delivers amazing gloss/water behaviour and a long durable layer? But cost is higher, as the cost of ingredients are extremely high? For example look at your typical glass coatings like Modesta.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome. Is that possible? Would the ceramic/glass coating ingredients actually do any paint bonding with all that wax around?
 
jvs1991 said:
Colour and scent are important but not the most important. I rate gloss/looks higher than the former two. The smell and colour are more or mess less just a bonus. Also important is ease of removal. Why should I buy a wax that's a pita to remove when there's so many others on the market that can offer ease of removal. Durability I could care less about. I'm really interested in what the fresh coat of wax feels like in terms of slickness and looks like when first applied. I wax often enough to not care. Rarity is also nice but that can drive price up higher for no real reason other than because only x amount were made.

As for scents, anything fruity. Strawberry, blueberry (would be nice since the only blueberry scented wax I had was d301 and I barely used it), mango, pineapple, piña colada along those lines. Nothing too chemically smelling. Waxing is like the relaxing final step to detailing, a nice scent helps this. Leave the chemical smells to the chemicals doing the cleaning


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, i agree a wax should be easily removed, if you want that wet look but that slickness, Chocwork Orange is the one for you!!
 
Swanicyouth said:
That would be awesome. Is that possible? Would the ceramic/glass coating ingredients actually do any paint bonding with all that wax around?
Click to expand...

Yeah it is possible, although very difficult to produce and expensive. The main chemical i need has taking me around 7 months just to source and is £150 a litre or $245. At the moment it has taken 4 months of development and im still no where near getting it to where i want it. As for adhesion to paintwork, this is achievable ive got something that will do that, its whether i can get all the ingredients to work together and perform how i want them to. In theory they should, ill update as i progress.

wendell jarvis said:
Durability
Ease of applying and removal
End results....gloss and depth of shine
Cost
Click to expand...

Thanks mate
 
jvs1991 said:
Colour and scent are important but not the most important. I rate gloss/looks higher than the former two. The smell and colour are more or mess less just a bonus. Also important is ease of removal. Why should I buy a wax that's a pita to remove when there's so many others on the market that can offer ease of removal. Durability I could care less about. I'm really interested in what the fresh coat of wax feels like in terms of slickness and looks like when first applied. I wax often enough to not care. Rarity is also nice but that can drive price up higher for no real reason other than because only x amount were made.

As for scents, anything fruity. Strawberry, blueberry (would be nice since the only blueberry scented wax I had was d301 and I barely used it), mango, pineapple, piña colada along those lines. Nothing too chemically smelling. Waxing is like the relaxing final step to detailing, a nice scent helps this. Leave the chemical smells to the chemicals doing the cleaning


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

you would like fruity scents, you fruit cake :lol2:
 
Obi Dan Karnubi said:
Thanks mate, what kind of scents do you find most pleasing? Citrus/floral/unique?
Click to expand...

unique, as chocwork did the trick lol
I like some citrus smelling ones. but Most dodo's have that scent already like RB juiced edition smells like pineapple
B22 smells like lime
 
jvs1991 said:
Rarity is also nice but that can drive price up higher for no real reason other than because only x amount were made.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, limited edition waxes are ok as these tend to be a fair cost. Custom one off waxes are usually expensive, i must get emails and private messages from people every week asking me to make them a custom one off wax, im tempted as i like the idea of supplying someone a wax that is totally unique and will fulfil their requirements etc, but they usually are a higher price and this is why ive never done it as my own personal morals i couldnt sell a wax to someone for a high price.

They are usually high prices as their are many hidden costs. For starters you have the wax blend itself, the customer may want 70% nuba in wax % with a certain oil or to smell and look a certain way, or soft or a hard wax, hybrid or natural wax, many many variations. This takes time, and then i would have to send out small samples for you to try and then change anything that you wern't happy with, again this takes time. Then theres the pot, for a one off and it being special a nice pot would be the right route to take, again time is taken to source a pot, a cnc machined billet 200ml pot would be good but thats $115 for me to get so straight away your at least at $230, then theres the label which is exensive to design and get printed for just one pot as usually they want a 1000 run of labels, or if on a billet pot maybe the name of the wax engraved again more costs so by the end of the process and about 3-4 weeks you have a pot of wax that costs $350 or more depending on things. Then if you have no morals hike the price up to $1000s and rip people off like some do. :wall

This is why i dont think i could do custom blends as my ethos is to deliver a good product that is for everyones price range. Unless you want a standard pot and simple label :lmfao
 
Swanicyouth said:
^^^ I'm really starting to like this guy.
Click to expand...


Same lol. I enjoy a manufacturer being active on the forum answering questions. Shows they care about the consumer and not just the money.

I agree about the limited edition waxes. I understand it costs money from the r&d point but then manufactures knock consumers over the head with the profit margins because they know we will buy.

Perhaps a wax that was a standard formula but the consumer could customize color, scent maybe even container color. Seen another manufacturer do it and would like this type of customization. One formula so you don't have to kill yourself making tons to fit the consumer model but the consumer can at least have the wax customized to certain specs of theirs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Cost, looks, ease of use, and longevity. Scents and colors don't matter to me, but it does add the "enjoyment to use" factor.
 
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