8 way under $20 wax test: 845, 476s, S100, AG HD, CG XXX, PETES 53, MEGS 26, BUTTERY

Thanks for doing the test. I have #26, 845 and HD. I really like the HD and am not supprised that it lasted three month with little degradation. It looks good also. There is no way that I can run a test that long without hitting it with some sort of wax or spray. Keep up the good work.



On another note I keep waiting for someone to do a blind looks test. I just may have to do it myself. I think that it will suprise a lot of people. For example I think that Turtle wax Ice is about the most relective LSP I have seen. It is shunned on this site. I would like to do a test blind so that there are no preconcieved notions about brands and sealant verses carnubas issues. The problem is that I only have light color cars. Anybody want to donate their black car to this worthy cause
 
Updated with a video showing current sheeting and beading. The focus is poor at the beginning - I couldn't get it right with the reflection.



 
Thanks for the time to test and post a video. :up



Please don't take this as criticism, but in my view, based on your video, none of the LSP have given out. Yes, a couple have diminished slightly in the beading department, but they're still beading. To me that says they're still there and still protecting.



You know when a LSP is dead - no beading or sheeting evident... the water just pools. That's the sign that it's gone.
 
Alfisti said:
Please don't take this as criticism, but in my view, based on your video, none of the LSP have given out. Yes, a couple have diminished slightly in the beading department, but they're still beading. To me that says they're still there and still protecting.



You know when a LSP is dead - no beading or sheeting evident... the water just pools. That's the sign that it's gone.
Click to expand...



Yup, that's why I posted the video! I know people judge LSPs as dead in different ways, so I'll let everyone make their own judgments. To me, the three are finished. I would definitely reapply if I wasn't doing the test. Also, the "beading" you see in the video for buttery and Megs 26 is what the hood looks like when it is stripped. The surface also has that bare-paint feel to it. S100 is a little better, but still dead IMO. I'm not sure my hood is flat enough to actually get significant pooling, it has a pretty fair amount of camber to it.
 
I never ever get results like that from anything. I've used Zaino,845,476,NXT 2.0,UPGP,Zaino CS,and various detail sprays such as Surf City Speed Demon,Megs UQW,and Z8. No combo has ever yielded long term results like that. We must have the worst acid rain in the world here or something. The rain just kills beading on top surfaces. :(



This is an awesome test,but aggravating to look at too. :)
 
All - been a while on the update, I know. I've basically traveled the whole month of June and *gasp* was not around to wash the car. I just pulled the car into the garage to leave again, so the next update won't be until August.
 
Alright guys, here we are at 6.5 months. This car has been washed 15-20 times using a variety of soaps - gold class, adam's, duragloss, and griot's. It's been driven like any normal daily driver. Always kept in a garage at night. No detail spray has been used. Every wax was 2 coats.



As a refresher, using my determination of when a wax has failed, we got:



Buttery wax - 4 weeks

S100 - 10 weeks

Megs 26 - 12 weeks



Stilll alive - 845, 476, Autoglym HD, CG XXX, and CG Pete's 53. Autoglym HD looks the best right now, followed by CG XXX / Pete's 53 (tie), then 476, and finally 845. 845 is on it's last leg. Yes, it looks like a couple of so-called beauty waxes are going to beat the collinite twins! We'll see. Sheeting is best on Autoglym too, followed by the CG entries, then 476, and finally 845. 845 is pretty slow and deformed, but I think it has a copule more weeks in it. Here is a current video:






Interesting comparison to my black car that sits outside. Collinite 476, 845, and FK1000P only lasted 2-3 months on those in the "heavyweight wax test", in the same climate, being washed less, and having fewer miles put on it. But that one is outside 24/7, and the direct sun on the paint just killed those waxes. More info on that test here: http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-de...st-845-v-476s-v-fk1000p-1-coat-v-2-coats.html
 
The life expectancy of wax on a dark colored car will always be less due tio the fact that darker colors absorb heat.

Your test is interesting... I have three of the waxes you are testing.. Collinite 845, S100 and Meg's 26.



For my personal vehicles, it is a moot point, as I do a panel or two ( with Meg's #21 synthetic sealant, Collinite 845 on the daily drivers for the winter) after every wash so the protection on the vehicle never goes "out of date".
 
I have used AG HD a number of times and the durability seams pretty good and the shime is great. Although since I started using a spray wax booster any wax will last 6 months for me on the beading front
 
7.5 month update. About three-four weeks ago I called 845 dead. It had been limping along for a bit but started pooling. Today 476 is gone.



So we have left: CG XXX hard core, CG Pete's 53, and Autoglym HD. You read it right.



Here is a picture of Petes 53 beading, which has retaken the lead of best beading. It is not nearly as good as it once was, but I think it *still* gives better beading than S100 did right after application.



extrabolts-albums282-3701.jpg




Here is one of the water running off. I had sprayed the entire hood evenly, and by the time I got the camera you can see on the left side where both the CG waxes had drained. On the left top, you can see where Pete's 53 still is, below that is XXX, and at the bottom left you can kinda see how 476 is pooling. Toward the right middle you can see where AG HD starts sheeting from the center out in a growing circle.



extrabolts-albums282-3700.jpg




Still no detail spray used on anything. Car has been washed 20, 30, who knows how many times? I'm rewaxing the car tonight, but I'll keep the hood untouched for one more month before I do a seal for winter. These final three waxes are still protecting but are limping along, sheet at a moderate rate and show some deformation. The entire hood has some traction to the touch - none of the areas, including the three remaining, have any slickness left at all.
 
Wow thanks for the update. Of all those you tested which do you think looked the best regardless of longevity?
 
Bill D said:
Wow thanks for the update. Of all those you tested which do you think looked the best regardless of longevity?
Click to expand...



I couldn't tell any difference in looks on the small squares I did. I have used most of these cars on entire cars though, hard to say which looks "best" because I do notice differences between them and like different waxes on different colors. I'd summarize them on whole cars like this (of course this is very subjective!) -



845 - bright, reflective, glassy

476 - gives a "just cleaned" look. hard to describe - not hard candy, wet, or too bright, just makes the car look freshly cleaned with some reflecting

FK1000P - hard candy (ah, this one wasn't in the test, but thats what it looks like anyway)

S100 - darkens, wet

Megs 26 - never used this on a whole car, or if I did I can't remember how it looked

Petes 53 - dripping wet with some reflection - beautiful, something like mixing the opposites 845 and S100 together

XXX hardcore - similar to Petes 53 but brighter

AG HD - probably also a "just cleaned" type of product. I haven't tried this one on black yet though.

Buttery wax - reflective but not as much as 845
 
Ah, very comprehensive and very descriptive. I'm finding the reflective or the hard candy or the just cleaned looked LSPs typically tend to be the longer lasting ones
 
extrabolts- Interesting that you find the S100 darkens. I always thought S100 was basically the same as P21s, and the latter was way too bright/reflective on my Jag, not at all a darkening kind of effect.
 
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