Anyone do this?

M

meGrimlock

New member
I was wondering if anyone here mixes a small amount of wax in with your car wash soap? I found this on the Griot's Garage website, saying that mixing 1 part liquid wax to 3 parts soap will help maintain the waxed surface, and make the car easier to dry.



I have tried this on my wife's truck using Megs GC, and Soft Wash Gel, and find that it makes drying easier, as the water beads up even better than usual. Her truck has been waxed with GC exclusively since we bought it in July. I have not tried this on my '03 GTI yet, as I have yet to apply the Zaino products that I got for Christmas.



I have not noticed any detrimental effects to the finish on the truck, and it is easier to dry. As for prolonging the protection of the wax already on the truck, I have no idea as I wax it every two months, and the water is still beading.



Does anyone have any input on whether this is a bad prictice, or will it not harm the paint in any way? I do plan on switching to #26 soon for the truck, as I have read here that GC is not the most durable wax available.
 
I have never heard of doing this before. I suppose it could work but I dont imagine it would bond to the paint all that well, more like a temporary solution. The people over at griots do know their stuff though. My car is in need of some more protection, maybe I will give this a shot on my now waxless car and see if I get any beading action.
 
I see no harm but be careful with your unpainted molding. It may become stained by the wax. Also check to make sure the front window is uneffected by a carnuaba waxy film. Also check for residual wax that maybe drying in seams. Could become unsightly over time.:wavey
 
I don't know why you would ever want to do that. Besides, there are enought car wash solutions off the shelf that contain carnauba in them to satisfy your curiosity. You should go out and get that RainX wax with the carnauba beads in it and let us know how it works. There is a thread real recent with a picture in it.
 
blkZ28Conv said:
I see no harm but be careful with your unpainted molding. It may become stained by the wax. Also check to make sure the front window is uneffected by a carnuaba waxy film. Also check for residual wax that maybe drying in seams. Could become unsightly over time.:wavey
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I had actually thought about that, and I have not noticed any carnuba residue on the truck, it is a Ford Explorer Sport Trac, and it has grey plastic molding around the entire bottom of the truck, and there are no stains. The windshield is crystal clear too. The one thing I have noticed is that when I climb into the bed to wash the roof, and climb back down afterwards, there are small amounts of wax floating on the water in the bucket that seem to dissipate by swirling my wash mitt around in the bucket.



I just wanted to make sure that I was not making one of those cardinal mistakes that I hear about in some of the threads here.



Thanks for the help. :D
 
My thoughts:



Oil (carnuaba based wax) and Water (wash solution) don't mix well, and generally don't play well together.



I'm guessing this is a little ploy of 'ole Richie Griot's to help you use his wax faster, thus ordering from him with increased frequency.
 
I have read in the griots catalog about his "secret potion", but its all a little sketchy if you ask me. Secondly, doesent GC have some mild cleaners in it? I wonder how that effects things.
 
I've done it a few times and it seems to work alright at rejuvinating your existing wax layers. The only problem is that the amount of suds you get in your bucket is severely reduced and streaking can be a problem if you don't rinse off each panel right away (very visible on dark colored cars). IMO, this soap/wax mixing is only worth it if you've got some liquid wax sitting around that you'll probably never use otherwise.
 
Intermezzo said:
I've done it a few times and it seems to work alright at rejuvinating your existing wax layers. The only problem is that the amount of suds you get in your bucket is severely reduced and streaking can be a problem if you don't rinse off each panel right away (very visible on dark colored cars). IMO, this soap/wax mixing is only worth it if you've got some liquid wax sitting around that you'll probably never use otherwise.
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That was my reasoning. I am going to switch to #26 for the truck, and didn't want to waste the wax. If I have problems, I can always strip it with Dawn.
 
IndigoGTI said:
That was my reasoning. I am going to switch to #26 for the truck, and didn't want to waste the wax. If I have problems, I can always strip it with Dawn.
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If you are thinking about switching to a paste carnuaba, research the P21S/S100 family of carnuabas. I believe you will find it a better product than Meguiar's #26 and a whole lot easier to use. The shine is unbeatable. Do a search and view some of the pixs of vehicles treated with this carnauba. I have used both and #26 is nowhere close to the P21S.:xyxthumbs
 
geekysteve said:
Oil (carnuaba based wax) and Water (wash solution) don't mix well, and generally don't play well together.
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But doesn't the oil in there soften the carnauba and once in water the carnauba will come out of the oil and mix into the water? Also, won't this hurt the cleaning ability of the soap as the soap will attack the carnauba like it is oil on the surface?



I know American Shine Car Wash mixes carnauba into the soap. I've used it before and it works quite well. He has it in there to help rejuvinate the wax on your vehicle and not to use instead of waxing.



I also pretty sure a water-based wax like Pro's Expresso could eaisly mix into water.
 
As I understand it, you can't have a water based carnauba wax, because carnauba requires solvents and oils to (a) shine, and (b) become workable.



I could be wrong, but from everything I've ever seen/read/heard about carnauba, it requires oil to work properly.
 
Just use EO Wax-As-U-Dry spray after washing. You spray it on one section at time, wipe dry and then buff to a shine. Very easy.



I like, it helps in the drying process and leave a nice slick surface.
 
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