Carnuba application by hand - literally

P

pward76

New member
Ok, so I accidentally came across another website that has some detailing info on it, and found this quote about applying carnuba wax -



"The purist auto enthusiast will apply paste wax with their bare hands. It's said that it gives a sense of feel for any contaminants and also a better feel of the amount that is being applied. "



Anybody here do this? Personally, I put on a rubber glove (kind of like a medical glove - turn your head and cough :eek: ) to keep the wax off my hand, so that when I'm done using the foam applicator, I can pitch the glove and move on to other stuff without having to go into the house to wash up.



Just curious
 
That is ridiculous! All contaminants that can be felt with your hand should be removed prior to wax application. :doh
 
let alone how many more contaminants would you put back using your bare hand. jake is also right all contaminants should be removed well before waxing even begins.
 
Thats the method of application for the Zymol Estate glazes.



As I said before, it gets old quick. Fingers cramp up bad. Arthritis!



I prefer foam applicator pad, and I use my bare hands. My hands are left soft and supple everytime after using my bare hands to work in a leather conditioner and after using Zaino sealants.....
 
Its true. The high end Zymol waxes actually instruct you to apply it with your bare hands. I tried that with Vintage but it seemed to waste too much product and I really didn't see what the difference was. It went against my Autopian grain to touch the car that much with my hands. I just used a Meguiar's yellow foam pad to apply the rest of it. There really was no difference between the areas I used my bare hands and the areas I used the pad. It was a little harder to buff off on the areas I applied it by hand because there was more product there. I really didn't see the benefit of doing it by hand. I can feel the door dings with my hands through a microfiber when I buff it off. I don't need to wax up my fingers to feel them.
 
How is the 1,000 Vintage Wax or Estate Wax cant remeber which one compared to S100 or Souveran. ?



I know this has probley been brought up 1,000,000 times before but its just a quick question to someone that has used both.
 
You have to keep one thing in mind...



the "hoi polloi" who order the expen$ive Zymol waxe$ do not even touch their cars... they have others detail them for them and the owners get all get all the credit for the car's apperarance (probably because they came up with the ca$h to begin with!) :rolleyes:
 
Fr0zen said:
How is the 1,000 Vintage Wax or Estate Wax cant remeber which one compared to S100 or Souveran. ?



I know this has probley been brought up 1,000,000 times before but its just a quick question to someone that has used both.
Click to expand...



There is actually quite a long thread about it somewhere in here. I'll go look for it. In the end I felt that it looked as good as any of my other waxes but was just to fragile to use on a daily driver. I may be breaking it out again this week just to give it a shot in the summer. It was winter when I used it last and I wasn't too impressed with how it held up to the elements.





edit: Here it is! I knew it was out there somewhere. Do a search for "Vintage" posts under my name and there are some good ones out there. The P21S vs Souveran test was my favorite. I need to test P21S against Vintage again sometime soon. After this weekend maybe.
 
Sometimes I think retailers come up with things like this to make us think they have come up with this great new idea. :idea Something that is different from anything you've ever heard, that even defies a common sense approach. Sometimes they actually do work but... most of the time, they don't. You see this type of propaganda a lot on infomercials.
 
The reason why some waxes, with very high levels of carnauba, recommend hand application is because they need the heat of the hands to melt the wax for application. Applying by a foam pad does not produce enough heat. When the wax content gets up over 50% this is common. If you do not have enough heat the wax will not melt and apply properly.
 
As Michael said Zymol promotes on the basis of temp making the product apply better. I tried some Zymol--tried the hand thing, too--way too messy and bothersome. I was disappointed in the surface when I was done. It was not slippery like a good carnuaba where your fingers just fall off--my son called it "dry"
 
Okay,



I'll admit that I did this for a few years, actually until finding this place. I think I picked it up from Larry, at Proper Auto Care. Since finding this site, I've been using Klasse, and decided to top it with my leftover Blitz. After the ease of Klasse, I was reminded of how silly using my hands to apply wax was.



I'm sure when I'm 80 and can't move my fingers, some doc will remind me of all the time I spent waxing a stupid car by hand! What a boob!



Ben
 
I wonder if applying the wax to a warm surface would negate the need to use your bare hands to apply the wax? I could always park my car in the sun for a few minutes before I pulled it in to wax it.



I can't say that I noticed that Vintage was too hard. If anything else it was the most melty stuff I've ever touched. It definitely didn't need extra body heat to melt it. It spread just as easily with a foam pad as it did with my fingers.
 
What I do is rub my index finger over the wax and let it melt in the tub. Then I apply it to the foam pad. Overcomes the mess, melts the wax and applies nicely. Waxes with very high carnuaba levels may take 20 seconds to melt, rather than 5-10 seconds. So no big deal. I much prefer to apply with the foam pad.
 
I tried it once and my experience was like Jngrbrdman's. Too messy, too much product, didn't buff off as well.



I also have some concerns about soaking my skin in stuff that has petroleum distillates in it.
 
After reading all these posts about applying wax by hand, and specifically the Zymol products I ran across this sample kit on Autofanatics. It includes there 3 most expensive waxes and for those of you so inclined and interested it seems like a pretty good deal. The cost is $161.45 and since it is over $75.00 shipping is free right now.



"The perfect way to sample three of Zymöl’s Finest Estate Glazes, SKSK1 kit contains: 5 ounces HD-Cleanseâ„¢, 5 ounces Clearâ„¢, 4 ounces each of Destinyâ„¢, Atlantiqueâ„¢, and Vintageâ„¢, towel, detail brush, and booklet on the history of the waxes that were designed for the winners of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance."



Have any of you tried any of these waxes other than the Vintage?
 
I know there are some Carbon users out there. My impression is that Vintage is as good as Zymol gets, and if that is there best work, then I'll just stick with my P21S/S100 and Pinnacle waxes. Apparance wise they are too similar to split hairs over. I am topping P21S with Vintage for this show tomorrow just so I can say I used it on a show car. :lol I highly doubt that I'll win anything because I used Zymol, but who knows? ;)
 
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