Difference between #16 and #26?

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backwoods_lex

New member
What's the difference between meguiar's 16 and 26? I know 16 is discontinued, but I have read many good things about them both. Thanks.
 
I used to use #26 a lot. It imparts a slight yellowing to the paint. #16 is more clear imho.



#26 is a decent wax though.
 
Yes, i agree. I find #16 to be clearer,and of course,more durable,but #26 looks better IMO,it is wetter,darker,and richer than#16.
 
SilverLexus said:
I used to use #26 a lot. It imparts a slight yellowing to the paint.



#26 is a decent wax though.
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I completely agree about the yellowing from #26. Years ago, I used nothing but Meguiar's waxes and mostly layer after layer of #26 (mixed in with occassional Gold Class and Mediallion). I was using it on a dark red car, and while it always looked great, I never really noticed the yellowing buildup, until it was all stripped off and applied Zaino (which subsequently led me to a Zaino fetish for several years). It was amazing actually that the paint took on a completely different color after the #26 was gone.
 
In my experience, the #26 can add a nice, golden glow to the paint which is extremely beneficial on certain flatter shades. It produces tremendous richness, and the colors come alive. One of my biggest faves.



On neutral colors I tend to use neutral looking products though.
 
SilverLexus said:
I used to use #26 a lot. It imparts a slight yellowing to the paint. #16 is more clear imho.
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TigerMike said:
I completely agree about the yellowing from #26.
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C'mon guys...that is ridiculous...doesn't 16 turn your paint blue then? And Z2Pro turn your paint red? They don't even get any color on the cloth you wipe it off with...much less the molecules-thick amount that is left on the car.
 
I was able to detect a similar golden hue with only one other product (on my green): AG EGP.



It is not a coloring effect, but if you used older sealants, you may have seen a silvery, iridescent ghostiness from certain angles on darker colors. The golden hue is a similar thing, but not as pronounced.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
C'mon guys...that is ridiculous...doesn't 16 turn your paint blue then? And Z2Pro turn your paint red? They don't even get any color on the cloth you wipe it off with...much less the molecules-thick amount that is left on the car.
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I think you are misunderstanding, as it has nothing to do with the actual color of the product, but rather the quality of the carnauba. Lesser quality yellow wax, will tend to yellow or tint paint slightly, in my experience, over multiple applications (I'm talking like 2 apps per month of the stuff at least). Does the yellow wax not adhere to the paint? They don't call it High Tech "Yellow" Wax for no reason, I guess. Anyway, all I know is that the red car that had many apps of #26 had an orangeish cast to the paint (yellow wax buildup+dark red paint). After it was stripped and Zaino applied (100% optically pure), the dark red looked much different, a pure red if you will. And, I only really noticed such an effect after I stopped using it.



The yellowing appearance may be very subtle, but I think it's certainly there. Otherwise why does Souveran go to all the trouble to use bleached caranuba to turn it white? What difference does that make in appearance?
 
C'mon guys...that is ridiculous...doesn't 16 turn your paint blue then? And Z2Pro turn your paint red?
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Mike, that is apples and oranges. Carnaubas are not optically clear as many modern sealants like Zaino. That is a fact.



I had Oyster Pearl paint on my prior Lexus which has elements of silver and gold metallic paint. When I used #26 (the first four years or so of ownership) it magnified the gold glow of the paint. When I switched to P21S both metals shown through just like the car looked after a thorough polishing.
 
SilverLexus said:
Mike, that is apples and oranges. Carnaubas are not optically clear as many modern sealants like Zaino. That is a fact.



I had Oyster Pearl paint on my prior Lexus which has elements of silver and gold metallic paint. When I used #26 (the first four years or so of ownership) it magnified the gold glow of the paint. When I switched to P21S both metals shown through just like the car looked after a thorough polishing.
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TigerMike said:
The yellowing appearance may be very subtle, but I think it's certainly there. Otherwise why does Souveran go to all the trouble to use bleached caranuba to turn it white? What difference does that make in appearance?
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Well, then certainly #16, which is a carnauba, and since Meguiar's doesn't claim to bleach it, must turn your paint blue? Or at least yellow?
 
The name High-Tech yellow wax; the yellow,unsurprisingly refers to containing carnauba wax,the High-Tech refers to how the new clear coat paints were first described,when they were introduced,late70's,early 80's,when this wax first became available.



But remember,this wax is poly resin based,with the addition of carnauba wax.
 
anyway you slice it 26 isn't optically clear. Some love it and some hate it. IMO it depends on the color. I've seen pics of red cars with 26 and they looked stunning. On teal it had too much of a darkening affect IMO.
 
2 layers of #26:

100_5720.jpg




It does darken the color it seems but i never see any yellowing of any kind.
 
Apparently I'm not the only one who has challenged the yellowing before: http://autopia.org/forum/detailing-...ack-meguiars.html?highlight=yellow#post465343



And here's another quote from Mike Phillips on the topic from MOL:



"Just to note, I've used M16 for years and I've been reading people post that waxes with Carnauba turn yellow... but I've never seen this happen and I've never seen anyone demonstrate it or show the effect.



The reason I point this out is because I think this is just one of those urban legends that gets started and the passed around and no one ever stops to question the claim/statement.



M16 is blue in the can and I've waxed white single stage paints with it and never turned them blue. 99.9% of all cars being made today have clear coats and I've never seen M16 turn a clear coat blue or yellow and we have a wax called M26 that has the word Yellow on the label and the product itself is yellow but I've never seen paint with this wax applied to it turn yellow.



So unless someone can show proof-positive how our waxes turn any paint a different color I'm going to have to interject with posts like this to question these kinds of statements."



EDIT: PS, I guess my eyes are just not well enough trained to spot a "magnified gold glow" on a paint that has "elements of...gold metallic ", although IIRC correctly #16 did amplify the blue color of my blue car :rolleyes:
 
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