Does any1 wax by hand? No literally?

C

Cosmom3

New member
A couple very high end detailers in my area have told me they wax with their hands...as its "better" than say a yellow wax pad. I dunno seems kinda weird. So I decided to try it on my car. Harder than it sounds or looks, but I wanna hear your opinions on the matter at hand....lol.. :think2



Thanks
 
i think the theory behind it is that the body heat from your hand softens the wax or some such thing. Not sure if there's any validity to that theory.
 
Cosmom3 said:
A couple very high end detailers in my area have told me they wax with their hands...as its "better" than say a yellow wax pad. I dunno seems kinda weird. So I decided to try it on my car. Harder than it sounds or looks, but I wanna hear your opinions on the matter at hand....lol.. :think2



Thanks
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Seems more gimmick than performance. There was a video recently from a very high end detailer in the UK that did it by hand. He claimed he was able to get more even coverage doing it that way and massaging the wax into the metal, but I think it was more for show than anything. I would venture a guess that you couldn't tell the difference with the same person waxing by hand and waxing with a pad.
 
It has to do with the solvents in the wax. Thinking goes that if you use a sponge to apply the wax then the solvents get soaked up by the sponge instead of applied to the paint. These solvents, if fully applied, are said to give the paint a much more "wet" look.



Hence the method of hand application. By warming up the wax in your bare hands you are able to fully apply the whole wax to the paint. I do cars in this manner also and at first it can be very odd but after awhile you'll get the hang of it. I only do this with 2 waxes, Trade Secret and Victoria. I have noticed a difference in appearance only with these two so far.



Anthony
 
Anthony Orosco said:
It has to do with the solvents in the wax. Thinking goes that if you use a sponge to apply the wax then the solvents get soaked up by the sponge instead of applied to the paint. These solvents, if fully applied, are said to give the paint a much more "wet" look.



Hence the method of hand application. By warming up the wax in your bare hands you are able to fully apply the whole wax to the paint. I do cars in this manner also and at first it can be very odd but after awhile you'll get the hang of it. I only do this with 2 waxes, Trade Secret and Victoria. I have noticed a difference in appearance only with these two so far.



Anthony
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I think you're on the right track, as strange as it sounds. There's a high-end custom furniture manufacturer not far from where I live. I've seen them in the final stages of their products applying a paste wax with a tool that looks like an upside-down muffin, about 4" in diameter. Think of the top of the muffin covered in a soft upholstery-like leather over firm padding. They put a dab of wax on it and rub it into the surface of the wood. I think it's similar in concept to what you describe. I can say for sure that their end product is spectacular and commands a very high price.
 
The people here who use the Estate Line from Zymol do it this way. Yeah, it's all about body heat softening the product and is, apparently, necessary with some products. I did it a few times with Souveran and didn't notice any benefit.
 
Cosmom3 said:
A couple very high end detailers in my area have told me they wax with their hands...as its "better" than say a yellow wax pad. I dunno seems kinda weird. So I decided to try it on my car. Harder than it sounds or looks, but I wanna hear your opinions on the matter at hand....lol.. :think2



Thanks
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waste of time.
 
Yup, I also saw the video with the guy from UK. I used this method on a customers car this past weekend, and all I noticed was my hands werent so tired :waxing:
 
I always wear disposable latex surgeon gloves when I'm waxing cars with paint sealant at work- otherwise it dries the S**T out of my skin! I'm no wimp or anything that's really the ONLY time I wear gloves and I clean cars all day. Hell, even after helping a friend wax his car with Mother's paste my skin felt a bit dry afterwards. I really woun't want to ever apply it directly with my bare hands... any "better" results would be purely mental.
 
I exclusively wax via hand. I feel, as a persona preference, that I can apply and work wax more effectively by hand. With my main wax, the EGZymol, it is required that the wax has to be applied (literally) with your hands. I use latex gloves (ps..do not use rubber gloves..ever) as well when I am working with the Zymol, as it keeps the process somewhat cleaner, and for me it gives me more assurance against accidental streaks or marring.



My other favorite wax, p21s, I apply with the applicator via hand with satisfactory results.
 
I wax and seal by hand. I've never seen the advantage of using a machine. But then I don't use waxes that need to "set up" either.
 
GeneralEclectic said:
I think you're on the right track, as strange as it sounds. There's a high-end custom furniture manufacturer not far from where I live. I've seen them in the final stages of their products applying a paste wax with a tool that looks like an upside-down muffin, about 4" in diameter. Think of the top of the muffin covered in a soft upholstery-like leather over firm padding. They put a dab of wax on it and rub it into the surface of the wood. I think it's similar in concept to what you describe. I can say for sure that their end product is spectacular and commands a very high price.
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This sounds like French Polishing-VERY labor intensive!



As to "by hand," I tried it once, but didn't like the way my calluses seemed to add friction/grinding sounds to the paint. :nervous:
 
MorBid said:
I wax and seal by hand. I've never seen the advantage of using a machine. But then I don't use waxes that need to "set up" either.
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I believe they are talking about putting the wax directly onto your hand not a applicator pad.
 
Some waxes just work best with certain methods, methods that might be goofy with *other* waxes. Examples:



The heat from your hands melts the Zymol and makes it work as it's supposed to. Their Estate Glazes are designed with this in mind.



Applying Meg's #16 by machine "turns it liquid" and results in a better wax job than I can get by hand (and I've been using it since the '70s). It's a real case of :wow:



Just a matter of matching the technique to the application ;)
 
Really as in putting it on your fingertips and spreading it on the surface. No applicator, no towel, bonnet or pc...........in the raw (hands) lol!
 
I ordered some victoria wax about a month ago and was told to apply by hand. With my order can a little thing explaining why. It said that the reason you apply the wax by hand is due to the high carnumba content. It is much higher then a regular wax. It is for this reason it must be heated up and spread over the car, a pad dosent generate enough heat to do so. Also it said to use the lite cleanser which i belive is similar to hd cleanser becasue it has a small amount of carnunba to help bonding of the high content wax. I was sceptical at the begining thinking it was just a gimic to get me to buy more product. Buy was i wrong. I tried it 3 ways the first 2 were with and without the lite cleanser. I noticed a better bonding with the cleanser. the beading lasted much longer. (i tired them both with my palms) i then tried to apply the wax with an aplicator and it was not nearly as good as by my palms. It still had a good look but it just wasnt the same. I dont have any pics but i was very skeptical at the beggining but after you try it it seams to do as they say. I have also tried it with megs gold class with no diffrence in results. So those are just my experiances
 
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