How can you tell if you still have wax on your car?

RhinoNC

New member
I'd imagine this has come up before, but I wasn't able to find an answer by searching (there's no single long word to drive the search).



How do you know if you've still got wax? I am not seeing a clear pattern in the beads except for right after I wax the car.



Somebody mentioned that if you rub your finger on the car it will only make a squeaky sound if you have no protection left. I did Klasse AIO and one layer of SG two days ago. There was no squeaky sound then, but after driving home in the rain tonight there is. It can't all be gone (I'm sure it isn't; it still feels pretty slick). So how can you tell? What's the foolproof test for whether your paint's protected or not?
 
Excellent question......There was a thread a while back, discussing this issue....There was never anything really derived throughout the thread, just a bunch of opinions....Its really a givin that your going to get 3-4 weeks with a carnauba, although many layer after every wash, maybe every other week or so to maintain that protection....Poly's/acrylics like SG, and BF, Plat, you will see much longer 12-14 weeks minimum, under ideal conditions....I myself, have resorted to a somewhat primitive concept, if it doesnt feel like it has protection, I reapply...I do this after a couple different experiments...If, while drying, i dont like the feel of the cotton over the surface, or if there is no slickness remaining, or if while QD'ing I find it less than easy, I'll assume my protection is at a minimum, and take my preferred methods of reprotecting..........Im not so sure the lack of beading, is indicative of no protection....It does instill the fact of no oils remaining though, at least on the surface....
 
RhinoNC- Never fear, your Klasse is still there, but I'd layer on some more SG anyhow :D. I don't think there's a truly foolproof test though. I'm with Patrick, if it "looks/feels wrong" or doesn't QD "quite right" I'll reapply. There is also usually a specific visual "look" that a product imparts to the paint, I can tell when [whatever] is going away, it just doesn't look the same.



The SG can be trickier than some other products if only because it lasts so long that the degradation takes place VERY gradually over such a long time. It can be hard to notice the incremental changes happening. But a good healthy coat of SG usually has a certain "feel" that's quite different from bare paint. More "plastic", maybe. And note that sometimes the SG switches from beading to sheeting, so you can't always tell by that.
 
Does SG feel like it's a little resistant to QD (I'm using Meg's QD) while wiping off the QD with a MF towel? I've got about 4 layers of SG on my truck. Just a curious question to all you Klasse SG users out there.
 
I know this is kind of a "hazy" method, but if both water beading/sheeting off and slickness are poor, I'd consider protection to be worn off. I check slickness after the car is dry but before QDing. Just make sure your hands or fingers are completely dry though.
 
Back
Top