Hi all,
I have received a number of PM’s on this thread and a couple of e-mails too, so I thought I would chime in and try to help clear up any confusion. I am not a chemist, and Meguiar’s is not going to tell me, or anyone exactly how their chemistry works. That said, I have been told that NXT Tech Wax has a specialized abrasive/cleaner that enables it to eliminate fine scratches. The way it does this is the same way #9 Swirl Remover 2.0 eliminates swirls, and that is it partially removes them and it partially fills them in.
NXT Tech wax is non-abrasive. This means it will not scratch your finish. Some people like to position the cleaning ability of the Tech Wax as though it were a rubbing compound. This is ridiculous. Others like to position Tech Wax as a cleaner/wax in the same category as a true cleaner wax, for example, Meguiar's #6 Cleaner/Wax or the new ColorX. This is also ridiculous. The cleaning ability of Tech Wax is very limited and narrow in scope. It is not formulated to remove a wide spectrum of surface defects like a true cleaner/wax, such as oxidation and dirt in paint.
I know how the argument goes, if it can eliminate, i.e. remove or at least partially remove, a fine swirl or scratch, then can it not, and will it not, remove itself or something laid down before it?
The answer to that is yes, at least to some degree, but probably not completely. Part of what Tech Wax can do will be determined by application material and process. (See my Klasse SG example at the end of this post). Some people act and write as though Tech Wax cleans and abrades the surface like a traditional rubbing compound, and that it’s as aggressive at the beginning of application as it is at the end of application. This is not only untrue, but again, ridiculous.
Meguiar's pioneered diminishing abrasive at their very inception, in 1901 when they started making furniture cleaners and polishes, Barry told me this himself. I can think of only two products Meguiar’s has ever manufactured that the abrasives did not breakdown, and this was by design, for a specific purpose. Both of these products were and are for use on polyester and epoxy surfaces, not automotive paints. One of these, a true rubbing compound, (M-43) was discontinued decades ago, and the other one is brand new and is part of the new Velocity Mold Release line, (M-80 Speed Cut) intended for removing coarse sanding marks, #800 grit, (and possibly lower), from epoxy molds.
Yes, Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax does have some cleaning ability, it is very sleight, (as the chemist put it), and very limited in what it can do. As most people already know, surface prep is more important than your choice and application of a last step product. I coined the term last step product, or LSP, because I often write about it and I like using acronyms when possible. As I define LSP, it is the last step product that after you make your final wipe, you stand back and admire the results. You do not continue to apply more and different products, it was the last product to be applied.
Others have tried to define the word to mean a product that can be layered, and if they want to define LSP that way, as Al Gore said, �There is no legal controlling authority to stop them. But that is not how I original used the term, nor is it how I use the term today. Hopefully in the future I’m going to have the chance to work on two very cool cars, one is an original Batmobile, (black paint), the other is a car built and designed by Boyd Coddington called Chezoom, for both of these cars I after my surface prep, I will apply two coats of the NXT Tech Wax as my LSP.
NXT Tech Wax is not going to remove 100% of what you lay down before it. It’s just not that aggressive or thorough in it’s cleaning ability. I’m pretty sure I have applied the Tech Wax to more cars than anyone else to date. Another way of saying this is, I have applied the Tech Wax to more paint types than anyone else. My first hand experience and my own two eyes tell me that the end-results always look better if you both clean and polish the paint before application versus just clean. This implies that applying a polish between the cleaning step and before the application of the Tech Wax has a positive visual effect. If the NXT removed all of the polish then there would be no positive effect. I have also read the testimony and seen the pictures of hundreds of people that have both polished and applied the NXT Tech Wax for spectacular results. The point being is this, I think sometimes we, the serious detailing community, gets a little too deep and extreme in our thinking about what’s actually taking place on the surface of paint as we work on it. We can’t always know what’s taking place at the molecular level. What is most important, is the results we achieve after final wipe off.
Two applications of Tech Wax, properly applied will always leave behind more wax on the surface than one coat. This is what the head chemist told me. Of course, this assumes you’re not applying the Tech Wax with steel wool.
Remember, applications material and method affects the properties of any product you apply whether that is Klasse SG, or Turtle Wax. If you apply Klasse SG with a wool cutting pad on a rotary buffer at 1800 rpms and 8-12 lbs. of downward force, you’ll probably be able to pull #1500 grit sanding marks out of fresh paint. Is the Klasse SG abrading the finish? Or is it merely acting as a lubricant while the wool fibers abrade the finish? (It’s the latter of the two). Hopefully this little analogy demonstrates the importance of application material and process.
I don’t know if anything I wrote helped at all, I hope it did. In the end, it’s always going to come down to you, and you’re eyes, and what you see after you make your final wipe. Sometimes, after discussing the virtues of product and process, it’s time to back away from the keyboard, go out into the garage and as “Nike� says, �Just do it�
As I type this, it’s 9:00 am Sunday morning, July 4th 2004.
Happy 4th of July everyone!
Wax on!
Mike
