Wax thickness

I

imported_Intel486

New member
This is a question that I have been wondering about for some time.



How thick is the wax layer that you apply?



I'm talking about after you have applied the wax, let it dry, and buffed it off. How thick is the layer of dry applied wax?
 
I'm inclined to guess (since I don't know for sure) that it's quite a bit less than a few mils.



If you could get a few mils out of wax, then you'd be doing some REAL protection on that paint..
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Guess My Name [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>I would have to guess a few mills at first then decreases as it evaporates. [/b]</blockquote>
A Few Millimeters? Dont think so...maybe 10% of 1 millimeter would be my guess...at most
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Guess My Name [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>Mils are thousandth of an inch and equal .0254 mm.
[/b]</blockquote>
Bet yall know what I am about to say

Lets say one coat of wax is one mill thick. Now, Say I went to the time and effort and applied 1000 coats of wax. I would have an inch of wax on my car?

I remember someone using a piece of paper and an example and telling how thick it is. So, how thick is a piece of paper in mills?

I don't think one coat of wax is as thick as a piece of paper. Maybe 1/2 or even 1/3 as thick.

How about Klasse thickness? Since we hardly apply any, I guess the coats of it are super thin.
 
A piece of paper is .003" or .076 mm

A human hair is also about the same thickness.



1 mil = .001" or.025 mm



IMO .001 would be the thickness.
 
If someone built me a garage, got me a Lightning, and paid for the wax, then I would put a 1000 coats on it. But when I'm done, I'm keeping the garage and the Lightning :P
 
i486-



The question here is - how much of the previous coat of wax gets knocked off with the application of the current coat. Since wax is soft, I'm guessing after 4-5 coats, you're probably just pulling the previous coat of wax off with every successive coat.



Guessing - someone who knows better can answer for sure?
 
John, you're right. 100% of waxes containing carnauba and 99% of non-carnuaba waxes contain high-solvents and will only provide marginal benefit with each successive layer. These kinds of products cannot be layered in the way low solvent products like BF and Zaino can.
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Intermezzo330I [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>John, you're right. 100% of waxes containing carnauba and 99% of non-carnuaba waxes contain high-solvents and will only provide marginal benefit with each successive layer. These kinds of products cannot be layered in the way low solvent products like BF and Zaino can. [/b]</blockquote>
I don't think all carnauba waxes contain cleansers that'll strip off the previous layer. What about high quality pure carnauba paste waxes?
 
Intel, I'm referring to a solvent level that is necessary to act as a carrier for carnauba, which is rock hard in its original state, and other ingredients in the wax. A solvent is necessary to even create the wax, let alone spread it all over your car to have the solvents dry out leaving the waxy haze which is to be buffed off. Even waxes that claim to have a very high percentage of pure wax or carnauba still have a substantial amount of high solvents.
 
I own a digital micrometer that measures to 1/2 thousandth of an inch (.0005")



Here are some thicknesses of common stuff:



Saran wrap: .0005" (since this is the resoution of the micrometer it could be less)



Thermal printer paper (i.e. cash register): .002"



20lb printer paper: .0035"



Brand new $20: .0045"



A layer of wax - no way to measure it, but I'm willing to bet it is no thicker than .00005 - that is, 1/10 the thickness of saran wrap. And I wouldn't be surprised if it were 10 times less than that.
 
Carguy, Is there any way that you can get a piece of metal, measure it, wax it, and remeasure it?



Do you think that would work?



If it does work, then we can also test the layering of carnauba wax.
 
That's a very good idea! I'd be more than interested in seeing the results. Maybe it would even work on a thin piece of laminated paper. Perhaps compare the increase in thickness when layering wax vs. layering a low solvent polymer.
 
I'll try. give me some time. I'm willing to bet i won't be able to detect a difference, certainly not with my micrometer. My dad has some more sensitive ones - I'll borrow one. And I'll try both wax and Lasse + SG. We'll see about multiple layers. But it is gonna take some time. Give me a week, then bug me and I'll let you know if I started yet!
 
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