Nick T.
New member
A recent comment in another thread about Griot’s Paste Carnauba got me to thinking about wax testing and reminded my that I hadn’t played with my Griot’s purple wax for over a year - - so down to the garage I went. I put Griot’s on a small area and was pleased with the results, but digging it out made me aware of all the other carnaubas on that shelf.
Having way too much free time I decided to do a little retesting of the carnaubas. This is the wax that I played with:
The first comparison was the hardness of the wax in the container. Pink Carnauba was very hard; Souverän was almost as hard; Meguiar’s Gold Class and Zymöl Carbon were very soft; the others were medium hard.
Next I used a damp cotton ball (new cotton ball for each wax) with enough wax to cover a 9 square inch area following the instructions on whether to allow drying before buffing or not. I couldn’t tell any real difference in ease of application, ease of buffing, or resultant shine.
Next I used just enough wax in my finger tip (no, not a new finger for each wax - just a clean one) to cover about a 4 square inch area. Wiped the test area vertically and then horizontally until most of the residue was gone and counted the strokes. All were about the sane except the two Zymöls which needed about 50% more strokes. The surface feel of all the waxes was about the same except that Pinnacle Paste Glaz and Meguiar’s Gold Class felt and looked somewhat oily at first. Final shine was about the same for all products.
If I had been blindfolded during the wax application I don’t think that I could have discerned any differences that I haven’t listed above! All the similarity really got me to thinking. Maybe once you have a good underlying surface, the brand of carnauba doesn’t really make any difference? My test car has an excellent surface, and after finishing my playing I didn’t want to repeat it on another car. Or maybe it’s like my teenage son told me a year or so ago after he asked me why I preferred drinking milk over water. I listed all the pros for milk; nutritious, flavorful, etc. and all the cons for water including several quotes from W.C. Fields.
Jeff: That’s a pigment of your imagination.
Me: You mean figment of my imagination.
Jeff: No, I mean pigment - - your expectations color your analysis!
Me: Well, maybe you’re right.
And maybe the results of my car care product comparisons are pigments of my imagination!
Having way too much free time I decided to do a little retesting of the carnaubas. This is the wax that I played with:
- Pink Carnauba
- Griot’s Carnauba Wax
- Pinnacle Souverän
- Pinnacle Paste Glaz
- Zymöl Z3
- Zymöl Carbon
- S-100
- P21S
- Meguiar’s Gold Class
- Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze #26
The first comparison was the hardness of the wax in the container. Pink Carnauba was very hard; Souverän was almost as hard; Meguiar’s Gold Class and Zymöl Carbon were very soft; the others were medium hard.
Next I used a damp cotton ball (new cotton ball for each wax) with enough wax to cover a 9 square inch area following the instructions on whether to allow drying before buffing or not. I couldn’t tell any real difference in ease of application, ease of buffing, or resultant shine.
Next I used just enough wax in my finger tip (no, not a new finger for each wax - just a clean one) to cover about a 4 square inch area. Wiped the test area vertically and then horizontally until most of the residue was gone and counted the strokes. All were about the sane except the two Zymöls which needed about 50% more strokes. The surface feel of all the waxes was about the same except that Pinnacle Paste Glaz and Meguiar’s Gold Class felt and looked somewhat oily at first. Final shine was about the same for all products.
If I had been blindfolded during the wax application I don’t think that I could have discerned any differences that I haven’t listed above! All the similarity really got me to thinking. Maybe once you have a good underlying surface, the brand of carnauba doesn’t really make any difference? My test car has an excellent surface, and after finishing my playing I didn’t want to repeat it on another car. Or maybe it’s like my teenage son told me a year or so ago after he asked me why I preferred drinking milk over water. I listed all the pros for milk; nutritious, flavorful, etc. and all the cons for water including several quotes from W.C. Fields.
Jeff: That’s a pigment of your imagination.
Me: You mean figment of my imagination.
Jeff: No, I mean pigment - - your expectations color your analysis!
Me: Well, maybe you’re right.
And maybe the results of my car care product comparisons are pigments of my imagination!
). 