What`s BETTER than Zaino?

IMO Z Fusion is an incredible paint cleaner. It`s a very mild abrasive so don`t expect much in the way of paint correction. Once I used Z Fusion to remove canned spray paint overspray from a painted metal surface. Zaio is a great all in one product. Z8 is the smoking hot chick of the product line. Z5 looks better IMO than Z2. Z2 can look very plasticy on certain colors. Durability and protection are hard to gauge unless you have some type of side by side long term testing. My experience based on clay bar use is that Zaino had less bonded surface contaminants then any parts store product that I used in the past, and I live in an area where we`ve literally had blobs of mud fall from the sky. Time will tell how the new coating products do in that regards. That being said, I`m not sure why it`s been 10 years since the last new Zaino product hit the streets.

If you aren`t happy with Zaino then maybe give Collinite a try. It`s pretty good stuff.
 
wannafbody- Ah, good to see you posting :D

You`ve used Z for a good long while...ever have anything etch the clear through it? A while back some were saying that bird-bombs/bugs would etch through Zaino unless cleaned off right away.
 
Accumulator said:
wannafbody- Ah, good to see you posting :D

You`ve used Z for a good long while...ever have anything etch the clear through it? A while back some were saying that bird-bombs/bugs would etch through Zaino unless cleaned off right away.
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That would be me...2004 black Corvette, had since new but at some point, etched waterspots everywhere, likely due to isolated incident (this is Cleveland, where our river caught fire in the 70`s) and bird bombs needed quick removal as well; a few lasting impressions of those remained when we recently sold car.
 
BudgetPlan1- Oh, that was you?!? Aw, sorry to hear that, but yeah...Black Corvette sounds familiar :(

OK, all such stuff is potentially awful and maybe I`ve just been coincidentally lucky with the vehicles wearing FK1000P, but when something`s known to allow etching it`s right off my list. Well, other than the OCW I`m still using on my wife`s A8, which got *horrible* etching from the municipal water in Memphis, right through two fresh applications of M16, trashed it but good by the time she got it home even though she`d immediately run it through a touchless.

Sheesh, just reading that makes me think how I really oughta redo that car with the FK one of these days...

EDIT: and, "...oh yeah.." with regard to Cleveland. Many/?most? members of our Jag Club are up there and our Audi dealer is now in Mentor (gotta think twice about when I schedule service what with the nasty weather they always have).
 
BudgetPlan1 said:
That would be me...2004 black Corvette, had since new but at some point, etched waterspots everywhere, likely due to isolated incident (this is Cleveland, where our river caught fire in the 70`s) and bird bombs needed quick removal as well; a few lasting impressions of those remained when we recently sold car.
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I had similar issues. Prior to using Zaino I had zero etchings from birds or hard water spots. When I was in the Zaino club, I had so many issues, even etching from bug splats. My last Zaino order was in 2010, I got rid of all the "Polishes" and I haven`t had any etching since then. I still ocassionally use ZAIO and Z6, I like both.
 
I can`t say for certain regarding the etching issue. Early in my ownership, the Trans Am was regularly parked under a maple tree(before I realized that was an issue) so the paint wasn`t perfect. Back then I used various OTC products including Collinite and the clearcoat had minor acid rain and sap etching. Back in 94 I bought a Mustang and the clearcoat was etched so badly from acid rain within a year that Ford repainted the entire car. If the clearcoat can`t withstand environmental fallout, then I doubt any product can protect against that long term. The wax or sealant will eventually break down.

I think there just comes a point where people realize that eventually environmental fallout will damage paint that is outside long term, even sunlight. I`ve had work vehicles that eventually had the clearcoat chalk up around 15 years of age. Eventually the paint becomes dry and brittle. I`m not sure any of these products can penetrate and lubricate the paint.
 
wannafbody said:
... If the clearcoat can`t withstand environmental fallout, then I doubt any product can protect against that long term. The wax or sealant will eventually break down..
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I was afraid that`d happen, but with Fk1000P and, *usually but not always* with KSG X 6, I simply don`t get etching from stuff that absolutely *will* etch clear (and even some plastics). Hence my fanboyism where those LSPs are concerned.

The "lubricate", or as some say "feed the paint" will only work IME with old-school single stage and some of the earliest lacquer-based b/c like the early-mid `80s Benz stuff.

But sometimes *terrible* oxidation will clean up fine and stay that way; my Tahoe and the `93 Audi both looked like they were painted with a matte light gray (the Audi`s service records even had "gray" for the color instead of "dark blue"). People who saw them said both would need repainted, but they cleaned up fine and have stayed that way (without anything but washing and waxing with FK1000P) for years, over a decade now.

But yeah, keeping up with stuff, reLSPing before it`s too late, is critical. IMO the LSP *is* just a sacrificial coating, and you gotta keep refreshing it even if that isn`t required very often.
 
I know that FK1000P and Collinite 845 are synthetic waxes. Some of those products work well for certain industrial uses. Maybe they are fairly resistant to acids.

The liquid brine they put down on the roads in the northeast is pretty corrosive. I`m pretty sure none of the wax manufacturers test their products to see if they withstand that type of chemical assault. There are so many variables in different people`s experiences and a long term scientific test would be difficult and expensive to conduct. I think in the end, each person has to find a product that they get acceptable results from.
 
wannafbody- I wonder whether 845 was originally developed as a Car Wax or for industrial use (that "Insulator Wax" bit). IIRC the Fk1000P was originally developed as "superior version of M16" with an eye towards Mold Release applications (IIRC#2 that was the original use for M16 before M came out with their Mold Release specific stuff).

I doubt I`d really trust any "wax testing" (scare-quotes intentional) done by the manufacturers since it`d be so easy to tweak things to deliver the desired results. IMO that`s how we get nonsense like "lasts *up to* x​ months!".
 
Accumulator said:
wannafbody- I wonder whether 845 was originally developed as a Car Wax or for industrial use (that "Insulator Wax" bit).
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I think on the Collinite website they say it was created for the power utility industry to be used on the power line ceramic insulators back in the `20`s. I could be wrong on the time period...I`m going off memory at the moment.
 
Yeah, hence the "Insulator Wax" name. I had never given it any thought until a Linesman told me how durable it was in that application and that he started using it on his car after seeing how it worked on the insulators. I tried it after hearing that and sure enough, it was at least as durable as M16 and generally more user-friendly. ALMOST as nice looking, too. Imagine my surprise when their 476S, which looked a lot better on dark colors, proved even *more* durable! Hence the Collinite kick I was on prior to going nuts over FK1000P.
 
wannafbody said:
That being said, I`m not sure why it`s been 10 years since the last new Zaino product hit the streets.
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I think I actually started a thread when the newest "what`s new" entry on the Zaino website got to be 10 years old (that would have February 2017), but now I see they removed the "what`s new" section entirely. It certainly speaks to the loyalty of the fan base that Sal cultivated, that he can go along in today`s environment without introducing a new product in 12 years (other than the towels, which I think were a few years after the latest chemical release; amusingly under the FAQ`s they still say they don`t recommend using MF towels...even though they are selling them).
 
Setec Astronomy said:
..amusingly under the FAQ`s they still say they don`t recommend using MF towels...even though they are selling them).
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While...yeah, sure, oughta just update the site... IMO that whole "don`t use MF" thing always spoke to their credibility and I found it odd that people didn`t call `em on it.
 
I`ve been told that Sal tweaked products over the years without ever publicly stating so. I know that my current bottle of Z8 is easier to use than the previous bottle. Seems like an odd marketing strategy but Zainophiles are quite loyal. Some of them would brag about 75 layers of Zaino, which really isn`t even possible.
 
wannafbody said:
I`ve been told that Sal tweaked products over the years without ever publicly stating so. I know that my current bottle of Z8 is easier to use than the previous bottle. Seems like an odd marketing strategy but Zainophiles are quite loyal. Some of them would brag about 75 layers of Zaino, which really isn`t even possible.
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Yeah, ok. I was more talking about, say, what about a rinseless wash? Or waterless? Perhaps better than those Z-heads swirling theirs cars up at the car show wiping them down with Z6. I`m sure DG could make blue versions for him, heck they even have a coating...how many layers of a Zaino coating could you put on? I`m sure someone would tell us.
 
I think that if Sal is selling microfiber, they must have tested them and found them to be scratch free; otherwise, why would he be selling them?

Speaking of how many layers can be applied, I have seen a couple of Zaino Rep`s cars, and they had 20+ layers, and they looked incredible...
Like another thick layer of clearcoat on top of the paintwork..

Look and see if you can find a local Zaino Rep if he still allows them..

Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
Look and see if you can find a local Zaino Rep if he still allows them..
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If HE still allows THEM? I think if it`s they allow him. When I questioned many years ago why we in NJ (which is where Zaino is located) can`t buy from the Zaino website (I figured it was because he didn`t want to be bothered collecting state sales tax), I was told that he had "pre-existing distributor relationships which predated the internet".
 
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