Will a Carnuba give UV protection?

K

koko_b_ware

New member
I'm just curious, how the common carnubas stack up against the high end sealants in terms of UV protection. I know many sealants try to sell the product on the fact that it protects from "harmful" UV rays, but how do the common carnubas (Meg's #16, p21s, nattys, etc.) perform?



Do carnubas contain UV absorbers like many sealants do?
 
Carnauba is the worldâ€â„¢s purest, hardest and most transparent natural wax repellent derived from the Brazilian palm Copernia Cerefera. This wax coats the leaves and is hydrophobic; it forms a barrier that is a natural protection from the suns UV radiation, acid rain, airborne pollutants and acidic bird excrement.



Ultra violet (UV) protection is not water-soluble and the use of petroleum distillates (cyclo paraffin) enables them to be included as an oil-in-water emulsion in wax, polymer sealants, various plastics and rubber and vinyl dressings.



JonM
 
Like the other said, carnaubas have UV protection, and some have additional ingredients to give even more UV protection.
 
I'm still looking for a wax with guaranteed UV protection. My previous car was dark red and I kept it waxed regularly with different products, both natural carnauba and synthetics. However, 4 years later, there was a bit of fading on the top surfaces.



I'd like to here more on people's experiences with UV protection of waxes.
 
The topic of UV protection in a car wax/sealer seems to be, at best, a grey area. Iâ€â„¢m not an expert on this by any means, but I have read a little here and there on this subject.



*My* thinking on this is the top coat of clear (paint) is designed to contain UV protection, while our waxes/sealers are the sacrificial barriers that protect this coat of clear.



Iâ€â„¢m sure this topic can (and will) be debated for quite some time, but FWIW here are links to two completely different views on the subject. One is from Meguairâ€â„¢s and the other is from Optimum Spray Wax:



http://www.meguiars.com/faq/_index.cfm?faqCat=General Questions&faqQuestionID=18&section=_18#_18



http://www.topoftheline.com/spray-wax.html



Optimum Spray Wax is a relatively new product for most of us and they do make some fairly substantial claims as to their UV protection levels. At this point it just seems that youâ€â„¢ll have to decide for yourself who is right and who is wrong.
 
This is an interesting topic becuase I thought all waxes would automatically protect your car from the sun. To me, that is one of the basic reasons one would actually take the time to apply wax
 
bcwang said:
I'm still looking for a wax with guaranteed UV protection. My previous car was dark red and I kept it waxed regularly with different products, both natural carnauba and synthetics. However, 4 years later, there was a bit of fading on the top surfaces.
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If it was a single stage red paint job and you only waxed but never polished, it will fade over time. There isn't a product in the world that will prevent single stage paint from fading over time. You need to polish ss paints at least twice a year.
 
A paint requires oils to resist oxidation and as Scottwax stated the best way to provide them is by applying an oil rich polish.



A clear coat which has a thickness of 2-3Mils is the primary UVR radiation protection, A Carnauba wax will provide a sacrificial UVR barrier but it doesnâ€â„¢tâ€â„¢ have durability and must be renewed on a regular basis. Single stage paints only protection against UVR damage is an applied oil rich polish and a Carnauba wax.



Not all sealants contain UVR protection, as I alluded to in the previous post, it is not water-soluble and it is very expensive as it uses Cyclo paraffin, a petroleum distillate, which goes though further purification adding to its costs, to enables it to be included as an oil-in-water emulsion.
 
I have found that the residue in carnauba wax does last (despite a hot or cold climate). It is the level of clarity and shine that will be subject to wear over time. From what I've observed, an old carnauba wax deposit that has lost its sheen will still protect the finish.



If you do not remove the carnauba residue (which contains dirt and oxidation), then in addition to the lack of a sheen and smooth feel, you will see dullness and a cloudy appearance on your paint.



For a car that's outside, however, in a hot climate you will need to replenish with wax at least once a month in order to maintain the luster and shine quality. The protection will be there much longer than the wax's shine.
 
Scottwax said:
If it was a single stage red paint job and you only waxed but never polished, it will fade over time. There isn't a product in the world that will prevent single stage paint from fading over time. You need to polish ss paints at least twice a year.
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Actually, it is the original paint job on a 2000 mustang, which has a clearcoat. The clearcoat surface looked fine, but underneath you can tell some patches are a little lighter red than other parts of the car. Especially evident on the roof and spoiler in their centers. I almost thought it was just some optical illusion from lighting that I never noticed before. But once I saw a new one I knew something faded. I took care of the finish as best as I could, but it was out in the sun most of the time.
 
Maybe I need to do some testing on my own. Anybody know where to get metal panels with oem equivalent paint jobs in colors of my own choice? Any ideas how much they may cost?
 
I would say go to a salvage yard and pick up a body panel from a late model wreck.

From reading the posts and what you have been saying, maybe the paint failed. Was anything left on the paint for too long? Any type of chemicals that may cause the paint to fade?? Just a suggestion.. I have never heard of a fairly new, well maintained, kept indoors paint job fading like that.
 
The paint didn't fail from surface contamination. The clear was still smooth and shiny, it was just that the color pigments underneath were starting to fade in color. They were big even patches, kinda like where you expect would get the most sun. I feel the rest of the car also lightened up in color overall, compared to when it was brand new. By the way, the car is always parked outdoors.



How much do you suppose a trunk off a wreck would cost? I'm actually looking for something more maneagable, like small rectangular panels, just a few inches big. I think I saw somewhere on this board that those are available. I would want to start with new paint as it is easiest to show fading with a vibrant starting paint job.
 
bcwang said:
How much do you suppose a trunk off a wreck would cost?
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Many body shops will be happy to give you crumpled panels for free. Otherwise they have to pay to have them hauled away.





bcwang said:
I'm actually looking for something more maneagable, like small rectangular panels, just a few inches big.
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That's what an air chisels are for (or tin sips I guess).



If you want them to be some certain size or shape you'll probably have to have them custom made.



If you could find a plate, pan, lid or something-er-other with a shape you like you could probably get a painter to shoot them cheap by just slipping him a few bucks to do them along side his next full spray job.





PC.
 
lbls1 said:
I have found that the residue in carnauba wax does last (despite a hot or cold climate). It is the level of clarity and shine that will be subject to wear over time. From what I've observed, an old carnauba wax deposit that has lost its sheen will still protect the finish.



If you do not remove the carnauba residue (which contains dirt and oxidation), then in addition to the lack of a sheen and smooth feel, you will see dullness and a cloudy appearance on your paint.



For a car that's outside, however, in a hot climate you will need to replenish with wax at least once a month in order to maintain the luster and shine quality. The protection will be there much longer than the wax's shine.
Click to expand...



Weâ€â„¢ll agree to disagree on this; :) IMO once a wax and its oils have dissipated (melted or washed away) there is nothing left to provide protection, luster or sheen.



The melting point of a Carnauba wax is 180oF, the beeâ€â„¢s wax that is often added is 130oF and the mineral oils used to provide lubricity and gloss is 200oF. The temperature of a vehicle parked in sunlight will exceed these temperatures.



JonM
 
bcwang said:
The paint didn't fail from surface contamination. The clear was still smooth and shiny, it was just that the color pigments underneath were starting to fade in color. They were big even patches, kinda like where you expect would get the most sun. I feel the rest of the car also lightened up in color overall, compared to when it was brand new. By the way, the car is always parked outdoors.
Click to expand...



Actually, I'd be talking to the dealer about a new paint job. The clear coat has UV protection and either it was applied too thin or there is a problem with the base coat. A 4-year-old properly painted base coat/clear coat car shouldn't noticably fade.
 
Well, I've already gotten rid of that car so I won't have to worry about it anymore. I just want to make sure my new car doesn't fade at all.



Actually, the fading isn't as bad as it might sound from my previous posts. If I didn't have another brand new car to compare with, you would still think the paint is brand new and well taken care of. I only notice the lighter color patches on top surfaces when I carefully scan it under certain lighting situations. In fact, for a long time, I thought that the lighter color was just from the lighting conditions giving some optical distortion. It wasn't until I spent even more time inspecting under many different lighting situations that I realized that there definitely is something causing the top surfaces to look a little lighter.
 
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