Stage 6 – Waxed
By The Wax Man
The paint is now sealed and a top quality shine is present. Now it is time to really make your car bloom. A good Sealant such as Signature Pro-Acryseal AT5 produces a wonderful shine. The gloss levels are great but they lack the depth that a really good gloss should display. The only way to achieve this is with a really good quality Carnauba Wax preparation. These vary tremendously in quality but even a poor one produces a significantly deeper and more alive shine than synthetic waxes. They do not last as long and you should be looking to wax your vehicle about every 2 months to top up the wax levels as they evaporate. Yes… wax does evaporate.
The wax we are using today is Signature Pro-Carnauba Gold. This is a lotion wax and is specially designed not to overload the capability of your finish. As with all waxes if you put on too much, all you do is create the awful powder when you buff. A good wax should allow as much as possible to adhere and the rest forms the haze. If you keep adding wax all that happens is that the haze gets thicker. What you are aiming for is a very light haze that buffs away with virtually no powder at all. Signature Pro-Carnauba Gold allows this by loading less wax onto the paint meaning less wastage.
Applying wax is really quite simple and not tremendously hard work. If you have completed the previous stages then applying wax should be a simple case of pouring a small amount of the wax onto a Microfibre Pad and gently moving the pad across the paint in a small circular pattern. Do not use anything other than very light pressure. You are not polishing now, that time is gone. All you are doing is gently layering the wax onto the paint.
With Signature Pro-Carnauba Gold there are no worries about time allowed to dry. We have buffed this wax almost immediately and we have let it dry for 3 hours! That being said the ideal is to buff as soon as the wax hazes. Buffing should only be done with a Microfibre towel. Towels allow the cloth enough abrasion to remove the excess wax but not so much as too remove the adhered wax. Use a light to medium pressure and turn the cloth frequently.
A nice tip is to snap the cloth occasionally. This is simply holding the top corners of the cloth raising it to chest height and then sharply snapping it down ward so that you get a nice crack sound. This removes the dried wax from the napp of the cloth and gives almost clean surfaces to buff with.
The intensity of the shine should now be evident. If you want to deepen it however or to add more life to the shine simply layer more and more wax on top of each previous layer. This is possible as long as each layer is fully buffed and that the lotion is added sparingly.
Using this technique it is possible to achieve an almost glass-like effect. Adding more than 6 layers of wax is a waste of time and can actually begin to dull the surface as the refraction of the light passing through the layers will distort too much.
To keep the shine topped up, choose a good wax shampoo. Again we recommend Signature Pro-V Wash & Wax. This adds a very thin layer of wax as you wash, never in hot sun or straight after you have driven the car, and keeps the surface free of contaminants. Washing can be performed as often as you vehicle requires but at least once a month. Every second wash add another layer of wax. Now that you have the 6 Stage Shine, regular maintenance, as above, helps it last.
In between washes and when birds use your vehicle for target practise, these little problems can be relieved with Signature Pro-Wash & Wax (No Water), if you have any left after claying. Simply spray liberally and leave for 30 seconds. Wipe gently in one direction only with a thick Microfibre Towel and leave to haze over. Once hazed gently buff with a new towel and the blemish should be gone and the finish restored.
Don’t have time to fully wax after washing. A quick spray of Signature Pro-Express Detail will keep your car looking great. This is a fast wax system that dries quickly adding a very thin layer of Carnauba. It does not replace the full wax but can delay it until time is less Spartan. Again spray liberally and gently spread with a Microfibre Towel and wait to haze. Once hazed a quick buff and all looks great. Remember to bring forward your next full wax though.
I hope you enjoyed these writings and even if they did not teach you anything then at least they affirmed what you already knew. Most people will gain something from them and hopefully some will gain a lot.
The biggest singular cause of damage to vehicle paint is caused by well meaning owners. Now you do not have to be one of them. As it says at the top of every page, "Love Your Car? SHOW IT!