car wax

[Monster Dave]

I've been hearing really good things about Turtle ICE Wax:



Even says that you can polish your car in the bright hot sunshine with amazing results and doesn't leave any white residue on your clear coat.

[OverCaffeinated]

Zymol?

I used it once cuz I heard it was the shit. But I wasn't super impressed.

I'm still searching for a good one myself.

Maybe I'll look into the Zaino stuff.

[ptam]

I've used Malm's for the past 19 years now and have been really happy with it.  I've had many black cars, so this worked really well.

http://www.malms.com/

[Bun-bun]

I've been hearing really good things about Turtle ICE Wax:



Even says that you can polish your car in the bright hot sunshine with amazing results and doesn't leave any white residue on your clear coat.

I tried that stuff a copule of years ago when it first came out. I was not impressed. It didn't leave any white residue, but it didn't shine like Mothers. I have most of the bottle left, PM me if you want it.
     I also like Zymol, but I think the mothers is just as good, and less expensive, so I use that.

[Monster Dave]

I thought that ICE was a new product. I just recently saw commercials for it on TV.

[VisceralReaction]

Glare.
Spendy but if you do it right (follow the directions) it works excellent!

[Speedbag]

Griot's Garage Carnauba

Awesome stuff. 

[Grampa]

ground up babies and a lil elbow grease

[OverCaffeinated]

ground up babies and a lil elbow grease

"Ishmael" would have used sunflowers and happy thoughts.

[red baron]

To those using Zymol or any other paint sealant

Make damn sure this finish is "cured"

[ducpainter]

To those using Zymol or any other paint sealant

Make damn sure this finish is "cured"

What could go wrong?

[ptam]

ground up babies and a lil elbow grease

I knew it...

[gojira]

Griot's Garage Carnauba

Awesome stuff. 

+1 

[Mad Duc]

Do you want real wax or something that makes your ride look shiny? Real carnuba wax will lose it's effect after a month or so. Synthetic waxes last much longer, say 6 months or so.  I prefer the carnuba waxes a bit better for shininess but I'm old school.  Zymol/Zaino are synthetic waxes and do a great job and are very popular.  The Ice wax is a synthetic wax with just a tad bit of real wax in there just so they can say they have it in there. It's ok. I've used it and does a good enough job. I would use it for a daily driver but not the Ducati.

For motorcycle's the synthetic stuff is probably easier as there isn't as much white residue to clean up. It depends on the the brand though.  A quick blast with a high pressure hose will take off the wax from anything it gets on but with a motorcycle that might be more dangerous than leaving it alone.  For cars people will put a synthetic base coat topped with a natural carnuba coat. For a bike I think that's overkill.

+1 on the clay bar for cleaning the paint.  Once a year you may want to get a polishing wax.  There is generally little "wax" in. Instead it contains abrasives equivalent to 15k-20k grit sandpaper.  It will smooth the clearcoat out and make the paint job even shinier.  Clay bar, polish "wax", synthetic wax then carnuba wax in that order for best results.

I use Einzett polishes, Klasse All-in-One synthetic wax then p21s carnuba.  Put the p21s can in hot tap water 10-15 minutes before use to make it more pliable. The guys that make p21s also make s100 which is a slightly lesser quality wax (more beeswax). Unless you are doing a concours show no one will notice and it costs a bit less ($16 s100 vs $20 p21s). 

[Mad Duc]

A huge guide:
http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-Detailing-Guide/