Waxing
 

I was wondering what you guys do when you wax your cars... for years i used meguiars was but never clay barred, then i bought my 8 and clay barred it and did the 3 stage system from meguiars... well i was going to wax it again and someone told me that i would have to clay bar it again before i wax it... which would be all fine and dandy but it say s not to use it ever time, in fact i think it says to do it twice a year... so do i just not wax it now?

If you clay bar again you'll be removing the wax you put on last time. I typically tell people to only clay bar about once a year unless something comes up and they need to do it sooner. How do you like the Meguiras wax? There are a lot of people here who use as well.
Have you looked into using Zaino? (also a very popular choice around here)

well i dont want to seem like a newbie... but i have typically in the past just waxed the car with out any thought.... but the person brought up a good point that it would just made swirl marks and actually cover the grim in wax.. the meguirs is good i cant really tel the difference between that and mothers.... as for zaino i have heard of it and have used it briefly but not to its fullest potential

Meh... did you see the glassy look on my car? That is a zaino shine... plus that is my Zaino shine from almost a year old 3 coat application =). I wouldn't waste my time using any other product. Up front, it will probably run you about $200 or so, but that should last you about 3 years. And you don't ever have to wax your car. Wax is not nearly as optically pure as polish (zaino in my case). You can get away with a yearly coat of zaino, or more. If you need help, call me, Betsy or one of the Mazsport people probably still has my phone number.

Now to answer your question... I only clay bar once a year or so. Be VERY careful with clay, and remember it needs to be lubed 100% of the time, and used with the lightest of pressures. I use a latex/nitrile/rubber glove when I clay bar, as it doesn't slip as easily.

EagleOne has some good waxing products..

Just claybar whenever you know you're going to need to get rid of contaminants. It will strip off most things on your clearcoat, but if done right, it will be easier on your arms once you start waxing and easy on the paint. You can go ahead and wax it if you want, but it all depends how much time you're willing to spend. I wouldn't claybar so soon.

With zaino, you can re-apply coats without having to claybar, since it takes a lot of time for zaino to wear out and also protects the paint while it's on.

thanks guys that rocks

Just used clay bar (mother's) for the first time, and what a difference. I bought this used 04 last month, and you could just feel all of the contaminants on the paint. Now, so glassy smooth.
Zaino is an excellent product, no doubt. However, I currently use Eagleone Nanowax. I used it on my Black G35, and now on the Brilliant Black 8. It rocks, especially for black cars.

Turttle wax ice seems to be a good product too.

I tried the ICE. Its cool for quick detailing but it doesnt provide any protection/sealing properties, no? Its real easy to use and shines nicely but it's also real thin and runny.

I use Zymol, which can be a bit expensive, but sometimes if you don't have ALL DAY to put it on and buff it off and then spray with water and buff again...it leaves dark spots in the paint from the oils.

I tried NuFinish, whch is a paste that is supposed to last a year, and its cool. Just doesn't shine as much and leaves white crap in crevaces...

Lots of folks here use Ziano...I've never tried it but am curious.

I Like Ice. ;) I use it after almost every Mr. Clean wash. No residue and I go right over black plastic parts.

I am an avid Meguiars NXT user, that stuff is great. I also have a porter cable dual action polisher which basically lets me wax my car and buff it in about an hour. In the beginning of spring I usually wash my car with dawn which totally strips all the wax off, then I claybar it, then I wash it again, then I use meguiars paint cleaner, then I use meguiars polish, then I follow it up with 2 coats of NXT, basically the equivalent of a zainoing, but for whatever reason I just haven't gotten bit by the zaino bug yet, maybe next year.

i 2nd that, though its just really a polish, if you throw a good wax base down then apply the ICE on top it looks great (i have a black 8 so even slight imperfections appear, the ICE covers them well)

I used ice once, I just wasn't that impressed by the shine of it. Don't get me wrong, its easy to apply, you can go over plastic parts, but it's still not the same as a good coat of wax. It creates a sort of generic shine.

i dont like ice...

i dont like waxing

while washing my car, it taunts me to driver more.

so i drive, after putting the "self-drying" or whatever it's called, down some backroads.

use any japanese product you will be satisfied with your results no matter what. japanese people are really anal about keeping their car clean so you cant go wrong with any wax.

black people like watermellon, white people can't dance, hooray for stereotypes

I wouldnt race a Japanese person, they would smoke me..... because japanese people are fast!

anyway....

I had MAJOR Sap on my car once, they cut a tree right over where I was parked and Chunks of sap bleed on it. And I tried everything, I then heard of claybar. I used it, It worked sooooooooo slow, i had to apply lubricant over and over, it was a super slow proccess. Long story short, in he end, Alcohol solved everything in seconds (rubbing alcohole on the car, not for me). but the claybar burned my paint a little........ well....... i think its burned, its like SUPER black on one spot, and around it it looks lighter, then black again...... hard to explain, but since then, i been scared of Claybar.