I Zaino'd my week old Velocity Red RX-8 on Sunday. I bought the starter kit for $85 from Zaino and also four Fieldcrest bath towels (cut off borders as suggested, washed with Tide, extra rinse etc), new buckets, Dawn dishwashing liquid and other items. I have not physically washed my car in over 10 years (normally would take it to a crappy car wash instead) so I was very rusty. I am also obviously very unfit. I started at 2pm on Sunday - temperature was over 100 degrees.

Here are the steps I went through:

1. Read the Zaino web-site instructions, Sal's e-mail instructions, the labels on the bottles and the printed instructions. Some disagreement and confusion between them. Went with latest instructions and retyped them into my own 30 step task list. About 1 hour.

2. Looked for a working hose. A lot of things (hoses and heads) got damaged or misplaced by workers building and fixing our new house. The 4th hose didn't have leaks, but only worked well with the head from the 2nd one. About an hour wasted.

3. Washed car outside garage with Dawn, dried with Toro Leaf Blower. About 30 minutes.

4. ClayBar the car inside garage using Z7 (1oz) and water (12-16oz depending on instructions used) as lubricant. About 1 hour. Getting tired.

5. Washed the car again (outside garage) with Z7 - got wife to assist as it looked like rain soon. Wife had accident with metal head on hose flying off and scratching car. Dried with leaf blower and towels. Put car back inside garage and took a 'depression' break for hurting car. About 2 hours (including dinner). Wife did not assist any further.

6. Used Z5/ZMX mix on car (only 1oz) and wiped off. Best bit so far - very easy to wipe off and immediately looks stunning. About 45 minutes.

7. Used Z6 spray on car and wiped off. So tired. About 30 minutes.

8. Used Z2/ZMX mix on car (1oz) and wiped off. Also did wheels. About 1 hour. Now a zombie, moving ever more slowly.

9. Used Z6 spray again and wiped off. About 45 minutes. Arms and legs all aching now. Gave up idea for third coat.

10. Washed all towels and applicators, washed out the mixing containers, cleaned up garage etc. About 30 minutes. Had a long shower - also about 30 minutes.

I finally got to bed at 1am. I weighed myself just before - I think I sweated off over 2.5lbs in the 100 degree heat. The effort was crazy but the car looks good - even after getting rained on for the next 3 days straight.


As a glutton for punishment next weekend I might add some more coats - just wash with Z7, use Z2/ZMX, spray Z6, Z2/ZMX again, Z6 again. I will get the scratch on the door and some stone chips on the hood fixed first though.

 

Here is a pic of the car the next morning:

 

very pretty. looks like the effort was worth while. after you use it all the first time, a lot of the inefficiency irons itself out. by the 3rd time you run through it, it only really takes 2-3 hours

 

Does a leaf blower actually work well on drying a car? Would you recommend buying a leaf blower just for drying a car?

 

Use Klasse instead of Zaino. Same shine, same protection, but only 1/4 the effort. You're wasting your time adding all those countless coats of Zaino. I can do my whole car and be finished in 25 minutes with Klasse.

 

I happened to have a leaf blower lying around - I never would have bought one just to dry the car (I would have used the 4hp doggie hairdryer instead). Actually Sal Zaino suggests the leaf blower in his instructions "can dry a car in 5-10 minutes without touching it" but it took me longer and I had to finish with a towel anyway.

 

Looks shiny.... although the compression kind of kills it

Here's my car after Meguier's.


http://home.cogeco.ca/~vbergeron25/RX8.jpg

 

I hear that Zaino lasts a long time (4-6 months) so I won't have to do this again. Future coats (including washing) should only take an hour or two (still a long time I agree).

My red car doesn't shine as well as some other colours (black or silver) - people have achieved amazing Zaino finishes on this forum with a lot less time/steps than I used - I am just **** about following every possible step.

 

If you want to see more of my car, I posted some pics in this thread.

 

The leaf blower works, although I feel like an idiot using it and my wife thinks I should be committed.

I was using my air compressor for the all of the seems as they do at some car washes but the leaf blower works better, especially for the grill, vents, & mirrors. The blower is also cleaner, the compressor can get condensation in it and sometimes it will work its way out as kind of an oily water which I can not imagine is good for the paint.

 

I'm a big fan of Klasse all in one too. Not sure why more people don't use it. It too lasts 6 mos (per the bottle) but I use it every 3 mo. Its also a cleaner/polish but non abrasive. Don't this you need the clay bar anymore. I think its even more economical than zaino.

I'm going to get the super polish from Klasse (gray bottle) to see how much of an improvement I get.

 

You don't NEED claybar (which almost killed me) for Zaino either. The 'regular' Zaino process is wash with Z7, polish with Z2. Done.

As this was my first ever time using Zaino (or any kind of polish/wax) I thought I would follow every possible step. There are many optional steps, especially for the first time user.

The steps for my next coat (next weekend) will be:
1. Wash car with Z7 and dry
2. Apply Z2/ZMX mix, wipe off.
3. Spray Z6 and wipe off (optional).

Hopefully under 90 minutes total. But the effort for the first time is huge...


Perhaps I will look into Klasse for my wife's huge SUV.


BTW I updated the pic (less jaggies) at the top of this post.

 

Yes, it will last several months. I usually put a coat on my car every month or so - just because it so quick to do. It glides on, and glides off. Zaino is just way too much trouble and takes way too long.

 

Is it just me? I didn't think the Zaino was any more time consuming or difficult than "regular" wax.

Followed all the Zaino instructions. Dawn wash -- Wash -- Claybar -- then did 2 coats of Zaino with the ZFX accelerator with the gloss spray in between. Took me about 3 hours total. Started at 10:30 pm and ended at 1:30 pm

All the pre-steps should be followed weather it is Zaino or TurtleWax. The two coats of Zaino and Gloss spray went on (and especially off) much faster than regular wax IMHO.

And of couse the Zaino shine can't be beat :D I will put on 2 or 3 more coats over Labor Day weekend.

The best part is that the Zaino doesn't leave annoying white residue in all the crack like regular wax -- that alone is worth any additional effort or time it MAY take to apply.

P.S. -- I almost ordered the Klasse product but all the reviews I found rated Zaino better and besides -- why not buy American if it is the best.

 

Once you get past the original steps of the dawn and claybar Zaino is just as easy to put on/off as Klasse. Wash car. Dry. Put on Zaino, wipe off. Done. Much easier to apply/wipe off than any carnuba based wax.

I'm not saying Klasse is not a good product, I've heard some very good reviews about it, it's just not readily available around here.

 

I did my Zaino today. Got a late start, about 3PM. Took me 5 hours to claybar part of the car (was NOT getting any kind of debris so I decided to save the claybar for my fiance's G20 that REALLY needs some paint love. Then did 2 layers of Z2/Z6. That stuff is amazing. The first coat was the hardest for 2 reasons. it's VERY hard to see the slight haze on a titanium gray, so at first I wasnt sure I was doing ti right and wastedf soem time looking up the info online. Finally gto a lamp to shine on the car so I could look sidewase and see the haze start to show. Used a little less than 1 ounce per layer too. REALLY goes on thin. Z6 is nice too if you just lightly mist ot on the car. The paint does not have the incredible lusted I've seen on black cars with it but it IS very much smoother than it was before, stuff just slides off the pain. I am hoping with a few more layers of Zaino it should get that nice wet look going. I know it's just the paint color that isnt showing it that much sicne it is quite a bit more reflective now.

Anyways, it was a job, but worth it over all. ocne the first layer is done it takes maybe 45 minutes to do another layer of Z2/Z6 so one of those evry month should be more than enough to maintain it. We'll see how the fiance's car goes in the enxt few weeks when I have time. Since now I know I am going to have to spend a good 6-8 hours on her car to do a thorough job.

 

I have decided that on my wifes car (a big SUV actually) I will skip the Dawn wash, the ClayBar and the Z5 coat. I will just wash with Z7 and apply one (maybe two) coats of Z2. No way will I spend over 90 minutes on that bus.

 

Since I don't yet have my 8 to Zaino, I spent Saturday practicing Zaino'ing on my wife's M Edition Starlight Blue Mica Miata. As yet another Zaino widow she was very patient while I went through the painstaking process of Zaino'ing her car. When I was done, her jaw dropped and all she should say was:

"Oh my God! The car looks better than it did the day we picked it up from the dealer!"

Yes indeed. Mission accomplished :-)

Today we went to the Mazda dealer for our weekly RX-8 pre-delivery fix and to get the scoop on the revised HP deal. They had a car just like the one I have on order in the shop and they had just finished detailing it prior to delivery. I couldn't believe how "dull" the finish looked compared to the Miata I'd just Zaino'd. I ran my hand over the paint and it dragged rather than skating over the surface like ice. I felt like telling them to skip the detailing on my car when it arrives.

Now all I can think about is applying more coats to the Miata and I'm searching for other things to Zaino, the dogs, the cat, my wife...hmmmm...now there's an idea ;-)

 

I insisted that they skip the detailing of my car prior to delivery! If you plan on Zaino'ing it yourself why would you want some car shop hack scrubbing it with a dirty brush and drying it with a dirty rag Skip all the potential scratches and swirls. My dealer said he would do the same thing if it were his personal car -- no way would he let the lot boys detail his car.

 

What the Five HOURS to clay bar a part of the car? That step took me maybe 45 minutes tops for the whole car! I highly recommend it for new cars -- I had a lot of build-up on the car from the train and truck -- after the clay bar it was smooth as wet glass :D

 

Yes - the Claybar was the hardest thing to do, but still only took me slightly over an hour (lots of lubrication). One thing that probably added to my time - I have NEVER waxed or clayed a car in my life, so everything was new to me and took much longer than for someone who does this every month.

 

...and it smells good, too! :D

 

That is sig quote material.. :D

 

Actually, no. Sorry, I didnt write that out right. It was 5 hours total for the job of claybar about 1/3 of the car from the front and around the wheels, then washed residue off with Z7, then dried it and finally started with a layer of Z2, then Z6 and Z2 again and Z6. Used just under 2 ounces of Z2+ZFX and the first layer was the "hardest". That means I wasted about 25 minutes trying to get online on my fiance's computer and the PSU died on me. So I went back at it and took about an hour total doing that layer. Then Z6 misted on, wiped off and another layer of Z2. Since I knew what to look for this time it took just under 45 minutes to do it. Second layer went on MUCH smoother too!. It's darn hard to see the Z2 going on the titanium gray, but when you wipe it off the first time you REALLY notice the smoothness. Second layer goes on and wipes off much easier. Then another quick Z6 and voila! Car does look a little better than the dealer wax, but the finish is MUCH smoother. I did notice the color improving with the second layer, so I am planning on giving it another 2 layers in a couple weeks, since I am going to be traveling this weekend. My girls G20 is going to be a mission though. I expect that one to take a good 8-9 hours, but that paint really needs the love.