Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

[The Guz]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

Then all I can say is good luck.

[Top Gear]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

eagleguy, it sounds like you may want more correction result than is really likely without a lot of work. I think we can all understand that. The problem is, it's just going to be a lot of work

It also sounds like you're expecting a wax/sealant to do more than it can do. It's just there to protect the paint, and to protect the claying, compounding and polishing work done to the paint, and give a final "cast" or "look" to the finish. It is not really the correction itself, IMO.

Much of what we're talking about above is the fact that waxes and sealants will be destroyed in the Sun, heat, humidity, rain, washing, and so forth. What might last for months in a cool, dry region won't last days in a hot, humid, rainy region. Yet, maintenance can be fun and easy on a daily basis. Still, getting a good correction is just going to take as long as it takes.

Clay: Sure, you can skip claying IF the surface is already baby smooth. If not, it is well worth those long hours to do a full clay job. You may not have to clay like that again for a long time (I think it's been about 2 years, for me, due to frequent DA machine polishing).

Compound: You haven't talked about this, but it's often essential for getting the surface defect-free. Sometimes compounding can take the place of polishing, and vice-versa. Compound is to be wiped off immediately. Compounding can take far longer than claying with hard paint, and due to maintenance, may not need to be done again for a year or so.

Polish: Apply polish and wipe it off right then. Do not let it "set up". If it's just the next month or two after you've done all this, you probably don't have to polish again and can just re-wax, because if you've done all the daily maintenance right, those oils are still there, basically. However, after many months, it may be time for another polish.

Sealant/Wax: The weather where you are, and having to clean the car, will destroy the wax or sealant or coating faster than you want, and faster than the wild claims made on websites. As that happens, the polish underneath begins to weather away, swirls build up, etc. After claying and/or polishing, any wax or sealant with a decent brand name on it will work great, but has to be maintained. A simple re-waxing can be a one-step replacement of the correction sealant/wax, without having to do all the other correction steps again.

Regular Maintenance: Now it's corrected, you get to relax and enjoy doing small things from day-to-day or once a week or whatever to keep things nice, and there are a lot of threads here on various washing and detailing tricks. You can stay in maintenance mode like this for weeks, months, maybe longer, but again, it depends GREATLY on region, season, weather, heat, sunlight, washings, driving, etc.

Hope all that helps you

[Eldorado2k]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

Are you applying the products by hand or with a polisher? I've found that with Ultimate Polish it's usually a matter of not working it in long enough, or working it too long.. Different paint and also weather conditions can greatly affect the results. I recall having trouble removing it once, but as soon as I changed my technique to a longer buffing cycle it wiped off effortlessly.

Also, if you're interested in wax longevity, you might want to try a different approach and give Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere a try and see if you like it.. Instead of dragging out the bucket & hose on the weekend you could take a few minutes and do a waterless wash every 3-4 days. Not only will you save yourself the chore of having to spend over an hour washing your car once a week, you'll also wind up with continuous wax protection non stop. Problem solved!

[Imatk]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

I'm conducting my own little experiment right now.

I've been using the Meguiar's Ultimate liquid version on my car and it generally lasts about a month of daily driving... but that varies on weather. (if it's really hot or raining it's less)

I actually waxed my mother's car with it expecting it to last the same amount of time and I was sorely disappointed.

Her car sits outside all the time and it only lasted about two weeks before most if not all of the beading was gone.

So I ordered some Collinite as it's supposed to last a very long time, but she left before it arrived and I couldn't put it on her car.

Now I've got half of my car waxed with Collinite, and the other half waxed with the Ultimate.

I'll be interested to see if the longevity of Collinite lives up to the press.

[eagleguy007]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

Been using Finish Kare 1000 for awhile now as well as Meguiars. Under the same conditions both leave the same finish but the 1000 last twice as long as the Meguiars.

[The Guz]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

I'm conducting my own little experiment right now.

I've been using the Meguiar's Ultimate liquid version on my car and it generally lasts about a month of daily driving... but that varies on weather. (if it's really hot or raining it's less)

I actually waxed my mother's car with it expecting it to last the same amount of time and I was sorely disappointed.

Her car sits outside all the time and it only lasted about two weeks before most if not all of the beading was gone.

So I ordered some Collinite as it's supposed to last a very long time, but she left before it arrived and I couldn't put it on her car.

Now I've got half of my car waxed with Collinite, and the other half waxed with the Ultimate.

I'll be interested to see if the longevity of Collinite lives up to the press.

How was the surface prepped?

[willowcatfish]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

eagleguy, it sounds like you may want more correction result than is really likely without a lot of work. I think we can all understand that. The problem is, it's just going to be a lot of work

It also sounds like you're expecting a wax/sealant to do more than it can do. It's just there to protect the paint, and to protect the claying, compounding and polishing work done to the paint, and give a final "cast" or "look" to the finish. It is not really the correction itself, IMO.

Much of what we're talking about above is the fact that waxes and sealants will be destroyed in the Sun, heat, humidity, rain, washing, and so forth. What might last for months in a cool, dry region won't last days in a hot, humid, rainy region. Yet, maintenance can be fun and easy on a daily basis. Still, getting a good correction is just going to take as long as it takes.

Clay: Sure, you can skip claying IF the surface is already baby smooth. If not, it is well worth those long hours to do a full clay job. You may not have to clay like that again for a long time (I think it's been about 2 years, for me, due to frequent DA machine polishing).

Compound: You haven't talked about this, but it's often essential for getting the surface defect-free. Sometimes compounding can take the place of polishing, and vice-versa. Compound is to be wiped off immediately. Compounding can take far longer than claying with hard paint, and due to maintenance, may not need to be done again for a year or so.

Polish: Apply polish and wipe it off right then. Do not let it "set up". If it's just the next month or two after you've done all this, you probably don't have to polish again and can just re-wax, because if you've done all the daily maintenance right, those oils are still there, basically. However, after many months, it may be time for another polish.

Sealant/Wax: The weather where you are, and having to clean the car, will destroy the wax or sealant or coating faster than you want, and faster than the wild claims made on websites. As that happens, the polish underneath begins to weather away, swirls build up, etc. After claying and/or polishing, any wax or sealant with a decent brand name on it will work great, but has to be maintained. A simple re-waxing can be a one-step replacement of the correction sealant/wax, without having to do all the other correction steps again.

Regular Maintenance: Now it's corrected, you get to relax and enjoy doing small things from day-to-day or once a week or whatever to keep things nice, and there are a lot of threads here on various washing and detailing tricks. You can stay in maintenance mode like this for weeks, months, maybe longer, but again, it depends GREATLY on region, season, weather, heat, sunlight, washings, driving, etc.

Hope all that helps you

Excellent post Top Gear!!!


Ray

[Imatk]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

How was the surface prepped?

Not sure if you're asking about my mother's car or mine but in her case I did a wash, then clayed it to remove A LOT of surface contamination. After I polished her hood and rear deck with 205 and took out some of the defects, but I didn't do anything aggressive with it because it's not a show car and it's likely going to not be waxed again until I do it the next time she visits

After that I did a dawn wash to remove any of the oils from polishing and then applied.

For mine I just did an IPA wipedown and applied since the paint is in excellent condition.

[Buddy05]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

so how is your experiment comes out?

Not sure if you're asking about my mother's car or mine but in her case I did a wash, then clayed it to remove A LOT of surface contamination. After I polished her hood and rear deck with 205 and took out some of the defects, but I didn't do anything aggressive with it because it's not a show car and it's likely going to not be waxed again until I do it the next time she visits

After that I did a dawn wash to remove any of the oils from polishing and then applied.

For mine I just did an IPA wipedown and applied since the paint is in excellent condition.

[jfelbab]

Re: Longevity of Ultimate Past Wax

I live in SW FL and use UW. It easily lasts 6 months for me in either the rainy season or the dry season. I do a weekly wash or a wipe down with UQD and follow with D156 (Ultimate Quik Wax) which I find extends the performance of UW greatly.

Dry season in FL typically means I can often go a whole month without a real wash. I just use UQD weekly with several microfibers to remove the dust and smudges then UQW.

I love the simplicity and the resulting appearance of this routine with these products.