Dispel a Myth?

[Monk]

A "guy" told me "Paint Sealant will make a white car pop. Heavy carnauba will make a black car pop". Are either of these true, as general statements?

[Murr1525]

Well.. sorta kinda.

Many people do like the look of carnuba on a dark colored car, as it can deepen the paint, and get a little more depth. Now, two thin even coats work best, not some extra thick applied coat.

As for white, light colors, etc, many people will go for gloss more then depth, since you really wont get the same depth with white. So, a synthetic waxes often seem a bit 'glossier' as opposed to carnuba.

Nowadays, I think waxes are starting to get a little closer to each other, so you are seeing the gloss and depth blending together in one product.

Hope that helps a bit, till others chime in. If no one beat me...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Dispel a Myth?

Originally posted by Monk
A "guy" told me "Paint Sealant will make a white car pop. Heavy Carnauba will make a black car pop". Are either of these true, as general statements?

No, sounds like he's bought into the same nonsense posted on other forums and passed off as some kind of guru wisdom...

Read this,

Which LSP is better for light colors?

Originally posted by Cipitio
Hi everybody,

I have a silver and a white car. I was thinking on increase my stock of Meguiar's LSP (couple of tins of #16).

I read a lot that NXT and #26 are awesome for dark color cars.

I want to know your opinion about the best choice on LSP for light color cars.

Thank you for your responses.

Hi Cipitio,

Here's the deal,

First of all, 99% of all cars being manufactured today have a clear coat, so keep in mind, most people are not working on a pigmented paint, but on clear paint. Clear paint is simply resin without color.

That said, if a car wax, or polish will make a dark or black colored paint look great, it's also making a light colored finish look great too it's just your eyes can't see the difference. This is why the best test for a product is always on dark colors and black paint specifically. The true results of a product are going to be the most apparent on black paint, whether its a single-stage finish or a clear coated finish.

The color that is the least efficient at demonstrating a difference is white paint, whether it's a single-stage, or a clear coated finish. This is why Meguiar's performs all of their testing on black paint.

What you see discussed on forums and elsewhere on the topic of some waxes being better on light colors and some waxes being better on dark colors is simply confusion.

You'll often read where someone will say,

"Brand X is great on light colors",

what is implied is that brand X doesn't make dark colors look good. If a wax or polish can't make a dark color look good, it isn't making a light color look good, your eyes just can't evaluate the difference.

The best waxes for appearance quality makes all colors look good and you can know this by whether or not the wax makes dark colors look good.

Think about it for a second, if you have two identical cars, for example two Honda Accura's. One is white with a clear coat finish and the other is black with a clear coat finish, if a wax makes the black Accura look great, knowing you're working on the same kind of paint, (a clear coat), it's reasonable to assume that it's going to make the white Accura look great, it's just you're eyes won't perceive the difference as easily as they would with the black Accura.

Conversely, if a wax doesn't make the black Accura look good, it's reasonable to assume it's not going to make the white Accura look good for the same reasons outlined above.

Mike

[Monk]

Mike, thanks for that link for two reasons, the information, and the Volvo.

My Dad had a sedan of about the same vintage, but I had forgotten about his Volvo years.