Wax - how often

[billyo]

How often do you wax your car and how often does it get a polish?

Is 6 months for wax to long a gap to leave?

 

[2fast2catch]

car gets waxed after every wash so prob every week (weather dependant) like to keep it washed and waxed over the winter to protect the paintwork.

6 months is a long time but it depends on how much the car is used and how dirty it gets.

 

[pgarner]

pretty much the same as 2fast. waxed everytime i wash the car. polished maybe every 6 months.

its also depends on the wax used some waxes may just survive that long but not many. if you see the water has stopped beading then wax it

 

[MasterAuron]

Depends on which wax you use and how many coats but generally speaking even the longest lasting waxes will start to wear off after 6 months.

 

[thexav]

Wax lasts me about 6 months. I always do it end of October then again in spring.

Polish wears away the paint and should only be done when absolutely necessary. Polish every 6 months is too frequent in my opinion.

 

[pgarner]

what wax do you use if its lasting 6 months ?
also depends on what polish you use, some are very aggressive whereas some are very mild

 

[MasterAuron]

And some don't have any abrasives in whatsoever so saying that polish wears down your paint is bull.

 

[HDi fun]

Polish does contain abrasive particles, otherwise it wouldn't be a polishing compound.

Wax doesn't.

 

[obi_waynne]

This article explains the difference between polish and wax http://www.torquecars.com/articles/polishing-waxing.php - if it is labelled polish and doesn't contain abrasives then the makers don't know what they are selling. Sadly there are a few on the market mislabelled.

I use NXT tech wax and wash the car with Autoglym car shampoo. The rain will bead on the car for 6 months, sometimes a bit longer. I wax 2-3 times per year and polish the areas under the door handles and other high risk areas once a year.

 

[MasterAuron]

Tut tut. Who wrote that article?

To re-iterate; not all polishes are abrasive.

 

[obi_waynne]

There is a feedback from at the bottom of the article if you want to add something constructive to it - that's the way we work, share the knowledge rather than criticise those that do.

In my experience well over 90% of commercially available car and metal polishes contain abrasives whereas waxes do not. It is commonly held and understood that this is the case. On this point I agree with Xavier and HDI.

There are always exceptions and a lot depends on your chosen definition of a polish. Furniture polish is not what we are discussing here.

 

[HDi fun]

Ideally wax should be applied 2-3 times a year. A lot of waxing products now are synthetic rather than the more traditional blends of petroleum and plant products.

It seems to be very much personal opinion and preference as to which is best. There are also tradeoffs in speed of application, longevity and quality of finish etc.

Anyone tried Turtle Wax it Wet?

 

[marti5]

I find Turtle wax crap....I always use semi hard carnabu wax it comes in a pot and not the stuff in the bottle that says contains carnabu thats crap as well.

How often.....once a month wax, polish once a year and clay bar once a year.

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/r222/100-carnauba-wax.aspx?src=google-base