Wax / Sealnt Longevity

[Imatk]

I read A LOT of posts about how this wax lasts a month (sometimes more) and how that sealant lasts 1 - 5 months etc. etc.



Now I'm beginning to wonder if I'm:



1. Crazy

2. Way too anal

3. Doing it wrong



The LONGEST and I mean LONGEST I've ever gotten out of any sealant is Zaino and that's after applying 3 layers of the stuff. (which takes quite a while)



The amount of time it lasted was probably about two months maybe? (I didn't time it or anything just estimating)



Now the question I have is... what are you guys using as a basis for the wax/sealant to still be on the car?



For me, if I wash the car and the water does not form fairly tight beads (or if it rains and the same thing occurs) then it's time to re-apply. (This of course doesn't apply to an LSP that isn't "hydrophobic" but you get my drift)



If I wash the car and the slickness has diminshed, it's time to re-apply.



SO...



Is that what you guys use as a basis?



And if so how the heck are you going more than a month?



My car is a daily driver so I would imagine a garage queen would last a month maybe six easily. But a car driven every day??



I usually do a full correction once a year. Aside from that I use ONR to wash and then I wax the car.



So let me know your thoughts.

 

[Accumulator]

I read A LOT of posts about how this wax lasts a month (sometimes more) and how that sealant lasts 1 - 5 months etc. etc.



Now I'm beginning to wonder if I'm:



1. Crazy

2. Way too anal

3. Doing it wrong

Or maybe there's some other factor you're not considering...the harshness of your shampoo, the frequency of washing, environmental consideration, etc.

The LONGEST and I mean LONGEST I've ever gotten out of any sealant is Zaino and that's after applying 3 layers of the stuff. (which takes quite a while)



The amount of time it lasted was probably about two months maybe? (I didn't time it or anything just estimating)

I'd be pretty disappointed with that *if* longevity was a major concern. Even the old-school wax (Meguiar's #16) I use on my wife's daily driver lasts at least two months, even in the winter.



But there are plenty of LSPs (including sealants) that'll only last that long for me on a daily driver.

Now the question I have is... what are you guys using as a basis for the wax/sealant to still be on the car?

For me, it's whether (or not!) the vehicle still has all the "just waxed" characteristics, at least for starters. After a while I don't expect that to last, but I still want it to a) basically still look the same, b) stay very slick and shed dirt readily during the wash, c) keep on beading (leaving products that only sheet out if it as I don't use any of those anyhow,but I'd expect the sheeting action to stay the same too), and d) continue to protect against stuff like bird-bombs (but then some products are lousy at that to beging with).

For me, if I wash the car and the water does not form fairly tight beads (or if it rains and the same thing occurs) then it's time to re-apply. (This of course doesn't apply to an LSP that isn't "hydrophobic" but you get my drift)

Right. Even if somebody doesn't value beading, a change in that means that *something* has changed and, IMO, degraded.

If I wash the car and the slickness has diminshed, it's time to re-apply.

Absolutely :xyxthumbs

And if so how the heck are you going more than a month?

By using products that last a long time...and I don't mean that as some smart-@$$ed reply. Some stuff lasts an incredibly long time for me, other...*most* stuff doesn't.



And sometimes a given LSP that usually lasts a long time just doesn't in a specific application. Collinite 845 usually lasts pretty long for me, but *NOT* on the plastic rear bumper cover of my wife's Audi; for some reason it just *dies* on that specific panel in no time at all :nixweiss

My car is a daily driver so I would imagine a garage queen would last a month maybe six easily. But a car driven every day??

Now that my wife and I are retired, it *is* different from comuting every day and having the vehicles outside all day. But still, our dog-haulers and other daily drivers get used hard all year round, and I sure expect them to get through tough Ohio winters, and I'm disappointed if I have to redo anything come spring.

I usually do a full correction once a year.

Glad to hear you're not doing it more often than that :xyxthumbs

Aside from that I use ONR to wash and then I wax the car.

So let me know your thoughts.[/QUOTE]



I've had some cases where ONR seemed to really kill my LSP; this was with the Collinite 845 which usually lasts a long, *long* time. No idea why it happens, but I have to think the ONR somehow is to blame. Optimum experts have said it shouldn't happen like that, but it *DOES* happen for me :nixweiss I can wash *many* times with conventional shampoo without it happening, and it's never such a dramatic "LSP-kill" even when it does (gradually) "wash away the LSP". Maybe something like that is happening to you.



I can't help but wonder what would happen if you either changed your wash from ONR to conventional, or changed your LSP to either (layered) FK1000P or KSG (both of which *always* last a long time for me if layered), or did both.



Many layers of those products last me for so long you simply wouldn't believe it, months on end easily.



FWIW, the LSPs on my garage-queens don't last as long as the ones on my drivers! I use UPP on the S8 and it needs redone a *LOT* quicker than the stuff on my beaters, even though the basically S8 spends all its time in climate controlled storage.

 

[TedFred]

Try using a spray wax every two weeks. My wax jobs last at least 6 months when I use Eagle one Nano spray or Megs Ultimate spray wax. I have tried a lot of the over the counter sprays and they all work fairly well. Ice spray leaves a nice smooth finish for example. There are a lot of people on this site that like Dura Gloss Auqa wax, not my fav. I like the Megs.

I have never had a time when the car didn't bead in six months with the spray waxes. I do spray wax every two weeks.



By the way people are always commenting how shiny my cars are:razz: