How long have people been waiting to wax their mini's? I know that the paint is baked on at the factory, so theoretically, you could do it right away. Any suggestions?

-Andrew

[KenL]

When I picked my car up at the dealers it had been waxed as part of the pre-delivery prep.

I don't think there is any reason not to use a good quality wax/silicon sealant polish from as soon as you get it.

[Buddha]

obehave:

What do you mean by "stripped it clean?" Does that take off any wax that is currently on the car? Is it really necessary, or can you just wash it normally and then apply polish and wax?

Also, exactly how do you strip it? By washing with dawn dishwashing liquid?

Sorry for the basic questions, but I'm kind of a newbie to this and would like to do it right. Thanks.

[Renzoman]

Here is a web page about care for your cars finish , its from PPG the people that make paint for your cars.
Check it out.
http://www.ppg.com/car_autocoat/enthusiast.htm
Renzo

[D.D.]

I use Zaino wax on all my cars and have for quite sometime. I refer you to their website, Zaino.com, and you will find that they recommend stripping the car with DAWN dish soap. I have done this, it works well, and have NEVER had any advere effects. I urge you to visit the site and look at the results. After all, could you imagine the law suits that would be flying around if the wax manufacturer gave out BAD information and ruined your paint! Take some time and THINK about it....not too hard....just think what would happen???? YES......you can use Dawn dish soap to strip the wax. You must then re-apply a wax of your choice to protect the MINI's finish.

[CurtP]

www.zainobros.com

There's a lot of tips on Zaino's website, including stripping old wax using Dawn dishwashing liquid. Even if you don't use Zaino, the tips are still very handy.

When I prep a car for its first coat of Zaino, I use two gallons of warm water and 1/2 cup (yes, that's right, 1/2 cup) of Dawn dishwashing liquid. After the first wash with Dawn, I clay the car, then wash again using the 1/2 cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid to two gallons of water.

[D.D.]

DITTO!

[Renzoman]

Of course we can do what ever we want…
But first lets clean the air a bit
Zaino is in the market of selling products, although the web page "Recommends" using Dawn dishwashing liquid, it doesn’t say how much to use per gallons of water. The Zaino web also sates:
"I don't advise making a habit of washing your car with Dawn. But for this scenario it's fine"
Recommends, but don’t do it as a habit, Fine for who? To who's standards?, How much dawn liquid does one use?
Please let me continue.
The Zaino web page states:
"Make sure you remove any water spots, before you apply my products Because Zaino has no abrasives or harsh solvents it will not remove water spots or stains. Z-18 ClayBar is great for removing any paint surface contaminant".
Is this where Zaino tries to sell more stuff (ClayBar) why not, that’s why there in business.
Clay Bar on a brand new surface ????? I will never do it, but that’s just me.
Then Zaino goes on to sell more…
So!
Uh..CurtP "There's a lot of tips on Zaino's website"
Not many that I would use but that’s just me.
And D.D You said:
"After all, could you imagine the law suits that would be flying around if the wax manufacturer gave out BAD information and ruined your paint! Take some time and THINK about it....not too hard....just think what would happen???? YES"
First no "law suits would fly around" unless someone filed a law suit, a law suit to prove that someone gave you bad advise, very vague advise, how much Dawn liquid did they tell you to use?
So….L8 Apex…..I think that ObeHave can defend him self in this forum, I also believe that group gang ups left our way of thinking when we all left the fifth grade. Oh. pardon me I really don’t know how old you are, sorry.
Lets get photos of our MINI's four or five years from now, well see who was right.
RenzoMan

[gjenkins]

1. Dawn
2. Claybar
3. A few coats of Zaino

I still have a nice beading finish after 3 winter months of abuse without reapplication. Sal Zaino advised me by email a couple of extra tips.

1. Claybar every 18 months to 2 years.
2. Dawn will not strip Zaino.

[Paul]

I've removed some posts in here to try to clear out some of the 'noise'.

Can people, even if they disagree, try to be more easy with each other. It helps making reading the information (even if opinions on what's wise vary) much easier for those outside of the 'debate'.

Thanks.

Paul

[gjenkins]

would you wanna do that? Just kidding, its a good question I didn't think to ask.

[CurtP]

Quote:

Originally posted by obehave
What do they recommend for stripping off Zaino?

If Dawn doen't work that's pretty impressive.

Well, one normal wash with Dawn won't take all of it off, but my Dawn wash method will!

Wax and grease remover solvent (not the bug and tar remover you find at the local auto parts chain store, but the stuff you find at automotive paint supply stores) will remove Zaino. I believe Naptha will take it off as well, as will repeated clayings.

[CurtP]

Quote:

Originally posted by obehave
UV is harsh and sooner or later it'll start breaking down long chain polymers.
If it's like most UV protectant stuff that's what it does. Sacrifice itself to protect what's underneath.

Ah, the power of Zaino!

After every 6 or so applications of polish, you apply a coat of Z1 before your coat of Z2, Z3, or Z5 to "rebuild" the polymer chain. I can tell by feel when it's time to do it -- the surface feels "loose" (for a lack of a better way to describe it). You don't have to strip Zaino off

[gjenkins]

Quote:

Originally posted by CurtP
Ah, the power of Zaino!

After every 6 or so applications of polish, you apply a coat of Z1 before your coat of Z2, Z3, or Z5 to "rebuild" the polymer chain. I can tell by feel when it's time to do it -- the surface feels "loose" (for a lack of a better way to describe it). You don't have to strip Zaino off

I have been using ZFX with every application. Doesn't that do the same thing?

[gjenkins]

I'm strictly an amateur car detailer and photographer (heck I don't even really like doing either one). My gallery has pictures on my MCS right after the 4th coat of Zaino and a self done detailing. I thought it looked fairly impressive. (I don't know if it translated very well using a 2.1 Mpix digital camera.)

[CurtP]

Quote:

Originally posted by gjenkins
I have been using ZFX with every application. Doesn't that do the same thing?

Yes, but that gets expensive, plus it has a tendancy to waste a lot of Zaino since you can't store any extra that you've mixed. ZFX was meant more for a quick "build-up" of polish, not for repeated usage (although it doesn't hurt anything).

Z1 is really the most underrated and underused Zaino product. It's really worth it to have a bottle of it on hand.

[gjenkins]

The beauty is that I bought both ZFX and Z1. I was going to get a refund on the Z1. I used ZFX for the first 4 coates. I definitely noticed the waste, but it really makes application quick! I will use Z1 on my post-winter coate. Thanks for the info and advice.

[disdis]

what do u guys think of the AutoGlym High Gloss Protection?

[KenL]

That's what I use. It seems pretty good to me. It is a pain to put on my silver car though as you can't easily see what areas you've done as it's clear.

Autoglym told me if your car was new this in the only product you need. i.e. you don't need to pre-apply their Super Resin Polish before applying the Extra Gloss Protection.

KenL