You'll find arguments and agreements on both points, but I think it's generally accepted that many synthetics can be layered (Zaino, Klasse Sealant Glaze, for example) and many waxes can NOT be layered.

This is due to the relative lack of solvents in many sealants - once you've got a solid "cured" coat of polymer or acrylic on the paint, another application of the sealant will not dissolve the base layer. Whereas with most waxes the solvent content is so relatively high that another application of wax only serves to dissolve the base layer of wax. Typically 2 coats is considered best with a natural wax due more to achieving even coverage than building up of wax.

It CAN be done, but the process can be tedious and long-term vs. multiple coats in a day or week with a synthetic. This past summer I layered six coats, spaced a week apart, of Zymol Concours and the wax is still there, protecting, beading water, making the car extremely easy to clean. This Zymol is relatively low in solvents, high in oils and carnauba. I don't think a single coat would have given nearly this level of protection.

 

[QUOTE=kctheflish,Nov 8 2006, 11:00 AM] What do you think the advantage is to layering.

 

wanabe, I sent this email to Sonus:

This is their reply:

What do you think? Again, I sent this to Sonus.

I'm looking at the DAS and the SFX kit from them.

 

if my wax is high in solvents (Meguiars Crystal Polish Carnuba Wax) will this remove the synthetic (NXT) on there? Do you overall reccomend layering with this at all? Are you saying that I should layer with more NXT vs. the carnuba? How long do I need to wait before layering with anything, a day or a month?

 

granprix-
interesting- no idea why they would say that wax would remove carnuba!!
have applied wax over sealant many times, as has david bynon (autopia/sonus)- his products of choice were klasse and p21s as i recall...

s2krazy-
i would use as pure of carnuba as possible- that said, i love to experiment and thats the best way to learn what works and what does not! i would guess that solvents would not sit well on synthetics, but i also know that we do not know the actual contents of most products, and the only way to tell what works is to try it... maybe on a car that isnt your baby- got a beater? other choice is try it on a small area of your car.

 

how will I know if the synthetic was removed? I'm not really in the business of wasting product. I do have a beater but I don't feel like wasting time or money on it. Maybe I'll just leave the synthetic for the winter and carnuba for the spring/summer. I really do love the way the car looks at present, but then again I don't really know what I'm missing since this is the first time I've done a full detail.

you've offered a perfectly reasonable solution and I don't expect you to know everything about every product. I'm just a combination of poor and lazy right now.

 

Turns out I wrote the email incorrectly, I should have put "6. Carnauba" instead of "6. Wax". This is what she replied:

Thanks wanabe