Spryguy

Silver9k

I agree as well...I have yet to use anything better than Zaino

Series10

ditto

MikeyC

When these guys talk about prep what they are referring to are the steps prior to protecting the paint using either wax or a polymer sealant. The wax/polymer is not even what gives the shine to the paint. They are mostly there to protect the paint. What causes the paint to shine is the smoothness of the finish. Properly washing your car then using clay, pre-wax cleaner, and/or a polish prior to waxing smoothes out the finish of your paint and gives it the most reflectiveness and therefore shine. As to what particular brands to use . . . well to some degree that's a matter of opinoin. Personally, I feel like anything you can get in your local auto parts store or Wal Mart is probably garbage. I like to use Zymol products, but I find them to be ridiculously expensive. Zaino products which most people on S2Ki.com seem to love are less expensive and yield similar results. However, Zymol products are applied by hand and with less steps than Zaino products which come out best when using a buffer like the Porter Cable.

animeS2K

I've never used Zaino by buffer (always by hand) and found the results to be great. I don't see any reason (aside from speed) to apply most waxes or sealants with a machine.

And yes, as far as proper prep - it depends on the state of your paint, but at the very least a good claying (remove embedded contaminants) and/or pre-wax polish (very light cleaning abrasive to reduce and/or fill swirls) will help to improve the look of your paint. In some cases, it doesn't matter what you put on top, it's going to look like crap Then you need a machine polishing (if not worse!).

The swirls and light scratches you get from improperly washing and drying the car will contribute to the paint looking dull and faded with diffused reflections and it doesn't matter what you put over these swirls, they won't go away - although some glazes will fill and hide them for a short period of time - NXT Tech Wax had good temporary hiding abilities.

Orange peel in the paint will also contribute to diffused reflections, but that's usually a result of the paint job from the factory or body shop. To reduce or remove swirls, you almost NEED to do it by machine, but it can be done by hand -- better have superman arms and lots of time and patience!

I have to disagree with Mikey on one point - the wax/polymer will give a shine to the paint above and beyond what it already has from proper prep. Zaino will definitely contribute to the reflectivity of the surface, as will many sealants. Some will darken the color a bit, while natural waxes tend to add "depth" and "wetness" to paint.

By far, the most important step is prep. After I polished out a friend's 5-year old Xterra on Friday (by rotary and PC), he came by to check out the progress and loved the exterior's depth, gloss, reflectivity and finish... Guess what? It didn't have any wax or sealant on it at the time. I hit it with EXP and topped that with P21S and it only made it better:

fanoftheliving

I'd love to see a zymol and zaino - washed cars side by side... That would be the ultimate comparo, would it not? I find the Zaino process (a whole day!!???) off putting. I'm using zymol these days, and it works darn well. And seems to stay on the car for a long long time. But if someone showed me a zaino car.... I am openminded.

Jasonoff

The best protection is dirt

RyanS2000

LOL, they sell Zymol at Wal-Mart. Well, they do at my local Wal-Mart at least.

BTW, I've been using 3M paste wax and it works excellent. I haven't given Zaino a try yet, but I might next time.