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I do auto detailing as a hobby and side business, so I use lots of different waxes. Lately, the ones being used on my personal vehicles have been Chemical Guys Factory Sealant and Duragloss #111. They are synthetic polymer sealants and not waxes in the technical term though.
As for the "best" wax, that's a tough question to answer because so much of it comes down to personal preference. First you have sealants and waxes, each giving a little bit of a different look. Then you could pick a high end wax like Pinnacle Sovereign or Wolfgang Fuzion that will look great but do not last very long, or you could pick something like Collinite Insulator Wax which doesn't look as good (still good though) but lasts a lot longer.
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If you have a black car, are there car waxes specifically designed ( made) for black cars?
Yes, the aforementioned Pinnacle Sovereign and Poorboy's Nattys Blue are a couple designed for dark colored vehicles. They usually contain more oils than other waxes, which helps bring out gloss and depth but negatively affects longevity.
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How often should you wax a car?
As often as it needs it. Wax is the sacrificial barrier between the environment and your paint/clearcoat.
As a general rule of thumb, waxes should be reapplied every 3-4 months. Sealants can last 6-8 months.
back in my auto detailing days, I used Burford's Pro Wax. Probably one of the longest lasting carnuba base waxes that I've ever seen, but then again ... pro auto detail suppliers have many similar products. One thing they all had in common was that they all required a lot of work to apply and buff out with a pro heavy duty buffer.
with today's clear coat finish systems, much depends upon the paint/coating system on your car as to which wax system may look the best.
I've seen some show oriented waxes that looked great upon application, but were very poor for keeping and maintaining a shine.
I've been using spray-on Nanowax (from O'Reilly's or similar auto parts stores) for cars in good condition. It's a very easy spray-on, wipe off product. Can do my car with it in about 40 minutes and it looks good. But it doesn't look like a product/system that will restore a faded or damaged surface. It works well on my airplane (painted with Centari or Imron) and has a "glow" look to the darker color stripe areas, and bugs just wash off from it with plain water. You might give this stuff a try. One bottle, by the way, has done my plane twice, so the stuff goes a long way.
I've tried just about every retail trade car wax made ... Meguiar's, Zymol, and similar products ... and none of them did any better job for me than the Nanowax, but all required a lot more work to apply (although all the retail type products were a lot easier to apply than the pro auto detail wax system). Excess product removal from crevices and around fasteners/rivets with these was a real chore, too. Also, they didn't last as long as the Nanowax.
Will the Nanowax work on your car for appearance and protection? only way to find out will be to try it. It may ... or may not. You may have to try several wax systems before you find the one that you like the best on your car.
I agree, I was going to say a good carnuba wax. I used to rub that into my Carrera and it would come out wet looking deep shine every time. I forget the name but a red bottle of carnuba.
I absolutely love Griot's Garage products. I use their paint sealant once a year on my black car and also use Griot's Garage "Best Show Wax" twice a year, once in early fall and once in late spring. The Best Show Wax is a carnauba-based liquid wax that works great. They also have a Premium Carnauba Paste Wax but I have not used that yet. Give their site a look, they have great products that work great and still made in the US. It's a bit pricey but well worth it in my opinion.
What car wax do you use? If you have a black car, are there car waxes specifically designed ( made) for black cars? How often should you wax a car?
Meguiar's now sells waxes specifically for black and white paint.
Do I believe that claim? Probably not. I've been detailing black cars for over 25 years, and I know that the payoff is in the prep work. If you clean and polish the paint correctly, you can use almost any quality wax to get spectacular results on black paint.
Here's black paint topped with Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax:
I wax this particular customer's car every three months. She drives it daily, and never parks it inside.
Do waxes have to generate so much dust? Is it a sign of using too much? And what about those white residues that end up on plastic trim pieces and are impossible to take off?
Always used Meguire's products with good results. I was about twice a year (my cars are always garaged and parked inside).
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