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No more Nu Finish wax for me

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John Bennett

John Bennett

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Lufkin, Texas
I've had it with Nu Finish brand car wax. It used to be a good product. I believe they have changed the formulation. Now it resembles a bottle of water.

I believe it is very important to maintain a layer of wax to protect my paint from oxygen, solar radiation, and lovebugs. Problem is, I hate washing and waxing. So, I want a wax that lasts a long time. In the past, Nu Finish provided this.

The lovebugs arrived in east Texas yesterday. Last night I tried to wax my Honda Accord.

The bottle of Nu Finish I used seemed to be mostly water. When I wiped it on, it left a very thin layer of water containing very little wax. I had to use a whole bottle. I had to slather it on. I used to get three cars out of one bottle of the same size.

I've used Nu Finish for ~15 years. My bottle of Nu Finish last October was worse in this regard than I ever remember this product being. This latest bottle was worse than that bottle.

I'm abandoning Nu Finish. Consumer Reports most recent wax evaluation from 2006 says:

Rank, Name, Price (dollars), Overall Rating, Price per Ounce

1. Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax BM48016 CR Best Buy, $7, 84, $0.44
2. Turtle Wax Carnauba Car Wax T-6 CR Best Buy, 7, 84, 0.44
3. Eagle One Nanowax, 12, 75, 0.75
4. 3M Perfect-it Show Car Liquid Wax 39026, 11, 73, 0.69
5. DuPont Teflon Ultra Wax CWX1030, 8, 71, 0.50
6. Meguiar's Gold Class Clear Coat Wax, 10, 68, 0.63
7. Nu Finish NF-76, 8, 68, 0.50
8. Zymol Cleaner Wax Z503, 20, 68, 1.25
9. Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax Liquid, 15, 67, 0.83
10. Turtle Wax Platinum Series Ultra Gloss T-412R, 9, 64., 0.56
11. Griot's Garage Best of Show Wax 11171, 20, 62, 1.25
12. Griot's Garage Paint Sealant 11075, 15, 62, 0.94
13. Armor All Wax-it-Dry Gel, 4, 61, 0.20
14. Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, 6, 60., 0.38
15. 3M One Step Cleaner Wax-Light Oxidation Remover, 15, 58, 0.94
16. Turtle Wax F21 T-27R, 7, 49, 0.35
17. Turtle Wax Super Hard Shell T-123R, 5, 43, 0.31
 
Thanks for the heads-up... I think I need to wash my car now... Oh wait - we've got rain coming. Darn.

:rofl:
 
I've only ever found 2 types of wax that I really enjoy. One is Harly wax (I think that's how it's spelled... not like Harley Davidson). My drivers-ed teacher used to have a triumph tr-4 that he would show and swore by it. Said it was the closest thing on the market to someone actually scraping the wax from a carnuba leaf directly into the can. You need to let it set for a bit and use sparingly or you will be rubbing yourself to death to get it off.

The second is called Zaino. It's a 2 part wax that really does a job. I've seen it used on a dark blue trans am and the thing looked WET several weeks after application. I used it on my silver camaro and it gave the silver flecks an almost 3D look to them. It's not cheap, but it's killer.

YMMV

Cheers!
Nyxs
 
Update: I read that wax manufacturers have reformulated their products, reducing levels of volatile organic compounds to meet California Air Resources Board regulations.

Volatile Organic Compounds are what makes stuff good! !@#$%^&*()_+ California!

No wonder it's watery crap. VOC's are what made the wax soluble, spread like creamy buttah, and harden fast!

I guess the govenrment has decided we peasants are too stupid to use VOC's. We are children who need awthowuhtay.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/coatings/coatingsrules.htm
 
I recently started using the Eagle 1 Nanowax (rank #3 in the list above). It's almost as low work as they advertise and it does leave a nice result. It does seem 'trendy' so I don't know how long this product will be on the market. I use it on the wife's car and on the bikes.

When I had a black car I preferred Zymol over anything else. But again, most of this stuff has been reformulated in the past couple of years so what was once good is now suspect.
 
You wash your cars? :scratch:

I am just too freaking lazy :doh: I figure by the time the factory clear coat is toast, the rest of the car is likely toast as well and I need a new car anyway. My current 97 Saturn sedan is really reaching its limit. The front hood has skin cancer because of a crappy clear coat by a body shop after I nailed a deer. The rest of the body still looks good despite all the pine sap, love bugs, etc,... I think I have washed the car maybe five times since I bought it :-P I do wash the bikes though, usually before I do any work on them. It just makes it easier to work on them and also provides time for me to give the bike a good visual inspection for potential problems.

I think I have an old bottle of NuFinish in the garage, but I'd be willing to bet that its contents have gone hard...
 
http://zainostore.com/ . It's a polish, not a wax.

Pricey, but :thumb: imho... I've got it on both my 6-7 y.o red bike and my 1 year old black bike (this photo taken about a year ago). I've even spilled brake fluid on one side of the red bike's tank and have but a tiny little spot.

220391259_Yenpx-M.jpg
 
Tourmeister said:
I do wash the bikes though, usually before I do any work on them.
Click to expand...
You mean you don't wash them at work anymore? :-P Some of my favorite memories of working for your dad are those of the 3 of us out back washing and detailing our bikes on slow days... man, to have another job like that one :lol2:
 
Pop has a left over bottle of some hardshell wax from days past that actually will show small cracks over time.:eek2:
 
I had a similar experience with the Nu recently and wasn't satisfied with the results so I thought what the heck Ive got bottle of Honda Polish Wax in the bin so Ill give it a shot....works as good as the old formula Nu and Ive had it on for about a year and still beads water and looks shiny. This was on my car not the bikes.
 
I use Lemon Pledge on the bike. It works great and costs very little. Also, it smells real nice too.

Dave
 
Tourmeister said:
I figure by the time the factory clear coat is toast, the rest of the car is likely toast as well and I need a new car anyway.
Click to expand...

Not true!

I hate washing and waxing as much as anyone. I only do it to my cars once per year, and my bike in the spring and fall. It's a preventative maintenance item, like oil changes, or brake fluid changes.

I typically buy new or lightly-used cars, then squeeze every bit of good out of them. I've calculated this to the the most frugal way to own a car.

Protecting the car's finish throughout the life of the car prevents me from driving a car with rotten body during the last 25% of the car's service life (which for me could be 4 years). I don't want to drive an ugly car for 4 years.

In the low-end, beater car market appearance is very important. Assuming the thing starts and runs, appearance greatly influences how much a car will sell for. Residual value when you get rid of a car is a significant factor in your lifetime "cost per mile" for that car.
 
I just picked up a bottle of Dupont Teflon Ultra Wax for my truck and it works sweet. I used Zaino religously for 2 years but haven't refilled my stash yet and I was itching to detail the truck so I picked up a bottle of the Dupont Teflon Wax. It works great. Easy on, easy off, and my truck sure is shiny. I also got a bottle of Dupont Teflon Quick Shine and used that on my bike with great results. I think it is much better than the Meguiars Quick Detailer I used to use. Also Dupont's Teflon Wheel cleaner rules! I used it on my truck engine and wheels and tires and they look brand new with no scrubbing at all!!!
 
+1 on Zaino. A friend turned me on to it and I love it. It does a very good job and is not a lot of work. Wipe on base, wait 15 minutes. Wipe on top coat, wait till it dries to a haze, use clean microfiber towel and wipe off all the 'haze'. Very little work compared to applying a paste wax like carnuba and works REALLY well. I even used it on my face shield inside and out and it really sheds water well now. Supposedly you can apply multiple coats for an even deeper shine, but I've never needed more than one coat on any of my cars. The paint usually feels silky smooth afterward, especially if you go through the trouble of claybaring the paint.
 
A very long long long time ago when I use to care about bugs and car finishes, we always used Johnson Floor wax. It would never dry completely and the bugs came right off in the morning.
Now, I have no clue on what wax I use on my Bandit ( the KLR does not know what wax is ) without going out to the garage and looking. ;-).
Being as we are in love bug season down here in south most Louisiana. It's just get the dang things off at the end of the ride. I spray a Love Bug remover and let it sit for about 10 minutes then wipe it and the bugs off and then use some of the wax I don't know the name of. ;-)..
 
Ain't no shine like a Mother's shine! Mothers California Gold Carnauba for the paint and Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish for the shiny bits(works on miner paint scratches/scuffs too). Didn't make the below list, but I've been using it for years.

Happy Trails!

Erv
Deep in the Heart of Texas!!
 
John Bennett said:
Update: I read that wax manufacturers have reformulated their products, reducing levels of volatile organic compounds to meet California Air Resources Board regulations.

Volatile Organic Compounds are what makes stuff good! !@#$%^&*()_+ California!

No wonder it's watery crap. VOC's are what made the wax soluble, spread like creamy buttah, and harden fast!

I guess the govenrment has decided we peasants are too stupid to use VOC's. We are children who need awthowuhtay.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/coatings/coatingsrules.htm
Click to expand...

I have heard it all now. The do gooders strike again.
 
DuPont Teflon FTW!!!! I can't even touch my bike after I put it on cause it slips off. LOL
 
Are any of the waxes colored? (what an odd question!!)

well I just bought my first white car and with white Nu-Finish, I can't tell where I put the stuff on.
 
I have used Grantize paste wax for 20+ years and have not found a better product. Sure there are easyer products to use but not better. The problem is they do not sell to the public so I buy in bulk and it distributed from Calif.. I figure I have enought to last a few more years. :sun:
 
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