A wax question...

[anthony_VWJET]

If unbuffed wax is left on the car, will it cause any damage or distortion to the paint?

Wax used: Meguires Wax.... the one in the red tin...

Wasnt intending on doing this for any reason, just more so for the fact i couldnt finish what i started and can finish it off in the next day or two....

Thanks for the help!

p.s. to the detailers that ive spoken to asking for a detail... im still keen, just broke at the moment!

[gregozedobe]

If unbuffed wax is left on the car, will it cause any damage or distortion to the paint?

I can't see any way it could possibly harm or change the paint. It is still the same stuff, regardless of whether you buff it or not.

If you leave it unbuffed for a while it may be harder to buff to a smooth finish when you do finally get around to it (depending on if it sets harder over time or not).

[G-rig]

Why wouldn't you just do a panel at a time, then do the other sections the next day if you run out of time? I don't like the idea of leaving it on, but may not hurt. Either way you could get dust on the car so i like to apply the wax asap after washing and good quality stuff buffs off very easily.

[gavs]

It just becomes really hard to get off!! I did it with some pure carnuba wax on a hot day, I figured it would help "bake" it on, I'm still removing patches of it and I did this 6 months ago!!

[anthony_VWJET]

It just becomes really hard to get off!! I did it with some pure carnuba wax on a hot day, I figured it would help "bake" it on, I'm still removing patches of it and I did this 6 months ago!!

Hopefully it wont be that bad..... the cars parked in the garage and with the cool weather, hopefully it wont be that hard...

I usually do one panel at a time, but it started raining and I got a bit carried away...

[KWICKS]

Waxing the car takes about 30 minutes tops, and that's 10 minutes to apply, 10 minutes to let it set/bond/go off a little (depends on your wax used I suppose so could be a little longer), and 10 minutes to buff off. While I'm waiting I dress tires, black trim or windows. I might then wait another 30 minutes with the car in the sun to let the moisture in the wax sweat out before giving it another quick buff. All by hand. Why wouldn't you finish the job?

As others have said if you leave the wax on overnight it will go hard, dry to a white powdery finish, and be really diffcult to remove.

[anthony_VWJET]

Waxing the car takes about 30 minutes tops, and that's 10 minutes to apply, 10 minutes to let it set/bond/go off a little (depends on your wax used I suppose so could be a little longer), and 10 minutes to buff off. While I'm waiting I dress tires, black trim or windows. I might then wait another 30 minutes with the car in the sun to let the moisture in the wax sweat out before giving it another quick buff. All by hand. Why wouldn't you finish the job?

As others have said if you leave the wax on overnight it will go hard, dry to a white powdery finish, and be really diffcult to remove.

30 min? I usually take around an hr or 2...

[seangti]

30 min? I usually take around an hr or 2...

yup me too, may be 10mins to do the roof. It's either a different product or the smallest car in the world

Some waxes are notoriously difficult to get off if they dry. e.g. Zymol cleaner wax.

[dazag]

I have another wax question - what is the difference between a Soft wax & a hard wax - if they are both a high quality carnauba waxes, I assume the Hard wax dries to a harder protective coating, but may not give the full warmth of a softer wax??
Just trying to figure out my "plan of attack" for detailing my new car to protect it from relatively new condition.

[gavs]

I beleive it has to do more with the consistancy. Hard wax comes in a tub or tin and is in the form of a paste whereas soft wax is runny, like tomato suace and generally comes in a bottle. I find I waste more of the soft wax over the hard stuff....