Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax Eats Pad?

I was sorting out and cleaning up some of my junk and happened to stumble upon some old Meguiar's hand applicator pads. Remember the time when I did a sealants comparison? I used a different applicator pad for each product. After used, I washed them with dish detergent, dried, and kept them.

See what I found below. Okay, just ignore my wrong hand writing. It should be Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax.
The pad just crumbled when I held it.

The rear side that did not come into direct contact with the Ultimate Paste Wax seems to fare better.

The other pads that were kept in the same box are still in good condition.

The pad for Finish Kare has some discolouration but still feels good and soft.

The Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection applicator pad has the least discolouration and the pad for Fusso is still in good condition.

All the pads were brand new when they were used for the test to ensure an unbiased result. After the test, I chucked them away and forgot about them. Too much junk, haha.
I am not sure if this is pure coincidence or are the chemicals in Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax a little harsh to applicator pads.

If you have any experience regarding this, please share them.

That's it for this post.
Happy detailing.

Synthetic Waxes Durability Test Update: Month 3 (end)

It has been slightly more than 3 months and the results are as follows.
Please see here for the initial post.

This was taken on July 29th 2017.

The below picture shows what were applied.

Sealants	Water Beading	Water Sheeting
Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection	1	1
Finish Kare Hi-Temp Paste Wax	1	1
Fusso 12 Months Wax	2	2
Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax	1	1

It seems that the effects of most of the sealants are starting to diminish. However Fusso seems to be still working but I am not impressed.

True to most of our understanding and suspicion, there are "severe" water marks on the Fusso section.

As discussed in earlier post:
"The general idea of a hydrophobic surface is that dirty liquid will not "wet" and smear all over the surface. But if those water droplets are left to stay till dry (hard water and/or with some dirt encapsulated in them), there could potentially be water mark".

My wife drives to work every weekday and the car is park under the sky at her workplace. If it rains, the rain water plus surface dirt will bead up on the Fusso section. When the rain stops with the sun coming out, the water bead will dry up and whatever that is inside the droplet would be etched onto the car surface.

So far, I did not see any water mark on other sections. That is why I used the word "severe" earlier. As such, I do not intend to continue this evaluation. As mentioned in the initial post, to have a fair evaluation I skipped using spray wax on this particular test surface. Being a spray wax lover, I believe using spray wax would have minimized the water marks.

As a general conclusion (based on my personal observations and opinion), most sealants tends to last about 3 months in our Malaysian climate. Fusso might seem to be the strongest contender but the high water beading is also its biggest downfall. It does give the "wow" effect but in terms of protection, other sealants might be doing a better job. I think it is quite conclusive that high water beading might not be a quality one should look for in terms of protection in a tropical climate.

I strongly believe that using spray wax after every wash would not only prolong the longevity of the sealants but add to another layer of slickness and protection. So get yourself a spray wax and start spraying! Read about spray waxes here.

That's it for this comparison.
I would like to thank those who followed this comparison and provided constructive comments.
Stay tuned for more new posts.
Happy detailing.

Synthetic Waxes Durability Test Update: Month 2

It has been 2 months and the results are as follows.
Please see here for the initial post.

This was taken on June 24th 2017. The Fusso is still holding pretty strong. The difference compared to others is very obvious.

The below picture shows what were applied.

Sealants	Water Beading	Water Sheeting
Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection	1	2
Finish Kare Hi-Temp Paste Wax	1	3
Fusso 12 Months Wax	3	5
Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax	1	2

That's it for this month. Let's hope the sealants can last another month.

Synthetic Waxes Durability Test Update: Week 5

Please see here for the initial post.

This was the behavior of the sealants last weekend (May 20th).

The below picture shows what were applied.

Sealants	Water Beading	Water Sheeting
Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection	1	2
Finish Kare Hi-Temp Paste Wax	1	4
Fusso 12 Months Wax	5	5
Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax	1	3

As can be seen, Fusso 12 Months Wax is still beading water very well after 5 weeks of application with several washes in between using Meguiar's Ultimate Wash & Wax and Gold Class. As for the others, although they are not beading water, they are still sheeting water quite well. Kudos to all manufacturers.

Again, I want to stress that the above rating is very subjective and not absolute.

I received some questions about water beading and water sheeting - which is better?
Not a straight forward answer but here is my take on it.

If water beads up it shows that the surface is hydrophobic (hydro for water and phobia for scared/ disliked) and because of the own surface tension of water, it will not "wet" the surface and beads up. The general idea of a hydrophobic surface is that dirty liquid will not "wet" and smear all over the surface. But if those water droplets are left to stay till dry (hard water and/or with some dirt encapsulated in them), there could potentially be water mark. If the car is moved before the water droplets dry off, then it should be good.

In my opinion sealants protects the paint by being a sacrificial barrier. They prevent dirt from sticking directly onto the paint. Be it hydrophobic or slick. A slick surface that sheets away water and dirt is as good as a surface that beads water. It is just that a surface that beads water gives a Wow effect. And this is where the marketing gimmick works :)

I am more into durability than gloss and deep shine. That is why I only have synthetic waxes or sealants but the wowing effect is irresistible. Having my car parked directly under the sky in my office every weekday, maybe it is not such a good idea.

Opinions? Please share them :)

That's all for this post. Next post will be on the next month on this durability series.
Happy detailing.

Synthetic Waxes Durability Test Update: Week 2

Please see here for the initial post.

I did not intend to publish an update so soon but what I saw today struck me by surprise. This made me very eager to share the initial results.

It was just after 2 weeks since my wife's daily drive had been sealed. Today, I decided to give it a wash. There were a few days of rain and many days of sunshine in between. Since I would not be using any spray wax on the test panel, I decided to go with Meguiar's Ultimate Wash & Wax.

See My Car Wash Shampoos for more on this shampoo

So without further ado, here is a quick update.
Camera, action!
Play the video in full screen to have a better view. I recommend using YouTube to slow down the playback speed.

This is just after the car has been rinsed clean.

Just to refresh your memory, here is what were applied.

Some close up shots below.

Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection

Finish Kare Hi-Temp Paste Wax

Fusso 12 Months Wax

Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax

It seems that most of the sealants do not bead water very well after just 2 weeks in our hot and humid climate except for Fusso 12 Months Wax. However, most of them are sheeting water just fine. In order to help quantify the behavior, I have tabularized them with a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the best.

Sealants	Water Beading	Water Sheeting
Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection	3	4
Finish Kare Hi-Temp Paste Wax	3	4
Fusso 12 Months Wax	5	5
Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax	1	3

Being a first time user of Fusso 12 Months wax, I was really surprised by its hydrophobic properties. Water just would not wet the surface and will just bead up. Looks like we are in for a wonderful ride.
I just wanted to stress that the above rating is very subjective. Again, there is no absolute right or wrong in car detailing.

So, what do you guys think?

That's all for this post. Stay tuned for more updates.
Happy detailing.

Synthetic Waxes Durability Test: Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection vs. Finish Kare Hi-Temp Paste Wax vs. Fusso 12 Months Wax vs. Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax

I have been wanting to do a formal comparison on the durability of these synthetic waxes. I had been using Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection, Finish Kare Hi-Temp Paste Wax and Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax for quite some time. Fusso 12 Months Wax is kind of a new addition. I bought it a few months ago but never really used it. Generally, I already have an idea on the durability of these waxes except for the one from Fusso. However; just to be fair; I decided to test all of them on a same test panel on a same car with the same orientation to get an unbiased result.

I gave my wife's daily drive a full wash, clay, compound, and polish treatment last week. The rear hood was "reserved" as a test panel. This panel was finished off with Meguiar's Ultimate Polish prior to applying the waxes. I did not use an IPA to wipe the panels as all of the waxes are oil based and there is no need for the panel to be stripped of the oils.

I did not tape up the panel as this is still my wife's daily drive and I do not want any part of the panel to go unprotected. I did not want to surprise my wife with a zebra crossing pattern! However, individual applicator pads are used for each wax. There could be some "cross contamination" so take this with a pinch of salt.

The plan is to see durability of these waxes. The car will still go through regular washes except that I would not be using any spray wax on this test panel.

There was some overlapping in the application...

Fast forward a week (today) it rained when I was about to do some inspection... Haha!

The car has yet to be washed. It seems that the entire test area is still beading water quite well.
Some closer shots below.

There entire surface is still slick to the touch. Let see how it will be in another few months time. I will be posting updates from time to time.

That's it for today.
Happy detailing.

Update:
Week 2 results
Week 5 results
Month 2 results
Month 3 results