hey guys i was wondering if anyone can explain to me how to tell if a wax is abrasive or not? i heard that abrasive wax takes off paint/clear coat so i want to find one that is safe to use so i don't lose a layer of paint every time i wax. thanks in advance

 

I'm no expert on this stuff but I always thought that products labeled "polish" or "cleaner" contained a very mild abrasive. Productes labeled Pure wax usually don't contain abrasives.
A carefull reading of the fine print on the containers usually tells you all you need to know. It does seem that the fine print is getting smaller by the year but it could be my 3 score and 10 eyes too.

 

yeah i thought so too but i guess i was wrong because i read on a few car detailing forums that if a wax leaves a white residue than it is abrasive.i do not know if its true so that's why I'm asking. i guess i just want to know if Eagle one nanowax paste is abrasive or not. any help would be appreciated

 

Pure wax will never contain abrasives. One step or "polish waxes" will contain either a chemical or grit abrasive.

If you have an "open coat" paint job. Paint that is a solid color without clear coat, you can use a chemical abrasive polish like Meguiar Machine Glaze and that will only remove the oxidized paint which is what you want in that instance.

The fine abrasives in most clear coat or hand glazes are so minimal, it's usually just taking the leading edge of a scratch or just dirt in the paint.

I would not worry either way. Use a clay bar and then wax and that should take care of you unless you want to take out the leading edge on sratches or have stuff the clay bar did not pick up.

 

Not if it is pure wax. Not sure about the product you are using, but it should be safe. Best practice is to put on the wax very thin and not let it sit very long before removing the wax.

Polishes it's generally ok to leave on a section longer so you could do a quarter of the car at a time and wipe off.

 

ok that really cleared things up thank you mosesbotbol for that information

 

The only ambiguously labeled wax product with some abrasiveness I can think of off hand would be Meguiar's "Cleaner Wax". Other products that are called "wax" are generally just that, some form of paint protectant.

 

Lemheantyfate, all I can think of is some cars come with a lacqure coat that in effect is a permanent wax coat. So waxing is not needed. Otherwise every car I have ever had has been waxed within a day or two of getting it. I use Autoglym Super Resin Polish, which I find will last a year between coats.

 

Hogwash! You can wax a brand new car no problem. You're suppose to wait on recently sprayed paint from the autobody; that's all I know of. I think even that is related to just polish, not wax

Open coat paints (no clear coat) will pull off oxidized paint when polishing.

All wax does is keep the paint from oxidizing. It does not polish or feed the paint.