I tried to search, but didn't do too well with that. I jsut got the Eldo cleaned yesterday, looks great by the way, and I am trying to reform my horrible ways of not taking better exterior care of my baby. After feeling the car, it was better than feeling a new car. So smooth, not like before. The place I went to gave it such a good cleaning, got off all the "grime" that was on the car. The Eldo is Pearl White Diamond, and only cost me $110. The car used to be a dull white, but now it shines.

I want to do my best to keep my car from falling off like "an old car". I really need to cherish this baby, or it will not last me. So I need to know, when should I wax the car? Anytime I wash it or get it washed? Can I actually overwax a car? And how long does the wax last.

I am a student, so I usually take the car to a place to be washed for $15. But evey so often, I would like to hand wash it, then wax it myself. I have once again, fell in love with my Eldo.

How long is a piece of string? It is an unanswerable question, dp - without taking a bunch of variables into the equation:

Live in the city or the country (city has more environmental fallout)?. How much driving does it see? In what kind of weather? All season car? Is it garaged? Do you have a car cover if it is left outside? Do you park inside a garage while at work or do the sun and the elements beat down on it all day? Is the wax/sealant you buy the cheapest or the most expensive or in-between?

Not an easy answer, no sireee-bob.

There is a guy called Turbomangt on here who is a professional detailer with a difference - he actually gives you solid advice and it's free. His product will cost you, but nowhere near what it would cost anywhere else for the same quality. Another on here is a fellow named HCVONE and he is a dealer in ZAINO products - another solid product line.

They will both be along and can give you a better answer than I. At least you are going in the right direction!

dp, this is as a result of washing/claying/swirl remover/wax. Using a claybar is a must for getting your paint as smooth as a baby's U-NO-What.

What Frosty said is spot on - Gary can give you very helpful advice. Until he gets here, here's my quick answers to your questions:

1) You can't really "overwax", but as with anything you reach a point of diminishing returns after a while. Detailers talk about "layering", by which they mean applying several ( from 2 to 10 or 12) coats of a last-step product ("LSP"), but they are frequently using a synthetic polish or glaze, as opposed to a 'wax' - the synthetics tend to go on with a much thinner profile, so layering them tends to be more beneficial to the overall look than appying coat after coat of a traditional carnuba wax, which may add protection, but generally not do much for increased or emphasize visual 'pop'

You have to also remember that carnubas will slowly wear away, so if you are talking about waxing after a wash, about once a month or every 6 weeks, with most carnubas there won't be much left there after 6 weeks or so anyway - so you won't be 'waxing the wax', you'll be applying NEW wax. Not all carny's dissipate that quickly though, and some OTC products seem to last a long time (e.g. I have had Turtle Wax Platinum Ultra Gloss last upwards of three months, outside 24x7 down here in South Jersey. Up there in New Brunswick, you might get two months or perhaps even more.)

The most important thing though, is the prep work - what you or someone else does to the finish BEFORE you apply that last step product. If the finish and cleaned and sealed and polished well, just about any halfway decent OTC carnuba can be used to add the final shot of protection.

Well did you ask what sort of job was done to your car? Was it clayed? Cleaned? Polished?

Meguiars products seem to offer one of the best bang for the buck products being that they're OTC products (most of them).

The best way to keep it in tip top shape would be a:

Wash
Clay
Wash again to remove clay residue
Cleaning (Meguiars ScratchX or ColorX wax to boost the color)
Polishing (Meguiars Mirror Glaze professional polishers, I have heard good things about P21S < I believe thats what thats called)
Waxing

The most important thing is knowing how to do these steps and waht type of material. One of the safest materials out there is Microfiber towels that have over90,000 and up to 200,000 fibers per square inch that absorb about 6 times their weight in water. They dont scratch your car either and dont leave swirls. I use Meguiars Supreme Shine Microfiber Towels.

It all depends on what you want to do.

If you are using a cleaner wax products (most over the counter products are cleaner wax products) you really gain nothing by waxing many times with these products, because they are taking off whatever you put on the surface the application before. If you are using over the counter products the Mother's Reflection products are pretty good, but your top rated products must be purchased online. :)

Thanks for the replys. I have shoppng to do!

I have to disagree with saying that the top rated products have to be purchased online. I'll say that, while Zaino is a worthy competitor, Meguiars offers the same, if not better Professional Line products (the ones in the tan boxes that are referenced by number, i.e. #80, #83, etc.). Zainos is a bit harder to come buy and their prices are a bit higher, you either have to search for it alot or have to get it online. The professional line of products are at Auto Paint Supply stores...great stuff too!

I have to disagree with saying that the top rated products have to be purchased online. I'll say that, while Zaino is a worthy competitor, Meguiars offers the same, if not better Professional Line products (the ones in the tan boxes that are referenced by number, i.e. #80, #83, etc.). Zainos is a bit harder to come buy and their prices are a bit higher, you either have to search for it alot or have to get it online. The professional line of products are at Auto Paint Supply stores...great stuff too!

I will disagree with the above statement, I owned 36 detail shoips in the 80's and 90's, we were Meguiar's largest end user in the US for 10 years, and while Meguiar's products are good, there are many better, but they have to be purchased online or from a local distributor, they are not for sale at most auto stores. Products like Zaino, Klasse, Pinnacle, P21S (you can get S100 at some motorcycle stores) and Collinite just to name a few. See how your products rated at www.gurureports.org

I thought that I had "over waxed" a car once, and the problem turned out to be that I had mixed both natural carnauba and synthetic sealants. It looked weird and almost greasy. (Give me a break here, I was young and stupid!)

As long as you stick with the same wax every time and get the car really clean before each application you'll be fine.

Having a liberal, sound foundation of wax makes a huge difference in keeping a car looking clean, even after a rain.

I prefer hand-washing, but with a heavy coat of wax you can even get away with going through one of those drive-thru washes every now and then and the car will look great.

With any wax, if you keep applying coats of wax over and over, you reach a point where it starts to diminish again. 2 or 3 coats seems to work the best most of the time. You want more, then go ahead.

And thanks for that link hcvone. Ill check it out.

LIke Jim says, you get to the point where layering has no value, becuase you are just removing the previous layer anyway. without going into detail, use a synthetic every 6 months or so, you wil be better off. Gary

I am not sure if I am reading this right. The synthetic prodeucts are "sealents" that last longer? And how do these come, like wax that you rub on, or some other form. I would rather use the synthetic stuff because it would last longer, giving me more time in between applications.

These "sealants" are man made (synthetic) waxes that have been engineered to last longer. Other waxes or "natural" waxes are blends of Carnuba waxes found in the rainforests of Brazil. Carnuba waxes are good, but are natural and most of the time dont last as long as the synthetic waxes.

So the sealents (synthetic) are like the carnuba waxes in the you have to "rub" them on right?

Usually not as much elbow grease required, but yeah.

And some synthetic sealants are almost criminally easy to apply. I've been testing out the new Aquawax product from Duragloss - it's very nearly almost childlike in it's simplicity. Spray on from the bottle. Spread around with a MF towel. Wait about three minutes for it to dry. Wipe off with a clean MF towel. No rubbing. No buffing. Excellent shine. Seems to bead like a maniac. Smells good. Is low priced (about 8 bucks for a bottle). It may become my new bestest friend.. :)

http://www.duragloss.com/product.asp?pid=272

Thanks everyone for the replies. And JimHare, Aquawax is EXACTLY what I am looking for. No "rubbing in". Just rubbing off. Thanks.