Is there a trick to using Ultimate Quik Wax? I need help ...

Don M

Don M

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I have been using UQD as a drying aid with great results. After a few suggestions that I try UQW instead, I gave it a try. I was surprised to find that instead of working as well or better than the UQD, the Quik Wax made the paint splotchy and left ghost images of the water droplets that had been on the paint, mainly on the horizontal surfaces (which BTW were losing their beading rather quickly) I finished drying the car with UQD and tried to use the UQW again with fresh towels, but at least on the horizontal surfaces it left smearing, water spot 'ghosts' and cloudiness
pullhair.gif
. I'm ready to put a coat of ULW on to see if that removes the smearing etc, if need be I'll use a polishing pad to apply the ULW. The finish is still flawless and swirl free, so I know I don't need to polish the paint, I just need to figure out a way to rid myself of the smearing and ghosting.


It was in the later afternoon with full cloud cover, not too hot and I would guess low to medium humidity. The towels I use are very absorbent and I only use 1 because after I wipe the towel across the paint, what little bit of water left behind evaporates too fast for me to get a second towel and I don't want to dry wipe the finish. Reapplying UQW didn't do any good, it just deepened the smears and water droplet ghosts and I didn't have any luck using UQD to remove the ghosting/smearing wither, I just switched to it on the remainder of the car after I saw what was happening and when I couldn't "fix" the problem. I even tried wiping with more pressure than I was comfortable with and a dry towel and all that did was fade the ghosting a bit, but I could feel how slick it was from the UQW. I even tried using a damp (water) mf immediately followed by a dry mf to see if that would level off the finish, but nope, still blotchy

Part of me is saying to do a 2-step on the car-polish to remove the spotting and rewaxing to seal the paint again, but other than the issues with UQW, the car looks awesome, no scratches or swirls, no paint fade (remember it is SS paint) and no staining from contaminates. As of now it's been a little over 12 hours since I touched the car, so I'm going to go outside to see if time has made any difference. I might even try reapplying some UQW or UQD (if the blotchiness is still there) to see if a second LIGHTER application makes a difference. Update to follow ...


*****Basically I went outside and it had sprinkled. There was a drop or two of water every square foot or so and a few light streaks. I used a clean cloth and buffed the streaks along with any nearby water drops and the streaks buffed out. Looks like there must have been too much water in the equation last night, because it seems like the 12 hour 'cure time' cleared up the topical issues. I don't know that I'll be using the UQW for drying anymore, it doesn't seem to like water (DUH, it's advertised as being highly hydrophobic). So I guess I'll continue to use the UQD for drying and apply the UQW for protection. I think I might have been the problem, using too much UQW ... I think I'm going to start holding the sprayer a lot farther away from the car and only using an ultra-fine mist instead of a heavy spritz, it seems like that should work better.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated
 
IMO...
(based upon the below Meguiar's spokesperson's
suggested method of using UQW as a "drying aid"):

Your initial method of using UQW as a "drying aid",
should have produced nothing but excellent results.

Note:
Perhaps, also try: "priming" your MF-towel next time.
_________________________________________________

:
Click to expand...
"Have any of you tried using UQW as part of your drying process?

Give the car a final rinse with a steady stream of water to sheet the majority of beaded water off the surface. As you go to dry each section, spray some UQW on the panel and then wipe dry with a Water Magnet. Continue around the vehicle as you dry - no streaking at all, just a bright crisp shine. Works beautifully"![Unquote]

Michael Stoops
Internet Technical Specialist | Meguiar's Inc.
(800) 854-8073 xt 3875
[email protected]
_________________________________________________


Bob
Click to expand...
 
I tried a water primed (wrung out until nearly dry) MF, a UQW primed MF, using a 3 pass method (spray on, dry MF wipe + damp MF wipe + dry MF wipe) as well as spray on, wipe w/dry MF, go around the whole car this way, THEN buff with a fresh MF. This gave me the best results, but there was still some smearing ... that's why I'm thinking my paint itself is the issue. I have never had clouding and smearing issues like this before even on my black car.

Like I mentioned, my neighbor was washing his truck while I was doing all this and I went over when he was done and tried the UQW on his hood. It spread forever and buffed off beautifully, so it's not a product issue, with everything I've tried I don't think it's a procedural error, so it must be my specific paint job (mostly factory, hood, right fender, front passenger door repaints from accidents).

"Eliminate the impossible and whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
Click to expand...


FUNX650 said:
IMO...
(based upon the below Meguiar's spokesperson's
suggested method of using UQW as a "drying aid"):

Your initial method of using UQW as a "drying aid",
should have produced nothing but excellent results.

Note:
Perhaps, also try: "priming" your MF-towel next time.
_________________________________________________

:
Click to expand...
"Have any of you tried using UQW as part of your drying process?

Give the car a final rinse with a steady stream of water to sheet the majority of beaded water off the surface. As you go to dry each section, spray some UQW on the panel and then wipe dry with a Water Magnet. Continue around the vehicle as you dry - no streaking at all, just a bright crisp shine. Works beautifully"![Unquote]

Michael Stoops
Internet Technical Specialist | Meguiar's Inc.
(800) 854-8073 xt 3875
[email protected]
_________________________________________________


Bob
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Don,

Does it 'clear off' after setting...like over night?

I've noticed that 'it' acts a bit like Ult Wax Liquid, needs time to completely cure.

Bill
 
This might sound weird, but I like applying it to the whole car before flipping the towel and buffing to a shine. This includes D156.
 
BillE said:
Don,

Does it 'clear off' after setting...like over night?

I've noticed that 'it' acts a bit like Ult Wax Liquid, needs time to completely cure.

Bill
Click to expand...



Somewhat. The next day I went out and the smears & shadowing had faded somewhat. Although there were still a few spots where the smearing was evident, a wipe with a clean MF took care of it though. This time I have the liquid version and a new finishing pad and I bet application will go much better since all I have to do is put a few drops on the pad instead of "buttering" the pad and having all of the product soak in and be useless.

This is really the first time I seriously tried UQW even though I've bought it last fall. Over on MOL, the general consensus is that there is too much product already on the paint. I think they have a point in that while I only put two coats, I was trying to use the paste version with my PC, and for whatever reason it I had to put it on fairly thick with a butter knife because if I put it on the pad thin, then it didn't seem like anything was being applied to the car at all. No matter what angle or under what light, I couldn't see any trace of wax on the car. SO, I probably used too much.

I had a two-part plan for this morning if I can pull it off. The weather is sort of cooperating, it's cloudy, and on the humid side, but the weather report isn't calling for rain. The WIFE on the other hand is the determining factor. Right now, her back is having spasms and she is in bed so I could go outside, but then again there's her dad. He is slowly coming to after his latest surgery, so I have to be ready at any time to hop in the car and take her to the hospital to see him. He's doing well, but he's been out of it (heavy sedation) for about a week. And she has understandably been a basket case.

The plan is to wash the car and dry it off without a drying aid. Once I'm SURE it's dry, use the UQW again and check the results. If I get the streaking and ghosting again, then I'm going to polish the car with UP and a polishing pad to remove all traces of UW and UQW and start over with a singe coat of ULW. If THAT doesn't work, then I'll know it's my paint that's crap, not the products ... I used the UQW on my neighbor's truck yesterday (the one that I compounded) and it worked perfectly, it spread forever and wiped off like a dream ... the finish looked like I had just compounded and sealed it again, so I know the UQW isn't from a bad batch.

I will post again when I figure things out.
 
silverfox said:
This might sound weird, but I like applying it to the whole car before flipping the towel and buffing to a shine. This includes D156.
Click to expand...


That might be a good idea. I know that it's supposed to be a "wipe on, buff off," but your method seems worthy of a try. If it works, for me, great, if not then I'll go ahead and polish out the paint and see if I can get the UQW to work on bare paint.
 
I've found that a little goes a long way. I had some streaking until I realized I was using too much product.
 
•Since it appeared that you had better results using UQD
as your "drying-aid" for your vehicle...than you did when
using UQW for the same detailing-task:
-Why not just go back to what you know will work?

-I know I certainly would!


Bob
 
I've had the same streaking issue using Ultimate Quik Wax on my black Chevy truck although I wasn't using it as a drying aid but rather straight up as a spray wax over the M21 sealant that was on the truck. I didn't really notice the streaks in my garage under either fluorescent or incandescent lighting but out in the sun it looked like a haze over the entire truck.

I've since re-polished and re-sealed to eliminate the streaking and I'm not sure if I'll try the UQW again.
 
I've never liked UQW, always had the "splotchy" reaction.
 
I didn't read the whole article but I just dry the car with a good size Waffle weave then I apply the Quick Wax with a seperate waffle weave. works for me.
 
goldenlight said:
I didn't read the whole article but I just dry the car with a good size Waffle weave then I apply the Quick Wax with a seperate waffle weave. works for me.
Click to expand...

Do you use anything as a drying aid? I'm thinking that maybe I should just dry the car without a drying aid and then quik wax it, or use UQD as the drying aid like usual, then use the UQW. However it goes, I have all summer to play with it until I get it right of find a method that works for me.
 
I had collinite 845/915 did exactly same thing to me (last year) when using UQW as drying aid.
However, Gold class & Ultimate liquid wax work great with UQW for me :)
 
Today I washed the car with Gold Class and dried without a drying aid. After that I used the Ultimate Quick Wax as it was meant to. I misted the UQW on the panel, spread it around with a mf, then flipped the mf and buffed off the residue. After a time, when the mf became dampened with UQW, I found that I didn't have to turn the mf to a dry side to wipe off any excess UQW (my mf towels get more absorbent as they get damp) and it turns out that I didn't need to buff off any excess, any excess UQW was absorbed by the towel as I spread it across the panels, and since the towel was nicely dampened by UQW, it made even application a breeze.

Now my car looks and feels freshly waxed, I will try to get some pics tonight or tomorrow. My faith in UQW has been restored.
 
Quick waxes are good to used in the winter time. And as others said just damp cloth enough to wipe down surface. You don't want it soaked.
 
Somewhere on MOL I have two articles on how to use a spray-on wax... not sure where but probably the "how to articles" forum group.

Both my articles show how to use spray-on waxes on dry cars.


The reason I never wrote one for use on a wet car (as a drying aid), is because the first time I tried using a spray-on wax on a wet car as the wax landed on a wet panel it would cause the standing water to run off and with it take the wax and then deposit the wax into any and all cracks and crevices.

Seemed like a bad idea to me.

I much rather dry the car and then use the tips and techniques in my how-to article to use a spray-on wax.


:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Somewhere on MOL I have two articles on how to use a spray-on wax... not sure where but probably the "how to articles" forum group.

Both my articles show how to use spray-on waxes on dry cars.


The reason I never wrote one for use on a wet car (as a drying aid), is because the first time I tried using a spray-on wax on a wet car as the wax landed on a wet panel it would cause the standing water to run off and with it take the wax and then deposit the wax into any and all cracks and crevices.

Seemed like a bad idea to me.

I much rather dry the car and then use the tips and techniques in my how-to article to use a spray-on wax.


:)
Click to expand...


As I found out the hard way :) Thanks Mike, I'll look for the article
 
Don M said:
As I found out the hard way :) Thanks Mike, I'll look for the article
Click to expand...


Back at the time I wrote the articles it was when Meguiar's was trying to boost sales of the Meguiar's Quick Wax.

There was a lot of confusion back then and even today as to what this type of product is used for and when to use it.

They were also trying to compete against, Eagle 1 Wax as U Dry so it was decided to try to use Meguiar's Quick Wax the same way to capture the market that wanted to wax their car at the same time they were drying it.

Makes sense and it works except when I did my testing on our black Honda Pilot I found spraying wax onto wet paint broke the surface tension the water drops piled up on the surface had and caused the water to run off the car.

That's a good thing if you're trying to dry the car. However, it took the wax with it and I for one try to avoid getting wax into all the cracks and crevices of a car so the good thing came with a bad thing.

To me it just wasn't worth it. Plus the reason I wrote the articles on how to properly use spray-on waxes was to provide education on the how, what and why side of products like these and used as the way I outlined in my article they work great.

That's just my take of course... washing, drying and waxing a black vehicle....


2Pilot_New.jpg




I also coined the term

Booster Wax

for the label back then because that's really what MOST spray-on waxes are, they are a booster type product for the wax already on the car not a replacement for a real coat of wax either paste or liquid.

IF you look closely you can see the call-out flag on the bottle on the left and you can see the word BOOSTER.

2QuikDetailerQuikWax.jpg




:xyxthumbs:
 
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