Meguiar's D156 on a dry or wet car?

roguegeek

roguegeek

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My maintenance wash will normally consist of a normal or rinseless wash, dry, and application f D156 to help boost whatever LSP (usually M21) was used on my last major detail. Again, I'll normally dry the car entirely before applying D156 and buffing it off. Inversely, I've read some people just spraying D156 onto a washed, but still wet, car and then drying/buffing from there.

My questions are these. Will spraying D156 or any other spray wax onto a wet car and then drying/buffing it off from there leave a coat that is just as effective as if you were doing it on a dry car? If not as effective, in your opinions, is it still effective enough when taking into consideration the time saved from eliminating the extra drying step?
 
I've used D156 on both wet and dry cars. I prefer using it on a dry car, using very quick sweeps with my spray bottle, wiping then buffing. However, now that our WI temperature officially suck. I use the D156 on my vehicles when they are wet and use it as a drying aid/lubricant. I don't appreciate being out in the cold, and prefer to wash, dry&wax as quickly as possible, while still doing an adequate job. I don't have enough long term use of D156 to give you a definitive answer as to which is better. From my experience when the D156 mixes with water droplets on a wet car's surface D156 doesn't appear to coat as evenly. This may just be my imagination. Using it wet or dry is still putting some added protection onto your LSP.

The stuff is addicting to use. I caught myself cleaning my kid's bike helmet yesterday with UQD followed up with D156. Then I dusted off an old kerosene lantern with UQD. Matchbox cars feel slick when cleaned with D156 too. Winter in WI is obviously pretty boring.
 
Spraying it on wet, it will carry some of the water off the car, thus carrying some of the product off as well. That said, I have used it both wet(drying aid) and dry with great results. One of these days I might try to do a longevity test using the product as a stand alone applied both wet and dry. Just speculating, I would assume an application to a dry car would last longer since more of the product would actually stay on the paint.
 
D156 does well being applied to a wet vehicle. It cuts down on time spent, especially because you're mainly using it as a booster.
 
I always apply D156 on a dry vehicle because I think that using it on a wet vehicle dilutes the effectiveness of the product. If you do it quickly, it only takes about 10 minutes to spray wax the entire vehicle and you know that it leaves better protection than spraying it when wet.

How effective is it when used on a wet vehicle? I think only Meguiar's will be able to answer that. It's also a function of how much water beads you have left in your paint. There's no way to properly test it IMO because the results will be subjective. Not only that, your layer of LSP will also play a role so you don't know where the protection is really coming from.
 
i use it on both for different reasons

dry: to add some protection after washing

wet: as a lubricant for my towel to reduce the chances on micro marring (since finding better drying towels i have stopped using D156 as a drying aid)
 
roguegeek said:
My questions are these.

Will spraying D156 or any other spray wax
onto a wet car and then drying/buffing it off
from there

leave a coat that is just as effective
as if you were doing it on a dry car?
Click to expand...
•D156 is a synthetic product...(has no carnauba wax)
•It contains, by weight:
~94-98% water;
Some of Meguiar's Trade Secret (T.S.) Conditioners;
Some Fragrance.

•I don't see how applying D156 on a wet vehicle
would, effectively, dilute the product to the point
where it would perform at any lesser of a degree...
than when spraying it upon a dry vehicle.

roguegeek said:
If not as effective, in your opinions, is it still
effective enough when taking into consideration
the time saved from eliminating the extra
drying step?
Click to expand...
IMO...A well thought-out:
'Application of D156, while vehicle is wet'...
may, indeed, be a time saving process.



Bob
 
Thanks everyone for their feedback.

Bob, thanks particularly to yours. I like seeing people's answers, but I love it when they can provide rationale and logic as to how they derived those answers.
 
Marc08EX said:
I always apply D156 on a dry vehicle because I think that using it on a wet vehicle dilutes the effectiveness of the product. If you do it quickly, it only takes about 10 minutes to spray wax the entire vehicle and you know that it leaves better protection than spraying it when wet.

How effective is it when used on a wet vehicle? I think only Meguiar's will be able to answer that. It's also a function of how much water beads you have left in your paint. There's no way to properly test it IMO because the results will be subjective. Not only that, your layer of LSP will also play a role so you don't know where the protection is really coming from.
Click to expand...

I can tell you that it beads strongly on a wet vehicle as a stand alone lsp(no other lsp on the car). I also know that it will continue to bead strongly for at least a month. I did another application at that point in time rather than continuing to monitor how long it would bead. In the near future I will test it on a completely stripped car and see how long it holds on its own applied both wet and dry. Some of my relatives cars would be the perfect test beds for this as their cars are rarely waxed or sealed, so it's easy to start with a bare surface.
 
FUNX650 said:
•D156 is a synthetic product...(has no carnauba wax)
•It contains, by weight:
~94-98% water;
Some of Meguiar's Trade Secret (T.S.) Conditioners;
Some Fragrance.

•I don't see how applying D156 on a wet vehicle
would, effectively, dilute the product to the point
where it would perform at any lesser of a degree...
than when spraying it upon a dry vehicle.


IMO...A well thought-out:
'Application of D156, while vehicle is wet'...
may, indeed, be a time saving process.



Bob
Click to expand...

Came here to say exactly this.

IMO the best way to use D156 is on a wet vehicle. The product assists with drying the vehicle quickly and lays down protection simultaneously. It also serves as a lubricant to mitigate potential marring from dry wiping.
 
wash car, blow dry (doesn't have to be completely dry), then use qd/spray wax and microfiber towel...
 
When I apply Ultimate Quik Wax on half the hood when dry and the other half when wet, the dry side produces significantly stronger water behavior. It's also going to depend on how much water you have on the paint or in your towel when drying, but I'd say there's definitely a strong dilution effect and possibly a bonding interference effect while working with a wet surface. The dry application produces much faster water sheeting and tighter beading compared to the wet side in my tests.

That's without any base layer LSP and when the paint has been fully stripped before applying UQW. With a base layer LSP already applied before D156 or UQW, you might find the convenience of using it when wet is better than any possible decrease in the performance of that top layer. All I can say is with the bare minimum test of no base layer product, I am seeing a difference and I would recommend that you give the paint a good flooding to remove as much water as possible off the paint before applying to get the best performance, or apply after the car is fully dry.
 
Loach said:
When I apply Ultimate Quik Wax on half the hood when dry and the other half when wet, the dry side produces significantly stronger water behavior. It's also going to depend on how much water you have on the paint or in your towel when drying, but I'd say there's definitely a strong dilution effect and possibly a bonding interference effect while working with a wet surface. The dry application produces much faster water sheeting and tighter beading compared to the wet side in my tests.

That's without any base layer LSP and when the paint has been fully stripped before applying UQW. With a base layer LSP already applied before D156 or UQW, you might find the convenience of using it when wet is better than any possible decrease in the performance of that top layer. All I can say is with the bare minimum test of no base layer product, I am seeing a difference and I would recommend that you give the paint a good flooding to remove as much water as possible off the paint before applying to get the best performance, or apply after the car is fully dry.
Click to expand...

Are you originally from Florida? Your accent in your videos tell me otherwise lol

Like what you do in your videos keep up the good work
 
D156 is awesome. I prefer to use it on a dry vehicle. Whether true or not, I feel if you spray it on a wet vehicle a lot of the product will stick on top of the water beads instead of the paint. It will then wipe off with the water.

I tried it once wet and didn't like using it that way.
 
I sure seems like it. I have been using it on the plastics on my Tribute and haven't noticed any fading to speak of.
 
Of course its better to use dry, but using it as a drying aid is a great step for lubrication and to add protection.

Its a win win so I do use it dry, and wet, its to good for both lubrication, and boost of protection.
 
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