swanicyouth
New member
- Mar 3, 2011
- 9,388
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This is a review of Natty's Paste Wax (Blue) by Poor Boys (PB). I have used this wax (and the red version) before - but never had really put it under the microscope. The thing that has always bugged me about this wax (and PB in general) is people always say "it's great - especially for the price". I don't know about you - but I want something that's "great - period"; not just "great for the price". "Great for the price" means to me: it's worth it because it doesn't cost a lot; but if you spent more money you could do better. I've used other PB products and I'd rate them as just "great" - not great because they cost less.
My introduction to PB was by complete accident. I won a bunch of products directly from Steve (Mr PB) at AG's Detail Fest a few years ago. Quite frankly, before this I had little interest in PB, as I was a noob and figured "stuff that cheap probably is just OK - not great". Once I started using the products - I quickly realized I was wrong... A lot of the stuff was great. Believe me - if the stuff sucked I would tell you - free or not. I've received stuff that sucked for free before... It didn't make it suck any less.
You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a top wax. It's my opinion, that there are waxes that cost hundreds of dollars that are great - and waxes that are quite cheap that are great. Wax is the icing on the cake of corrected and well prepped paint. The caveat always seems to me that the "all wax is the same crowd" always hints that expensive waxes are all rip-offs. But, buying an expensive wax doesn't make it good or bad - neither does buying an inexpensive one. Some things just cost more for various reasons.
So, I'm setting out here to see if Natty's is "great" or just "great for the price". Natty's comes in 3 flavors: red, white, and blue. The white is the "standard" all around wax. The blue is more meant for dark colors - to add extra depth and shine. It's said the blue can hide some defects as well. Although my car doesn't have any real noticeable defects, I sort of felt this wax would fill well instinctively while applying it and buffing it off. The red is also an all around wax; however it's said to add additional depth, gloss, and slickness. The red is not the wax for you unless your dealing with polished defect free paint - it doesn't fill.
I'm guessing the red may be a hybrid (have polymers) due to the "slickness" - but this is just a guess. 8ozs of the blue and white wax costs about $22 each - very inexpensive. The red is just a few bucks more. Today, I'm dealing just with the blue. I'm not looking too much at durability for this review. The car lives in the garage - so durability isn't really an issue. However, I will post some beading pics in a follow up and will update with some thoughts on durability at a later time. All Natty's waxes are said to have UV light "absorbers" in them - which I assume is UV protection for your paint.
I started out prepping the car in question with a wash and a polish. There were not defects per se; I was just cleaning off the old LSP and squeaking out any additional gloss if possible. For this step; I choose the Rupes 15, their finest pad, and Menzerna SF4500 / PO85RD. I used a GG6 with various 3" - 3.5" pads for the tighter areas. The clear bra was corrected as well with this combo (no pics).
SF4500 is an old polish, but still works well for what it's supposed to do. It's easy to wipe off and has a long work time. It won't "correct" much. But, is great for the job at hand. It's good if your "new" to machine polishing and want to use a paint cleaner type product (typically have short work times) with mild abrasives via machine - because it tends to be more forgiving to use than most paint cleaners. The Menzerna lubricants / polishing base is excellent. It dusts a tiny bit - but not too bad. I wouldn't use this prior to a coating unless you planned on re-washing the vehicle with an aggressive soap or APC due to the base/vehicle of the polish seeming to me a bit oily.
After polishing; I applied a layer of PoorBoys Black Hole Glaze just for the heck of it. This is a great glaze - maybe the best one made.
My pot of Natty's is a little over a year old - but I have never used it. Upon opening it for the first time, I noticed the wax cake seemed to have "shrunk". Also, I noticed a strange brown line around the perimeter of the wax.
Shrunk:
Brown Line:
I'm wondering if the "shrinking" is due to the wax container. The container is just cheap. It's the kind of container you would find in the Dollar Store cosmetic aisle with some type of $1 cream in it. It's a cheap pharmaceutical type container. It's likely not designed to hold up for years. The plastic of the container is "hard", but not stiff or inflexible. I'm guessing the container allows some air to enter the wax - and some solvents to escape. I don't really like the container. But, this isn't a huge deal and can be overlooked. The lid does seem fairly sturdy - you would have to really crank it down to crack it. As you will see, none of this affected the performance of the wax.
I decided to apply Natty's blue with a Polishin' Pal and a 3.5" Meg's finishing pad:
The smell of the blue wax is a strong pink bubblegum smell. It's quite nice. It's not a bubblegum/solvent smell; or a bubblegum chemical smell - just a really nice bubblegum smell. If you were blindfolded and smelled Natty's blue - you'd be hard pressed to tell that you weren't actually smelling gum.
Natty's initially seems like a hard paste wax. The weird thing is, as soon as it gets on the pad it seems to liquefy like an oily wax. It also spreads really far like an oily wax. However, it's seems to take a little bit more to load the applicator up than some other waxes. Natty's dries to a nice haze almost immediately after application. The interesting thing about this, is how easy Natty's is to see on the paint.
Thin coat; so easy to see:
Hazes immediately:
Application & removal of Natty's is the best of the best qualities for a wax: It applies easy, hazes immediately, spreads far, is easy to see on paint, and wipes off easily. It also doesn't really dust on wipe off. Although it spreads like an oily wax; it wipes off like a hard paste wax. So, there is no smearing - just clean buffing. You only need mild pressure behind your towel. It doesn't clump up on the applicator and pieces of wax don't flake off the applicator on your paint during application.
Whoever formulated this wax got it right. It's almost perfect in every respect. It's a fun wax to use, and the ease of use offers a lot of satisfaction when using it. It seems to posses all the best qualities of a lot of different waxes. Quite frankly, Natty's seems to me like a boutique wax in a cheap container. Application reminds me sort of like P21S 100% - only a bit easier. I'm not sure if this wax is a hybrid or not though - PB doesn't really say. Maybe if someone (Pockets / Steve ?) from PB reads this - they could comment.
As I mentioned, as soon as the wax touches something it gets wet, oily, and spreadable. This is just after swirling my finger around it a bit:
But, it's pretty cool how it dries immediately on the panel and buffs off cleanly without smearing. I ended up putting 2 coats of Natty's on. The first one I used a Microfiber Madness Crazy Pile towel to buff it off. This is the premier towel to buff off oily waxes IMHO. But, Natty's doesn't dry like an oily wax. The second coat I used a Cobra 600gsm towel on the short nap side. The CP towel worked well, but the Cobra 600 gsm towel worked better.
Here you can see the difference between the 2 naps. The short nap Cobra just tends to work better for waxes that haze up solid. The longer fibers of the CP towel work better at picking up the oils of an oily wax - which tend to want to smear using a short nap towel:
Crazy Pile Left:
Nap comparison:
As part of this review; I wanted to see if Natty's stained trim. I had no idea if it did or didn't - but knowing PB - I just assumed it would not...let's wax some trim and see.
Waxed:
Wiped off:
Wax line:
After wipe off:
So, the answer is "NO"... Natty's does not stain trim in any way.
One odd thing I did notice, is you seem to use more Natty's per coat than other waxes. This is no big deal; since it's quite cost effective. What I mean by this is, usually after two coats from a new tub of wax - I can hardly tell the tub was touched. But with Natty's, you could tell two coats were applied.
Another thing I'd like to comment on is how good Black Hole is. While this isn't a review of BH, I like to use this product a lot. A great use for BH I've found it to use it on the satin black painted metal engine pieces. It really seems to cover up any natural defects and water spots on them and just leaves them looking great. I don't top it here with anything. I just leave it and it lasts quite a while.
This is what I mean:
Engine was cleaned as well:
Some garage shots:
Here are some after pics...You be the judge is you like it:
So, I was really impressed with this wax. I can't comment on durability, but I can comment on pretty much everything else. It seems to me like this wax could sell for much ($100++) more in a nicer container - but that wouldn't be Poor Boys. I would put Natty's blue pretty much up against any show car wax - hundreds of dollars or not. It's just that good and well formulated; pretty much like the whole PB's lineup. But you don't have to take my word for it - at this time on AutoGeek, Natty's blue has 26 reviews averaging 5 stars. Read the comments. This is just good stuff.
So, my verdict is Natty's is "great" - not just "good for the price". It offers an enjoyable application experience, easy removal, and an awesome smell. Combined with Black Hole it looks inky dark - but doesn't mute flake. If I was waxing cars for money (profit) - I couldn't think of any better choice than Natty's. Even if your a wax guru - Natty's is still a top choice. Since it's dirt cheap - everyone who likes to try different waxes should give this one a shot. I don't see this as a second tier wax - but as a top performer. I'd put Natty's on any expensive exotic and feel 100% great about it.
PB is just a great company - and if your on the fence about "what wax should a try next?"; I'd highly recommend Natty's - because it's a top dog. I love PB because of their grass roots no frills attitude, their forum participation, and the fact their products are just great. Plus I've met the guys who run it and they are just nice car guys.
My introduction to PB was by complete accident. I won a bunch of products directly from Steve (Mr PB) at AG's Detail Fest a few years ago. Quite frankly, before this I had little interest in PB, as I was a noob and figured "stuff that cheap probably is just OK - not great". Once I started using the products - I quickly realized I was wrong... A lot of the stuff was great. Believe me - if the stuff sucked I would tell you - free or not. I've received stuff that sucked for free before... It didn't make it suck any less.
You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a top wax. It's my opinion, that there are waxes that cost hundreds of dollars that are great - and waxes that are quite cheap that are great. Wax is the icing on the cake of corrected and well prepped paint. The caveat always seems to me that the "all wax is the same crowd" always hints that expensive waxes are all rip-offs. But, buying an expensive wax doesn't make it good or bad - neither does buying an inexpensive one. Some things just cost more for various reasons.
So, I'm setting out here to see if Natty's is "great" or just "great for the price". Natty's comes in 3 flavors: red, white, and blue. The white is the "standard" all around wax. The blue is more meant for dark colors - to add extra depth and shine. It's said the blue can hide some defects as well. Although my car doesn't have any real noticeable defects, I sort of felt this wax would fill well instinctively while applying it and buffing it off. The red is also an all around wax; however it's said to add additional depth, gloss, and slickness. The red is not the wax for you unless your dealing with polished defect free paint - it doesn't fill.
I'm guessing the red may be a hybrid (have polymers) due to the "slickness" - but this is just a guess. 8ozs of the blue and white wax costs about $22 each - very inexpensive. The red is just a few bucks more. Today, I'm dealing just with the blue. I'm not looking too much at durability for this review. The car lives in the garage - so durability isn't really an issue. However, I will post some beading pics in a follow up and will update with some thoughts on durability at a later time. All Natty's waxes are said to have UV light "absorbers" in them - which I assume is UV protection for your paint.
I started out prepping the car in question with a wash and a polish. There were not defects per se; I was just cleaning off the old LSP and squeaking out any additional gloss if possible. For this step; I choose the Rupes 15, their finest pad, and Menzerna SF4500 / PO85RD. I used a GG6 with various 3" - 3.5" pads for the tighter areas. The clear bra was corrected as well with this combo (no pics).
SF4500 is an old polish, but still works well for what it's supposed to do. It's easy to wipe off and has a long work time. It won't "correct" much. But, is great for the job at hand. It's good if your "new" to machine polishing and want to use a paint cleaner type product (typically have short work times) with mild abrasives via machine - because it tends to be more forgiving to use than most paint cleaners. The Menzerna lubricants / polishing base is excellent. It dusts a tiny bit - but not too bad. I wouldn't use this prior to a coating unless you planned on re-washing the vehicle with an aggressive soap or APC due to the base/vehicle of the polish seeming to me a bit oily.
After polishing; I applied a layer of PoorBoys Black Hole Glaze just for the heck of it. This is a great glaze - maybe the best one made.
My pot of Natty's is a little over a year old - but I have never used it. Upon opening it for the first time, I noticed the wax cake seemed to have "shrunk". Also, I noticed a strange brown line around the perimeter of the wax.
Shrunk:
Brown Line:
I'm wondering if the "shrinking" is due to the wax container. The container is just cheap. It's the kind of container you would find in the Dollar Store cosmetic aisle with some type of $1 cream in it. It's a cheap pharmaceutical type container. It's likely not designed to hold up for years. The plastic of the container is "hard", but not stiff or inflexible. I'm guessing the container allows some air to enter the wax - and some solvents to escape. I don't really like the container. But, this isn't a huge deal and can be overlooked. The lid does seem fairly sturdy - you would have to really crank it down to crack it. As you will see, none of this affected the performance of the wax.
I decided to apply Natty's blue with a Polishin' Pal and a 3.5" Meg's finishing pad:
The smell of the blue wax is a strong pink bubblegum smell. It's quite nice. It's not a bubblegum/solvent smell; or a bubblegum chemical smell - just a really nice bubblegum smell. If you were blindfolded and smelled Natty's blue - you'd be hard pressed to tell that you weren't actually smelling gum.
Natty's initially seems like a hard paste wax. The weird thing is, as soon as it gets on the pad it seems to liquefy like an oily wax. It also spreads really far like an oily wax. However, it's seems to take a little bit more to load the applicator up than some other waxes. Natty's dries to a nice haze almost immediately after application. The interesting thing about this, is how easy Natty's is to see on the paint.
Thin coat; so easy to see:
Hazes immediately:
Application & removal of Natty's is the best of the best qualities for a wax: It applies easy, hazes immediately, spreads far, is easy to see on paint, and wipes off easily. It also doesn't really dust on wipe off. Although it spreads like an oily wax; it wipes off like a hard paste wax. So, there is no smearing - just clean buffing. You only need mild pressure behind your towel. It doesn't clump up on the applicator and pieces of wax don't flake off the applicator on your paint during application.
Whoever formulated this wax got it right. It's almost perfect in every respect. It's a fun wax to use, and the ease of use offers a lot of satisfaction when using it. It seems to posses all the best qualities of a lot of different waxes. Quite frankly, Natty's seems to me like a boutique wax in a cheap container. Application reminds me sort of like P21S 100% - only a bit easier. I'm not sure if this wax is a hybrid or not though - PB doesn't really say. Maybe if someone (Pockets / Steve ?) from PB reads this - they could comment.
As I mentioned, as soon as the wax touches something it gets wet, oily, and spreadable. This is just after swirling my finger around it a bit:
But, it's pretty cool how it dries immediately on the panel and buffs off cleanly without smearing. I ended up putting 2 coats of Natty's on. The first one I used a Microfiber Madness Crazy Pile towel to buff it off. This is the premier towel to buff off oily waxes IMHO. But, Natty's doesn't dry like an oily wax. The second coat I used a Cobra 600gsm towel on the short nap side. The CP towel worked well, but the Cobra 600 gsm towel worked better.
Here you can see the difference between the 2 naps. The short nap Cobra just tends to work better for waxes that haze up solid. The longer fibers of the CP towel work better at picking up the oils of an oily wax - which tend to want to smear using a short nap towel:
Crazy Pile Left:
Nap comparison:
As part of this review; I wanted to see if Natty's stained trim. I had no idea if it did or didn't - but knowing PB - I just assumed it would not...let's wax some trim and see.
Waxed:
Wiped off:
Wax line:
After wipe off:
So, the answer is "NO"... Natty's does not stain trim in any way.
One odd thing I did notice, is you seem to use more Natty's per coat than other waxes. This is no big deal; since it's quite cost effective. What I mean by this is, usually after two coats from a new tub of wax - I can hardly tell the tub was touched. But with Natty's, you could tell two coats were applied.
Another thing I'd like to comment on is how good Black Hole is. While this isn't a review of BH, I like to use this product a lot. A great use for BH I've found it to use it on the satin black painted metal engine pieces. It really seems to cover up any natural defects and water spots on them and just leaves them looking great. I don't top it here with anything. I just leave it and it lasts quite a while.
This is what I mean:
Engine was cleaned as well:
Some garage shots:
Here are some after pics...You be the judge is you like it:
So, I was really impressed with this wax. I can't comment on durability, but I can comment on pretty much everything else. It seems to me like this wax could sell for much ($100++) more in a nicer container - but that wouldn't be Poor Boys. I would put Natty's blue pretty much up against any show car wax - hundreds of dollars or not. It's just that good and well formulated; pretty much like the whole PB's lineup. But you don't have to take my word for it - at this time on AutoGeek, Natty's blue has 26 reviews averaging 5 stars. Read the comments. This is just good stuff.
So, my verdict is Natty's is "great" - not just "good for the price". It offers an enjoyable application experience, easy removal, and an awesome smell. Combined with Black Hole it looks inky dark - but doesn't mute flake. If I was waxing cars for money (profit) - I couldn't think of any better choice than Natty's. Even if your a wax guru - Natty's is still a top choice. Since it's dirt cheap - everyone who likes to try different waxes should give this one a shot. I don't see this as a second tier wax - but as a top performer. I'd put Natty's on any expensive exotic and feel 100% great about it.
PB is just a great company - and if your on the fence about "what wax should a try next?"; I'd highly recommend Natty's - because it's a top dog. I love PB because of their grass roots no frills attitude, their forum participation, and the fact their products are just great. Plus I've met the guys who run it and they are just nice car guys.
rops:
