swanicyouth
New member
- Mar 3, 2011
- 9,388
- 0
I got a rental car so I could get home from the body shop while my Pathy is getting some PDR work. The car is some kind of Chevy. Which kind, I'm not even sure. I did notice it only has 8,000 miles on it and it was pretty filthy, including bird crap that was baked all over it. It looks like it hasn't seen a real wash in quite a while, maybe never. The chances this car has even seen any "wax" are slim to none.
While I was driving this thing home, I came up with an idea to do some tests on the paint, maybe a review. Since its a rental, I'm just going to work on the hood. I mainly wanted to test out the Chemical Guy's Clay Block clay alternative I have sitting on my shelf unused:
For this test I'll be using ONR 1:16 as my lube, as I'm not waiting to use that beautiful new bottle of Luber on this rental.
First, lets take a look at the Clay Block. The block is a dense black foam. I was a little sad to see only one side of it has the magic rubber that removes contaminates. So, you only have one side of the block to work with.
The Clay Block seems to fit good in my hands. The foam it's mounted on is plenty stiff and not squishy. Chemical guys classifies this Clay Block as version 2 and makes the following claims:
1. It has an easy to grip design
2. Can be rinsed off if dropped
3. Makes the paintwork smooth as glass
4. Easily cleaned
5. Versatile: use on glass, wheels, etc...
6. Lasts 5-10x longer than clay
7. Faster and easier than clay
These are the conditions I'll be working in:
Outside:
Inside garage, door open:
While all those things are great, if thing thing causes marring or scratches, it's not worth much to me. I detail for fun, I'm not a pro. So, while "faster, easier, lasts longer, and more versatile" are all great, I want something that will give me excellent results.
Lets look at the car's hood. It's funny, I keep my two cars so clean that I was horrified looking at this thing. I never get a chance to work on any "real world" cars, only my two cars that are washed once a week and kept very clean. Sometimes, my cars' paint is so clean its hard to tell how good a product like this performs, as there is usually little if any contaminants too remove.
The rental's hood as I got it:
If you have good eyes, you will see a bird bomb on the top driver's side of the hood and in the middle. Since I was sure there was no wax on this car, I gave the hood a quick spray down with Meg's APC+ 1:10 and mixed up a small bucket of ONR to clean the hood.
I was pretty surprised that the APC+ started to dissolve the bird bombs no problem. In fact, I was able to "spray" them away with the power of the Rubber Maid Professional Spray Bottle. This is an awesome and powerful sprayer, it delivers a strong 3 mls per spray.
Bird bombs going away:
I was able to clean the hood with ONR in a small bucket and some DP Waterless Wash.
Clean hood:
Luckily, the hood was pretty much swirl and scratch free. There were some defects here and there polishing could improve, but if the Clay Block caused marring or scratching I would be able to tell.
Drivers side visible bonded contaminant:
Passenger side visible bonded contaminant:
First I started with a baggy test. I was hoping for a gritty feeling and I was in luck. It felt pretty bad:
I decided at first I was only going to decontaminate half the hood. I did this because I wanted to compare the left to right side when I was done "claying". I loaded up a small section of hood with ONR 1:16. The Clay Block moved across the surface, but at first did not seem smooth. I also noticed the ONR was turning gray, like the rubber was changing the color of it. This soon stopped. I guess I was "breaking it in".
Gray ONR spent as clay lube:
I moved the block across the surface in straight lines in a criss cross pattern. I could tell the surface was improving, as the block started to move smoother. However, I really wanted to work this on the hood well to see if it would cause any marring and to see if it could completely remove all the contaminants from the hood.
One thing I noticed is it sometimes took several passes to get to the point where the block moved smooth. This could be because the hood was extra dirty or the block is "fine grade". However, I was putting little to no pressure on the block as I moved it and the block was able to do the job.
When I was done half the hood, I cleaned off all the clay lube and checked for marring. There was none I could see. Zero. Zip. None. Then I bagged up my hand and retested the smoothness of the surface. It felt like glass, really nice. The Clay Block was working very well and wasn't scratching this paint.
The paint was really feeling 100% better. One thing to remember is that I was spraying a ton of clay lube. I'm wondering if not enough lube could be the cause some have had problems with products like this (or clay) causing excessive marring. Basically, I keep the whole area I'm working on soaked with lube. Occasionally, I would dip the face of the Clay Block into some water to "clean it" - although I'm not sure this is necessary.
I went ahead and did the other half of the hood. Same result, surface was now smooth as glass and no marring. The paint on the hood was also looking cleaner and glossier than prior to the decontamination. I'm pretty happy with this product. I squeezed it out in some water and left it to dry
The hood after:
This is where visible bonded contaminant drivers side was (both sides were gone):
Clay Block rinsed off after:
So, the CG Clay Block met all the claims as advertised. I didn't drop it on purpose, that would be pretty dumb. Was I was able to notice it rinsed off fine and junk wasn't sticking to it. This is only one paint system, but I could see no signs of marring at all.
I will definitely feel comfortable using this Clay Block on my own cars without worrying about damaging the paint and knowing that it will provide excellent results. They block was easier to use than clay, and was the perfect shape for my hand.
One thing I really wasn't able to prove is that it "lasts 5-10x longer than clay". I'm not sure if thing ever wears out. It does have a "texture" - so maybe the texture will wear away one day and it will be less effective. Even with worn "texture" it should still work with a few more passes I would imagine. I can see this lasting a long time for me.
This was supposed to be the end of the test, but I just couldn't leave the newly cleaned hood with no protection. I decided to coat half using a sample I got of Naviwax Ultimate and the other half using Lava.
First I opened the Lava and it looked like it formed a blood clot:
Then I opened the Naviwax. I seemed hard as a rock
Both were supposed to be new and unused. Hmmm. Oh well. This is what happens when you buy LSPs on the Black Market. I decided to apply the NaviWax to the drivers side first. I'm not sure what happened to this stuff, but it was almost like applying chalk. It was very hard and didn't want to spread. The only way I could successfully apply it was with my bare fingers. I don't know the history of the jar, how it was stored before I got it, or how old it is. All I know is it didn't seem right. But I carried on and decided I was going to apply it to half the hood anyway.
It seems like the top of the sample pot was dried out. As, once I got a bit on with it, it did start to spread a little easier. And it changed a little from dried out white to yellow. The smell of the NaviWax was not my favorite, as it smelled to me like mint mixed with dirty feet.
Next was the Lava. To apply the Lava, I used half of a new cheap yellow applicator:
While the Lava spread much much easier, it seemed to not want to spread evenly. This could be due to the temperature. It took only a little product to cover half the hood. The applicator I was using wasn't the best, I'm sure I could have spread it much better with a Polishin' Pal, but I didn't want to dirty a pad for this test. Lava smells like something fruity, but I'm not sure what it is. The texture of it is sort of like melted whipped butter, but not as oily.
Drivers side NaviWax / Passenger side Lava curing:
CG recommends 20 minutes for Lava to cure. I decided to give the NaviWax the same amount of time. After 20 minutes the NaviWax was 100% dry, and the Lava seemed 90% dry. I waited a few more minutes and removed it anyway.
Quite frankly I was expecting all hell removing this Naviwax. It was fairly difficult to remove, but not as hard as I expected. I'm convinced that the sample I had was in some way "messed up" - as I can't imagine they sell it this way. However, once I started to remove it I was pleasantly surprised. It left the surface very "glassy" and "glossy". When removing it with a towel, the surface just felt protected, like there was a nice layer of wax on it. I purposely coated the sprayer nozzles for the windshield wipers to see if it would stain trim - it didn't.
I was really impressed with the look of NaviWax. Deep and reflective looking. Somehow this chalky substance left the surface very slick and smooth. I was liking the results of this product.
Next up, I removed the Lava. The Lava was much easier to remove. Not as easy as Fuzion or Pete's 53 - but fairly easy. While the Lava was easier to work with, I didn't like the look (or the feel) as much as the NaviWax. The NaviWax surface just felt like there was like a glass coating protecting the paint, the Lava was OK - not bad, but not noteworthy. Lava did have a "brighter" look to it though. This kind of confirms what I suspected, that Lava is pretty much just a sealant in a pudding like form. They call it a "wax" - but mention no carnuba content. The video and pictures below will also show you how it acts like a traditional sealant, while NaviWax acts more like a traditional wax.
The odd thing is, the NaviWax left a MUCH slicker surface than the Lava. Lava was slick, NaviWax was very slick. I really was impressed with the results of NaviWax Ultimate. In fact so impressed I ordered another small pot of the "Dark" directly from England (the only source I could find on Ebay / anywhere for a small pot) - as I want to hold off on the large one to see how the application goes with a fresh pot.
Now that the LSPs were applied 6 hours ago. It's 9pm and the car has been sitting outside ever since. It's 29 degrees out. I went out to find this:
NaviWax drivers / Lava passenger side:
It seems the condensation ice from the cold air is reacting different between the two LSPs. I'm going to warm up the hood and run a hose on them to see how they bead and sheet.
A video I made of the two. It's not the best. It's night time, and I'm trying to juggle my flashlight, the hose, and my IPhone. Lava is first in the video, NaviWax second. Notice Lava hardly beads at all, it sheets. NaviWax is giving incredible beading and sheeting IMHO:
http://youtu.be/6tpOX_3ksYE
Here are some pics of both sides after. Notice again the NaviWax beads very well and the Lava sheets well, but there is very little beading :
So what are my conclusions from all of this:
1. CG Clay Block works great and doesn't mar for me.
2. ONR can clean a nasty dirty hood well and works fine as a clay lube 1:16
3. Lava is a bright looking sealant that sheets water. It's probably best on lighter colors. It's easy to work with, but its not super enjoyable like Pete's 53 or Fuzion. It's probably overpriced for what it is, as I think you would get similar or better results with any quality liquid sealant like BFWD or PowerLock.
4. NaviWax's application is up in the air until I get the new pot. However, it looks great and leaves a pretty slick surface. It sheets well and beads like crazy. It has a glassy and glossy look. It's likely good for all colors. Durability is supposed to be good, at least that is the rumor.
Thanks for looking, feed back please. This wasn't meant to be perfect, it was more done for fun. I will update this thread when I receive the NaviWax dark.
While I was driving this thing home, I came up with an idea to do some tests on the paint, maybe a review. Since its a rental, I'm just going to work on the hood. I mainly wanted to test out the Chemical Guy's Clay Block clay alternative I have sitting on my shelf unused:
For this test I'll be using ONR 1:16 as my lube, as I'm not waiting to use that beautiful new bottle of Luber on this rental.
First, lets take a look at the Clay Block. The block is a dense black foam. I was a little sad to see only one side of it has the magic rubber that removes contaminates. So, you only have one side of the block to work with.
The Clay Block seems to fit good in my hands. The foam it's mounted on is plenty stiff and not squishy. Chemical guys classifies this Clay Block as version 2 and makes the following claims:
1. It has an easy to grip design
2. Can be rinsed off if dropped
3. Makes the paintwork smooth as glass
4. Easily cleaned
5. Versatile: use on glass, wheels, etc...
6. Lasts 5-10x longer than clay
7. Faster and easier than clay
These are the conditions I'll be working in:
Outside:
Inside garage, door open:
While all those things are great, if thing thing causes marring or scratches, it's not worth much to me. I detail for fun, I'm not a pro. So, while "faster, easier, lasts longer, and more versatile" are all great, I want something that will give me excellent results.
Lets look at the car's hood. It's funny, I keep my two cars so clean that I was horrified looking at this thing. I never get a chance to work on any "real world" cars, only my two cars that are washed once a week and kept very clean. Sometimes, my cars' paint is so clean its hard to tell how good a product like this performs, as there is usually little if any contaminants too remove.
The rental's hood as I got it:
If you have good eyes, you will see a bird bomb on the top driver's side of the hood and in the middle. Since I was sure there was no wax on this car, I gave the hood a quick spray down with Meg's APC+ 1:10 and mixed up a small bucket of ONR to clean the hood.
I was pretty surprised that the APC+ started to dissolve the bird bombs no problem. In fact, I was able to "spray" them away with the power of the Rubber Maid Professional Spray Bottle. This is an awesome and powerful sprayer, it delivers a strong 3 mls per spray.
Bird bombs going away:
I was able to clean the hood with ONR in a small bucket and some DP Waterless Wash.
Clean hood:
Luckily, the hood was pretty much swirl and scratch free. There were some defects here and there polishing could improve, but if the Clay Block caused marring or scratching I would be able to tell.
Drivers side visible bonded contaminant:
Passenger side visible bonded contaminant:
First I started with a baggy test. I was hoping for a gritty feeling and I was in luck. It felt pretty bad:
I decided at first I was only going to decontaminate half the hood. I did this because I wanted to compare the left to right side when I was done "claying". I loaded up a small section of hood with ONR 1:16. The Clay Block moved across the surface, but at first did not seem smooth. I also noticed the ONR was turning gray, like the rubber was changing the color of it. This soon stopped. I guess I was "breaking it in".
Gray ONR spent as clay lube:
I moved the block across the surface in straight lines in a criss cross pattern. I could tell the surface was improving, as the block started to move smoother. However, I really wanted to work this on the hood well to see if it would cause any marring and to see if it could completely remove all the contaminants from the hood.
One thing I noticed is it sometimes took several passes to get to the point where the block moved smooth. This could be because the hood was extra dirty or the block is "fine grade". However, I was putting little to no pressure on the block as I moved it and the block was able to do the job.
When I was done half the hood, I cleaned off all the clay lube and checked for marring. There was none I could see. Zero. Zip. None. Then I bagged up my hand and retested the smoothness of the surface. It felt like glass, really nice. The Clay Block was working very well and wasn't scratching this paint.
The paint was really feeling 100% better. One thing to remember is that I was spraying a ton of clay lube. I'm wondering if not enough lube could be the cause some have had problems with products like this (or clay) causing excessive marring. Basically, I keep the whole area I'm working on soaked with lube. Occasionally, I would dip the face of the Clay Block into some water to "clean it" - although I'm not sure this is necessary.
I went ahead and did the other half of the hood. Same result, surface was now smooth as glass and no marring. The paint on the hood was also looking cleaner and glossier than prior to the decontamination. I'm pretty happy with this product. I squeezed it out in some water and left it to dry
The hood after:
This is where visible bonded contaminant drivers side was (both sides were gone):
Clay Block rinsed off after:
So, the CG Clay Block met all the claims as advertised. I didn't drop it on purpose, that would be pretty dumb. Was I was able to notice it rinsed off fine and junk wasn't sticking to it. This is only one paint system, but I could see no signs of marring at all.
I will definitely feel comfortable using this Clay Block on my own cars without worrying about damaging the paint and knowing that it will provide excellent results. They block was easier to use than clay, and was the perfect shape for my hand.
One thing I really wasn't able to prove is that it "lasts 5-10x longer than clay". I'm not sure if thing ever wears out. It does have a "texture" - so maybe the texture will wear away one day and it will be less effective. Even with worn "texture" it should still work with a few more passes I would imagine. I can see this lasting a long time for me.
This was supposed to be the end of the test, but I just couldn't leave the newly cleaned hood with no protection. I decided to coat half using a sample I got of Naviwax Ultimate and the other half using Lava.
First I opened the Lava and it looked like it formed a blood clot:
Then I opened the Naviwax. I seemed hard as a rock
Both were supposed to be new and unused. Hmmm. Oh well. This is what happens when you buy LSPs on the Black Market. I decided to apply the NaviWax to the drivers side first. I'm not sure what happened to this stuff, but it was almost like applying chalk. It was very hard and didn't want to spread. The only way I could successfully apply it was with my bare fingers. I don't know the history of the jar, how it was stored before I got it, or how old it is. All I know is it didn't seem right. But I carried on and decided I was going to apply it to half the hood anyway.
It seems like the top of the sample pot was dried out. As, once I got a bit on with it, it did start to spread a little easier. And it changed a little from dried out white to yellow. The smell of the NaviWax was not my favorite, as it smelled to me like mint mixed with dirty feet.
Next was the Lava. To apply the Lava, I used half of a new cheap yellow applicator:
While the Lava spread much much easier, it seemed to not want to spread evenly. This could be due to the temperature. It took only a little product to cover half the hood. The applicator I was using wasn't the best, I'm sure I could have spread it much better with a Polishin' Pal, but I didn't want to dirty a pad for this test. Lava smells like something fruity, but I'm not sure what it is. The texture of it is sort of like melted whipped butter, but not as oily.
Drivers side NaviWax / Passenger side Lava curing:
CG recommends 20 minutes for Lava to cure. I decided to give the NaviWax the same amount of time. After 20 minutes the NaviWax was 100% dry, and the Lava seemed 90% dry. I waited a few more minutes and removed it anyway.
Quite frankly I was expecting all hell removing this Naviwax. It was fairly difficult to remove, but not as hard as I expected. I'm convinced that the sample I had was in some way "messed up" - as I can't imagine they sell it this way. However, once I started to remove it I was pleasantly surprised. It left the surface very "glassy" and "glossy". When removing it with a towel, the surface just felt protected, like there was a nice layer of wax on it. I purposely coated the sprayer nozzles for the windshield wipers to see if it would stain trim - it didn't.
I was really impressed with the look of NaviWax. Deep and reflective looking. Somehow this chalky substance left the surface very slick and smooth. I was liking the results of this product.
Next up, I removed the Lava. The Lava was much easier to remove. Not as easy as Fuzion or Pete's 53 - but fairly easy. While the Lava was easier to work with, I didn't like the look (or the feel) as much as the NaviWax. The NaviWax surface just felt like there was like a glass coating protecting the paint, the Lava was OK - not bad, but not noteworthy. Lava did have a "brighter" look to it though. This kind of confirms what I suspected, that Lava is pretty much just a sealant in a pudding like form. They call it a "wax" - but mention no carnuba content. The video and pictures below will also show you how it acts like a traditional sealant, while NaviWax acts more like a traditional wax.
The odd thing is, the NaviWax left a MUCH slicker surface than the Lava. Lava was slick, NaviWax was very slick. I really was impressed with the results of NaviWax Ultimate. In fact so impressed I ordered another small pot of the "Dark" directly from England (the only source I could find on Ebay / anywhere for a small pot) - as I want to hold off on the large one to see how the application goes with a fresh pot.
Now that the LSPs were applied 6 hours ago. It's 9pm and the car has been sitting outside ever since. It's 29 degrees out. I went out to find this:
NaviWax drivers / Lava passenger side:
It seems the condensation ice from the cold air is reacting different between the two LSPs. I'm going to warm up the hood and run a hose on them to see how they bead and sheet.
A video I made of the two. It's not the best. It's night time, and I'm trying to juggle my flashlight, the hose, and my IPhone. Lava is first in the video, NaviWax second. Notice Lava hardly beads at all, it sheets. NaviWax is giving incredible beading and sheeting IMHO:
http://youtu.be/6tpOX_3ksYE
Here are some pics of both sides after. Notice again the NaviWax beads very well and the Lava sheets well, but there is very little beading :
So what are my conclusions from all of this:
1. CG Clay Block works great and doesn't mar for me.
2. ONR can clean a nasty dirty hood well and works fine as a clay lube 1:16
3. Lava is a bright looking sealant that sheets water. It's probably best on lighter colors. It's easy to work with, but its not super enjoyable like Pete's 53 or Fuzion. It's probably overpriced for what it is, as I think you would get similar or better results with any quality liquid sealant like BFWD or PowerLock.
4. NaviWax's application is up in the air until I get the new pot. However, it looks great and leaves a pretty slick surface. It sheets well and beads like crazy. It has a glassy and glossy look. It's likely good for all colors. Durability is supposed to be good, at least that is the rumor.
Thanks for looking, feed back please. This wasn't meant to be perfect, it was more done for fun. I will update this thread when I receive the NaviWax dark.
