Sealant VS. Wax durability review

[MaximumMD]

So I know they say that sealants last longer then natural waxes. But I just really wanted to put it to the test. (and my hood needed some waxing anyway)rops:

Products:
Sealant - Griots Garage paint sealant
Wax - Mothers pure carnauba wax

The left side of my hood got the sealant and the right side got the wax.

So here is the before image of my hood

Then I put both the wax and the sealant on and left them to haze

The wax hazing:

The sealant hazing:

Heres one of the hood with both the wax and sealant:

I let them both sit for about 5 mins and the buffed if of with a MF towl and this is what they looked like then:
img]http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC03895.JPG[/img]

As you can tell the hood doesn't look all that different but this is what i did notice when I put some water on it. The sealant let the water roll right off, where with the wax the water seemed to grip a little bit better. Basically the water on the sealant side rolled right off, where it took a little bit longer on the side with the wax.

Here is a shot of the water on the wax side:

Then the water on the sealant: I even made sure I put the water on about the same hight on the hood
img]http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC03901.JPG[/img]

Other then that we will just wait and see which side last longer and how much longer. Keep in touch for a months review

 

[tempter927]

is 5 minutes long enough for the sealant and wax to cure properly?

I am not familiar with griots, but other sealants/waxes need to cure for much longer than 5 minutes before exposing the paint to moisture.

 

[MaximumMD]

All it says on the back of the griots bottle is to let it dry to a light haze. That's it. No time or anything. Same with the Mothers. It's probably true that it should need more time. Will see if that has a role on it's durability

 

[Type[R]+]

is 5 minutes long enough for the sealant and wax to cure properly?

There is a big difference between drying and curing.
You wipe it off dry (~5 min), then it cures over night! (hours) :xyxthumbs:

 

[bimmer325!]

Like Mike says..each product is different..and has been tested extensively. Whatever that bottle says...thats what you do. I can't help but think that ANY sealant needs a cure time in order to "interlace" and bond with the paint fibers.

 

[dougaross]

There is a big difference between drying and curing.
You wipe it off dry (~5 min), then it cures over night! (hours) :xyxthumbs:

3M Performance Finish is a good example of this. This is a WOWO product. However, the slickness dramatically increases overnight as it cures. I think it would be unwise to top it with wax before it cures. BTW the label does not discuss this.

 

[Dr Oldz]

:iagree: And to add Dodo's Purple Haze PRO (contaits polymers) gets a lot slicker after about 8 hours!

 

[Blackthorn One]

I have been using Griot's Paint sealant for over a decade, and have never let it cure LESS than 20 minutes. Now, I always like to give it at least an hour. Sealants are easy to remove after they haze, even hours after, in the sun, so why not let it cure longer? I firmly believe that you are not getting enough of the durability of either product this way. I would say an hour to cure for the Griot's and 20-25 minutes in the shade for the Mother's Pure Carnauba wax. I've used Mother's, too. It is an underrated product with a really great shine. If you want a true test of each product, you must reapply the products and wait at least 40 min-1 hour for the Griots, or even overnight, if it's in the garage while it's curing, and 20-25 min for the wax. I've never had a garage to leave a sealant on for 24 hours, which is supposed to give max durability for any sealant. If I did, that's what I would do every time. My car always sits outside, so....
Actually, I have used Griot's One Step Sealant to remove rubber and tar that washing and claying won't remove, and then I wipe right off. I have no confidence in the durability of an application of sealant left to cure for less than 20 minutes. As an aside, I didn't know that you had to leave Wolfgang DGPS on to cure for 45 minutes, and instead was just leaving it on for 20, just like I would a wax. After that, I wasn't that impressed with the product. It simply didn't last. Then I learned about the 45 minute rule and reapplied. I got totally different results. There was a rich, deep warm glow after I buffed it off, and it had the slickness people talked about. Plus it actually lasted the 4-6 months that was promised. Before, it didn't last more than 2-3 weeks.
Sealants are different than waxes, in that they don't just dry, they need time to cure, which allows the polymers to cross-link, sort of like an epoxy.

 

[spookertunes]

It seems to me that we don't have a good definition of "cure" here.

I see people referring to leaving the sealant on the paint for x amount of time and
thinking that what they are doing is allowing "cure."

Time on the paint before wiping off is dwell. You need a certain amount of dwell for the
sealant or wax to haze. ( Most of the time )

Cure is what the sealant does as it crosslinks and further bonds with the paint. It doesn't neccessarily follow that the original application of sealant is still on the paint. ( unwiped ).

Two totally different things I think.