Thanks for the responses. I guess it's not an easy question to answer in detail. I'll share what I've learned so far with waxes:
We tried many different types of waxes over the past five years for detailing cars. Until this year we were not compounding or polishing, just giving them a good wash then applying a paste wax for the most part. This year we are much more involved with paint cleaning, prep, and machine applied waxing so our preference in waxes has changed also.
We tried Turtle Wax ($4.99 a can) The stuff goes on super thick and
you just about lose your arm trying to get it off. It seems like a strong hardshell finish when you are done but all that work just aint worth it.
We tried Meg's liquid gold class, it certainly goes on easy, but you end up using too much product and the stuff is so thin that it doesnt last long at all.
We tried Meg's gold class paste wax. It goes on easy by hand and comes off easy, reasonably cost efficient too, we were getting about 7 to 10 cars from a can. One problem we had is that the wax dries out significantly in the can and by the time we open it up to use it it's nothing but a cracked up bit of chalk. Maybe because we are in Canada and they just ship all the old expired stuff up here
We stuck with this wax for a few years until we started applying wax with a D/A.
We tried meg's Next Gen wax. This stuff was much more creamy and didnt arrive all dried and cracked. Applying by hand used too much product but it went on with the D/A pretty good. The only problem is too much wasted product as the texture of the Next Gen absorbs into the application pad too much and doesnt stay on the surface to get where it is needed. After application you end up "wringing out" your pad with wax oozing out of it all over the place. The wax is long lasting and provides excellent beading, never tested it for sheeting.
The stuff is a bit pricey for the product waste at over $30 a can.
We tried Mother's Cleaner Carnauba wax. Its... ok. Not great, just.. ok. No superior shine and no noticable paint cleaning as the label suggests. Does not remove swirlmarks and application does not seem very thick. It is also extremely runny and the D/A spatters it everywhere.
Meguiar's #21 synthetic. Its actually really good stuff in my opinion. It was recommended as a "winter wax" because of it's longevity. I've also noticed it does a remarkable job on black vehicles with swirlmarks, hides them REALLY well and makes the paint glow. Easy to apply to a D/A and very cost efficient. We are using quite a bit of this today.
Dodojuice Purple Haze. Bought it as an experiment to see if an expensive wax is worth it. I think it can be, but need to experiment with more expensive waxes to see which is my favorite out of the expensive waxes
Definite noticable difference here, you cant wash this stuff out of the pad, it just... repels your attempts. It's pretty dry and crumbly trying to apply it but goes on very efficiently with a D/A.
Made for dark vehicles it sheets water nicely and gives the paint a mirror like finish if prepped properly. This wax is supposed to last up to 9 months under normal conditions. We shall see...
Dodojuice Diamond. Bought this for the light colored vehicles. Havent tried it yet. This wax is a "hard" wax as opposed to the purple haze which is a "soft" wax and to be honest Im not sure of the difference. They both seem to have the same texture.
Pinnacle Souv. I havent tried it yet. Most likely will soon. I will have to browse and see if they have a light and dark wax too. From what I have read it seems to be in the same class as the Dodojuice, but I'm sure some here will claim it is better.
