Man, that Banana Gloss sure beads well, and I'll vouch for the on/off ease, especially since I was doing in on a giant black truck. Hopefully, it's at least a little durable. I think the bottle said 45-60 days, or something like that. I may have to give Epic a shot.

The Amigo, well, I've always been a fan of that. It's a great glaze and I highly recommend this.

The Swirl. I didn't need on the Tundra. The paint is in excellent shape. The Murano was a different story. Swirl marks, minor scratches, marring, door dings, etc. (I'm making it sound worse than it is). The Prima Swirl was awesome. I thought about using Cut as well, but didn't need it. The finish on the Murano is great...it removed all of those little imperfections and the wife is very pleased. Now, I just need to get the dings taken care of.

Seriously, though...for the price of stuff you pick up at Autozone, get the Prima stuff instead. I am still a fan of Meguiars Ultimate Compound, it works very well when paired with the right pad. NXT is durable, as is Mothers FX, but I found application and removal on both of those to be a pain.

So...Amigo: A. Swirl: A+. Banana Gloss: Incomplete, due to durability. Ease of application and shine, it's a solid A as well. I'm going to say long term performance may knock it down to a B.

So as a waxing noob, I have some questions. I put on some NXT about a year ago. Still beads and the car never sits outside for an extended period of time. I work from home so the car is in my garage 99% of the time.

Anyway, you mentioned removal. Is there something I should do before applying another coat? You also mentioned the right pad. What kind of pads should I be using for this whole process?

erod550 wrote:So as a waxing noob, I have some questions. I put on some NXT about a year ago. Still beads and the car never sits outside for an extended period of time. I work from home so the car is in my garage 99% of the time.

Anyway, you mentioned removal. Is there something I should do before applying another coat? You also mentioned the right pad. What kind of pads should I be using for this whole process?

Are you using a DA Orbital?

If so then the following pads. The more coarse pads are listed first. Depending on the severity of the problem use a more coarse pad. You probably don't need to use the same product with two different pads.

Cut=purple,yellow, orange
Swirl=Orange
Amigo=black, white
Epic=microfiber hand applicator pad
Banana Gloss=microfiber hand applicator pad


I was told by an S2K guy that Epic really isn't a wax. Seems I should put Epic down, then follow with BG. Not sure about how he gets that, though it does say it is a polymer sealer like the hydroseal. Hydroseal is supposed to be a great product too.

Don't forget your slick for keeping the car looking great between washes.

miT, what did you do about finishing before Amigo after swirl?

Shadowden wrote:I was told by an S2K guy...

Interesting. I knew we had a problem. Tell me more about this fellow.

kingtut wrote:Interesting. I knew we had a problem. Tell me more about this fellow.

He is a big proponent of Menzerna products and their diminishing grit which requires less variety of products. I may have this wrong. Prima's site clearly calls Epic a wax.

"Prima compound is OK stuff, I tried it and prefer Menzerna better. Menzerna is a diminishing compound so it helps level the paint in fewer steps.

Epic is a sealant, not a wax, Banana is their wax. Epic sealant is also OK IMO Menzerna Power Lock is better and BFWD even better. I am however a fan of Prima's finishing lines, Banana Gloss as a topper to sealants, Hydro, and Slick are some of my favs. For an up-keep I highly recommend the Hydro Wash system Prima has, I love it on my daily and works very well for taking care of the S. Follow it to a Tee with the Hydro wash, expensive soap, I use 2 oz to 5gal of water with no issues. I usually do Hydro seal, then over the next 2-3 washes I finish with Hydro, then Hydro Seal again on the next wash."

One thing to note, pad colors vary per manufacturer. So, yellow for Lake Country (for example) does not necessary match a yellow pad from Meguiars.

Soo i wanna do a solid treatment for my car before winter, what would you guys recommend? Just wash and wax or what?

Shadowden wrote:He is a big proponent of Menzerna products and their diminishing grit which requires less variety of products.

He sounds like a douche. Stay away from him...he's trouble!

_AlexTM wrote:Soo i wanna do a solid treatment for my car before winter, what would you guys recommend? Just wash and wax or what?

I'm new to this, but this is what I have gathered so far.

Wash-clay bar-wax.

That is bare minimum. To go beyond that is a good bit of expense in acquiring good tools and products for polishing. Claybar makes a huge difference by itself.

Shadowden wrote:I'm new to this, but this is what I have gathered so far.

Wash-clay bar-wax.

That is bare minimum. To go beyond that is a good bit of expense in acquiring good tools and products for polishing. Claybar makes a huge difference by itself.

Sweet, thanks dude. Thats what i was thinking

Shadowden wrote:I'm new to this, but this is what I have gathered so far.

Wash-clay bar-wax.

That is bare minimum. To go beyond that is a good bit of expense in acquiring good tools and products for polishing. Claybar makes a huge difference by itself.

I actually just did that the other weekend. came out awesome! the only thing i found was that my roof is a little worse than i though, and will need some light buffing to get the water spots and roughness out. other than that, the claybar is the bee's knees!!!

Claybar all the painted or plastic surfaces first, but if you have any left or it is still in pretty good shape, hit the wheels and the exhaust tips. The glass is good for a claybar too.

Tut showed me the folding method for clay.
Cut/tear off a piece of clay that when balled up is about the size of an acorn to about a walnut (large Marble?).
flatten it out. Don't flatten too much as it will continue to flatten as you use it.
Once dirty, fold dirt side to dirt side, turn 90 degrees and fold again. Then reflatten again. Continue folding like this until the clay is just a mess.

Tut can correct if need be.

I will caution this, though: With people becoming internet detailing experts (I'll lump myself into that, too), the more you touch your paint with clay, towels, various pads, etc, the more you risk screwing up your paint. If you aren't comfortable with that, stick with just tossing on a coat of wax and call it good. That itself will help enormously protecting your paint from the elements.

I go through a "full" detail once per year.

Always the cautious one. It is a risk, but nothing an expert couldn't fix pretty easily (unless you drop the polisher on the hood, or dip the pad in sand or something first).

Huzer wrote:I will caution this, though: With people becoming internet detailing experts (I'll lump myself into that, too), the more you touch your paint with clay, towels, various pads, etc, the more you risk screwing up your paint. If you aren't comfortable with that, stick with just tossing on a coat of wax and call it good. That itself will help enormously protecting your paint from the elements.

I go through a "full" detail once per year.

and how much do you charge? lol