OK, so I'm a Mothers fan and recently tried the FX, and intended to use it as a LSP. Well, to my disappointment, that didn't work out so hot. I found it to almost literally have zero durability. Water barely beading following the very next wash. Tried sheathing the water off with a stream to dry and it just sits there like a car with nothing on it. Completely disappointing. However, I absolutely LOVED what it did for the color on my dark blue Lexus. It had a similar effect on my white truck, but not to the level of that blue. It really made the color so deep and vivid. It also had that look like a hot layer of something wrapped around the whole car. Completely loved what it did for the appearance. So how do I retain this appearance and get back my water beading protection?? Do any of you guys use a carnuba over a synthetic? I'm thing about using the FX in place of a sealer/glaze (after a polish and clean/prep) and then placing a couple of layers of carnuba on top of the FX. But I'm hoping the carnuba doesn't tone down what the FX does for the color. Any thoughts?? (side note... I usually do a layer of Mothers liquid carnuba followed by a wash and then a hand layer of the paste. My favorite combo thus far)
First of all, Mothers line isn't really standing out in a detailing mass market...I tried their products when I started detailing 10 years ago, and never went back to them. Second, if you love depth of a color - try Menzerna Power Lock sealant. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed. There are lots of nice carnauba waxes out there, it just depends on how deep are your pockets, and how much you justify to spend on a wax...Few nice examples are CG Pete's 53, Victoria Wax Chaos/Mayhem, Collinite 845/915, and the list will go on and on... SV and Zymol waxes are VERY nice, but could be pricey...I really like SV Zuffenhausen, Insignis, as well as Zymol Vintage... So, once again, I would not bother using OTC products, unless you can get your hands on Duragloss 105/111 which are very nice for the price...
It is important to have a decent product to work with, as well as proper paint preparations. If you aren't clay baring the finish before you wax, don't expect much in the way of durability. Clay/sealant/nuba, and test the beading with your drool.
I personally don't dismiss products simply because they are OTC in a particular country, even though I like brands like Dodo Juice, or Swissvax more. Autoglym makes some well regarded products (SRP, HD Wax), and is OTC in the UK. As to Mothers, I, and several others here in the Netherlands, regard their clay set as quite good, and good value for money. I've tried the FX Synwax (liquid), and found it very easy to apply, do wonders for the color of my car, and provide quite some mirror shine (it seems to contain a lot of fillers). Beading was unimpressive, indeed. I didn't like that the gloss looked a bit cold. Because I felt it looked a bit cold, I put a layer of Dodo Juice Orange Crush over it (carnauba wax). This looked great, much warmer, and still the orangy red metallic of my car looked superb. Beading was much better. But, after exactly a month, the warm gloss of the Orange Crush became dull after washing, and within a few days, the colder gloss of the FX Synwax was back. I was disappointed with such lack of durability. I don't know whether the FX Synwax is to blame, or that the Orange Crush simply doesn't stick well to sealants. I've read about some people having had durability problems with Dodo Juice waxes over Prima Amigo (sealant glaze). I haven't used the FX Synwax since, but have lately pondered using it again as a glaze. When the weather is better, I'll probably be putting a new layer of wax on every month anyway, so the lack of durability won't bother me that much.
I have used Mothers products for years and after joining this and other forums I began using collinite 845 and will never use FX again, absolutely no durability at all. The only mothers wax that has any potential is the Mothers 100% pure carnuba, it looks nice, and durability is decent. Although nothing they make comes close to 845, if OTC is your goal RUN and I mean RUN to wal-mart and buy a tub of Auto-Glym HD wax that is the best OTC wax I can find. The best thing is both 845 as well as AG HD is very comparible in price to Mothers products. Ok now go to walmart.
Ewald...thanks for the support. Guys, I sincerely appreciate your replies and know you are assisting, but I must respectfully disagree in this case. Although I have been very disappointed with the FX (had the same results as Ewald), I have been extremely surprised with almost every other product of theirs that I use, including the carnuba...which is my current favorite right now. The Mothers carnuba durability works out extremely well with the timeframe on how often I like to reapply! Please don't' take that to the extreme as I'm in no way what so ever implying there's nothing out there better nor anything I wouldn't like better, but it's good stuff. Not to get off track, but just about everything I try from Mothers ends up being my favorite, especially non-paint prducts...their glass cleaner and leather products are by far my favorite. ANyways, my intent for this thread was using a carnuba over a synthetic sealant product I guess, and what the results would be. Does a carnuba drastically alter the appearance of what a synthetic does for the color? Or, I may give the BlackFire Wet Diamond/Midnight Sun a try also...
