Tough time deciding between sealant or wax

Hello all,
So I'm kinda in a moral dillema here. I just got a new 2010 vw gti in united grey. I started out by claying the car, and put down a layer of Menz PL with my PC. The following weekend, I had just received my new tub of Zymol Glasur so I of course went right to it. Long story short, the car looked awesome. Here's the dilemma..in this day and age, is nuba really worth the headaches? The next day after the car being in the sun, it was all hazed up and I again had to hit it with a QD to remove the haziness. It just seems like nuba is so much more tempermental than sealants. I want to love high end nubas, but I'm not so sure it's really worth the trouble, seems much more maintenance intensive to me. Should I just stick with the sealant (especially since the temps here in D.C. have been high 90's for weeks now)?

 

the higher the wax content in a nuba the more temperamental it can be. A lot of things factor into applying wax especially the weather and humidity and stuff.

I personally have a layer of Wolfgang Sealant on my car topped with some collinite 845. I would rather be protected for a longer period of time since my car sits out in the sun all day everyday rather then fart around with past nubas that wouldn't last that long.

 

I like sealants better personally. After polishing a car for 12 hours straight, I'm really not in the mood to be battling with a wax. I also prefer the brighter and glossier look that sealants offer.

 

amen to that. looks good for sure and has a longer life span of protection. Hows business been?

 

Nailed it:worship2:

 

X2 on what bobby said. sealants are just dead easy to use for the most part, especially if you're already using powerlock. Even easier if you're using something like AJT. I prefer the sealant look as well, and not having to worry about it the next day is always a plus.

 

Thanks a lot guys, especially for the quick replies! I don't know why I want to love a 100$ tub of wax that probably won't last half as long as a sealant!

 

Sacrificial Barrier

Environmental damage to paint comes in a varied range of threats; acid rain, road salt, tree sap, hydrazine an extremely active acid that is found in jet fuel, industrial fallout, ultra violet radiation and other airborne contaminants are very detrimental to a vehicles paint film surface. They are all forms of environmental contamination and given the right catalyst; reactivity (heat) plus moisture, they will become acidic.

During this process the metal absorbs oxygen from the water and forms iron oxide (rust). Given the porosity of paint they permeate the paint matrix down to body metal. The thickness of an applied coating is all that stands between the environmental contaminants and the paint film surface. This renewable barrier is probably less than 0.1 µ (100 nm, 0.000 4 Mils or 0.000 004 inch) thick. An applied paint protection product is the barrier that provides protection for automotive paintwork besides the clear coat paint.

The most effective deterrent to environmental contaminants once the paint film surface has been decontaminated, is to apply a synthetic polymer sealant base, as its formulated to be detergent and heat resistant (up to 350.oF) and then an organic wax over the polymer sealant, and this sacrificial barrier will provide protection by providing a limited resistance to acid rain, bird excrement and the pollutants found in industrial fall out (IFO) and washing the vehicles paint surface and replacing the organic wax on a regular basis.

 

Although I'm not a big fan of sealants on dark solids as they tend to brighten them up too much, Menz Powerlock and GI Gloss Finish both look fantastic after curing for a couple days. They still have the gloss we like, but the wetness and depth are very good.

 

This is a lot of great info. So say I do a coat or two of PL, then follow it with a nuba for a sacraficial layer, how often would I need to be stripping it down and redoing the sealant? What kind of nuba would be good for that? Would p21s do well over a sealant(only reason I ask is because I have a half used tub of that as well), and without hazing up like the glasur did? I was really impressed by the looks of the PL by itself on my metallic grey paint by the way, really made the metallic sparkle!

 

Im having the same problem down here in La, use the ABC system, surface completely smooth, free of contamination, I applied Dodo juice Rainforest soft wax with foam applicator a section at a time then remove, with all the heat in the upper 90s and humidity way up there, notice alot of hazing up, so one day since 1st coat I applied a 2nd coat today on half of car a section at a time then I removed with chilled water spritized on panel to remove the wax, and that seemed to solved the problem. I will apply the 2nd coat tomm. and remove the same way, have any of you guys tryed this way before? Would like to know about this. thanks:applause2:

 

It's a tough decision, that's why I use a sealant first, and then top it off with a carnauba wax...

 

I alway's apply with chilled water (spit shine) helps spread the wax evenly and thinly.