Just to fill everyone in, some of us detailers were discussing a few different entry level waxes so I decided to do a little test of my own. Also for those that don't know I have been tinkering in the kitchen for a little while making my own car waxes, this is the 1st test of one of my own products alongside 2 tried and tested commerical waxes :applause2: Quick background on the surface prep prior to the wax application : The bonnet was soaked with Sonax Copoly de-wax and left to sit for a few mins while I filled buckets, etc. After rinsing it was washed with Meg's NXT and then dried. I then polished it with Presta Compound on an orange LC pad followed with Menz SIP on another orange LC pad. After polishing the bonnet was washed again with Sonax Copoly de-wax and NXT to remove all traces of oils, etc. After drying each of the 3 waxes was applied with a clean applicator pad and left to haze before buffing off. Application : Here the winner would have to be the Sonax, the included foam applicator that comes with the Sonax Xtreme wax is a real winner. It is stiff enough to avoid deformation while applying wax but also big enough to be easy to use comfortably. Another plus point in the Sonax's favour is the ease of which you are able to see where you have applied and haven't applied, the homebrew being slightly more oily is also quite easy to see but the XXX was the most difficult on the white test subject to see where you have been. In terms of visibility when applying the results would be : 1st.) Sonax Xtreme 2nd.) Homebrew 3rd.) CG XXX As far as actual application goes the supplied Sonax applicator wins hands down with the other 2 being a close tie with nothing much in it IMHO. Product Removal : When it came to removing the product the Sonax and XXX were pretty evenly matched and needed a little pressure to get the initial hazed product off the surface. The homebrew being slightly oilier doesn't haze to the same degree and proved the easiest of the lot to remove. 1st.) Homebrew Tied 2nd.) Sonax and XXX Now the fun part, how they look on the paint... This pic shows the entire bonnet after application, as you can see even on the white all the products give the surface a nice wet shine. In no particular order we have... Sonax Xtreme Homebrew Chemical Guys XXX As you can see spotting any visual differences is really difficult.They all look very similar so in terms of visual differences I think possibly only a further test on a different colour or metallic would yield some slight visual nuances. On the white however they all look very much the same and as such ranking them is nigh on impossible. Beading : In terms of beading I think the Sonax has the tightest most upright beads followed by the XXX and then the homebrew. Sonax Xtreme Homebrew Chemical Guys XXX Sheeting : After the beading I did a water run-off test, again they all sheeted water very well but there was a clear winner today. I honestly think the sheeting effect has alot to do with the manner in which you distribute the water to the surface as well as the actual contours of the panels. The ends of the bonnet are slightly steeper and there is no ridge along the front as in the centre section. The results today were also the exact opposite on both ends to what they were on the weekend. For that reason alone I gave two of the products a tied score with the 3rd product being the worst (marginally and possibly due to the panel shape) in terms of water sheeting. Tied 1st.) Sonax and XXX 2nd.) Homebrew Sonax Xtreme Homebrew Chemical Guys XXX Final thoughts : Overall I think the biggest and deciding factor, and the one missing from this test currently, is the durability afforded by each different product. Just for interest the car is driven daily and is parked out in the sun all day everyday only coming home to sleep under the car ports at night. I give all the products around 4 to 6 weeks durability in these conditions but who knows, we might be in for a surprise :campfire: Oh and in case you wondering I deliberately left out the product names from the pics, feel free to take some guesses and I will reveal the products in a wee bit :thumb: Product A = Chemical Guys XXX Product B = Homebrew Product C = Sonax Xtreme Edit : Just realised I jumbled up pic2 and pic4, the rest are correct :sorry: All Fixed now :doh:
I like C the best too...CG XXX This was very cleaver of you to do this. You're just trying to make us all look stupid.:yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes:
A = Sonax Xtreme B = Homebrew C = Chemical Guys XXX Sorry for the confusion, thought it would be fun to see if anyone could actually spot any differences because in the flesh they all so similar. If you voted based on the 1st dry pics then take note I mixed up pic2 and pic4 in the original post, I have fixed it now :doh:
