Car Wax: Natural or Artificial?
Car wax makes your car’s “new car” shine last longer and restores shine to older cars, but only if you pick the right wax for your car. Some car waxes will cover your car’s plastic parts with residue; others will actually make your car’s finish less smooth as the wax scratches the finish or forms a haze over it. Here are a few questions you need to ask as you pore over the vast selection of car waxes available at your local auto store.
Do you want shine, or depth of color? Natural car waxes, such as Carnauba wax, give a car’s finish depth, but slightly less shine. Artificial waxes, which include most spray on and liquid waxes, shine beautifully but give a less rich color, and can emphasize minor flaws. Artificial waxes are especially prone to flatten dark colors. Experts suggest that dark cars be waxed only with natural waxes. Lighter cars can take either kind of wax, depending on whether you value color or gleam more highly.
Is there much plastic on your car? Some car waxes react poorly to matte plastic, especially the porous, dark kind so popular on recent models, and deposit a residue that may need extra attention with a special cleaner to remove. If your car has a lot of visible plastic, make sure the wax you choose is compatible with plastic.
How durable do you want the car wax to be, and how long are you willing to spend in applying it? Liquid waxes performed the best in durability and cleaning tests during a Consumer Reports comparison test of waxes. They also took the most time and effort to apply well, largely because spreading them evenly and rubbing out the streaks took considerable extra buffing. Spray on waxes were the least durable and did the worst job at cleaning, but they were also the quickest and easiest to apply. Consumer Reports recommended them mainly for new cars whose finishes were in excellent condition, for owners who were willing to wax frequently, and for stopgap treatments in between treatments with liquid or paste wax. Paste waxes took about as long to apply as liquid waxes, and were about as durable. Although paste waxes used to be notoriously time consuming to apply, Consumer Reports noted that now they are packaged with applicators that have cut their application time significantly, even and made them slightly easier to apply than liquid waxes.
When you choose a car wax, consider what visual qualities are most important to you, whether you need to take the plastic detailing on your car into account, how long you are willing to take to apply wax, and how often you are willing to apply wax. Be honest with yourself, and do not feel pressured to buy a wax that takes a lot of effort and upkeep simply because the experts say you should. Unless the experts are going to come and maintain your car for you, pick the car wax that is right for you and your car.