DaveK

Hi,
Last week I finally took the plunge and bought the Zymol starter kit. Was looking forward to applying it on Saturday and the unbelievable shine that would follow. But....

I washed the car with the Zymol stuff. I used HD Cleanse all over the car - which did make it look pretty clean and gave some shine. Then I waxed it. I tried applying the wax with the pad, and with my hands - but it still didn't look particularly shiny and it didn't "feel" like it was waxed.

I eventually gave up and used the bottled Zymol stuff that I got from Halfords a few months ago - straight back to nice shiny car.

I've looked at the archives - and although I spent a total of 3-4 hours from start to finish, it looks like this may not have been enough. If so, where should my time have gone? It seemed long enough to polish a car to me!

I'm open to suggestions as to where I went wrong. I'll try any ideas out on my motorcycle (much smaller, much less effort) but if I don't get good results there, my £90 Zymol will be going in the bin. I can't help feeling that if it is because I didn't spend long enough cleaning / waxing then zymol probably isn't for me anyway. I could live with the price, but if it takes significantly more than 4 hours to use, then the result would have to be astounding to convince me that's how I want to spend my whole Saturday.

Any ideas?

Dave
90 C4

John Boggiano

I don't normally use Zymol but, oddly enough, I did so just a couple of days ago.
I don't find the HDCleanse very effective, but the (carbon) wax polish is very easy to apply and does seem to give a good shine, though I don't feel it lasts like that from my old friend 'Mer'.

Did you polish it using one of their proper blue cloths which are meant to leave the wax on the car rather than remove it into the cloth?

Also, being a natural product, is it possible it might have deteriorated or got too hot and 'cracked' as we say pharmaceutically? Some people keep it in the fridge, I believe, although getting too cold could cause a similar problem.

DaveK

I did. I applied with the round blue applicator (and later with my hands), and polished with the blue fluffy towel thing. But it did seem that I was putting the wax on and then wiping it straight off.

John Boggiano

To go off at a tangent, that little blue pad is one of the things I don't like about Zymol. To do the whole car with one tiny pad seems to be inviting a little piece of grit to get picked up... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Also, using wax from a tub seems to be inviting a little bit of grit to get into it.

I'm VERY careful, but I always seem to find ominous black specs in the wax.

Bins

Hey Dave.
It may be time to try out Zaino?

Roygarth

I've got Victoria Wax which is a similar carnuba based product to Zymol. The warmer the weather the easier it is to apply, I would'nt even try applying it in the winter or below 16/17 degrees C. I apply it with my fingers/palms....much to 'er indoors amusement!

Piers

Mr Michael B

I am with "Roygarth"

Just jump on the Victorias Wax band wagon and enjoy the best wax available.

Its fantastic stuff, performs better than either of the "Z" products & is trouble free (wont take all of a Saturday either).

You can get it from a rennlister too:

<a href="http://www.prestigecarcareproducts.com" target="_blank">click here </a>

993chaz

Dave, I used zymol for many years before switching to Zaino. You need to use the zymol "microfiber" towels when waxing.

Good Luck <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

69COU

I also struggled to get expected results with Zymol. Also i have real problems spending hours on end doing the car cleaning.

Having also been a previous MER user i was slightly disappointed. What i really found was that the Zymol did not seem to keep the car clean for long. After applying with correct applicators and buff with correct cloth i found the surface remained almost sticky (Like the way has not set hard)

What i have found to be the best way compromise as a six monthly is to do the following

1) HD Clean car (1 hr)

2)then apply Zymol in warm weather and buff.(2Hrs)
The natural wax is supposed to feed the paint!

3) Next I use a sealent - Auto Gyn extra gloss protection gives the shine. (1/2 hour)

4)Apply MER coat which makes dirt and water run off car. (1hr)

5)Extra coat of Auto Gyn extra gloss protection.

Again try to buff all coats with forward backwarkds strokes not circular motion.

For maintanace just do steps 4 & 5 every two weeks. A quck wash in between seems to keep the effect of the MER with water just running off the car.

I think you only need to do the full Zymol job once or twice a year.

Cheers

5)Possible extra

69COU

5 Possible extra

Get a professional to Zymol the car for you and see if the results are any better.

If like in the UK it costs £60 for a starter pack why not pay someone £100 and have the job done properly to see if you are convinced by results. If so you can decide to take the time and effort with Zymol yourself.

Drew_K

One other important consideration is proper paint preparation. You need to start with a clean surface in order to get the best possible finish, and I don't mean just any wash.

First, you need to remove any remaining wax. Otherwise you'll be applying the new stuff on top of existing wax and it WILL look hazy. To do this, wash the car with liquid dishwashing soap (the kind you use when hand washing dishes). This will remove the old wax. Car wash soap is designed to preserve your existing wax and is not good to use when applying a new coat of wax (unless you're intentionally layering wax).

Second, I highly recommend claying the car. It is NOT abrasive, despite what the name implies. It basically involves spraying a quick detailer on the paint and then rubbing with a soft clay compound. Try it on a small section of the paint, then compare it with a non-clayed section. I guarantee you'll be surprised at how much smoother and cleaner the clayed section is. Again, claying is not abrasive and is easy to do.

Third, you can consider polishing the car to fill in and/or smooth out swirl marks.

Now the paint is ready for wax.

Are you using the Zymol wax that's a runny blue liquid? I've used it before. It goes on and buffs out very easily BUT it doesn't last very long. There are plenty of good waxes out there, but I would go with one that will last longer.

I use 3M Imperial Hand Glaze to fill in swirl marks and then follow with Blitz wax, which is pretty durable. I've used the Klasse system, but it was too much trouble and I didn't get any better results. Never tried Zaino.

Good luck,
Drew

Christer

I'm with the Victoria wax people. You can use their shampoo or any natural, non-detergent shampoo. I use the 'lite-cleanse' once a year or so but the rest of the time just applyt the wax to the car with my hands. Leave for a couple of minutes at most and then polish off with a soft cotton cloth. The waxing process takes me about an hour with maybe an extra half an hour if I use the cleanse stuff. After that, the water just runs off for weeks afterwards and all I need to do for thenext 3-4 months is just give it a light shampoo and 'dab' it dry with a soft cloth every few weeks and the wax is still there.

Tremendous product - but I didn't buy it for the ultimate finish, I purchased it for the protection of the paintwork. The fact this it look pretty good is a bonus to me at least.

John Boggiano

69COU (Pierre?),

Nice to encounter a fellow Mer user.

Great product, in that it as excellent cleaner as well as polish. Also, of course, you can use it on the glass as well as the paintwork, etc. (The windscreen wipers judder if you use it on the windscreen, though).

scupper

I quite agree with Drew - I believe before changing cleaning/waxing "systems", you should clay your paint. Clay will remove any all waxes, cleaners, etc in addition to other junk invisible to the eye. Claying a red pcar, which is the only color without a clear coat, can be shocking since it looks really bad after claying - you are down to bare paint with no shine. But a polish and then wax will make it truly glossy.

Chuck
93 C2

DaveK

Maybe I'm missing the point - I thought the reason I spent an hour going over the car with Zymol HD-Cleanse was to remove all the old wax etc.?

Dave
90 C4