Waxing your vehicle properly!    Part 1  |  Part 2
A properly waxed vehicle is both much easier to clean (before you wash it see Part 1 first!) and it is protected from the elements. Paint is rough and porous under the microscope. Even your new shiny paint! You want to keep a layer of wax on to fill these little pits and craters so that the thing wont rust and also to stop dirt sticking to it! 

A thoroughly waxed and shiny car is easy to wash with just plain water. Nothing sticks. Not even the rain.  If you look at this picture below (or one of the bigger versions of it) you will see that the paint has some droplets on it as its raining. But its not really wet!  The wax keeps the paint dry and the surface tension holds the water into a drop as it runs or is blown off the car.  Now if it looks like this picture when it rains then its waxed well and can be washed with plain rainwater easily and will dry clean and shiny.

Click image for a larger view!  Or click here for an even bigger image!
 

To polish your car correctly do the following, it will result in less effort and a faster better finish and will best protect your paint finish from swirl marks and deterioration than anything else.

• Don't do it if it does not need it!  Every time you touch your paint with a rag or polishing cloth you DO produce many fine scratches. If you follow the washing procedure in the previous page then the wax coating should still be intact and just drying it as described will leave it as good as can be!
   

• If your paint looks like this after a rain then you should be shot for neglect!
  
  This looks like it has seen no wax for years.  It would need careful washing, t-cutting or compounding and then waxing to try to recover its original shine. If its not rusty and flaking already... 

Click image for a larger view!  Or click here for an even bigger image!

• If it looks like this image after a rain then you can get away with just waxing it properly again!  
  
  Both of these vehicles were sat outside of my house while I was photographing my own black Chrysler.

Click image for a larger view!  Or click here for an even bigger image!

• Only ever wax your car on a cool very dry day.  Preferably just after washing and drying as per part one. At dusk, or early morning. High temperatures (worse on dark cars as they get hotter in the sun) mean that the wax is runny and liquid even though it appears to be dry.  And it smears and leaves greasy looking marks...  Its MUCH easier and faster and gets better results when cool with every wax I ever tried. Including the ones that claim to be ok in sun...
   

• ALWAYS use towels (ordinary cheap hand towels) bought specifically for this purpose straight from the washing machine. I buy cheap ones from eBay as "dog towels" they are brown or black which is good.  They leave dark coloured fibres that is harder to see!
   

• Make sure that the cloth (small towel) you use to apply the wax is very slightly damp. NOT wet! Damp and only slightly! It removes any marks that are left over from washing and drying as you wax.  Keep turning the towel because if there's a bit of dust or grit collected as you wax you don't want to sandpaper your car with it! This is another good reason NOT to wax too often and to wash it in rainwater with very little detergent!
   

• Wax the glass including the windscreen. Many people will advise you against this but I have done it for years and they stay clean without wipers even in a massive downpour!  And they shine and stay cleaner longer.
   

• Wax one panel at a time making sure you do not miss any. DON'T get it in or on any plastic, rubber parts because once its there you are buggered! You cannot get it off and it goes white in time or after being wet. BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PUT IT!  Do the accessible edges of doors etc too, Do the lights and indicators.
   

• Leave it at least as long as you can! The longer the better.  If its cool it takes a long time for the solvents (normally petroleum based) to leave. If you take the wax off too quickly and it isn't completely dry then the wax sat in all the microscopic pores and pits may be removed too and you wasted your time! You want it to leave a hard shell of hard to remove wax. This is why those "fast waxes" are always pretty crap. If they wipe off really easily then they are too soft! Old fashioned style wax that is hard work always lasts the longest but then it IS hard work!
   

• When removing the white dry wax from the vehicle use your freshly washed and dried towels turn and shake out regularly and do one panel at a time. Start at the top!  Pay special attention to the edges and body lines and grooves make sure you got ALL of the wax before shaking the cloth and move to the next panel.
   

• Open doors and clean and polish where all the doors close! On mine this is as polished and clean as the rest of the vehicle.
   

• Wheels should have been washed and cleaned in part one so these also need waxing. They are painted and lacquered just like the rest of the car and clean waxed wheels don't collect brake dust as badly and it washes straight off with plain rain water!
   

• By now the outside should look like brand new or in most cases a bit better. But you still need to do your tyres! I use a spray tyre foam (there are many on the shelves) and allow it to soak. It protects the rubber from drying out too so helps protect the sidewalls as well as making the tyres look new.

Part 1  |  Part 2