Wax Gone Wrong (black 03 Es300)

[blackonyxES300]

Wax Rookie here, so I've waxed several cars in my life (Red Pearl Metallic and Super White clearcoats), but this is my First Lexus, Onyx Black '03 ES300, and I want to get it right, (or make it right now). I'm not sure what mistake I've made, other than choice of day to wax my car, but I purchased Meguiars Next Generation Tech Wax 2.0 Paste on Saturday 04/18, and decided to go for it.

Well, after completion, I noticed it was difficult to remove the wax, (Note: it doesn't say on the package, but I'm guessing high humidity makes waxing really difficult? Especially with rain storms approaching), and I did this in my garage, so it wasn't necessarily exposed to the elements, other than air quality, but the results were terrible.

In the garage, under the incandescant light, it looked good!! However, when I pulled out into the daylight, it almost looked as if I just took a paintbrush and applied darker coats of black paint here and there, blotchy, leaving places darker and others lighter all over the car, but I know the whole thing was covered evenly.

To try and correct my mistake, I decided to re-do the hood a day later, air a little better, but no rain, and the results didn't improve much.

Is there a "wrong" way to apply wax and remove it if you go in straight line back and forth motions (not circular), applying with microfiber pad, then using a microfiber polish cloth the remove excess, and going once over again with a clean 100% cotton cloth/or microfiber to dust off?

Either Meguiars is over-hyped, I need to be using a different wax, or I just don't use good consistency when applying.

One thing that really irked me was after removed, and having headlights shine on the back of the car at night, it just looked like a shiny smeared mess, but you can't see that in the day obviously, unless the sun hits it directly.

The weather should be low humidity, sunny, upper 70s/low 80s this week. Should I try again with same wax, or ditch it and get something else. I noticed when applying, it was very soft, almost liquid-like, not like a firm paste. Was that part of the problem, I just thought it was the type of new wax?

(Please offer suggestions of wax to remedy this, and/or a different approach in application to even out the blotches.)

Thanks to all of you!!

[SW03ES]

What type of towels are you using to remove the wax?

NXT is tough to remove, you really should do one panel at a time and immediately remove it, my guess is you did the whole car, let it dry to a haze and then went back to remove it.

Go buy a good quick detailer and give the car a good once over with that and wipe well in straight lines and the residue will come off...

[blackonyxES300]

What type of towels are you using to remove the wax?

NXT is tough to remove, you really should do one panel at a time and immediately remove it, my guess is you did the whole car, let it dry to a haze and then went back to remove it.

Go buy a good quick detailer and give the car a good once over with that and wipe well in straight lines and the residue will come off...

I did try to allow it to dry to a haze before removing, and I noticed it took exceptionally longer than other waxes I've used, but the package says to let it dry before removing. The towel I used to remove it was a microfiber polish cloth bought at Autozone. It seemed to be a safe and ideal thing at the time, but the combination of everything must not have actually been ideal.

I did try the ICE spray wax the second day, to see if that would even out the blotches, but it didn't do much good. That's when I re-applied Meguiars Tech wax back on the hood, slightly improving the situation, but not completely.

If it were you, would you just re-wax the whole car again, on a dry day, and with what product?

[TA in KC]

I have had good luck with Consumer Reports' top rated wax..."Black Magic". I have purchased it at many different discount stores. No problems getting it off and the results are much better than the other waxes I used in the past.

[jcrome04]

wash it with dish soap. Then try again with a better wax! :D

[yeskay]

i was about to wax my black car with NXT wax. After reading your report i contacted their tech support and they did advise about the blotch you were referring using the NXT

Blotches may be caused due to any of the following.

1. uneven coating of the wax

2. removing the wax prior to drying. (recommended atleast 15 min of drying before removal)

3. applying the wax on a very hot environment.

4. bad consignment of the wax bottle (unlikely)

Blotch removal:

using warm water with dawn liquid detergent.

please post once your problem gets resolved. i am still concerned about using the NXT on Black colors after reading your post. what other OTC wax is recommended for Black colors or should i stick to their basic cleaner wax i was using earlier.

[SKperformance]

I love the nxt wax , funny enough i have never used a wax (all pastes) that literally fall off the car.

Did you use water in the application pad as recommended.

[SW03ES]

Trust me, regardless of what the instructions might say, apply and remove paste waxes one panel at a time and don't let them dry or you'll have this problem.

The Spray Wax isn't a quick detailer. Try a quick detailer and if that doesn't work a wash with dish soap (Dawn) will strip the wax away and you can start again.

Also make sure you're applying wax to a clayed and polished surface, that aids in removal.

[nc211]

Also make sure you're applying wax to a clayed and polished surface, that aids in removal.

I agree with that, 110%. I have waxed all of my cars over the past 8 years in a humid setting "lived in NC", and I only ran into trouble when I didn't claybar the car first, then polish it, then WAX it. If you do this, you shouldn't have nearly as much trouble. Plus, claybaring the car will really make it shine, far more then just a wax job. 10 years later of learning about the claybar technique, I'm still amazed at how much of a difference it makes to car's appearance, and lasting perfomance over time. The thing that really impresses me with a clayed car, is the fact that when it's dirty, it still looks clean.

[blackonyxES300]

Also make sure you're applying wax to a clayed and polished surface, that aids in removal.

I agree with that, 110%. I have waxed all of my cars over the past 8 years in a humid setting "lived in NC", and I only ran into trouble when I didn't claybar the car first, then polish it, then WAX it. If you do this, you shouldn't have nearly as much trouble. Plus, claybaring the car will really make it shine, far more then just a wax job. 10 years later of learning about the claybar technique, I'm still amazed at how much of a difference it makes to car's appearance, and lasting perfomance over time. The thing that really impresses me with a clayed car, is the fact that when it's dirty, it still looks clean.

Great help here all! I didn't know about the "Dawn" technique, so that will probably be my first thing to try. I haven't ever tried the clay trick, but I'm not opposed to it, so I may give that a shot as well. After seeing some of the responses, I now realize that my blotching is probably due to not removing the old wax, or just giving the car a full cleaning of old contaminents before starting. I had run the car through the automatic wash, took it home and wiped it down dry before starting, but I hadn't thought about the extra layer of old grime/film lurking, that needed removing.

There's initial grime that's visible, and wiping a car dry after washing will take away that problem, but according to research I've been finding, there's a lot more there than meets the eye.

So, since I've spent $17-18 on this NXT wax, I'm not about to give up on it yet, so I'll be trying again either tonight, Friday, or Saturday, and will update again with the results. The air should be mostly dry, warmer temps, and lower humidity, so it should dry faster, and I'll try just a panel at a time.

Thanks again to all of you for your suggestions/comments.

[nc211]

Take a plastic bag, put your hand in it, and run it over the car's surface. You'll feel the actual grime stuck in the paint. In my opinion, spending the time to wax a car, is a waste of time if you haven't clay barred it. How I do it is: hand wash the car thouroughly first, rinse, then refill the bucket with a new batch of clean soapy water. Use that as the lubricant to clay the car. Sponge on some soapy water to the surface "go one section at a time", then rub the clay over the paint "gently". Don't "grind" the clay, just rub it across the paint. Once you do a section like the hood, roll the clay in your hand, and move on to the next. It's great for cleaning glass, rims, and espeicially headlights. You'll have two initial reactions when you're done. One: Oh crap, what did I just do to my car = hazey layer of paint. Or two: Oh crap, why did I just waste my time doing that = clean surface. Either way, your third reaction will follow after you've put a layer of polish and a layer of wax on the car, and you're standing there, watching that little fly that's been buzzing your head all day struggle to get traction on your hood. That reaction is: OH CRAP! That's simply amazing! That is usually followed by a 6 pack of beer and a snail trail of your own drool back and forth from the car to your seat in the driveway, after hours of going "Oh Crap, that's amazing".

Even though the best results can be had with the Portor Cable orbital buffer, which are quite expensive, I have had increadible results with my generic $50 random orbital GNC 10' buffer. It makes the job a zillion times easier on your back, arms, and legs. I highly suggest the use of a random orbital buffer, especially on the Lexus black, with I believe is still a "soft" paint...aka, no clearcoat. SWO can confirm that though, as I think I recall a post somewhere saying they went to a clearcoat for the black paint at somepoint???

Here is what the black can look like after a clay/polish/wax.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=27799&st=0

[ArmyofOne]

NXT 2.0 Is one of the best OTC waxes you can get. It does leave blotches on darker cars, if not properly applied/removed. I have a sneaky suspiscion that you applied when the humidity was too high and removed too early. Steve, You and I almost always see eye to eye...However, I am going to RESPECTFULLY disagree with you here. NXT 2.0 must dry on the car for at LEAST 15 mins, I usually wait an hour. I do the whole car, and from the time I finish applying to the time I remove will be exactly 1 hour. I use that time to get started on the interior ;).

[blackonyxES300]

Well, I gave it another go last night, temps in the low 80s, dry air, and no rain in sight. I almost bought the clay bar from O'Reillys (our local retailer), but at $19.99, I was a bit hesitant, in fear of wasting more money on something I don't have much experience with, or knowledge of. However, I will be using the clay bar on my 03 Camry (white), when I get time to wax it, as it REALLY needs attention. I've put 172K on that car, so you know it's screaming for a deep clean.

At O'Reillys, I told the sales rep my situation, what I had used, and asked if I should clay my car. He recommended that I should use that as a last resort if I don't get the results I'm after, and pointed me in the direction of Meguiars "Professional" Cleaning Wax. It's a liquid compound that is typically used with buffers, but can be manually applied. It wasn't even on the shelf with typical waxes, and in a totally different section of the store, who knew? I was a little nervous, thinking, Great, so I've attempted a wax with what I thought was superb wax (must have been the advertisement working me), and now I'm going to use a wax for professionals, and I'm nowhere near that level.........but I bought it anyway.

So, I started with a Dawn hand-wash with a microfiber "shag" sponge. Unbelievable how that stuff gets to the bones, it was awesome. Yea, my errors are gone! After wiping it dry, I started to wax, one panel at a time. The liquid wax went on very nice and smooth, produced a perfect haze blend, and it took no time to dry. I literally probably only waited 2-3 minutes per panel before removing, but it was windy out, so that helped it along. I was very pleased with the results, and I did have some trouble with the hood again, some streaking, but I gave it "3" full coats, and it finally turned out.

Happy Ending to this story, just learning from my mistakes. So, I'll be dawning, claying, and applying left-over NXT to the Camry, and using the leftover Cleaning Wax for my F-150 (black), so all is good.

Thanks again for all of your help and tips, I really appreciate it.

-- I've already requested a buffer as my birthday gift, so hopefully by then, I'll be expert enough to attempt that!

[SW03ES]

Clay is the founding block of any detailing regimen. Without clay, the surface is never going to be properly prepped. No offense to the guy and the store, but you've got two professional detailers here and several very knowledgeable enthusiasts telling you clay is neccisary. His comment that clay should be a last resort makes no sense at all...

I'm glad it worked out, but we're not a lot of help to you if you won't give our suggestions a shot.

Josh, are you using the liquid or the paste? With the liquid I agree, but my experience with all paste waxes leads me to believe that drying=bad. I've never used NXT in a Paste but I've used other Meguiars paste waxes and this was certainly the case.

[ArmyofOne]

Clay is the founding block of any detailing regimen. Without clay, the surface is never going to be properly prepped. No offense to the guy and the store, but you've got two professional detailers here and several very knowledgeable enthusiasts telling you clay is neccisary. His comment that clay should be a last resort makes no sense at all...

I'm glad it worked out, but we're not a lot of help to you if you won't give our suggestions a shot.

Josh, are you using the liquid or the paste? With the liquid I agree, but my experience with all paste waxes leads me to believe that drying=bad. I've never used NXT in a Paste but I've used other Meguiars paste waxes and this was certainly the case.

i try to use the paste whenever possible steve, as i work mostly by hand, hoever with waxes like gold class luquid and #26 you are right. with darker colors, letting these dry are a no-no. i find on my lighter colored car that if i dont let it dry, i get the same effect the OP is experiencing.

[Barkley]

Clay is the founding block of any detailing regimen. Without clay, the surface is never going to be properly prepped. No offense to the guy and the store, but you've got two professional detailers here and several very knowledgeable enthusiasts telling you clay is neccisary. His comment that clay should be a last resort makes no sense at all...

I'm glad it worked out, but we're not a lot of help to you if you won't give our suggestions a shot.

Josh, are you using the liquid or the paste? With the liquid I agree, but my experience with all paste waxes leads me to believe that drying=bad. I've never used NXT in a Paste but I've used other Meguiars paste waxes and this was certainly the case.

i try to use the paste whenever possible steve, as i work mostly by hand, hoever with waxes like gold class luquid and #26 you are right. with darker colors, letting these dry are a no-no. i find on my lighter colored car that if i dont let it dry, i get the same effect the OP is experiencing.

BlackOnyx, i own a Black 2003 ES300, same as yours and trust me, everything that these guys have advised you on will get you the look you're looking for. Claying your car is crucial getting that "COTDAMMY!!" reaction. when i first bought my car i was ignorant to claying, polishing, and all the prep work one should do before applying wax. I would just wax my car with Meguires cleaner wax and call it a day. However, one day i went through the entire process, clay, polish, cleaner wax, yadda yadda, and ill tell ya the results were amazing! All that to say, CLAY YOUR CAR!!!!

[ArmyofOne]

Clay is the founding block of any detailing regimen. Without clay, the surface is never going to be properly prepped. No offense to the guy and the store, but you've got two professional detailers here and several very knowledgeable enthusiasts telling you clay is neccisary. His comment that clay should be a last resort makes no sense at all...

I'm glad it worked out, but we're not a lot of help to you if you won't give our suggestions a shot.

Josh, are you using the liquid or the paste? With the liquid I agree, but my experience with all paste waxes leads me to believe that drying=bad. I've never used NXT in a Paste but I've used other Meguiars paste waxes and this was certainly the case.

i try to use the paste whenever possible steve, as i work mostly by hand, hoever with waxes like gold class luquid and #26 you are right. with darker colors, letting these dry are a no-no. i find on my lighter colored car that if i dont let it dry, i get the same effect the OP is experiencing.

BlackOnyx, i own a Black 2003 ES300, same as yours and trust me, everything that these guys have advised you on will get you the look you're looking for. Claying your car is crucial getting that "COTDAMMY!!" reaction. when i first bought my car i was ignorant to claying, polishing, and all the prep work one should do before applying wax. I would just wax my car with Meguires cleaner wax and call it a day. However, one day i went through the entire process, clay, polish, cleaner wax, yadda yadda, and ill tell ya the results were amazing! All that to say, CLAY YOUR CAR!!!!

I have moved from OTC products, with the exception of claybars, and meguiars products. I love the clay-magic claybar, and its $13 at Autozone. But I love the poorboys line, as well as the SwissVax products.

[Hobowon]

Clay is the founding block of any detailing regimen. Without clay, the surface is never going to be properly prepped. No offense to the guy and the store, but you've got two professional detailers here and several very knowledgeable enthusiasts telling you clay is neccisary. His comment that clay should be a last resort makes no sense at all...

I'm glad it worked out, but we're not a lot of help to you if you won't give our suggestions a shot.

Josh, are you using the liquid or the paste? With the liquid I agree, but my experience with all paste waxes leads me to believe that drying=bad. I've never used NXT in a Paste but I've used other Meguiars paste waxes and this was certainly the case.

i try to use the paste whenever possible steve, as i work mostly by hand, hoever with waxes like gold class luquid and #26 you are right. with darker colors, letting these dry are a no-no. i find on my lighter colored car that if i dont let it dry, i get the same effect the OP is experiencing.

BlackOnyx, i own a Black 2003 ES300, same as yours and trust me, everything that these guys have advised you on will get you the look you're looking for. Claying your car is crucial getting that "COTDAMMY!!" reaction. when i first bought my car i was ignorant to claying, polishing, and all the prep work one should do before applying wax. I would just wax my car with Meguires cleaner wax and call it a day. However, one day i went through the entire process, clay, polish, cleaner wax, yadda yadda, and ill tell ya the results were amazing! All that to say, CLAY YOUR CAR!!!!

I have moved from OTC products, with the exception of claybars, and meguiars products. I love the clay-magic claybar, and its $13 at Autozone. But I love the poorboys line, as well as the SwissVax products.

Take it from the guys who tell you to use the clay. I have been doing my cars for years and the day I began using the clay bar, was the day of enlightenment. I don't know what you have access to, but I bought the kit called "California Clay Bar" ($25, I think); remember, when you use it, don't be in a rush, don't think "a little pressure will do this much, what if I really give it (the clay) hell." Not only not necessry, but doesn't work as well as just plain ordinary pressure. AND: use the lubricant generously. I finish my jobs with a product called "Mothers Reflections." Got mine from Pep Boys for $17.95. Really awesome stuff; easy on and off and lasts. Great shine.