My Zaino vs. NXT Tech Wax Results (Rosso Nero 348)

Overall how do you think NXT compairs to Griot's Best in Show (ease of use, shine, how long it lasts)?

 

Daniel and others -

Sorry to hear about your wasted time and money - I recently purchased a bottle of NXT at Advance Auto after the detailing man at Sport Auto ( Summerfield, NC ) spoke of its quality.

I tried it on my wife's Pearl Black ML a few weeks ago. I was thoroughly impressed with the results. It went on easily and the shine was deep. It easily retuned this "grocery getter" to a better looking machine.

I have always been a Mequire's person, only straying a few times bit but always coming back. I have not found anything better for shine.

This new NXT product is just another improvement as far as I am concerned.

Just my .02

David C.


P.S. You mentioned Mequiars Scratch X - is this the best for removing small scratches ( not just micro type ) ?? I am thinking more for my sedan and other daily drivers.

 

Daniel, thanks for the great post. I also had read good things about NXT. I used that on both my clear coat black S500 and metallic burgundy 246GT. On the Merc, NXT really came out nice.

On the DIno, the NXT didn't seem to do as well. The paint afterwards didn't feel as slippery as the Merc, and I believe I saw alot more microscratches in the sun. I had used a microfiber towel to remove the wax.
I then redid the Dino with Meguiars #26 and the results were better. But still not as slippery and shiny as when I used a Meguairs Cleaner Paste Wax months ago.

 

Although I don't own a Ferrari ,may never = ( , but thanks for the info. I've never personally used Mequires NXT, but I WAS about to dive into Zaino's. Looks like I'll be heading out today to grab some NXT. Thanks.

Jay

 

Daniel,

In my experience with these waxes, which is fairly comprehensive as I use them both frequently, you are probably correct to use the NXT in your situation. NXT offers a great shine, but issues start to arise in relation to durability. When I am detailing cars (I do this for friends...or others who'll pay me to!) I usually use the NXT because it is fairly easy to apply and yields a shine just as deep as the Zaino. However, when I wax my own car, I use Zaino...which should say something. I don't have a lot of time to wash my own car, so I use the Zaino process because it is infinitely more durable than the NXT. On average, a wax job with NXT lasts two weeks. Three coats of Zaino last for months!

If your car is well cared for, sits in the garage and is only driven on the weekend, I would stick with a wax like NXT or even move up to PS21 as that is an even deeper shine (synthetics tend to have a sort of plastic shine). If you drive your car constantly and it sits outside, Zaino is the way to go -- no comparison.

As for frustration with Zaino, it does take some time to get used to. I will not make excuses for it because it is difficult to "master" the process, but I will say that (as with many things) expereicne goes a long way to making it easier.

 

My experience with NXT
The second picture is my favorite.
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18512&highlight=wax

 

I just tried Eagle Nano wax on my black 89 Porsche (Glasurit Paint), quite impressed with the covering of swirls, comes off real well and leaves no residue at all. Durability we will have to wait and see.
Oh, I usually use Maguires, this does leave white residue.
I know pics dont show too well, but here it is anyway

 

Daniel I told you that NXT stuff works........it is honestly one of the best buys around. It is so easy to use and so much cheaper than the other "show car" polish/wax out there.

The only other one I've found to be really good is Pinnacle Souveran. I've heard of something called black fire, but I've never used it. From my experience with Zaino it seems to create a wonderful gloss, but it doesn't hide anything. In fact it brings out imperfections in your paint. It would be nice if you could put a base of nxt then gloss it over with zaino(I'll let some one else try that hahaha).

Hopefully the event was fun for you other than that.......????

 

Daniel I agree with everything you wrote. I did a full detail of my car with Zaino (in the garage with halogens) over a weekend by Zaino's instructions. It took 16 hours total. One of Zaino's explicit steps is to only use 100% cotton towels to remove the wax. Well, this is where those fine scratches and swirls come from. Microfiber is totally superior.

Regarding MF, I cannot find 100% cotton MF towels anywhere. Even Griots Garage, which implies 100% cotton is the only way to go in the description of their "polishing cloths" sells MF towels towels on the same page (Garage Handbook #190, p.24). I called Griot's to find the composition of them; guess what...they're a polyester blend!

I believe polyester microfiber is the only kind of microfiber, but I may be wrong.

 

Dude...I am with you. Because something is expensive and has limited distribution, does not make it better. I have used Meguires Car Cleaner Wax forever, and never found anything better.

I will get some NXT. I have to say Meguires makes some great stuff. I just bought their Rich Aloe Leather Conditioner treatment. I prefer the smell of Lexol...but will say the finish of the RALC is super and it is supposed to protect from UVA and UVB rays...important to me.

 

That is correct. However, the construction of the microfiber supposedly negates the usual problems with polyester fibers regarding abrasion.

 

Here's a preview/draft of my next Concours & Detailing Tips column that will be in the October FCA NewsBulletin. It happens to address this subject!

Archive is linked at www.fca-se.com

============================

If you’ve wondered if authors like me actually follow our own advice, I’d have to say “usually”. Here’s a recent example: I allowed my 308 GTSi/QV to be used by a young couple to get from their wedding to the reception site (yes, the groom had to take a “qualifying drive” with me first). That morning, I washed the car, but wanted to make sure it looked its best. Around my garage, because of the testing I do, I’ve got more than a dozen waxes and polishes to choose from. Though Zaino Bros is usually my favorite, I grabbed the can of Finish First, and did a quick coating of all the paint above the body mid-line. Why just above the midline? That’s where the sun reflects. Why Finish First instead of Zaino? The quality is comparable (except to the most discerning eye) and you don’t have to do any mixing of a catalyst with the base like you do with Zaino (at least the way I use Zaino with the ZFX additive). In less than 10 minutes, I had gone over the entire upper surface. A half-hour later, I spent five minutes wiping off the residue, and the car looked so good that it almost glowed.

For those of you who have been reading my columns for some time, you know I personally prefer the ease of application and “fresh paint” appearance of synthetic polymer protectants instead of wax. Life moves on, and so does technology, including that of automotive paints. I’ve been using Finish First and Zaino Bros protectants for many years, and I know many of you now use them too.

Of course, these are specialty products. Zaino is a mail-order-only product, and Finish First is usually only mail-order also, since it is found at only a few automotive specialty shops, not in the larger chains like Autozone or Advance Auto. I often get asked the question, “What do you like best that I can buy locally?” I do have an answer for that now. As I mentioned in earlier columns, even the “big guys” have seen the trend towards synthetic polymers, and now Meguiars is offering their NXT Tech Wax. Though they call it a “wax”, presumably for simplicity in marketing, it is really a synthetic, containing what they call “engineered synthetic polymers”. However, it contains some extra ingredients that Zaino and Finish First do not. It has clay and paraffin “fillers”, and petroleum distillates and silicone. No, you won’t see those on the label, you have to look at their Material Safety Data Sheet – MSDS – to find that out,. That mix has both good and not-so-good qualities… the good is that it will visually fill micro-scratches like a glazing compound does. This makes it especially handy for those high maintenance paint colors like black. The not-so-good is that the longevity of Finish First or Zaino won’t be there… the silicones in the formula (the #3 ingredient after water) give a great immediate appearance, but don’t take long to evaporate. The actual polymer is only 3-5% of the product by weight. But NXT Tech Wax provides the ease of use of Zaino and Finish First with some of the filler benefit of waxes, and is available at just about anywhere that sells auto parts and accessories. Meguiars also offers a money-back guarantee, so if you don’t like it, you can return it for a refund.

For me and my Ferrari, though, I’ll stick with Finish First or Zaino Brothers. It just means I have to plan ahead and make sure I reorder when I’m getting low.

 

I remember your post back then.

Yes, the reflective enhancement of NXT leaves the best shine I have seen. I have been experimenting with an NXT layer in place of a sealant glaze on my own car before I perform this operation on other cars. If have a black car as well.

During Concorso, the Meguires team was there in full force. I picked their brains in depth. But I kept getting a Meguires standard answer that all I have to do is leave the NXT alone. It can be a final coat. I have never known Meguires products to withstand the longevity test. They evaporate off the car leaving you no choice but to apply and buy more product. On my own, I top the coat with several layers of a professional detailers grade carnuba wax for added durability.

I am happy with the results. The deep gloss goes farther than my Zymol applications had ever reached. During these hot summer months of California, the gloss is still in tact. Several washes later, I know that the Carnuba has been thinned, but the NXT layer and shine remains.

 

Among poly-synthetics, probably not, at least not as much. Between poly and wax, YES. From my column #6: "Using a good carnauba-based wax, a general rule of thumb is that 50% of a coating of wax is left after 30 days. You're left with 25% in 60 days and only about 15% in 90 days, so if you're going to use wax you need to do so about every 3 months. And that's under the best of circumstances... that presumes your Ferrari is kept primarily indoors and you use a detailer spray between hand washings."

But you do bring up a good point regarding poly-to-poly comparison for longevity. I'll have to do side-by-side panels one of these days of Finish First, Zaino/ZFX, and Meguiars Tech Wax and compare the clarity after a couple of months and/or a couple of washings.

 

I agree, NXT and microfiber cloths are about the best for a black car, HOWEVER, for my red car, I find that "Eagle NanoWax" makes the finish even deeper than the NXT wax. The bottle mechanism for the Eagle wax is a POS, but the wax seems to perform. Has anyone else tried this wax, and if so, how do you compare it to NXT?


-D

 

I'm still a fan of P21-S. But truthfully, it all in the prep and not the top coat.

Didn't care for Zaino...told Sal that when a car at Pebble Beach wins with Zaino I'll try it again. My preference has been poly on light cars and carb on dark colors.

NXT - OK, but not really happy with it. However, did get 1st place at FCA Sebring with it... Like it for my boat....easy on - easy off, slick and the durability of a poly.

Re: Micros - best www.pakshak.com

 

I haven't used Zaino, but have used Klasse AIO - a similar product that seems to invite a lot of comparison to Zaino. I was never really happy with the Klasse "shine" - it never gave me the deep shine I got from Meguiar's #26 High-Tech Yellow Wax.

I tried NXT on my (black) daily driver, without any surface prep, and am really happy with the results. I've been using the NXT spray-on quick detailer after washings, still get a nice, deep shine and water beading.

This fall, I'm going to go after it with Menzerma polishes, then a couple of coats of NXT.

BTW, I usually buy my car care stuff here: http://www.properautocare.com/ .

 

Daniel -

What did the distributor have to say about the condition of your car when you finished?

 

I've picked up a bottle of NXT but haven't used it on my cars yet. Well, that's a lie, only on the hood of one of them to see how it would turn out and it did turn out quite nice. I'm with you on the Zaino though, wasn't impressed with it on a dark colored car.

Another point to make, these cloths they provided, new or washed? When you wash any cloth that's going to touch your car, make sure you use liquid detergent instead of powder.