Myth Buster – Paint Sealant and Carnauba Wax

I get this a lot – “What IS the real difference between an ordinary can or bottle of carnauba wax and a professional automotive paint sealant?”

Tip #1: A professional automotive paint sealant is the easy way to protect a modern automotive clear coat finish -  apply a paint sealant 2X a year (spring and fall)

Tip #2: A professional automotive paint sealant is your first line of defense against ordinary scuffs, scratches and Mother Nature!

The difference between a automotive paint sealant and ordinary carnauba wax is surprisingly simple however a modern automotive paint sealant is far superior.  A typical auto wax that is formulated from just carnauba wax and or bees wax and other assorted types of waxes is a natural product.  Carnauba wax  has excellent water repellency, breathability, generates a nice luster, and natural UV protection.   Without getting into all of the grades of carnauba wax suffice to say that the purer and the higher the carnauba concentration …the more expensive it is.

“Carnauba wax is a natural product and essentially “sits” on top of the paint…and evaporates quickly in the real world due to the sun, rain, wind etc, therefore the protection is short lived.”

*this is why my dear old dad was out in the garage nearly every weekend waxing the family car in the “back in the day”.

A tin can or bottle from the auto parts store for $5 or $10 bucks of a ordinary car wax (mostly cheap fillers and bees wax), might say its pure carnauba wax (it’s not)…just remember you get what you pay for.  Believe it or not there are exotic blends of carnauba paste wax that cost $10,000.00 and more!  … that’s not a typo…that is TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!   Personally I think that’s a little over the top in my opinion…but whatever makes you happy I guess.

High quality carnauba wax is great for enthusiasts that don’t mind frequent wax applications because…

“carnauba wax simply sits on top of the paint and in the real world, only protects for about 4-6 weeks!”

Now enter the modern professional automotive paint finish sealant; sealant technology originally came from the aircraft industry.

“professional automotive synthetic paint sealant formulas actually bond chemically to the paint finish and last for 6-8 months”

Because of the chemistry, sealants deliver a very hard coating which actually bond to the paint surface.  They are extremely slick…and happens to be the best protection you can get from ordinary scuffs and scratches, superior UV protection and most anything Mother Nature Can Dish up!

Purists claim that sealants deliver a “cold shine” compared to carnauba wax which gives a “warm glow”.

This is because… sealants tend to allow more reflectance because the synthetic is a thinner more transparent layer. Carnauba wax is a thicker layer (larger molecules) and less transparent and thus cuts down on the reflectance so it delivers a warm glow or shine.

A professional paint sealant is far easier and faster to apply than a carnauba wax.  You use way less product and it buffs instantly when compared to a straight carnauba wax which requires a lot of buffing.

So if you want to experiment, you can use high quality carnauba wax, over a modern sealant, every once and a while to get a nice warm show car shine that only carnauba wax can produce. In fact this is exactly what many modern car enthusiasts do …a base coat of a quality sealant…and high quality  carnauba wax top coat from time to time for that hand waxed look.

In fact I feel so strongly about applying a sealant 2X year to a modern clear coat finish -   There is no better way to protect your new car finish year round.

Also did you know that when your paint finish has a paint sealant on it:

I hope this clears up the common misconceptions about a modern automotive  paint sealant and a carnauba paste wax.

*Did you know dealers and detailers charge anywhere from $150.00 to $400+ to do a “Paint Sealant Service”? They would prefer you think there is some magic they do or that it’s a difficult process which justifies  the high price.   You can get the same protection right at  home for a fraction of the cost… little secret – The Pro sealant I offer is  a higher quality than most car dealerships and car detailers use – and can protect much longer too.

*My Extreme Paint Sealant has a little carnauba wax for a nice little bump in shine – however the sealant keeps protecting and looks fantastic  for 6-8 months in the real world. Most professional high end paint sealants have a little carnauba wax since its taken for granted that a customer will be taking delivery of the vehicle so the caranuba gives the car a extra amount of shine at the time of delivery.

Pssst  … now you can all the benefits of a PROFESSIONAL PAINT SEALANT without the outrageous cost! It’s super fast and easy to apply when compared to old fashion paste wax.  This is without a doubt the finest year round protection for your new car, truck or SUV.

How to Remove Scratches From Your Car

How To Remove Scratches From Cars

You suddenly notice you have a ugly scratch on your new car and it ruined your day.  Unfortunately car scratches are a fact of life and there is almost no way to escape it. You are in the right place because learning how to remove scratches from cars is the one thing no one teaches you and perhaps on of the most valuable skills a car owner can learn.  When you know how to remove scratches on your car not only will you sleep easier, your car will always look nice and the icing on the cake…you are going to save major money over the life of your car.

Here are two things to check and assess what type of scratch you have when you need to remove scratches from cars.

Can not feel the automobile scratches with your fingernail:

If you can not feel the scratch with your finger nail then its a good bet that you can permanently remove scratches from cars.

Using a professional diminishing polish is the safest and most efficient way to remove scratches from cars.   You will use a quality micro fiber towel and the polish in small focused areas until you have permanently removed all of the car scratches.   The Ultimate Car Scratch Remover System comes with professional diminishing polishes.

*in certain instances the scratch could be deep but very thin in which case it would be what I call  a “borderline” scratch.  Possibly within safe limits to remove permanently.   Sometimes when you remove scratches automobiles you will encounter a scratch that does not look that bad however polish alone will not remove it.  You will need to use wet sand paper then polish.   The Ultimate Car Scratch Remover System comes with a patented tool called the Safe-T-Sand. This revolutionary pro accessory is a 3000 grit paper that is extremely gentle but effective.   Beginners can get awesome results the first time and remove scratches from cars like a pro.

The automobile scratch has a different color on some or all of it:

If the car scratch has a different color – you will want to inspect closely.  Does the color appear to be on top of the paint finish?  This would be from another car or perhaps the siding on a garage door opening, a parking lot pole.   Or is the color grey, black or perhaps white and looks to be in the scratch, in other words under and revealed because your paint has been scraped and the under color (primer) is being exposed.

if the color appears to be “on top” of your paint finish its known as “paint transfer”.   You can easily remove scratches from cars  like this with a polish alone.

*If the color appears to be in the car scratch scrape you will need to use touch up paint to finish the job.  See this article on Touch Up Paint tips.

However many times a paint transfer automobile scratch can have some scuffs as well.  So you would simply remove those with polish too.  If the car scratches are deeper you might need to use a wet sanding technique or touch up paint to finish the job when you are faced with how to remove scratches from cars.

Check out other posts on this site to remove scratches from automobiles.

7 Tips For Awesome Car Touch Up Paint

Here are 7 tips to get really nice car touch up paint repairs.

The object to doing any car touch up paint repair is to “visually” camouflage the repair.  This means you always want to improve the shine (luster) of the surrounding area prior to doing your car touch up paint repair.

Getting a nice luster on the paint will help make the touch up “visually”  blend in better and you eyes will not be drawn to it.

*one thing to note – since you are doing the car touch up paint repair you know exactly where it is…however when someone else views the car at normal distance of say 3 feet they will never see it.  Over time you too  will also loose track of where it is… it happens to me all the time!

If the scratch or chip is on a door I suggest you polish the entire door …it may take few extra minutes and will be  well worth it.

Car Touch Up Paint Tips

Tip#1 -  Use a polish on the entire area prior to doing touch up paint repairs to get a nice overall luster.

Tip#2 -  Always use fresh touch up paint – paint older than 4 -6 months may not flow or work easily.

Tip#3 -  Always pour a small amount ( 5-10 mls) of  touch up paint into a small container to work from – don’t work from the bottle of touch up paint.

Tip#4 – If you only plan to apply car touch up paint and nothing more…. Less is better.  Use a automotive micro tip touch up brush or a super fine artist brush.  This will give you the greatest amount of control to precisely apply car touch up paint.

Tip#5 -  If you plan to do a car touch up paint repair and refine it further to help it blend in better you will want to try  using what is commonly called a “blob remover”  or “leveling solvent”.   This solvent is specifically designed to erode or remove excess car touch up paint and just leave paint only in the chip or scape.  This will give you the best result overall and is exactly how professionals would do car touch up paint repair by hand.

Tip#6 – Always have some high quality lacquer thinner on hand when you are doing car touch up paint repairs.  It’s handy to clean up your tools and your fingers!  It’s also perfect for removing  touch up paint from the car and start over.

Tip#7 – The coolest thing about doing car touch up paint repairs is that you can do it over as many times as you wish until you get it the way you like.  This is also what the high quality lacquer thinner is for…it will remove the car touch up paint but will not harm your original factory finish.

Car Touch Up Paint Bonus Tip:

After you get your car touch up paint repair to your liking make sure you protect the entire area with a high quality automotive paint sealant.  Automotive paint sealants are superior to old fashion Carnauba wax.  Paint sealants are synthetic and typically protect for  4-8 months.

Car Touch Up Paint  can be fun!

great wiki article