I find that my Nu Finish coating stays on for the better part of a year with touchless car washes.
Over the years on my current car I used NuFinish for years and these past two years have switched to MacGuireās (sp?). Hereās a photo of the carās current condition, after 11-1/2 years and 242,000 miles of daily use.
IMHO the important things are washing often using lots of soap and water, and actually waxing it. I live in NH and wax it three to four times a yearā¦ BEFORE water stops beading up.
But I have to add that, as others have said, if you keep it clean itāll do great after only three years.
On the other hand, a good wax job always makes ME feel betterā¦ and I do think cars look better waxed. If youāre going to pay all that money, a few extra bucks to make it look great is well worth it.
Happy motoring. 
1 Like
I never use any type of soap ever on any of my cars.
Step 1 Polishing compound or if the vehicle is in rough shape rubbing compound to get all the swirls, nicks, scratches outā¦
I use T-shirts only. Once I have the car clean -
Now it is time to wax. This usually takes me 3 months !!
For more than sixty yearsā¦Simonize carnuba hard wax.
The applicator (T shirt) is wet and I add some water to the can of wax.
Put a layer of wax on the car and rub it until it is gone, always using water.
Remove the excess and buff to a shine and keep repeating the process.
It usually takes me 30 / 50 coats of hard carnuba wax before that shine POPS.
Once you get that shine to pop, Water is the only thing that ever touches my car for years.
Wax or Water - nothing else. When the car is dirty I wipe it down with wet t-shits and back to adding more layers of wax. People are always asking meā¦What do you use to achieve that glass like shine ? YOU CANāT DO IT using one coat of wax. Or Tenā¦
Were you ever in the Military? Remember they gave you black dull leather boots / shoes
How many hundreds of hours did it take to make those boots/shoes shine like a mirror ?
Wax & Water together.
Thatās a lot of work. Nice shine though. I use an electric buffer and it still takes me a day per car but thatās about it for me.
Heh heh though, in basic training there was always a guy that would shine your boots for you for a couple bucks. I donāt know what they used but said it was lanolin. For the next six years though, donāt tell anyone but I used to use gloss black spray paint for a quick touch up.
I do it all by hand, I am waiting for my new Lic plates BLK GLZ
The whole idea is to get the water behind the wax.
Majikimaje has way too much time on his hands. I use Maguireās wash soap - paste wax twice a year and it does not take me 3 months . Our 10 year old red Volvo still looks good.
+1
And, rememberā¦ A clean car rides better!
That message was posted on a sign at a āhandā car wash in my town when I was a kid.
1 Like
Nu Finish (I prefer the liquid).
3-4 hours. Once a year (my cars are on a carport).
Does not make a POP shine, but does shine, and
gets imperfections out, and is VERY easy to use.
Then you must live in an area that doesnāt get snow - because there is no way you can use a polishing compound as first step on a salt covered car without ruining the paint.
1 Like
What salt ?? I live in ALASKA !!
We do not use salt on any roads. we use gravel.
You must live in New England - they use āsaltā.
Alaska does not use salt.
https://majikimaje.com
Maybe you should have led with that.
2 Likes
The Public Works Department in the town where I was employed for 30 years had aā¦ letās just sayā¦ unique approach to treating slippery roads. Instead of salt or sand, they spread pulverized red clay from a local pit onto the roads.
This had the effect of making everyoneās vehicle incredibly dirty, and becauseāunlike sandāclay does not provide traction, there was no benefit whatsoever.
A true bunch of clowns were running that town.
2 Likes
Well MikeinNH I have to apologize to you for being so wrong !!
It is all my fault.
The first 35 years of my life; I lived in Boston Mass.
For the last 35 years; I have lived in Alaska.
So no matter what I say - I AM WRONG - & I APOLOGIZE.
Thanks for taking the time to teach me.
When I purchased New Cars in Boston; My first step was Blue Coral
When I purchased used cars in Boston or Alaska - my first step was clean the paint using polishing compound. I have never ever purchased any used car covered in salt.
Iāve never seen any used car covered in salt ever. But then again I have never lived in New Hampshire.
Do you have any photos of cars covered in salt ?? How come people in New Hampshire donāt clean the cars when the salt begins to cover them ?? I would think investing $$ in a car wash would make people rich. Iām going to do a search using Google: Cars covered in Salt New Hampshire.
I will post the photos if I am lucky to find any.
P.S. Boston is a GREAT PLACEā¦āto leaveā
I left because it took four hours to drive 7 miles to work.
And it was uphill both ways.
1 Like
When I have to use the car wash, I always pick the touchless option. But that just means that the dirt is blasted off instead of brushes scratching it off. Plus with recycled water. So blasting the paint with recycled salt water is what you have to do in the winter in Minnesota.
As Iāve said before though, twice a year I try to detail the cars. I start with the clay bar and youād be surprised how much smoother the paint is just after the bar. Even on a brand new car, there are contaminants. Then I machine polish with Meguireās, then machine glaze, then hand wax. Each step, you can see the difference in the shine. Oh and Plastix the lenses.
Part of the problems with paint now is the orange peel where not enough paint is used to provide a nice smooth finish. So to smooth the paint out, it really needs to be color sanded and then polished. The problem is that the clear coat is not sufficiently thick to really allow sanding to a smooth finish, so you compromise. Acura seems to have a paint problem but getting better. Our last one was so bad I just couldnāt help but color sand the sides. Just my humble opinion and itās on my list again next week.
You must be married.
1 Like
Soapās function is to break the surface tension in the water to float away the dirt. A proper car washing soap will prevent scratches in your paint from washing. This means you wonāt have to wear down the paint surface as often with polish to get your shine back.
Dish soap will strip the wax off your car as fast as acetone. It is only to be used as a prep for re-paint or to strip off old yellowed paste wax.
1 Like
Yes you are right !! Thanks for taking the time to teach me.
Ah ha ha ha. Join the club Majik. You donāt have to be married to never be right around here.