Wax on wax.......

Hi All,

I'm looking for advice on what types of wax or sealants or protectants are used by those out there in the "world". Anything to take out even the most minimal scratches? Cin cin!

 

Hello,

Overall you can't go wrong with Mothers or Meguiars products. Both are readily available & reasonably priced and work as advertised. Both have full product lines for all your bike care needs. I've also had outstanding results with Sonus products. But they're pricey compared to Mothers or Meguiars & not readily available. For light scratches or swirls Mothers Scratch Remover or Meguiars Ultimate Polish work great. Stick with Carnauba based waxes. Liquids tend to be a little easier to work with than pastes.

One thing I've noticed with my 07 RWB VFR is the paint is fragile, especially the dark blue. Look at it wrong and it scratches. I've made the mistake of using to aggressive a polish & done more harm than good. For "minimal" scratches you may just want to try a sealer or glaze followed by high quality wax. Mothers 3 step system will give you awesome results. Use quality micro fiber towels or dedicated detailing cloths as well.

 

Both Mothers and Meguirs have prepackage kits for cars. Good stuff..

What "wax" is best is a toss up. The "Carnauba" thing is overblown and overused and the ads are BS, leading one to think the "wax" is 100% Carnauba. Carnauba is a plant based wax, !00% used on a bike might never come off. The stuff is rock hard and unless bleached sort of a green color.

There are polymer base "waxes" that are great if applied correctly. ie one coat and after a cure time of a day or two a second coat.

For the rich and famous and those that need to weenie wag labels try "Griots Garage" . Good stuff mostly because he buys Meguirs in bulk and re packages the stuff. Great farkles!

 

Pledge... Seriously pledge.

 

We got yer pledging troths and pledging allegiances, but a great way to piss off a painter is to use Pledge on a car or bike. The stuff is loaded with silicones. The causals for fish eye in any type paint. Once contaminated it's forever.

Whoops! forgot about the Boy Scouts and the Harley pledge.

 

Thinking I'll pass on the pledge on account of the controversy. But the mothers product looks good and I can get them locally. Thanks all! :canada:

 

I use pledge, mothers, plexus, and h20.

What do you think aboot Arai saying that any wax other than water is going to degrade the plastic. They only want you to use water to clean your skid lid. Its enough to make someone go to the Shoei world. :vtr2:

 

Best METAL polish is Semichrome far as i know.:tiger:

 

Eagle One NeverDull is good stuff. That's the stuff in a can with cotton wadding. Good ol' standby is Brasso..

 

Hey Arnz, agree with all your product suggestions but am curious to know what you did to your blue paint as the finish on our bike is clear coat and would be the same on the red white or blue. Had a section been repainted maybe?
I did a very thorough wax job once upon a time (especially the white rims) but from then on I have always cleaned with a spray detailer and microfiber cloth, no water and suds.
One other option for waxes as Billy pointed out are some of the polymers. Some of the brands don't leave a white residue behind which is nice so you won't see it if you get it between body panels where It's hard to get at.
John
PS. Arnz, be careful with product on that red stripe on the RWB, it's a tape decal. Just FYI.
John

 

I got the same old story when I complained that the pods break too easily. Arai said that anything other than water dried out and weakened the plastic. I switched to Shoei RF1100.

Many spray waxes are the same ingredients as pledge. Emulsified silicone. So if you find that distasteful, you should use a paste wax or liquid paste wax. Zymol, mothers, meguires, etc.

 

Paint is original. The raised area around the fuel fill on the tank had some minor scratches from a tank bag. I started with Meguiars Ultimate compound which was a little to aggressive. Or possibly the microfiber towel had some dirt or dust in it. Either way the problem area was hazy when finished. I ended using Sonus SFX-2 & 3 and brought it back to an even shine. i should've experimented on a small portion first.

I hear ya on the washing. I only wash it after its been ridden in it the rain. Between washings I use California Car Dusters & Mothers Showtime.

 

The distasteful part is using furniture wax in a rattle can because its cheap. For a more detailed and IMO well researched and well written by a harleydood whose brain was not fried by cosmic rays we have his pledge:

Default


FYI:

To answer any or all questions concerning the use of lemon Pledge. This maybe of some help. This was posted on a forum, can't remember if it was originally here or another one. Just thought I would pass this one.

DISCLAIMER: I CAN NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS.

YELLOWBIRD

Quote:
I am a scientist just not a rocket scientist. I deal with organic, inorganic chemistry and do research in chemical engineering.I also ride just about every day weather permitting,I like Jack Daniels, wet T shirt contests, biker bars and pee in the back yard too frequently according to the wife (have a tall fence).

No I DONT have a pocket protector or wear dark horn rimmed glasses. I'm so ugly that when dating, before I got married, the tide would not even take me out. My breath is so bad that when I exhale, my teeth duck! and my wife tells me that my package resembles a grub worm in a turtle neck. Hey atleast it still works!
I also teach and found that humor helps to retain attention.

Now that we have that straight..I hope this helps.

Lets start out with the actual ingredients found in a spray can of Pledge.

Please note that the base formula will be different being dispensed from a spray can or pressurized aerosol vessel due to the fact that a "propellant" is needed to transfer the product from the container to a surface, in this case lets say a fender or a windshield. A trigger plastic spray container would not require this propellant additive.

For the purpose of this discussion, I will list the information relative to Pledge in the aerosol spray can as it appears to be the most common used by others on this forum.
The base ingredients are:
Naphtha, petroleum, light alkylate 5%-10% or (isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent)
Polydimethylsiloxanes (Silicon oil) 5%-10%
Water 70%-85%
Butane1% -5%
Isobutane1% - 5%
Propane1% - 5%
Now we can breakdown what these are and what they do.

The first ingredient is:

1-Naphta,petroleum,light alkylate.
This is a hydrocarbon solvent-based dispersant formulation which combines oil penetrability. In other words remember the label says "smear and smudge proof"? These are the ingredients that will break down and remove the smears, finger or dermal tissue oils. Criminals take note.. use this to eliminate finger prints. Just dont be a dumb azz and leave the can behind!!

Now, what is a hydrocarbon?
A general term for organic compounds which contain only carbon and hydrogen. They are divided into saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, aliphatic (alkane or fatty) and aromatic (benzene) hydrocarbons. Crude
oil is essentially a complex mixture of hydrocarbons.

To break it down even further, I will now define an organic compound.

An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical
compounds whose molecules contain carbon.
What is carbon you asked? I knew ya would!!

Carbon is a chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent (a state of an atom with four electrons making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds.)

A chemical element is a type of atom that is distinguished by its atomic number; that is, by the number of protons in its nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical substance composed.

What does this all mean?? It is a pure chemical substance.
Why is it in there? Remember the finger print? It is a solvent that removes oily residues. This is the cleaning agent in the product.
Look at the can.."It dusts and cleans". this is what makes it clean/remove dirt,grease,oil,grime.

Dont try it on bodily fluids!! Get a bucket and warm water mixed with a 50:50 bleach solution. Ooops sorry, got a little carried away there. I mean...I have never had to do that detective sir. Hey I live in Florida and we shoot first then ask or answer questions later.

That was the more lenghty one. The remainder are relatively simple. If you are still reading at this point, thanks for bearing with me.Go grab another beer! I will summarize at the end and compare to other products on the market in terms of ingredients, costs and results.

The second noted ingredient is:


2-Polydimethylsiloxanes or Silicon oil 5%-10%.
This is silicone based oil. The molecular structure of this is such that friction is significantly reduced. This nifty additional ingredient is also the reason why the ..refer to label again.. NO WAX BUILD-UP!! Silicone will blend with it'self and not mix or layer with other chemicals.
It does however have the ability to **** bike painters off due to the fact that it needs to be completely removed proir to coating with paint. If not...start all over again. It makes surfaces slick so that nothing sticks. It also provides the shine to the surface.
This chemical is also present in 95% of products us bikers use on our scoots such as Armor All, Meguires Wax and STP Son of a Gun just to mentiion a few so if you are worried about using Pledge in the past on your bike, you may alraedy have and just did not know it.
This silicone oil is also an ingredient in Right Guard deodorant, baby powder,Desitin, Gillette Dry and several moisturizers and creams. This is why Pledge does not contain wax, they use this instead.
Makes me want to try it with the goa....wife!
To the guy that posted about the fella steping on his fender and sliding off...about to 5 drops of this in a drink will cause lets just say possible incontenence" which will then require the need for additional Desitin with the same ingredient to help that diaper rash from the copiuos ammounts of passing solids!!! Great stuff ain it?

The third ingredient:

3-Water. This acts as a dilutor. Kind of like "filler" in cheap dog food but in liquid form.
Cant use the product undiluted.

The remaining butane, isobutane and propane are the propellants that assist in expelling or propelling the liquid product from the can. Sorta like lighting a fart. The methane is the fart building under pressure and the propane, butane provides the ignition source. Both pledge and a good fart will produce a romantic blue and orange flame. Or so I have heard, maybe seen...OK OK I have done it! Kinda like putting your tounge on a 9v battery. You know you are gonna do it eventually when no one is looking. Try chewing aluminum foil!! Nah...dont do that either.

Other ingredients asuch as aromatic compound like orange, lemon or any other organic scent additive can also be incorporated.
If you are still with me on this one, you are either killing time, Fu&^*% off at work or the **** filter is working real good on your computer. If neither one... thanks for sticking around.

Now with this little snippet of knowledge, how does one apply it to everyday living.
If Martha Stewart says that a prison panty liner work just as well as a microfibre cloth stop reading. If not..please bear with me for I am almost done.
Several products out there are costly for several reasons. 1 because of proprietary ingredients/raw materials, 2 advertising costs, supply and demand and product to market costs. What will the market bear? I have always compared ingredient when shopping. Silicone oil is silicone oil, Pepto Bismal, for the guy trying to stand on the fender coated with silicone oil is pink Bismuth...same thing!
Pink bismuth is MUCH cheaper.

I heard of a product called Plexus. A great cleaner and conditioner for Lexan. At $15.95 for a 13oz can versus an 18oz $4.99? can of Pledge? I have not bought or used Pledge and do not know the actual cost I am sure it is not even close to this other product.

In summary:
Will not damage finish
Will provide a nice shine
Will not build up or layer
Safe on windshield. No alcohol or amonia
Safe on chrome
Also has some (although not real good) anti corrosion properties. I use Boeshield T-9 for this application.
One precaution!! Flammable! Do not use around open flames or on hot pipes or other hot components. Do not get on or use on denim ar matted finishes!!

I would also highly recommend that a wet or water wash, or a soft wetted cloth, (I use warm clothes because the heat helps soften bug guts better than cold) be done or used first to remove surface debris and particulate from the soon to be applied to surface, fenders, gas tanks,side panels. This will reduce potential scratching of your paint.

Well, I hoped this helps. Like I said, I have never used "Pledge". But I have applied the same ingredients in Pledge (just under a different name...Maguires Wax) on my bikes not knowing it, and they have all looked great!

Now get off the computer and spray your bike with Pledge!, or go riding...



__________________

 

Rubbing compounds are graded just like sandpaper. 3M of any grit size packed in a polypropolene container for a bike or two more than enough for a very long time. I am surprised that 3M does not package in smaller
quantities. Adjectival designations of various other brand compounds and mixes is right out of some ad agency in NYC IMO. IOW it may sound great but WTF is it really?

I was gonna put all those in one sentence but I would be forever haunted by my 5th grade teacher.

Pledge is a Johnson's Wax product. Big outfit that has been around for many years. Better for the el cheapo "wax" if using Johnson's is using one of their other floor "wax" products some of which are crystal clear aka water-white or sort of milky in the containers. These are polymer products

Pledge can be used on raw wood, clear finished wood, painted wood, shoes for water resistance if ya use the Pledge floor "wax". Good stuff but once the silicone gets loose the whole place is contaminated

Paint dudes who have sometimes half a million dollars wrapped up in laminar flow, humidity and temp controlled spray booths and all the other equipment know aboot this.

Maybe the two dudes that I pissed off aboot powdercoating might like to chimp in with some solid research to maybe give a little advance warning to potential customers and the rest the industry, instead of all that crybaby shit and horn tooting.

 

Thanks Billy

 

Pledge blue can and even lemon have been used for lost 20 years on bikes. Paint, chrome and wind shields.
I used this "speed glaze" stuff and thought it was great only to find out it was "Pledge".

Not trying to argue. I was actually joking in my first post, but it can be used.

 

I've been using the pledge thing since the 80's. Works super on side wall of tires. Cars or bikes. Make sure the tire sidewall is scrubbed clean. Once dry spray with pledge liberally and wipe off with a shop towel. Give the tires a nice deep black non shiney new look. Washes off in rain though.

When detailing, get bike nice and clean and waxed/coated the way you want. Then hit it with Pledge and it just "pops". Car show guys used to do that. Pledge doesn't last long in the elements though. It's just for that final "pop" to make the shine stand out and look deep. That's what I've always used it for.

 

Pledge looks great! It's wax. The silicones are still there. Pledge is harleydood nirvana.

There are all kinds of things that make other things look good that are not so good in the long haul.


There was a time when drinking nothing but BUD and smoking cigarettes was cool too..

 

When did drinking bud and smoking become not cool?

 

Thanks for shaming oot of using pledge any more! Its no longer in my tool cart, I have Plexus and its a titz product. Someone mentioned Boeshield in that article that the rocket scientist wrote. I used to love using that stuff at a shop I worked at. Any excuse to spray it was valid, used to lube up my pocket knife every day, stuff smelled delicious. I believe that Boeing invented that stuff. Anyway, Meguirs Carnuba works great on my stuff. F pledge, I aint a "cheapo" ; ) :wacko: