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How to wax a car

A car wax forms a thin transparent layer
over the paint and fills minor scratches

A car wax protects the paint finish and gives your car a natural shine. When applied, the car wax forms a thin transparent layer over the car paint or clearcoat finish. It covers minor scratches, stone chips and other damages, making them less visible. The wax also "seals" the paint, keeping water away from bare metal exposed in deep scuffs, chips and scratches, slowing down the corrosion process.
It takes about 30-40 minutes to wax an entire car. A car must be clean and dry. You will need:

1. Good quality car wax
2. Small applicator foam pad.
3. Clean soft cotton towel.

Park your car somewhere in the shade - it works better when the surface is cool to the touch. Work on one section at a time, for example, one fender or door. Work from top to bottom because there is always some dirt left at lower sections. If you use a liquid wax in a bottle, shake it well before use.

1. Apply small amount of wax to the foam pad and spread it evenly onto one section of the car.

You want to make a thin, even layer of wax. Try not to get the wax on black matte surfaces like unpainted plastic or rubber (e.g. weatherstrips), as it will leave white stains on them.

2. Allow the wax to haze; it takes about a minute or two. Start buffing when it looks like this.

3. Buff the area to a perfect shine with a clean soft towel. Once in a while flip the towel over to a different side, as the clean part of the towel works better.
Move to the next section.

4. After the entire car is done, clean the wax from unpainted plastic and rubber surfaces. A window spray cleaner will work well for this purpose.

For best results, a car wax needs to be re-applied regularly. From our experience, a good-quality car wax stays on the car for three-four months. We tried many products; none of them stays permanently. If you want to make your car even more shiny, it might be a good idea to have it polished in a detailing shop. What they do is they buff your car with a special polishing compound that removes minor scratches, stains and other minor defects of the paint finish. Then they wax it.

How to use color wax

A color wax has a dye in it and comes in different colors. This car on the photo has a lot of small stone chips. The car is dark and the stone chips appear as grey dots. This is when the color wax can be helpful, because it would take forever to repair all the stone chips with a touch up paint.