Many car owners love to spend their free weekends washing and waxing their new cars. They take pride in their labor, pleased at the transformation in appearance. They enjoy transforming a dirty car into a clean, shining machine. But despite the many rewards of hard labor, it takes more than some free time, boundless energy and enthusiasm to make a car look the way it did when it was in the showroom. Elbow grease can do a lot but only using the right products will turn back the clock. In order to get a brilliant shine, a car owner must use either car wax or paint sealant; but sometimes it may be difficult to decide which one works best.
The Benefit of a Wax or Sealant
Why does a car owner need to use a wax or sealant at all after it has been polished? After you polish your car, you will remove fine scratches, blemishes, and abrasion in the body of your car. Since polish is slightly raspy, it will abrade any previous wax you may have applied. Essentially, this means that after polishing your car, you will leave the body unprotected from the effects of rust, oxidation, sun damage, and corrosive air pollutants. By using either a wax or sealant, you can restore the protection of the paint.
What Is A Car Wax?
A car wax is a compound used to protect the paint on a car and make the color shine. This wax may be made from a natural substance like a tree, plant, or seed, and it can also be made from an organic substance like beeswax. In showrooms, new cars are detailed with a wax like Carnauba because it provides a deep, rich, natural-looking gloss to the car.
What Is A Paint Sealant?
A paint sealant, too, is a compound used to protect the paint on a car and make the color shine. Unlike wax, however, it is made entirely of synthetic, industrial ingredients. If a compound has no naturally occurring ingredients, it is considered a paint sealant.
Which Is Better?
Since both can create the desired sheen to a car and since both need regular applications, it can be confusing to decide which one to use. The two products achieve exactly the same result: both serve to protect paint after a car has been polished.
Since car wax and paint sealants are designed to achieve the same purpose, it is redundant to apply both of them. Nevertheless, some car owners do. The first apply paint sealant and then they follow this up with a coat of wax. This double application of two different compounds does not create more protection or an improved luster. In fact, it achieves no practical purpose at all.
Ultimately, then, deciding on which one to use is a personal preference. This is because a paint sealant will do exactly the same thing as a wax. The difference is in the ingredients, but not in the effects. Some people prefer the natural glow of wax while others like the wet look of synthetics.
Unfortunately, what confounds the debate even further is that some manufacturers mislabel their synthetic-based compound as wax. They do this because many people are unfamiliar with paint sealants and look for the word “wax” when shopping. These consumers do not really care whether or not the compound is made of natural or synthetic ingredients because all they want is a product that will do a good job. So the only way to know if you’re buying a wax or sealant is to look at the ingredients rather than go by the label.
Whatever you decide on, there is also an additional factor to consider: there are differences in price and quality between different waxes and different paint sealants. When, for example, you choose between one type of wax and another, you will find that they are priced differently and promise slightly different effects. The only way to decide on the best wax is either through trial and error or getting some expert advice.