By Mahya Kamalvand
Learning how to wax your car is learning how to protect your car against paint damage. Truth is, many people pay frequent visits to car wash companies but skip the Wax-on routine.
Trying to apply the best wax on your vehicle sure needs an elbow grease, but the shine and the coat make up for all the sweat. In order to find out about the proper means of waxing your car, you need to find out how often to wax your car, and also maybe the easiest way to wax your car. Shiny is here to give you a few tips.
First, there are a few things you'll need to wax your car properly.
All You Need Before Learning How To Wax Your Car
Learning how to wax a car is like learning how to cook a meal. If you have everything you need within the reach of your hand, you will not feel frustrated doing the chore. Here are the minimum supplies you’ll need to wax your car:
Time
You have to dedicate at least an hour to waxing your car.
The Field
You’re better off waxing the car away from the direct sunlight and when it is parked under shade. Doing so in an enclosed area like a garage is always best. Shiny Mobile Car Detailing can come to your place and leave you with a waxed shiny car. You just need to make a call.
The Weather
The best weather for waxing your car is when it’s dry and cloudy, and when the temperatures outside are slightly cool.
The Water
I guess it is stating the obvious to say you’ll need a hose and water. Shiny comes to you at your convenience bringing the water required to detail your vehicle.
The Best Car Wash Soap
Pick your best soap and a wash bucket. They will come in handy. You can also check our article about The Best Car Wash Soaps to guide you to shop for the best car wash soap for your car.
The Sponge
Make sure you have two or three clean, and preferably soft, sponges available.
The Gloves and the Pads
When working with wax, you have to have soft applicator pads which are not bigger than your hands. Also, since you will be working with many chemicals, you need safety gloves to protect your hands.
The Microfiber Towels
It is recommended to have at least four different towels from different colors, and in different sizes. In order to make a wise choice when shopping for microfiber towels, make sure your first take a look at the article Shopping For The Best Microfiber Towels in 2021.
The Brush
It is a good idea to keep a soft brush handy while you are waxing your car to take care of the cracks and molds.
The Buffer
A buffer can make waxing your car very easy and saves a lot of time.
The Wax
One bottle automotive car wax (either a liquid wax, spray wax, or paste wax). Also, a paint remover comes in handy when trying to prepare your vehicle to get waxed.
Prior to Waxing Your Car
It is easy to learn how to wax a car only if you know how to prepare well for it. It goes without saying that nothing auto-related is as easy as it is said. There is a pre-waxing process you may want to pay attention to if you want better final results. Here are the pre-waxing steps:
Wash Your Car
Never wax over the dirt! The best waxes and the best technicians cannot coat a dirty car. Either done by a car wash, which can be done by Shiny experts, or by yourself, first wash and rinse your car thoroughly and properly.
Prior to learning how to wax your car is to find out how to wash it. Warm water makes your work easier and helps get rid of all the dust and debris before applying the wax.
In order to find the easiest way to wax your car, it is recommended that you first use some soap and sealants to make sure the wax will not scratch your paint.
After you are done rinsing your vehicle. dry out your car completely with towels, or chamois.
You can use the paint remover to clean the exterior of your car from any contaminants that may damage the paint. Be careful not to use it around plastic or rubber panels. The paint remover is applied indirectly on the paint with the help of some layers of towel. Wait some minutes for the paint remover to dry before checking the wax out.
And now let's get to know your wax before learning how to wax your car.
Know Your Paint and Know Your Wax
Paying attention to instructions will teach you the easiest way on how to wax your car. Sometimes the instructions even shed light on whether or not you can use a specific wax on a specific kind of car.
The instructions on your wax box may help you find out how often to wax your car with the product, or how to wax your car by buffer if you already do not know how to.
Choose Your Spot to Wax
You cannot imagine how essential it is to choose your starting point. It is easy to lose track of the spots you applied the wax on after you have begun working. The risk is that you wax a spot, forget the place, and leave it to dry out. This can easily get out of hand and harm the paint.
Apply the Wax to the Pad
You may wonder, “what’s with teaching how to apply wax to the pad?” You are not wrong! But, it is of utmost importance to what the guidelines say, and how much wax is enough. Car waxing is one of those practices where less is more.
If using a liquid wax, apply a small amount of it directly onto the waxing pad. A small amount of both, liquid and paste wax will suffice. That is because the pad will become more saturated with product as you continue to wax the car.
Now that you have done the hard work, it’s time to shine up your ride. Let's find out about the methods on how to wax your car.
Methodology on How to Wax Your Car Properly
Car experts and lovers have many different ways of waxing the car to bring shine on its surface. So, it’s safe to assume that there is no one single best method to wax a car. It all returns back to the tools you own and the time you have.
Probably the easiest way to wax your car using a basic set of tools is the hand method.
How to Wax Your Car by Hand
Prepare two soft pads, your microfibers, and the wax. Most waxes will be fine, but automotive spray waxes are the easiest paint protection products to apply.
If you have picked the spray bottle, shake it well and apply a nickel-sized layer of wax onto one side of one of your soft pads.
Now begin from your starting point, press the pad firmly and make sure you are leaving a layer on the surface moving your hand in circling motion. You may want to look at it like layering your toast with a generous amount of butter.
Make sure you cover all the painted surfaces of the vehicle. Apply the wax on all spots of the paint except for the plastic and rubber panels of your vehicle. If you have accidentally waxed the unpainted pieces, wipe the wax off immediately or else it will soak in.
It can be a very time-consuming process to apply wax to a car by hand.
How to Wax Your Car With Buffer
The process may sound tedious, especially for beginners, but it actually is no big deal learning how to wax a car with a buffer. The materials you need here are: machine buffer or polisher, finishing pad, liquid wax, and of course, microfiber towels.
Squeeze out a trio of 3” lines of wax around the edges. The rotation of the buffer will take care of the rest. Turn on the machine buffer and wax the section using light pressure in long, straight, sweeping strokes. Avoid applying too much pressure otherwise you damage the paint.
How to Wax Your Car Using Dual-action Method
Dual-action Waxing means that the pad not only spins in a circle, but it also oscillates. This results in a random orbit movement of the pad – sometimes such polishes are referred to as “Random-Orbit” polishers (RO polishers). If you are seeking out the safest and quickest option to complete the job, this is highly recommended.
How to Wax Your Car Using Rotary Polishers
Rotary polishers are not ideal choices for beginners. They were designed to remove deeper scratches or oxidation professionally. Rotary polishers are pretty harsh in terms of power and ability to generate heat on the paint,
If not experienced enough, you may end up flinging the wax everywhere going pretty fast with this tool.
How to Remove the Wax From Your Car
In all above methods, you have to learn how to remove the wax from your car before it dries out and damages your paint. You’ll need a microfiber towel, chamois, or other soft cloth to remove the wax from the surface of your car.
The process is very similar to applying wax on your car by hand, but this time around, apply gentle pressure to the cloth and use a circular motion to remove the majority of the wax.
Use a new microfiber to go over the car again, making sure to remove wax that might have gotten stuck in tiny cracks and crevices.
Here you can make the best out of the aforementioned methods and use a buffer to remove what is left from the wax. After the wax is removed, the surface of your car should appear shiny and glossy.
The Dos and Don'ts of Car Waxing
It's significantly important to know how to wax a black car. These cars make even the tiniest spots visible to the weakest of eyes. Besides, black cars are harder to wax. You can look for waxes that are especially made for black cars to ensure you are treating the paint with enough care.
If you are a beginner, don’t act up with a buffer or a polisher. Learn how to wax a car at home. It is safer and wiser to pick the most basic wax on the market. This does not mean you should pick the cheapest.
Waxing your vehicle is a great way to ensure that it stays shiny and it saves its resale value. Waxing works as a protection against sun rays, abrasive dirt, and chemicals in the rain and snow. That is why at Shiny, we care to provide you both with the best tips on how to wax your car by yourself, and the service as part of our auto detailing packages.
Last words, if you find all these steps too much trouble, simply call Shiny for a glossy wax and one of our exterior auto detailing packages. Keep your car shiny because after all it is a haven on wheels or as Paul Simon says,
"I once had a car / That was more like a home / I lived in it, loved in it / Polished its chrome"
