Best Car Waxes:
The ONE thing you aren't thinking about

Any trip onto the Internet to find the best of car waxes will cause your brain to melt as you start filtering through the hundred-thousand choices presented to you!

As a beginner you are likely not even asking the right questions when it comes to shopping for a quality car wax.

You go looking for the best wax based on things that are certainly important, but you will overlook the one fundamental quality of a wax that most people forget about: The user experience!

"The best car wax is the wax you are willing to use more often, not less often!"

The best wax in the world will do you and your car no good unless you are willing to apply it more than once!

Which brings us back around to this thing called the user experience.

My goal is to help weave your way through this saturated topic of car care by educating you to become part of a select group of people called the informed! 

Finding the Best Car Wax: Fundamentals First

At a minimum you should understand the two primary roles that car wax plays:

1. Protection - from UV rays, dirt, weather elements.
2. Visual enhancement - helps to hide superficial imperfections while creating a more uniform reflective surface and 

Like everything else in life there is no perfect answer, only trade-offs.

No single product will have every possible feature or benefit and my list of features and benefits is a long one when it comes to finding the best car wax:

• Cost: how much?
• Type: paste, liquid, spray?
• Formulation: natural wax or synthetic ingredients?
• Hiding capabilities: how well does it conceal imperfections?
• Application: can it be used in direct sun on hot paint?
• Staining: will it stain black trim?
• Durability: is it a true, long lasting product or is it more about a temporary visual paint enhancer?
• User experience: is it hard to apply/remove, does it leave streaks?

The reality is that you will likely experiment with many different waxes before settling upon one product that you as a person have determined represents the wining balance of trade-offs for you.

My goal now is to help narrow down these choices based on what I consider some of the best car waxes I have used.

Darren's Professional Advice: It is important to have realistic expectations. Even the most expensive wax will not turn neglected car paint into a showroom work of art.

I will also add the following tips:

• Every person comes to the table with varying levels of experience in car care. Some people have a highly trained and highly critical eye, while others don't. This leaves room for the endless opinions and recommendations when it comes to the best car waxes. 
• I have yet to find any wax (spray, liquid, or paste) that can finish to what I consider flawless results. It's just the nature of any of the countless car waxes and sealants. But with that said, any of the wax recommendations on this page are all waxes that I believe deliver above average results.
  
• Within my career as a professional detailer, I have learned that when I am looking to achieve the highest level of visual results, I am going to follow any wax application/removal with a quality spray/quick detailer. If you are a perfectionist like myself and especially if you are working on a dark/black colored car, I highly recommend you get a gloss enhancer/spray detailer to use after you have completed your wax application. At the following link you can see and read about all my spray detailer/wax recommendations.
  
• Simply follow the labeling instructions on any wax products below. As a rule, apply your choice from the best car waxes recommendations every 1-4 months. The more time your car spends in the sun, and the longer you go in between car washings will mean you should wax your car more often, not less often.
  
• If you are a true beginner or have never heard of decontaminating your car paint or using detailing clay, then you will need to get yourself a clay bar kit and do this first. Many people underestimate how this will affect every step of the process: the finished results, the ease of application, and the removal.
  

Best Car Waxes:
What Darren Would Do

So often I am asked as a professional to just tell the person what I would do. 

And for this reason I begin with exactly what I would do and have done for many years:

Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax

Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax on Amazon

If you want to keep your life ultra simple, you could really stop here with this product from Meguiar's. I used this car wax for years and consider it a sure thing with what I consider the winning balance:

• Economical: won't break the bank!
• Excellent user experience: easy on, easy off.
• Non-staining formulation: won't stain black trim.
• Can be used in direct sunlight on hot paint: despite what the labeling indicates.
• Doesn't haze up: this means it doesn't create the big dust mess like old-school car waxes.

Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax

Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax on Amazon

• Can be used as a spray wax for "instant gratification" (when compared to applying a paste wax)
• Can be used in direct sunlight on hot paint.
• Use as a wax extender by applying it over a more durable wax base like the Meguiar's Ultimate Paste Wax.
• Won't stain black trim (I actually use this deliberately on ALL black trim to treat the trim)

Now that I have shown you what I pick as my best car waxes, let me tell you what I do:

• Apply Ultimate Paste Wax every 4 months
• Use the Quik Wax after every car wash to prolong the base coat as well as create that just waxed appearance in a fraction of the time.

If you have made it this far then I also need to add a critical part of the equation since you may not have the experience to know the amazing capabilities of microfiber:

AutoFiber Microfiber Cloths on Amazon

I am amazed at how many people still aren't using microfiber as their "go-to" type of cloth regardless of the detailing task.

They reign supreme in very possible way!

• Safe: doesn't come any safer as far as working with car paint or delicate materials.
• Absorbent: more absorbent than any other natural or synthetic materials.
• Lint: say good-bye to lint!
• A must have in my professional opinion!
• Use these to remove wax
• Can also use to apply the Quik Wax

Best Car Waxes Summary

I realized I have thrown a lot at you with my best car waxes review. And for that reason I know many people will become overwhelmed as they work through all the options of this page. It is also for that reason I add my "What Would Darren DO" at the top of my recommendations for those of you who simply want to keep things really simple.

If you have made it this far you can use the following bullet point list to add additional helpful tips:

• Remember to use detailing clay prior to any application of these paste waxes; see clay bar kits for help in picking out a quality clay bar.
• Apply chosen wax according to manufacturers' instructions.
  
• It is important to remember that choosing one of these top rated auto waxes is important, but no car wax in the world is going to fix paint that is in very poor condition unless you polish first. With modern day car buffers it is possible for even a true beginner to polish paint to professional level standards which you can see this link for: Car paint polishing for beginners
  

I hope you have learned a thing or two along the way in this best car waxes review. When presented with this much information on a simple topic of best car waxes it is easy to feel a sense of overwhelming anxiety! I get the it!

My goal is to structure the pages for both those that want a simple and straight forward answer, as well as those that like a comprehensive review.

 I wish you much success regardless of which way you lean!

Sincerely,

Darren Priest