lots of spit shinning questions

**III** · 12-31-2005, 05:51 PM

1. Do paste waxes give better results?

2. When spit shinning, do you let each layers of wax dry to a haze, or do you work it until the product disappears?

3. If you let the product dry to a haze, do I need to spray the area with a QD or distilled

water before removing?

4. How important is it to use distilled water? Why not use regular tap water?

**cwcad** · 12-31-2005, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by III

1. Do paste waxes give better results?

2. When spit shinning, do you let each layers of wax dry to a haze, or do you work it until the product disappears?

3. If you let the product dry to a haze, do I need to spray the area with a QD or distilled

water before removing?

4. How important is it to use distilled water? Why not use regular tap water?

Instead of answering your questions one by one i will linkyou to a very informative thread that was on autopia a while back. this is what i tried doing a while back and had terrific results. hope this helps

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread....1&page=1&pp=12

**III** · 12-31-2005, 06:47 PM

cwcad, thanks for the link, I really do appreciate it. However, I`ve already read this particular one. That`s why I posted my questions.

The post I assume was done with a paste wax. That`s why I asked question 1. As far as questions 2 and 3 go, I`ve read of people doing it both ways. I was just curious if one is better than the other. Lastly, the link didn`t say why distilled water is used, thus my question 4.

**cwcad** · 12-31-2005, 07:57 PM

ok, since that link is the link that i used to do a spit shining detail. here is what i do did in answer to your questions.

1. yes a paste wax was/is used for a spit shine. the direct answer for me is only paste wax is used. Have nevEr attempted a spit shine with a liquid.

2. When using the spit shining method keeping the area moist will make it appear that there isn`t a haze deveoping. By keeping the area moist as you apply that area gets more and more wax on the surface. When you have applied as much of the wax as desired move to another area. By the time that you are done there is a haze over the entire area. So no the product never disappears because you keep layering it while it is wet. I kept the pad wet and spritz the area that had already been applied again with my QD and re-applied until i got as much wax as I wanted or I got tired. Which ever came first.

3. Well I needed to use the QD to remove the wax but I first buffed off the wax with a MF towel, before I used the QD, to see where the thick layers were and adjust the next application to get a more uniform layer on the next attempt. For me the buffing was as hard as the spit shining because of the light pressure when wiping.

4. Sorry I cannot answer the question of the water. I do not know.

I hope this answer your questions.

**III** · 12-31-2005, 09:36 PM

Cwcad, thanks for your feedback. I`m curious though as to why you spit shine with paste only?

**pontman43** · 12-31-2005, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by III

Cwcad, thanks for your feedback. I`m curious though as to why you spit shine with paste only?

Thicker maybe? Anyone try this with 845 IW?

**cwcad** · 12-31-2005, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by III

Cwcad, thanks for your feedback. I`m curious though as to why you spit shine with paste only?

mostly becasue it was the only carnuaba that i had in my arsenal. until recently i did not have a carnauba in liguid and never thought about anything other than a paste for spit shining. never thought about a sealant either. it could be jsut me.

**III** · 01-01-2006, 05:39 AM

Originally Posted by Pontman43

Thicker maybe?

I was thinking more along the lines of since liquid carnaubas usually contain more solvent carriers than paste, this would hinder the spit shinning? I never spit shined with either one, so I can`t comment on what works.

**Accumulator** · 01-01-2006, 10:44 AM

Remember that the whole purpose of spitshining is to better facilitate layering by lessening the possibility that solvents/carrier agents will compromise the wax that`s already on there.

Some liquids seem to layer and some don`t. With all the solvents in the liquid waxes, I dunno if diluting them with "spit" will make much of a difference but it might be worth trying- but that`s be all you`d be doing, diluting the liquid wax with water. I suspect that certain liquid waxes won`t take kindly to having water mixed in so do a small area first.

I guess we seldom consider liquids since this whole idea is sorta geared towards getting a specific result with paste waxes under somewhat particular circumstances.

IMO (and this might be a point of contention), the best reason to spitshine is to allow the rapid, and thicker-than-normal building up of wax in a short timeframe. That is, doing layer after layer in quick succession at one detailing session. Using the spitshine technique for a more normal wax session (e.g., a week after your last coat of wax) will provide some benefits but isn`t quite the same thing as doing a bunch of layers with spitshining all at one time.

Doing it all at once, you *need* to find some way to permit layering. Doing it at, say, weekly intervals it`s likely you`ll be able to layer pretty well anyhow and I seldom spitshine in this case these days (after having done it numerous times). There`s middle ground when you spread a wax job over a few days, and then I do spitshine.

As for tap water vs. distilled, it`s all a matter of the quality of your tap water. I err on the side of caution and use distilled when I`m not using a QD. Do chill it in the refrigerator though, at Nick T`s suggestion I started doing that and I find it *is* worthwhile.

**III** · 01-01-2006, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Some liquids seem to layer and some don`t.

Any particular products come to mind?

**Accumulator** · 01-01-2006, 02:26 PM

III- I`m a paste wax kinda guy so I don`t have much experience with liquids, relatively speaking.

The only liquid I ever used extensively was Malm`s. It does layer; I once had to strip off yellow "wax build up" just like in the floor polish commercials

Don`t let that put you off Malm`s, it was an extreme/unusual situation. I sorta liked the stuff and it absolutely did *not* stain trim- I actually used it (as in used it intentionally

) on the rubber exterior trim of the XJS for years before switching to Souveran and I might start using it again. Griot`s BOS supposedly layers too but I don`t remember much about it except that I didn`t like it.

I wouldn`t bother spitshining either of those liquid waxes, I`d just use an applicator plenty damp with water (which will, IMO, accomplish about the same thing).

Offhand, I can`t think of any liquids that *don`t* appear to layer, to be honest I threw that in as a sop to the people who like to get all flamey about how you can`t layer certain types of products. The other liquids I`ve used (most notably, the discontinued Pinnacle Creme Glaz) usually had some kind of cleaners so I never bothered trying to layer them.