Is it a wax or paint sealant

[njcarting1]

THERE SEEMS TO BE MANY HERE ASKING SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE. I know Dave and I had a member the other nite in the (chat room) asking about sealant`s, I hope this helps...


There`s a lot of confusion over the topic of car waxes and paint sealants. More specifically, there`s confusion over what`s the difference between a car wax and a paint sealant? Such as when you would use one over the other as well as if you need to use both?

Here`s what forum consensus is on this topic as the non-cyber world tends not to get as A.R.

Car Wax
On discussion forums, most people think of a car wax as something that contains some kind of naturally occurring wax, as in a type of wax that is found in nature, for example Carnauba wax is the most commonly used naturally occurring wax used in car wax formulations.


Paint Sealants
On discussion forums, most people think of a paint sealant as something made from synthetic polymers with no naturally occurring wax type substance or other naturally occurring ingredients.

(The above two explanations are fairly broad by design as I`m not a chemist and completely unqualified to write anything deeper when it comes to chemistry.)


To add to that confusion, some people think you need to use both usually performing a practice commonly known as Topping in which a person would first apply a paint sealant to seal the paint and provide perceived maximum protection followed by the application of a car wax, usually one that includes Carnauba to give the resulting final finish warmth and glow.

(Warmth, Glow, Pop, Sterile, Plastic are all discussion forum buzz words used to describe and differentiate the appearance results produced by either a paint sealant or a car wax)


Here`s the skinny...

First, whether it`s a car wax or a paint sealant, you only need to use one or the other, not both. You can use both if you like, that`s personal preference, but you don`t have to. Meguiar`s has been teaching people the 5 Step Paint Care Cycle since 1981 when they introduced Trigger Wash which was the first "Mist & Wipe" type product that we`ve all come to refer to generically as Quick Detailers. The name Trigger Wash was dropped and the mist and wipe product that actually created/defined the category in the industry was named Quik Detailer. (Before 1981, because there was no such thing as a mist and wipe type quick detailer Meguiar`s taught the 4-Step Paint Care Cycle)

The 5-Step Paint Care Cycle is a common sense approach to regular car care maintenance which breaks the process of maintaining a vehicle`s paint into 5 distinct categories or steps. This would include,

Step 1: Washing
Step 2: Surface Prep
Step 3: Polishing
Step 4 Protecting - This is the step where you would apply either a car wax or a paint sealant
Step 5 Maintaining


Now follow me on this, you can figure out what a product is by the step or category it is placed into. If a product removes defects off or out of the paint then it fits into Step 2: Surface Prep.

If a product is applied to the paint with the end-result goal intended to be protecting the paint then it`s placed into Step 4: Protecting no matter what the name is on the label of the bottle or can.

It is in the step or category that both groups, waxes and paint sealants belong. This being true, (and it is), then when it comes to protecting your car`s paint, after you have done any necessary washing, surface prep and polishing, (and optional step), to prepare the paint then at this point you only need to choose and apply one type of product to coat over, seal and protect the paint. You can if you like apply one, two or more applications of this same product that`s your choice but it`s not necessary to apply an application of each type of product.

While you don`t have to apply a coat of each type of protection product, some people choose to do this for a host of different reasons, usually for perceived better protection or perceived better appearance, but you don`t have to, it`s your option, not a rule.

Meguiar`s recommends one coat of a protection product to protect the paint with a recommendation for a second coat to insure,

Uniform appearance
Uniform coverage
Meguiar`s does not teach applying multiple, multiple applications of a paint protection product to create a thicker and thicker layer of this product on the surface because the surface of your car`s paint will only hold so much product and after you`ve created a uniform coating, any more product applied simply replaces what is already there or is wiped off as excess residue. To date, no one has ever proved that layering, that is multiple applications for a product increases the thickness of the coating being applied.


The difference between a wax and a paint sealant
The difference or the distinction between what is a wax and what is a paint sealant, (according to forum consensus), is that a "Car Wax" contains some type of natural waxy type substance. A paint sealant contains no natural wax but instead is made from man-made or synthetic materials with the the catch-all term of polymers being the most common word used to describe what`s in the can or bottle. There are currently no "Wax Police" so companies can pretty much use any word or term they choose to label their products.

According to the forum consensus definition of a paint sealant, NXT Tech Wax 2.0 is an all synthetic paint sealant but the word "wax" was chosen as the descriptive word for the label because the majority of enthusiasts in the world understand what a car wax is and when and how to use it. When the average do-it-yourselfer walks into an auto parts store to purchase products to wash and wax their car, they are looking for a Car Wash and a Car Wax. (Simple words that tell them what it is they are buying).

When you start using words like paint sealant or paint protectant on the label of a retail product on the shelf of you local auto parts stores, you can confuse the customer. That`s bad marketing and you can lose market share but you can also keep a potential customer from using a top notch product because they don`t understand what it is and when to use it.

So from a marketing and sales point of view you want to use the KISS system, that is Keep it Simple Simon.

We know in the "Discussion Forum World", people can get extremely AR about words and terms but at the end of the day what`s most important is that you know what the product is that you`re using and you`re happy with the results it`s producing in all it`s dimensions which include, application, removal, appearance, protection, longevity, protection, cost and availability.

For the record...
NXT Tech Wax and M21 Synthetic Sealant are both paint sealants as both are made from all synthetic or man-made ingredients. NXT Tech Wax uses the word "wax" on the front label and is marketed and sold through normal consumer channels where the primary intended user is an enthusiast do-it-yourselfer. M21 uses the word sealant on the front label and is marketed and sold through professional channels where the primary intended user is is a professional.



All the rest of Meguiar`s waxes are "Blended Waxes in that they include a blend of both naturally occurring protection ingredients found in nature and a synthetic or man-made ingredients created in a laboratory. Meguiar`s chemists have the expertise to blend multiple ingredients which results in paint protection products that provide multiple benefits and features versus only benefits and features based upon a single ingredient. Even our Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax while it states right on the label Carnauba Wax, if you turn the bottle over and read the back label it states that Carnauba Wax is blended with silicones, polymers and resins. Thus it is a blended wax.




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Nov 19th, 2008, 12:58 AM

[Mike Phillips]

Hi njcarting1,

I have over 28,000 posts on MOL, many of them articles on popular topics, it`s okay to share them on other forums but it`s important to give due credit to where credit is due and by this I mean a reference to the discussion forum that owns the article. In this case that would be Meguiar`s Online.

In the past if someone asked to use an article form Meguiar`s Online they would just ask for a link back to their forum. If you look at most of my articles on both MOL and Autogeek, the "title" is always a blue clickable link, which is actually a link to the same article.

I do this so that I can quickly copy and past the link to another thread and this will enable the reader to click to the article. So when copying and pasting my articles, maybe include the blue clickable link or start the post with,

Originally written by Mike Phillips
Is it a wax? Or a paint sealant? - Car Care Forums: Meguiar`s Online

The link under my name goes to the original article or at the top of the article is the blue clickable link that can be easily copied and pasted.

Is it a wax? Or a paint sealant?


I appreciate when anyone shares my writing in a way that helps others but it`s important to make sure proper Netiquette is followed and sadly too many people simply lift writing and never give credit to the writer.

So thank you for sharing my articles and including my name at the bottom, but do be mindful that the originating discussion forum will likely want credit in the way of a link to the original article.

[njcarting1]

Sorry about that Mike, I just like your reports and ment no disrespect or trying to coppy anything you said. I just wanted to LINK it here because the place is somewhat stale with the usual stuff. Never wanted to do anything but have some good info here for others asking questions.

[Mike Phillips]

Sorry about that Mike, I just like your reports and meant no disrespect or trying to copy anything you said. I just wanted to LINK it here because the place is somewhat stale with the usual stuff. Never wanted to do anything but have some good info here for others asking questions.

No problems and I did my best to write my reply in a polite and professional manner just to point out that the owners of these articles I`ve written are happy to let people post them to other forums, but they need to include where they came from.

Just to note, even though I wrote a lot of article on MOL and now am writing a lot of articles for Autogeek, these companies own these articles, no me, so I`m just trying to share what these companies expect and it`s a normal thing to ask for a link or a reference to where the article came from.

So I appreciate you sharing them, I was just trying to give you and anyone reading this some tips as to how to share an article.

Another way is to contact the Admin of any forum you want to share an article from and ask them how they would like you to do this and that way everyone`s happy.

There are people that actually swipe articles word for word and then just add their name to it and that`s the wrong way to share information.

[njcarting1]

I will take all that into account the next time I post my Link Mike no malice intended. I kept the info on the bottom with your info on it for that reason. I wanted people to have a credible reference to refer to, not just me posting my newly read info from another site.

[Pander5]

That`s a great article Mike and thanks for clarifying some of the LSP confusion.

[RyansAutoDetail]

any time a product claims to last longer than a month or two i consider it to have indefinite sealant characteristics.

almost all pure waxes ive tried wear off after a few car washes but can last longer with megs UQW as a booster after each wash ...

cheers all !