The Truth About Car Wax: What It Really Does to Your Paint

Jun 29

Hey there, fellow car enthusiasts! If you're like me, you take pride in keeping your car looking its best. One of the most common things you can do to maintain your car's appearance is to wash it and apply a layer of wax. But have you ever wondered what wax actually does to your paint that makes it so shiny? In this article, we're going to cover the truth about car wax and how it affects your paint.

First things first, let's talk about the amount of shine you'll get from waxing your car. It's important to note that the amount of shine you'll get will depend on your paint color. If you have a light-colored car, you'll see less of a difference when you wax it compared to if you had a red or black car. This is because light-colored cars have a more "transparent" color, so when you add wax to your paint, which is also "transparent," your eye will only see so much of a difference. On the other hand, if you have a black car, the results will be much more noticeable.

Now, let's talk about what happens when you apply wax to your car. Here's the part that a lot of people get confused about - when you apply wax, the only thing you're doing is hiding the current swirls and scratches that your paint currently has. It's important to remember that the wax is hiding the swirls, not removing them. There's a big difference between the two. Once the wax wears off in a month or two, the light scratches will come back up and your paint will look dull or not as shiny anymore.

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But don't let that discourage you from waxing your car! Waxing your car is still a very inexpensive solution to add more shine to your paint. You could do this indefinitely for the life of your car and there will be no problem with it. Just keep in mind that when we say swirls and scratches, we're talking about light-micro swirls and scratches. If someone made a scratch by running a key along your paint or someone scraped a golf club across the side of the door panel, the wax won't be able to fix that.

If you want to take it a step further for significant results, you can remove the swirls and scratches with proper paint correction. This isn't as straightforward and simple as waxing your car. You'll need a lot more tools such as a buffer, pads, compounds, polishes, towels, and so forth to complete the job properly. It will also require a lot of time spent on practice and learning the skills as well. But the results will be completely different. People will come up to you and ask when you got a paint job. I hear it all the time from customers.

If you don't have the time to learn it all alone, you can always pay a professional detailer to do it for you. Just make sure you're paying someone that knows what they're doing. If you let anyone use a buffer on your car, they'll do much more damage to your paint than they will good.

In summary, waxing your car is a great way to add more shine to your paint, but it's important to remember that it's only hiding the swirls and scratches, not removing them. If you want to take it a step further for significant results, you can remove the swirls and scratches with proper paint correction. Just make sure you have the right tools and skills to do it properly or hire a professional detailer to do it for you. And remember, whether you're waxing your car or going for a full paint correction, take pride in keeping your car looking its best!