# Waxes Vs Sealants



## CLCC (Nov 18, 2010)

You often read on here about certain properties being ascribed to a products, or classes of products, for example "waxes will bead better and sealants will sheet better" or product X will give wet look compared to a glassy look of product Y. Well I thought I would put some of these to the test and put two waxes up against two sealants in a head to head comparison.

The products on test were Auto Glym Extra Gloss Protection and Finish Kare's 1000P for the sealants, vs Collinite 476 and Dodo Juice Purple Haze for the waxes.

I washed the car, prepped with Prima Amigo, and then separated my bonnet into 4 quarters with blue tape.

In the video you get to compare the reflections and see the beading and sheeting characteristics of each product before I reveal which is which.

There is time in the video for you to pause and make your predictions, so let me know below how successful (or otherwise) you were at guessing which product was in which quarter.






Let me know if you think that there is anything flawed in my methodology, as I want these kind of tests to be as fair as I can make them. Let me know what you think I should try in my next head-to-head.


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## FallenAngel (Oct 24, 2015)

Coli 476s is sealant. Prep was wrong for sealents, they wont bond to glaze properly, they need clean bare paint for best bonding and results. You tested one wax (DJ PH ) against 3 sealents .


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## CLCC (Nov 18, 2010)

FallenAngel said:


> Coli 476s is sealant. Prep was wrong for sealents, they wont bond to glaze properly, they need clean bare paint for best bonding and results. You tested one wax (DJ PH ) against 3 sealents .


Thanks for the feedback, do we have a DW approved definition of what is a sealant and what is a wax? According to the packaging DJ, Collinite and FK1000p are all waxes, with only the AG EGP calling itself a sealant, so thats 3 to 1 the other way!


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

CLCC said:


> Thanks for the feedback, do we have a DW approved definition of what is a sealant and what is a wax?


For me, there's your "pure" waxes at one end - carnauba and just enough plant oil of some description to allow it to be spread. On the other end, you have 100% artificial sealants, Carlack Long Life is probably a good example, pure acrylic.

In between these two 'extremes' is a huge expanse of grey, and overlaid on top of that is the marketing where things get called whatever the manufacturers think will sell best.

Trying to go around saying "that's a wax, that's a sealant" is, for me, a futile activity. There are LSPs, made of stuff, they are applied in various ways, and perform in various ways, end of :thumb:


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## FallenAngel (Oct 24, 2015)

CLCC said:


> Thanks for the feedback, do we have a DW approved definition of what is a sealant and what is a wax? According to the packaging DJ, Collinite and FK1000p are all waxes, with only the AG EGP calling itself a sealant, so thats 3 to 1 the other way!


Dont open that box mate :lol:. It's a really fine line to be honest, the general consensus on coli 476, fk1000 is that they are defo sealent. They consist mostly of man made substances, and even if they contain some carnuba its a very small percentage and that doesent make them waxes. Waxes are all natural, made from different blends of natural occuring waxes, and other ingredients as oils, bla bla b . you get the point. Manfacturer tend to call everything waxes, because, general public is clueless and they dont want to confuse them , every car owner knows about wax, but sealents not so much. Thats the main reason I guess. :thumb:


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## Gixxer6 (Apr 5, 2014)

This should help explain the difference between waxes and sealants:

http://www.autogeek.net/qude101.html
and
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=149526

Some manufacturers wrongly call a sealant a wax for example:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/meguiars-ultimate-liquid-wax.html

"We've been fans of Meguiar's products for many years, and we're delighted with what their new Ultimate range offers in terms of value for money and performance. However, one small niggle remains, concerning their naming conventions. Take their Ultimate Liquid Wax for example. It's a really good last step product that delivers excellent results in terms of ease of use and finish quality. However, it's not a wax. Meguiar's call it a wax because from a marketing standpoint they believe that you won't buy it unless you see the word wax in the title. But it's not a wax. It's actually a synthetic paint sealant that uses cutting edge polymers to deliver a brilliant, long lasting finish. We hope you'll try it for this reason, and this reason alone."

And ..... then you have Hybrid waxes which is a blend of natural and synthetic materials:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=367714


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

FallenAngel said:


> Dont open that box mate :lol:. It's a really fine line to be honest, the general consensus on coli 476, fk1000 is that they are defo sealent. They consist mostly of man made substances, and even if they contain some carnuba its a very small percentage and that doesent make them waxes. Waxes are all natural, made from different blends of natural occuring waxes, and other ingredients as oils, bla bla b . you get the point. Manfacturer tend to call everything waxes, because, general public is clueless and they dont want to confuse them , every car owner knows about wax, but sealents not so much. Thats the main reason I guess. :thumb:


As you said FK1000p contains a very small amount of Nuba wax along with a few other oils/waxes I think? Whether that is enough to class it as a Hybrid wax is up to the individual. Coli I think contains more natural ingredients than 1000p so I would lean more towards Coli being a Hybrid than 1000p.

Good review mate, made for good watching and seen very little difference in the finish. Usually hard to tell on a single panel sectioned into smaller areas though. I think having 3-4 cars side with my difference angles etc is the only way to fully test the visual impact of a LSP.


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## AndyA4TDI (May 7, 2012)

Time for a nap.


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## CLCC (Nov 18, 2010)

Brian1612 said:


> As you said FK1000p contains a very small amount of Nuba wax along with a few other oils/waxes I think? Whether that is enough to class it as a Hybrid wax is up to the individual. Coli I think contains more natural ingredients than 1000p so I would lean more towards Coli being a Hybrid than 1000p.
> 
> Good review mate, made for good watching and seen very little difference in the finish. Usually hard to tell on a single panel sectioned into smaller areas though. I think having 3-4 cars side with my difference angles etc is the only way to fully test the visual impact of a LSP.


Buying another 3 cars to test products on will significantly increase my production costs!!!


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## CLCC (Nov 18, 2010)

FallenAngel said:


> Coli 476s is sealant. Prep was wrong for sealents, they wont bond to glaze properly, they need clean bare paint for best bonding and results. You tested one wax (DJ PH ) against 3 sealents .


Prima Amigo says that it is good prep for synthetic waxes, so wouldn't that be a sealant?


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

CLCC said:


> You often read on here about certain properties being ascribed to a products, or classes of products, for example "waxes will bead better and sealants will sheet better" or product X will give wet look compared to a glassy look of product Y. Well I thought I would put some of these to the test and put two waxes up against two sealants in a head to head comparison.
> 
> The products on test were Auto Glym Extra Gloss Protection and Finish Kare's 1000P for the sealants, vs Collinite 476 and Dodo Juice Purple Haze for the waxes.
> 
> ...


Enjoyed the video - what will be really interesting is what do they look like in two months time. Most LSPs have pretty good water behaviour and appearance when freshly applied...


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## CLCC (Nov 18, 2010)

I'll try to add some update videos to see how they hold up


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## cargainz (Jul 25, 2016)

Interesting video and discussion about wax/sealants. Manufacturers package their products with the general public in mind (and dollar signs in their eyes) as Joe Public would not know what a sealant is. :lol:


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