INTRODUCTION
I have done this test to see if there are any differences between waxes and sealants. Many people claim that dedicated sealants give a better result on lighter colour vehicles, especially Werkstat acrylic on the CW DC5. This test is to clarify if this claim holds true for myself and others. I am not testing durability here, just differences in application, affordability, removal, along with cleaning and 'shine' properties. This is purely from an enthusiasts point of view, I don't have any fancy tools to accurately measure shine etc, I just use my camera and confirm what I can see with my own eyes.
Also, I aim to see if there are any advantages to layering products and touch on the infamous 'Flake Pop' at the end!
*EDIT, just so you know, a sealant is generally all synthetic and made in a lab
A wax is generally natural and contains a natural product like Carnauba.
Thanks a lot to Adam for doing the videos and letting me use his car as a guinea pig! Much appreciated
it is important to note here that all comparisons are made on the SAME CAR, on the SAME PANEL, which in this case is the Bonnet.
IN THE BLUE CORNER - Meguiars (Taken from Facebook USA)
For over 100 years, Meguiar's has been providing Car Crazy people with specialized state-of-the-art formulations for making the appearance of cars “show car perfect.” Chosen by 24 out of 28 “Best in Class” winners at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Meguiar's provides high performance products for every automotive surface, including paint, wheels, tires, and interiors. As part of their passionate support for the car hobby, Meguiar's created “Car Crazy Television,” seen weekly on SPEED and “Car Crazy Radio,” which airs weekly in over 100 markets nationally.
IN THE RED CORNER - Werkstat (Taken from their home page)
Werkstat LLC was founded in 2005 with the mission to provide the highest quality automotive protectants and appearance products at any price, without the gimmicks and without the hype. Just solid products. We're a small company here, but we've partnered with some of the largest chemical companies in the world and some of the most respected auto detailing manufacturers to meet our goal. If we couldn't find it, we made it. If we couldn't make it, we found a specialist who could.
THE PRODUCTS:
Meguiars Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax (Wax)
Meguiars Ultimate Compound (paint cleaner)
923ml of total product
Total Cost: £27.98 (Meguiars UK)
Werkstatt Acrylic Prime (paint cleaner and sealant)
Acrylic Jett Trigger (Sealant)
1000ml of total product
Total Cost: £40 (Polished Bliss)
1. PREPARATION:
Ok so here goes! The most important part! I divided up the bonnet in two halves with some funky tape, Drivers side will be Meguiars products, Passenger side will be Werkstat.
I used 4 microfiber polishing cloths as to not contaminate product, same with 2 foam polishing pads to apply the Ultimate Compound and Werkstat Prime by DA machine.
All pictures have had a +1 sharpening added and resized with the usual border added. I think I have a dust spot on my camera at time of shooting, probably from all the dust flying about, so ignore any random black spots.
First I took a picture of both sides of the bonnet as it was when Adam arrived which I told him specifically not to clean beforehand, the camera is fixed on a tripod at fixed angles and settings:
Meguiars Side (no product):
Werkstat Side (no product):
As you can see, both sides need are not too bad but the meguiars side has some very noticeable swirls and the Werkstat side has a few bug splatter spots with minimal swirls.
2. CLEANING THE PAINT:
MEGUIARS ULTIMATE COMPOUND - a dedicated paint cleaner
First up, Meguiars Ultimate Compound, worked in using a DA Machine and a 3"foam pad, even coverage as always in overlapping passes gave the following result after wiping clean with a microfiber.
IMPRESSIONS:
The Ultimate Compound is very easy to work in by machine and easy to remove by hand/microfiber, I think it also smells of Cinnamon!?
RESULTS:
Great result here right away with the compound, improved clarity in the flash and all swirls removed, only deeper scratches remain. (Sorry about the strand of hair that I left behind here, lol)
When rubbed with a cloth, the paint now squeaks really bad! This means there is absolutely no wax on this half of the bonnet.
Meguiars Ultimate Compound:
WERKSTAT ACRYLIC PRIME - a stand alone paint cleaner and sealant
The Werkstat side was treated in the same way, worked in by machine in the same way (until dry) with a 3" pad, then wiped clean with a microfiber cloth.
IMPRESSIONS:
The Werkstat Prime smells like grow bag soil/earth, lol. Honestly. Harder to remove than the Ultimate Compound because of it's synthetic nature. But otherwise not a problem.
RESULTS:
The Werkstat side did require 2 applications to match the Meguiars side but I was advised to do two applications of prime beforehand. Werkstat Prime says on the bottle it can be used as a standalone 'sealant' so I imagine it is likely to be less aggressive than the Meguiars stand alone compound and really needs the extra application. The following picture was after 2 applications of Prime. The bug splats have been completely removed and the paint is now very smooth under polishing cloth, you can feel there is some 'sealant' in the Prime as it's not squeaking under hand when buffing.
Werkstat Prime (2 layers):
CLEANING THE PAINT RESULTS:
Both the Ultimate Compound and Acrylic Prime gave the same results, although not being a dedicated paint cleaner, the prime did need the 2 applications to be more comparable with the Compound, this is understandable.
3. WAXING/SEALING - layer 1:
MEGUIARS GOLD CLASS CARNAUBA PLUS - a natural wax with synthetic polishing oils.
Time for the wax! The Gold Class Carnauba Plus was applied using a clean Microfiber Applicator, a coin sized blob of product was used to cover the Meguiars half of the bonnet. Allowed to dry to a haze and buffed off with a clean microfiber.
IMPRESSIONS:
This stuff takes about 20 seconds to cover the one side of the bonnet, it took about 5 minutes to dry to a haze on the day and another 20 seconds to clean off with a clean Microfiber. This was very easy to apply and remove. Plus it smells great, but not sure what of! You could see where you have been too, drying to a haze and making reflections very dull making it easy to spot where you have been.
RESULTS:
Meguiars Gold Class Carnauba Plus (layer 1) gave fantastic results, sealing in that freshly compounded Clear Coat. Fantastic gloss on this.
Meguiars Gold Class Carnauba Plus (layer 1):
WERKSTAT ACRYLIC JETT TRIGGER - a synthetic sealant
The Acrylic Jett Trigger is self explanatory, it comes in a trigger spray bottle, making it very easy to apply the product by spraying the panel directly and then buff until dry.
IMPRESSIONS:
Spraying sparingly (as indicated on the label) was easy enough but the even coverage comes from rubbing it about with a Microfiber cloth (you cant get complete coverage with the spray alone in a 'sparingly' manor), this took a few minutes as it tended to smear a bit but it did dry out as I kept buffing as indicated. It was almost IMPOSSIBLE to see where you have been though without looking at the paint from funny angles, the constant buffing was also quite tiring.
RESULTS:
Werkstat Acrylic Jett (Layer 1) gave fantastic results! Again, sealing in the freshly cleaned clear coat and clearly topping up the sealant properties of the Werkstat Acrylic Prime. Lovely deep gloss here too!
Werkstat Acrylic Jett (layer 1):
WAXING/SEALING COMPARISON RESULTS - layer 1:
Both the Meguiars and Werkstat combinations have produced great results, the slight difference in colour is down to the camera flash calculations so ignore that.
I was advised to do 3 layers of the Werkstat Acrylic Jett, so a long way to go yet!. Werkstat Acrylic Jett says on the label it can be 'layered' after the first layer has 'cured' after 30 minutes....... so in order to build up 3 layers I need to wait an hour before the third layer is applied.... which I did!
4. WAXING/SEALING - Layer 2
MEGUIARS GOLD CLASS CARNAUBA PLUS - Layer 2
While waiting for the Acrylic Jett to cure it's first layer at the recommended 30 minute interval, I slapped on another coat of the Carnauba Plus and removed in the same manner as layer 1.
RESULTS
Pretty much the same as layer 1's results! I can't really tell a difference.
Meguiars Gold Class Carnauba (layer 2):
WERKSTAT ACRYLIC JETT (layer2)
OK, so after letting the first layer to cure for 30 minutes, I went about applying layer 2, in the same manner as layer 1 with a bit more buffing dry!
RESULTS:
Again, I don't see any type of improvement over layer 1, even after curing layer 1 for 30 minutes.
Werkstat Acrylic Jett Trigger (layer 2):
WAXING/SEALING COMPARISON RESULTS - Layer 2
BOTH the Meguiars and Werkstat are very comparable, clarity it great on both still (minus the slight discrepancies in the flash) but still neither are visually better than their first layers of sealant/wax.
5. WAXING/SEALING - Layer 3
I decided not to add a third layer of wax to the Meguiars side, the reason being is on the Gold Class Carnauba Plus label, they recommend a thin even layer of wax to begin with.
But true to my word with the Werkstat, I did do layer number 3 after waiting another 30 minutes.
Again, the result was the same as that as layer number 2. Final comparisons are made below.
6. NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION - no flash - shade setting - 1/6th exposure
These are subtle natural light reflections (indoors) of the two sides of the bonnet.
The Camera was set to a strong 'shade' setting which gives the brownish tint as it was quite dark.
Meguiars side with 2 layers of Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax:
Werkstat side with 2 layers of Prime and 3 Layers of Acrylic Jett:
NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION RESULTS
Yeah, no difference right? I really tried my best to see if there was any difference, but there just was no difference between the Meguiars and Werkstat sides. Reflections were identicle in clarity.
7. NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION 2 - no flash - shade setting - 1/13th exposure
Camera was angled different for this, with the windscreen wipers used for reflection gauges.
Meguiars side with 2 layers of Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax:
Werkstat side with 2 layers of Prime and 3 Layers of Acrylic Jett:
NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION 2 RESULTS
Again, no difference at all between the two, even though the Werkstat side has the more 'layers' of product.
8. NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION 3 - with flash - outside
This time, the car was moved outside of the garage. The flash was also fired to compare sides.
The Camera is no longer on a tripod and is now HANDHELD
Meguiars side with 2 layers of Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax:
Werkstat side with 2 layers of Prime and 3 Layers of Acrylic Jett:
NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION 3 RESULTS
Yet again, there is no difference at all between the two, clarity, reflection and gloss is all the same. The non tripod shots are less controllable, the aperture between the two was slightly different, and I was slightly closer to the panel on the Werkstat Shot.... which you can tell.
Bot otherwise again, a dead heat, even with my own eyes.
9. NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION 4 - no flash - outside
Natural reflection shot number 4 involves no flash and a house as a reflection shot.
Meguiars side with 2 layers of Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax:
Werkstat side with 2 layers of Prime and 3 Layers of Acrylic Jett:
NATURAL LIGHT REFLECTION 4 RESULTS
I think you have probably noticed by now, there are no major differences, and this really is the biggest test as it is quite a strong reflection. The Werkstat image has the sun a little stronger on the house due to the different angle along with slightly darker levels on the exposure, otherwise, clarity and gloss is the same yet again. Visually, again with my own eyes, there is absolutely no difference. You could say the house is a little sharper in the Werkstat side, but then the leaves are sharper on the Meguiars side... this is clearly down to the different camera angles from the paint to the reflections and the focus point, not the quality of the finish.
10. VERDICT/COMPARISONS
APPLICATION
Both the Compound and the Prime were easily machined on.
The Acrylic Jett, being a trigger was theoretically the easiest but still needed spreading evenly with a Microfiber as the trigger will not give you even coverage alone.
The Meguiars Gold Class Wax was easily spread evenly with a Microfiber Applicator pad.
REMOVAL
The Ultimate Compound was easy to remove with Microfibers after machining on, as was the Acrylic Prime, although the Prime being Synthetic, was slightly harder to remove.
The Acrylic Jett required constant buffing to dry and I found it was streaking in places where it was visually hard to see where you have been.
The Gold Class Carnauba was much easier to remove by hand, leaving a very noticeable haze after leaving to dry for a few minutes. Just a couple of passes was enough to completely remove the product with no streaking.
AFFORDABILITY
The Meguiars combination is £3 down on product than the Werkstat. There is 77ml difference between the two. But the Werkstat combination costs £9 more overall taking that difference into consideration.
Werkstat was 0.04p per ml x 1000ml = £40.00
Meguiars was 0.03031419p per ml x 923 = £27.98
CLEANING PERFORMANCE
The Werkstat Acrylic Prime needed 2 applications to match the performance of 1 application of Ultimate Compound, meaning you use twice as much. This is likely because the Prime is not a stand alone paint cleaner, it is both a cleaner and a wax.
SHINE/REFLECTIONS
Both Meguiars and Werkstat produced identical results. Both show great gloss and reflective properties. Neither was noticeably better than the other though.
FLAKE POP
Again, no difference in 'flake pop' both products gave identicle results in my little mini test on a metallic silver clear coated speaker. I also tried the same on my Arctic Blue Type-R lip with identical results. On both direct sunshine and under camera flash.
Werkstat on the left (Primed and Sealed) Meguiars on the Right (Compounded and Waxed). Under Flash.
DURABILITY
Not tested, being purely synthetic, the Werkstat probably lasts longer as 'sealants' are engineered to. Being partly Carnauba, the Meguiars Gold Class Wax will likely break down faster being a natural wax. But both tests would be pointless if you wash and wax your car at least twice a month being an enthusiast. Thus, a durability test would be pointless in this case. But a general rule is Sealants do last longer than natural Waxes. But I have no facts or figures. Many factors are involved here too, such as weather etc making it hard to test. Adam is going to leave the car as long as he can in it's current half and half state, so hopefully I can get some impressions at a later date.
12. CONCLUSION
Difficult one this really, if you are after the 'Best Shine Possible' then both Meguiars and Werkstat products work identically on a CW DC5. But the Werkstat required more work with more product and costs a fair bit more to boot, negating any benefits of that extra 77ml of product.
Either way though, whichever you choose out of these two, just enjoy it, they can both perform the same results on both cars visually.
13. CAN YOU REALLY LAYER WAX/SEALANTS?
In my tests here, you can't see (and even with my own eyes!) a difference between 2 layers of wax, and 3-5 layers of Sealant. This is because your paint can only hold a certain amount before you start removing it again with subsequent applications. A thin, even coat of wax is preferable, then topping up the wax each time you wash the car will keep the wax at it's limit. Or if you have just cleaned your paint, 2 even coats will be more than enough. If you enjoy it on the other hand, feel free, but there is no visual or practical benefit to the look of the paint.
More layers does not mean increased reflectivity (especially if the product you are applying is not clear) Otherwise if that was possible, a car with 100 layers of wax would probably look almost chrome! Wax/Sealants will always reach a plateau of maximum product the paint can take.
The Scientific bit!
A guy on detailing world back in 2009 tested it using silicon wafers and collinite (then eventually moving onto sealants) he found that the silicon wafers could only take so much product in both cases, and usually, by the third application, he ended up removing product, sometimes, even more so that the first layer put on!
It makes for a very interesting read:
LAYERING WAX - PAGE 5 FOR RESULTS
http://www.detailing...ad.php?t=127943
WAX/SEALANT LAYERING - RESULTS ON FIRST PAGE
http://www.detailing...ad.php?t=130901
Basically, like me (but scientifically), he came to the conclusion, you can't layer wax/sealants, but rather you can reach a limit to how much cant be applied. 2 'applications' generally will give you the best results possible at the end of the day, all you need it to reach that plateau of how much the paint can take, which in some cases can be reached with 1 application.
MY OWN REVELATIONS AND OPINIONS (TOTALLY IMO!)
I learned so much researching all this! and also confirmed a lot of my own beliefs.
I even found out that Meguiars 16 Paste wax was once re-packaged and sold for £200 by another brand!
My ultimate conclusion, you don't always get what you pay for! I believe many companies that sell 'premium waxes' are just filling a gap in the market for the rich and gullable. Sad but I believe this to be true. And until I get my hands on some of this super expensive 'miracle' wax, then thats the way I will always see it. Carnauba for instance is NOT an expensive product. Meguiars have over 100 years of Research and Development, this shows in their products. I have asked Swissvax for a free sample to test, but to no avail (surprise!) Yet Meguiars will hand them out no problem.
As for me and Meguiars, well, you all know by now I am a big Meguiars fan!
I will always recommend Meguiars, because it's what I know, same as the car you drive and the places you have been, you will always recommend the best of what you have experienced.
If you use Autoglym, thats fine (Shhh, I do too! lol) but you won't find me recommending a product that costs hundreds more. Why? because you can get the same for a lot less. But sadly a lot of people are being told you always have to pay more to get more, it's just not always true. Save yourself some money and give the extra to charity.
This concludes the most GEEKY post I have ever done, lol, but hopefully to most an eye opening one!
P
