Car wax & evil oil

[markkw]

The following was posted on another forum ...

Some time ago I had to watch a NASA corrosion control video training course. One of the subjects was clear coat and rust. When car companies first introduced clear coat, the advantage was not ever having to wax the car. Oil companies, however, felt that if this were true, they would lose billions of dollars because wax (derived from crude oil) would not be sold. The compromise was for the car companies to recommend no waxing for 6 months after a new car was purchased.

The kicker is that folks wax their cars after they wash it. Due to this, small microscopic pitting in the clear coat is filled with water, then the wax will blanket over the pitting filled with water. Since wax is pretty waterproof, the water is trapped under the wax. Since it cannot evaporate, it will begin to fester and work its way towards the pitting, causing an anode effect. The result is small brown specs in the paint, which is rust. Effectively, waxing a clear coated car starts the rusting. has as the car companies first claimed, one should never wax a clear coated car!

To start with, there's no NASA video on file concerning clear coat, if they did in fact produce one, it would at least be listed in the archives.

Auto waxes are typically carnauba-soy or other blends of carnauba and veggie waxes with only a small amount of petroleum distillate carriers ... so much for "evil oil", more like "evil ag".

Microscopic water ... that's moisture, anyone who has bothered to read the instruction, most auto waxes suggest leaving the surface "wet" or using a "damp applicator". Furthermore, wax is not "waterproof" it is a surface enhancer meaning it ehances the natural surface tension to retain that tension - IE: water bead effect.

"Fester" ... correct me if I'm wrong here but if one was to "seal" water to the point where it could not evaporate, therefore it cannot interact with oxygen or any other atmospheric gas, exactly how could it "fester"? And, that not to mention the fact that the wax coating is not waterproof and therefore incapable of preventing the alleged water from evaporating.

"Anode effect" ohhhhhh there's a sure sign of someone spending way too much time in the wikipedia zone!

So who originated the post? As you may have suspected, one of NPR's finest kool aid drinkers!

[franz]

Well what do you expect in a world where car dealers have no problem selling Ziebart rustproofing and paint protection on new vehicles.

We're living neck deep in stupid created by Union Teachers and Public Education where Buffie can't add 2 + 3 but she can damn well roll a rubber down a cucumber.

I'm glad I'm old.

[tech4]

Not arguing with the theory here but does a clear coat need waxing? The first car I had with a clear coat was in 1986 and I cleaned and waxed the car several times. Later I noticed the clear coat on the hood peeling and took it back to the dealer. They at first tried to tell me that I had the hood re-painted which was not true - then they said it was acid rain. Anyway after a lot of words and threats the hood was re-painted and clear coat by the dealer. Since then I have not waxed my clear coat cars and the finish looks good. Does a clear coat car need waxing and what kind if true?

[markkw]

There were plenty of issues with OEM clearcoats and primers mainly as auto mfg's tried to cut costs by buying cheaper product and thinning too much so it wouldn't gum-up the automated equipment. Dodge and Ford both had major problems with clearcoat, Dogde & GM also had major primer problems too.

Clearcoat is nothing but the clear gloss additive applied on top of the pigment layer instead of being mixed all together into a single component. The major advantages are that applying the clearcoat on top of the pigment layer adds depth to the look of the finish; also it makes mixing pigment much easier as you're only dealing with the adhesive, solvent carrier and pigment. When you go to mixing one-part paints, the amount of clear must be properly balanced to the amount of pigment - too much pigment added and the look goes flat because there isn't enough clear to produce sufficient shine - on the other hand, too much clear in proportion to the pigment creates a floating look and poor coverage. Thus, applying the pigment layer separately allows one to use multiple coats of pigment as necessary for the application to obtain sufficient coverage or produce specialty looks like metallic or color fading without getting way too much build-up of the total paint layer.

Thus, clearcoat is nothing more than clear paint and it should be waxed just the same as any other gloss paint. The only detrimental issues of applying wax to any type of paint is the solvents and carriers used to make the wax emulsion because they can damage the integrity of the paint. Look at the ingredients of the wax compound, if it contains "petroleum distillates" or other such non-descript solvents, look for a different wax. Something else no one thinks about is the type of wash additive and water being used to clean the vehicle. Using chlorinated water is like spraying the vehicle down with an acid bath, then if you apply wax over the corrosive chlorine, you're trapping the corrosive between the wax and paint - since wax is not water/gas proof, moisture and oxygen can penetrate it rapidly increasing the corrosive effects of the chlorine residue. You see all those folks going through the automated or coin-operated car washes in town and they don't have a clue that they're doing more damage with the chlorinated water than if they'd just leave the flipping thing dirty.