Being a photographer, I have learned that anything that is visual, is very subjective, and being objective is next to impossible... asking the forum which wax is best, is like asking a group of young Mothers which baby is cuter... all will have answers based more on bias than fact/reality... Seriously folks, anytime after you have carefully washed, dried, clayed, polished, waxed/sealed, buffed your car/truck... regardless of the products used, your car will look/feel beautiful... the more time spent in the process, and the higher cost of the products used, the greater the feeling of beauty... it is just human nature... and cannot be argued... More often that not, we base our "visual" opinions on emotion, rather than fact or substance... an example would be, you have two vehicles with perfect paint, no swirls... one is an exotic/luxury/muscle car... the other is a min-van... the exotic car could be waxed with the cheapest wax made, and the mini-van with the most expensive wax made. everyone/car junkies will ooooh/ahhhh at the exotic cars finish, and barely notice the mini-van, except for the soccer moms... you see exotic car, your mind automatically thinks expensive car, expensive, meticulous care, exotic, expensive wax... like-wise, you see mini-van you will think they used an economical, practical wax... I contend that only a very few serious/professional detailers could see the difference between a high-end wax, and a very, very high-end wax, when applied on identical cars... and I can guarantee, if you have two identically waxed cars, and tell everyone, one has a "boutique" wax, and the other is a lesser quality wax, everyone will form an opinion, and see the "difference" when there is none, just from the "power of suggestion" again.... just human nature... Everyone sees the world around us differently, as a photographer, I can show the same image to ten different people, and get ten different reactions... does this judge the image to be good or bad, not at all... beauty is subjective... In detailing it is easy to see the before and afters, of removed swirls, from bad to perfect paint... that is objective... after that, everything becomes subjective when terms like depth, wetness... are introduced... everyone sees/perceives these differently as there are no hard and fast rules... it is very personal... no right or wrong... it is very difficult, maybe impossible to be objective about a product, that you used on a vehicle, because you have an emotional attachment, to either the product, the labor of love in the process or the vehicle itself... I am not a professional, by any means, but, definitely obsessed with having a clean vehicle... my neighbor thinks I am crazy, as my car is washed weekly, and yes, in Seattle, in the wintertime, I will wash it in the rain... my neighbor just might be right... wink/smile... Waxes, sealant wax combinations, never last long enough for me to make longevity judgements, as I am am always trying something new, or just re-applying more... passion/obsession... yes, there is fine line in between... I have seen cars waxed by hand, using your hands to apply the wax... this technique, I will not try, as I know, all too well, my obsessive nature... wink/smile... I spent a couple years in high school learning the "art" of wet sanding, I remember the boss telling me at one point, "You can either remove the scratches or carefully caress the metal, to bring out the beauty from the curves... just like a lady" at the time, I did not fully understand his meaning, it makes far more sense now... I enjoy all the reviews and banter about different products, and respect the knowledge from those with far more experience than me... I also understand that every car, every paint surface is unique in it's own way, and will require a technique, process different from others, and the choice of products has few limits... One thing I can say for certain, in my 40+ years of washing and waxing cars, the products available today are so far superior, and so easy to use... and yes, much more enjoyable to use... just makes the pride and satisfaction easier... wink/smile.
