I only had enough time to wax just the hood of my car this Saturday so I did. It was parked in the shade and was cool to the touch. I used a wax that I bought a couple years ago I think. It was Kit Carnauba Gold Wax, a paste. I applied it and removed it but it was tougher than normal getting off. I didn't stir the wax and maybe because of the age, I got these spots? They look like water spots and I can't get them off. It's only on the hood so I think it's the wax maybe. Should I just re-wax the surface with a brand new wax? It's so weird, these spots showed up two days later, I don't get it.

 

watever it is, get it off fast. clay should work nicely.

yah, old wax can potentially separate (although paste wax lasts much longer than liquid wax)... might want to try another app but with less product.

if you have a hard time removing wax after it's haze, try some QD.

 

Thanks Kenchan.

I made sure I was doing everything right, out of the sun, cool surface. After I washed it, I dryed it with a Microfiber towel and left it in the shade. It's only on the hood so it must have been the wax. It looks horrible, I wish I had pics.

 

Yes it was definitely old wax it does not handle extreme cold and heat so it alters pretty easily. Claying should get it off there good and then you need to rewax with a fresh current wax product.

Cat :x

 

Interesting. Nice info guys.

Quick related question.
How "extreme" should the hot-and-cold weather cycle be to induce wax separation? Are we talking winter temperatures?

 

Cold weather can damage lots of detailing products. All the detailers up north bring their supplies into their house and close up shop for the winter of course. Pretty much anything lower than 40 fahrenheit can damage products including wax.

Kenchan had a great suggestion. I highly recommend you clay bar the entire car if you havent already. You should clay bar the car at least once a year. It removes bonded contaminants that washing, polishing, nor waxing can remove. Makes the paint feel smooth as glass. After you clay it, apply the wax as you normally did. Of course use a brand new wax. The wax will look better and last way longer now that it has a clean and smooth surface to bond to.

If you are unsure on how to use a clay bar read this guide.

Auto detailing clay, detail clay bar, clay lubricant, Pinnacle Poly Clay, Wolfgang, auto detail clay, meguiar's detailing clay, auto clay bar

 

I actually just washed the hood again today and re-waxed with a new product. I threw that old shit away. That wax I had was in my car in the heat and cold I think. I had another wax that was also about 4 years old. I was in Advance Auto Parts today looking for a clay bar and they didn't even have one. I was like what, how does this store not have one? Anyway, thanks for all the advice guys.

 

Try AutoZone, they usually carry "Magic Clay", I used that vs. Meguiars. I noticed both sprays work well, but the magic clay bar was a lot thicker, just don't drop it!!!

 

I don't even have an Autozone in my area. Might have to get it online or maybe from BridgeAutoParts although Bridge is hella expensive.

 

Walmart sells clay. Try them. And yeah if you drop it, even for a second, throw it away. If not you will do severe damage to your paint. And by the way, its really easy to drop.

 

I was looking more closely at my car's paint yesterday after work and noticed a ton of shit on the roof. I think my major area of concern right now is the roof. The guy that had the car before me didn't take care of the paint as well as I would have liked. I'm def. gonna clay the hell out of the roof and follow up with a nice wax job. Oh man, can't wait.

The doors and vertical surfaces look fine, it's just the horizontal areas that need special attention.

 

in the winter time in my area my garage can get into the
sub freezing temps so I always move all my detailing products
into my utility room where it's room temp.

most polymer based products are fine in sub freezing temp
and cycled, but water based polishes, carnauba wax dont
do well. once separated they dont just simply mix back together
after the vigorous shaking.

also, i like to release the pressure inside the bottle when there's
a big temp change. like my bottles will strink inward when it
gets colder and bloat outward when it gets warmer. not a
good thing to open up a bottle of polish and content explodes
out. hahaha had that happen to me a few times...

 

Yeah so like I said I re washed and waxed with Meguirs Quick Wax. Rubbed on with cheesecloth and buffed off with cheesecloth. The sun was down so I couldn't see if the spots had been removed. Today is rainy and cloudy so I won't have a chance to see if it helped until the next sunny day.

You guys said cold but what about really hot temps. There was a time that paste wax I had was almost a liquid, lol.

 

Update: It rained like hell yesterday and I felt the hood this morning and that layer of wax I applied is already gone! Ugghh, those spots are gone but now I can see different blemishes than before the re-application. I don't get it, what am I doing wrong? I guess at this point I need to clay the hood cause the wax just isn't sticking. It's so frustrating. Anyone got any ideas on what to do from here?

 

hot temps can probably vaporize some of the goodness of the wax.
just get a new bottle or paste from the store.

there are 2 types of wax/sealants. some sheet water off the paint,
some bead. it might be that your have wax that has characteristics
to sheet water off.

also some waxes/sealants temporarily loose beading characteristics
when exposed so soap. it returns after it's fully dry.

do a rubbing alcohol/squeak test. just wipe a section of your
paint (small area) with rubbing alcohol and see if you can tell
a difference how your finger tip grabs the paint. if you can
then your wax is still there. if you can't then your wax did
wash away. hahaha.

time to get some real wax/sealant. NuFinish is probably the strongest
sealant out there off-the-shelf. it's not the best looking finishes
but hell, if you want protection it's one of them to try.

also, for those times that you need to visually inspect your
paint/stains, etc. get a LED flashlight. those have blue hue
and will show pretty much anything that the paint has on.

in my garage i use blue hue flourescent twisty bulbs. those
work great for showing imperfections in the paint.

 

on my dd's i use Griot's Paint Sealant and use Prima Hydro to reinforce after each wash (and to tame some of the PaintSealant's surface shine to a deeper gloss).

works great.