What Waxes Work Well?

Between regular wax jobs which I usually do in the Summer months, I use Lemon Pledge!  Yup, you read right!  If you can find it in the pump spray, it really works well, but the aerosol is just as good but a bit more expensive since you're paying for propellant.  I use the Lemon Pledge as a "detailing" wax after washes.  It lays down a nice slick shine and beads water like crazy!  You just spray it on and it is best to wipe it "on" with a slightly damp cotton cloth and then immediately buff with a dry cotton cloth.  Doing a whole car should take around 15 minutes or so.  Just be sure to clean it off your windows with some Windex if any goes astray, as it usually will.  It also works well on the plastic interior surfaces, almost a poor man's Armor All.  And your car smells lemony fresh to boot!

Wow larry can't say i have ever herad of that. Where did you pick that little tip up? Does it layer and leave residue over time? Or does it pretty much leave no trace behind after a week or two?

I just got the idea one day when I was washing my (then) brand new 1978 Plymouth Horizon, my first new car. I was stationed at Andrews AFB, MD, at the time. I had just been shopping at the Commissary, and had some Lemon Pledge Pump Spray in the back of the car. Since I had no other car wax at the time, I plucked it out of the shopping bag, shook thoroughly, sprayed the hood, and started rubbing. Viola! Nice glossy, slick shine. I gave the shine a bit of a durability test by lightly scratching it with my fingernail, and it seemed tough enough. In a few minutes, I had "Pledged" the entire vehicle. This is too easy, I thought. A day or two later, it rained, and the car was beading water like crazy! A week later, I washed the car, and the shine/beading endured. Being a bit meticulous over my first brand new automobile, I "Pledged" it often, and in the five years and almost 60,000 miles I owned that car, I never used anything else. I never noticed any residue build-up, the formulation of Pledge prevents that; it is a cleaner/wax. The advantage is that it is non-abrasive, unlike other auto waxes, so it doesn't "go too far" in order to clean the finish. True, it also doesn't remove much, if any, oxidation, but I never had an oxidation problem while using the Pledge.

When I sold the Horizon five years later, it still looked like new! I just "Pledged" my '03 Corolla yesterday, and it rained like crazy all day today. Great beading action! I wish I'd started using it on the Corolla earlier; I'd been using Turtle Wax until now.

BTW -- while stationed at Plattsburgh AFB, NY a few years later, I owned a 2-year old '83 Chevy Caprice Classic. I used to wax it with Johnson's Paste wax, then "Pledge" it regularly between wax jobs. More work, but I thought it was worth the effort since Plattsburgh is way up North in New York and has severe Winters with lots of snow and road salt. I used to love the way big, thick sheets of frozen snow would just slide off the car when I was cleaning it off after a storm!

In two years and many wax jobs with the Johnson's Paste wax, I used only about 30% of the can, which I gave to the new owner when I sold the Caprice before being re-assigned to Germany in '86.