Originally Posted by
DETAILKING
Ok, guys let`s keep this debate healthy!
Wow, this thread brings back some memories, this topic was exhausted time and time again about 7 yrs ago on this forum. We had testing, testing, and more testing and I thought we all pretty much came to the same conclusion!
Anyhow, here are a few cut and pastes from the past of my take on carnubas from back in the day......they have their place in detailing, but they have a few drawbacks compared to the latest polymer technology.
UV protection......A carnuba offers little to no UV light protection. For indoor showcars or garaged weekenders this may be ok, but for outdoor daily drivers this simply won`t cut it. Remember plants need UV light to live, if carnuba filtered UV light, the tree it comes from would cease to exsist.......
As far as adding UV inhibitors, In carnuba waxes, I believe that the oils (usually silicone in most products) in the product make it difficult to add the UV inhibitors. This was written about briefly by David in one of his car care articles.
"......The only true negative property of silicone is the difficulty of adding UV protection..............."
Carnuba Properties............Carnuba is hard and brittle in it`s pure state. It is often melted and added into a companies formulation. Typical carnuba type waxes, only contain about 5-10% carnuba by volume. Any more than that, and it gets very difficult to work with (take zymol that needs to be applied with your hands so the heat melts the product to make it spread easier). It also does not add any more protection after a certain amount. When you see PURE CARNUBA, it means that the part of the wax that is carnuba is 100% pure. Every carnuba product must contain other waxes because carnuba in itself will not bead water! Polyethylene wax is popular, and most contain pariffin wax for water beading properties. Take a candle, for instance, that is pariffin wax. It is not clear, and neither is carnuba. Now picture shaving a very thin slice off. This can represent what is actually going on your car. Can you see through the slice? yes..... Is it 100% clear....no. This is what "tints" the color of your car. Older carnubas like KIT wax were notorious for creating a yellowing effect on white cars due to the type of carnuba they used.
Silicone Oil.......Carnuba is a dull wax, and exhibits no real shine. What are you seeing is an oil in the mixture, usually dimethyl silicone oil. This is the cheap, greasy, oil, that shines like crazy and is in some detailing products. It is a fact that using this type of oil on your paint can be very difficult to remove as it finds it way and leaches into cracks and voids. If it is not removed completely when repainting a panel, "fisheyes" can form in the paint. This is confirmed in an article out of Professional Carwashing & Detailing Magazine. Oct 2000 issue - Caring For Today`s Automobile Finishes. "....Detailers should polish with non-silicone, body-shape-safe products. Silicone causes fish eyes. Occasionally, vehicles are polished and then need paint repairs within a very short period of time. If silicone-based products were used and were not cleaned off properly, they can cause fish eyes in the paint finish...."
Durability issues..........polymer sealants are thin film plastics that are flexible and can flex with your car`s paint and expand and contract thermally with the steel panels as well. Wax on the other hand, is hard and brittle. This will not cause the paint to crack, but is one of the reasons why carnuba is not durable. Its inability to contract and expand (flex) thermally with the car causes the system to break down, voids to form, and oils to leech out. These oils evaporate off the surface of the car or are washed of with carwash or rain. The same thing happens at elevated temperatures. At around 150-180 degrees, carnuba wax starts to soften and melt. The oils rise to the surface of the wax and are quickly and easily washed away. On a hot summer day, the surface of a dark car can easily reach 150 + degrees.
I can go on and on, but this was a quick summary I put together from the countless discussions I have had in the past about this very topic.
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