Wax/detailer attracts dust like a magnet!

[Viper Driver]

I've got a dilemma out here in Albuquerque. I am totally anal about keeping my black car clean and shiny, and (by far) my worst enemy out here in the desert is the dust. It's like a fine powder, and on any day that the wind blows I get a fine coat of it all over the car. If you've lived out here, you'd know that the wind blows just about every day, so I can pretty much count on my car getting dusty any time it leaves the garage.

So, while it's frustrating as hell, I've lived with the dust problem because I thought that was what happened with all black cars out here. Well, something happened this past weekend that changed my mind.

I organized a small NSX gathering to drive over to an exotic car show. After detailing the heck out of my car, I applied another coat of Zaino wax onto the car and followed up with the Zaino show car instant detailer. In the garage, the car looked magnificent. However, after the 15-minute drive over to the event, my car was once again covered with dust. The strange thing was that neither of the other two black NSXs that drove with me had much (if any) dust at all on them. We had just taken the same route at the same time and my car was filthy compared to theirs.

So, my question is.....does anyone know for a fact if there is a show quality wax/instant detailer out there that is known to actually repel dust, or (at a minimum) not attract it?

Speaking of which, I found an advertisment for the Dupont Teflon wax online, and it said that it does not attract dust due to it's neutral electric charge. Does anyone have any experience with this stuff, and do you like it?

http://www.carcare.dupont.com/products/products_details.asp?type=app&prod=Wax

Thanks for the help!

Chuck

 

[Hugh]

That's all a bunch of crap. The dust is in the air, gravity pulls the dust down, your car is under the dust, the dust settles on your car. There is no magical product that's going to act like an anti-gravity machine on the dust and push it aside. Face it, you just have to live with the fact that you own a black car in a dusty climate.

 

[Viper Driver]

Did you not read my post? I caravanned with two other black NSXs over to a car show. We left my house all together, drove over the same roads at the same time. When we arrived at the car show, my car was COVERED in dust, and neither of the other two cars were nearly as dusty as my car was. Believe me, there was a very obvious difference between my car and the other two. So, while I agree that I must resign myself to the fact that I live in a dusty environment, I competely disagree that there isn't something that I can do about it.

Please be sure to read my posts completely before you choose to respond next time, especially if your first sentence begins with "this is all a bunch of crap." I don't appreciate it.

 

[RPM217]

Hugh must know that the other cars had "Zymol" on them, and thus they were coated/protected with the dreaded "Zymes" that he fears:biggrin: :tongue:

 

[johnny010]

Hmmm, not possible that the wax is a culprit of the dust sticking? Did you ask the other two how their cars are conditioned?

 

[clarknm]

For whatever reason, wax or maybe the towels I used, sometimes I would get static electricity on the car. No question that would attract more dust than a car without charge. Oddly enough since I started using the porter cable I haven't experienced it as much (could be the increased humidity as I moved from Phoenix to San Antonio in the timeframe I got the PC).

 

[Hugh]

Please be sure to read my posts completely before you choose to respond next time, especially if your first sentence begins with "this is all a bunch of crap." I don't appreciate it.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings. Maybe your car had a bigger gravitational field. Do you weigh more than the drivers of the other 2 cars?

 

[Big_D]

Can you provide more info on your Zaino treatment? What were you using and in what order? I have a black 91 and have had good luch with the Zaino.

 

[redshift]

Seems like a very simple case of 'static' electricity. You said that you had just used the quick detailer on your car. Thus you had recently charged up the surface (microfiber cloth [insulator] rubbing against the paint [insulator]). Dust will be attracted to the charged surface if it is neutral or oppositely charged. Simple as that... don't quick detail your car before going out in a dust storm.

 

[Jeff@Carbon6]

The other thing that may cause a diference is your tires. I know on my wifes 05 Jetta when I had Michelin tires on it you would always get shocked when you got out to close the door. When we went to Pirelli's the static was gone. I have a buddy with BMW that had a similar experience with Michelin's to BFG's.. Just a thought.

 

[Vega$ NSX]

I too use Zaino and living in the desert I definitely know what you are talking about. There is a clear static electricity charge factor going on. Have you tried spraying the Z-7 gloss enhancer spray prior to going out? They claim an anti-static formula that reduces dust up to 60% but I don't fully believe it. I once tried spraying half my car to see if I could notice a difference. I could just barely make out a difference but it wasn't 60% better. However, my car looked infinitely dustier than my friends black civic using a different wax. On the flip side, my car was much smoother and much glossier.

I think different waxes have different adhesion properties, optical qualities and static charges. You’ll just need to find a wax that fits what you are looking for, but you may have to give up other certain qualities. Like you said before, the black car and Zaino combination is a dust magnet. I also don’t like how the Zaino makes my car too glossy with no color depth. But I still use Zaino. Why? Because it lasts and lasts and lasts forever and it’s quite easy to apply. I’d rather have the paint protection and I’m willing to trade the dustiness and glossiness for that.

I just invested in a nice California duster and carry a bottle of Z-7 with me. Because Zaino is so smooth, most other debris other than dust don’t stick to the car. So getting that shine again isn’t more than a quick dust and spray away.

 

[Hugh]

Captain Ted was over at my house a couple of days and used that new Ice quick detailer on his car after washing it. I was very impressed. It's a red car and it had a very deep shine with crip clean reflections. No clue how it reacts to dust since it's not very dusty around here.

 

[Big_D]

My buddy has an '02 C5 vette that is black and he swears by P & S detailing products. Maybe you might want to try theirs instead of the Zaino. Here is the link to their paint gloss that is similar to Zaino Z-6 gloss spray.

http://www.pssales.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=pssales&Product_Code=RT45&Category_Code=1

 

[clarknm]

I used to use california dusters a lot, but they tend to leave fine scratches after a while (not long after all the residue stops streaking the car..d'oh!). That's probably the one thing I like about the humidity..much less dust.

 

[PLZ]

I too use Zaino and living in the desert I definitely know what you are talking about. There is a clear static electricity charge factor going on. Have you tried spraying the Z-7 gloss enhancer spray prior to going out? They claim an anti-static formula that reduces dust up to 60% but I don't fully believe it. I once tried spraying half my car to see if I could notice a difference. I could just barely make out a difference but it wasn't 60% better. However, my car looked infinitely dustier than my friends black civic using a different wax. On the flip side, my car was much smoother and much glossier.

I think different waxes have different adhesion properties, optical qualities and static charges. You’ll just need to find a wax that fits what you are looking for, but you may have to give up other certain qualities. Like you said before, the black car and Zaino combination is a dust magnet. I also don’t like how the Zaino makes my car too glossy with no color depth. But I still use Zaino. Why? Because it lasts and lasts and lasts forever and it’s quite easy to apply. I’d rather have the paint protection and I’m willing to trade the dustiness and glossiness for that.

I just invested in a nice California duster and carry a bottle of Z-7 with me. Because Zaino is so smooth, most other debris other than dust don’t stick to the car. So getting that shine again isn’t more than a quick dust and spray away.

If your observation is correct - i.e., if your car attracts more dust than other NSXes that have been waxed or polished with a different product - then the only logical explanation is the chemical/electrostatic nature of Zaino itself. It's quite possible that Zaino, when applied to an NSX, has electrostatic properties that attract dust particles and makes them adhere more firmly than wax or other types of paint polishes and sealants. Since dust particles weigh so little, any difference in the amount of dust that adheres to two different cars must be due to the polish/wax itself.

I use Zaino myself, and would never stop using it even if it attracted more dust. I've had bird droppings literally slide off my newly Zainoed car (while driving at speed) rather than sticking to its surface; I've never seen a wax with these properties.

My strong suggestion is that you contact Sal Zaino directly about this topic. The guy's obviously a very smart chemist, and it's likely that he already knows about the properties in Zaino that might cause increased dust attraction and adherence. I'll bet he'd be more than willing to respond and be helpful on this issue.

 

[FuryNSX]

Were you following behind the other NSXs at all times? Dust kickup could have contributed to some (but not all) of the excess dust collecting on your car?

 

[Viper Driver]

Were you following behind the other NSXs at all times? Dust kickup could have contributed to some (but not all) of the excess dust collecting on your car?

I have ruled out anything possibly affecting my car differently than the other cars. The drive from my garage to the car show took literally ten minutes, and on most of the roads the speed limit was 30 mph or less. Also, I was leading the pack out in front and was not following close behind any other cars.

I appreciate all of the suggestions and comments, but I have ruled out all factors other than the waxing and detailing of my car. So, I'll sum it up:

I use Zaino wax, and have about two coats of Z-2 as a base, and 3 coats of Z-2 on top of that. I used Z-8 Grand Finale to wipe the car down with after the last coat of Z-2 was wiped off. I use Meguiar's microfiber towels to do all of the detailing. As long as I have owned the car (and used Zaino), I have noticed that dust seems to attract to the car like a magnet. However, I am not around a lot of well-kept black cars, and I just assumed that (because of the dark color) my car showed the dust more easily. This car show was the first opportunity for me to compare my car with other black cars, and the difference was VERY noticeable and I was not the only person to notice it. Compared to the other cars, mine looked as if I had followed a truck down a dirt road for a while.

So, it could be the wax, it could be the instant detailer, it could be the microfiber towel that I use, or it could be something that I am doing in the process (application of wax, wiping down of the car, etc.).

I'm checking with the owners of the other NSXs in the caravan to see what they use on their cars right now, and I might write to Sal Zaino to see if he's heard of this. I was just wondering if anyone here had the same issues with dust that I have had.

 

[FuryNSX]

So, it could be the wax, it could be the instant detailer, it could be the microfiber towel that I use, or it could be something that I am doing in the process (application of wax, wiping down of the car, etc.).

I might agree with you on the possibility of the instant detailer. During one of the annual CalCoastal Canyon Drives a few years back, I noticed a bit of dirt on one of my NSXs rear fenders during the early morning roll call. I used some instant detailer to spot clean that section. During the course of the drive, dust collected more on that spot than the rest of the car, to the point that you could see the exact spot that I did the last minute detail.

 

[alexchannell]

I had this happen with Zymol. A couple days after cleaning and waxing, my car is coated in dust (like I run my fingers across it and it picks a lot up) yet this didnt happen with the previous wax, nor with my other cars.