NuFinish questions

[HaroldCallahan]

I am considering using NuFinish on my 2005 Yukon XL, 2007 Mustang and 1988 Suburban. Before now I have not been too picky about wax and have used Turtle hardshell wax about twice a year on my cars with pretty good results, long lasting bead. Paint looked almost new on my 1999 Ranger that was parked outside in Colorado and not garaged that I recently sold.

I recently tried Meguiar's Cleaner wax, and it looked good - but it does not seem to be nearly as durable as the Turtle wax.

Haveing said this, maybe I should just stick with Turtle wax. But, I have read somewhere that Turtle wax is harder on clearcoat finish than Meguiars.

I am considering trying Nufinish. But have found on these forums and elsewhere a few things that concern me.

1) I have read that NuFinish is too harsh and has solvents, and is bad for new cars and clearcoats.

2) I have read that it will eat away the plastic trim on my cars.

3) I have always waxed the "chrome" trim like the fake chrome spears on the sides of the Yukon etc with no problems. Will Nufinish harm these ???

I am simply looking for a good reasonably priced wax to apply two or three times a year that will give good protection. I am not looking for a show winning detail job.

Other than what these concerns it sounds like NuFinish would be good.

Is NuFinish really harmful and to harsh to clearcoats, and is it going to eat away any plastic trim it accidentally gets on and is it going to damage the fake chrome on my cars ???

 

[daemonite]

1. It is harsh, less harsh now due to VOC laws but open it up and smell it. It smells very strongly of solvent (but it cleans the paint pretty well...)
2. It doesnt east trim, it STAINS trim...and the staining is one of the most difficult to remove. Basically a testament to the old school technology, it stains forever...but it last a long time.
3. Maybe due to it's high solvent content.

NuFinish will last quite a while, but it's very old, it stains and its hard to remove (often very dusty too).

You could use it, or you can buy some newer sealants.

- Liquid Glass, still old school but no staining. Last easily 6 months or more. Wipe on, wipe off. $20 a bottle
- Klasse Sealant Glaze, newer, wipe on wipe off, can be used on glass, trim, etc. Last easily 6 months or more. About $20 a bottle.

and my choice is Duragloss #105 from your local Carquest. $9 bucks a bottle or so.
Last 6+ months, could last longer if topped with Duragloss Aqauwax. It's wipe on, haze, wipe off, doesnt stain trim and it's very gentle.

 

[chas3]

i doubt any solvent in nu-finish is capable of bothering modern polyurethane finishes on automobiles.

i used it before on my '93 and '99 vehicles and would use it again. however it does stain trim and that part is irritating. its difficult to find anything else on the shelf that lasts as long as nufinish at its price.

 

[Chris B.]

Nufinish is 100% safe for all paints. It is not harsh at all and it will leave a reasidue on textured trim but is easily removed with a soft toothbrush. The shine is pretty good but the durrability is 2nd to none!
My Impala sat outside 24/7 for nine months. It had 1 coat of Nufinish on it and it lasted 9 months and water still beaded like the Nufinish was just applied. Here is my 2002 Camaro that has only seen Nufinish since new:

 

[mstrjon32]

I bought a bottle of NuFinish recently and am waiting until I get up enough motivation to properly prep my car to put it on. In the past when waxing my vehicles I've always found that if I'm not careful around trim it will stain, even with turtle wax.

Does NuFinish stain bad enough that you think it would be worth taping off the trim as I wax the car? If you think this is excessive, you're talking to someone who used to remove the side market lights, tail lights, headlights, license plates, rear trim panel, etc. before waxing his car. I don't wax my car often enough anymore, but when I do, I'm very thorough and careful not to get wax everywhere!

 

[GeaugaFletcher]

You can easily remove Nu Finish stains on trim with natural peanut butter. Peanut oil in the real stuff works as a solvent for the "wax" stain. Use an old toothbrush with the PB, it'll take the stain off almost immediately.

 

[mstrjon32]

Here is another NuFinish question, how long do you let it sit between applying it to the finish and removing it? I'm about 1/3 of the way through applying it to my Monte Carlo (6 hours of prep takes it out of you, ugh!) and did the hood, front left fender and entire front clip, letting each sit for maybe 20-30 minutes before removing the NuFinish. It doesn't harden up as much as the cheap carnauba wax I'm used to; I just want to make sure I'm leaving it on there for a long enough period of time.

Let me tell you, too, with all the work I put into cleaning and prepping the car, this stuff had better last a year!

 

[chas3]

well it seems to last about 6 months easily. if it doesnt wipe off easily, its not dry enough. you can apply nufinish in direct sunlight if you want to speed the drying time.

 

[mstrjon32]

Wait, so, if it does wipe off easily, then it is dry enough?

 

[Greggy_D]

Quote:

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Wait, so, if it does wipe off easily, then it is dry enough?

---

Sounds about right.

 

[bretfraz]

A simple test to check if the wax is dry:

Swipe your finger (any one will do) across the waxed panel. If the wax comes off cleanly, its ready to be wiped off with a towel. If the wax smears or streaks, it need to dry a little more.

Damp, humid weather usually means longer drying time, while hot and dry weather helps wax dry quicker.

 

[GMBoy]

I was wondering how long it would take to see that camaro again - always shows up in the NuFinish threads. Anyway, if you were to check any of the professional auto detailers forums on the web you'll quickly see what they think of NuFinish. i use Griot's garage products with great results and they offer an excellent paint sealant that even hides swirl marks and lasts a year. Doesn't have harsh solvents and actually smells pleasant. I know some love NuFinish and that's fine - use what works for you (the Camaro looks great) but keep in mind that there are safer and perhaps better choices out there. Carnuaba waxes shine better but are lucky to last 3-4 months, paint sealants last longer but lack some shine/gloss. With any sealant, I'd say 6-8 months of solid protection is possible if you don't use harsh dish soap or car washes to clean the car.
Just my opinion here, I don't like NuFinish but that doesn't mean it may not be what you're looking for.

 

[mstrjon32]

Well, finally finished NuFinishing up my car this afternoon, unfortunately the pics didn't come out nearly as good as the polish job, but have a look anyway:

As for all of the guys who said that they had problems with this wax staining trim...what are you talking about?! This wax was one of the easiest to remove from trim that I've ever used. Basically just wiped it off with a clean rag. There is more stray wax on the car from when the dealership waxed it than from the NuFinish!

All-in-all I'm happy with the product and will use it again. The question now is, how long will it last out in the elements.

 

[mstrjon32]

This photo does a bit of a better job of showing off the shine, I think:

 

[doitmyself]

Nice job mstrjon!.

Not to hijack this thread....but, Gm Boy, your reference to "professional detail sites" not liking NuFinish makes me wonder if the "professional" website advice is accurate. I used Nufinish for years and was happy... until I got brainwashed on the web and learned about Zaino.

I had great success with Frams until .........

I thought Bose speakers sounded o.k.(just o.k.) until......

I thought Behr Paint from Home Cheapo lived up to it's CR best paint rating until........oh no, anything less than Sherwin Williams/Benjamin Moore is junk (especially from big box land.

$350 dollar push lawn mower......junk, have to buy Toro Proline for $1,100 (plain push mower, not self propelled).

Professional plumbing sites, electrical......They all seem to have an attitude about things that work good for the do-it-yourselfer.

What say you, Mr. Bretfaz? Is NuFinish all that bad?

 

[mstrjon32]

To hijack your hijacking...Behr paint is JUNK, lol. I once painted a room dark green with Behr paint and after it dried it had this awful gloss (it was NOT gloss paint) and shine to it (not something you want for an interior room). Ended up repainting the whole room with Benjamin Moore.

Of course, I'm sure plenty of people are happy with Behr paint, but never again for me!

 

[bretfraz]

I think it all comes down to expectations and results. If you are happy with the results and the product or service met your expectations (or exceeded them, hopefully), then it's all good.

I have friends who are hard core audiophiles. Hard core in that they have no problem spending $2000+ on a turntable, aka record player. But it doesn't end there. They need the $700 phono stage, the $500 cartridge, the $450 record cleaner, the $15 bottle of cleaning fluid for the stylus, etc, etc. A "good" record costs $40. A rare pressing easily exceeds $200. Dropping $500 or more on records every month is no big deal. Think of the kind of car you could buy with that money. No.... wait.... think of all the OIL you could buy. Boggles the mind, doesn't it? Talk about high expectations.....

A few weeks ago I dropped $250 on a new rotary polisher. It's not like I needed it, I have three others. But the machines I had didn't perform exactly the way I wanted them to. IOW, my performance expectations were not being met. So I bought yet another machine. So far I'm very happy, so happy I've sold two of the three polishers. Now I only carry four with me to each detail, two rotarys and two PC d/a polishers.

I have extremely high expectations for my car wax. I'm very demanding and am willing to pay for the best product available (within reason). I know what results I want and I'm happy when I find a product that delivers. If all y'all have found a product that gives you the results you expect, I say Rock On. If not, keep searching. There's a zillion products to try and time's a-wastin'.

BTW, I don't know too many pro auto detailers who use NuFinish. Nor do they use the boutique products available on the internet. Pro detailers have different needs & wants than car detailing enthusiasts.

 

[globey]

bretfraz, what are the pro detailers wants and needs? Obviously, they wouldn't use boutique products available on the internet due to price? Their want is to maximize profits while still giving the customer a good looking product for a couple weeks?

 

[bretfraz]

I should parse my words a little better. Some pro detailers do use boutique products. For these folks using them can give them an edge in marketing themselves over their competition. Others simply prefer the performance and results obtained from high end products. Truth is I know plenty of pros who use Pinnacle, Zaino, Poorboys, Klasse, Meguiars, etc. I didn't mean to imply that pros never use boutique products.

Many pro detailers (how's that?) do have different needs and look for products and suppliers that meet them. Some concerns and issues are:

*Being able to purchase products in bulk qtys to lower costs
*Being able to purchase from a local supplier/distributor who stock bulk products and can offer services like delivery and tech assistance.
*Being able to use a product in the direct sun or extreme temps.
*Using a supplier who offers training courses and tech support.
*Using a supplier who offers a wide variety of product to meet specific needs.

Those are just a few off the top of my head. Here's one that the typical shadetree detailer doesn't need to consider - some detailers and detail shops need to have MSDS's on hand for all the products they use to maintain OSHA compliance. Many car care product mfrs are good about suppling them but others aren't.

Bottom line is the smart professional will use a variety of products from multiple suppliers. They need products that can do the job and companies that will help them do it profitably and safely.

 

[globey]

bretfraz, thanks. I understand what you mean now. Great insight.