My NuFinish Review (good stuff!!)

[Chuck1986]

Price: Awesome. I got the paste for $6 at Wal-Mart. It took about 1/2 - 2/3 of the can to wax my car. So it's about $3-4 per application - certainly not bad!

Ease of use: Fantastic. This stuff does not take long to apply and it's very easy to buff out.

Shine: Well, this is completely subjective and I haven't used many different brands of waxes, but I will say it's nothing short of absolutely impressive. See the pics below. However, you can't really judge a wax by looking at pictures of the shine. There are so many confounding variables that can influence the appearance (camera/picture quality, lighting, condition of the car's paint, skill of the waxer, etc etc.)

Chemical Quality: I noticed that it's very, very hydrophobic - when I tried cleaning my applicator it took lots of hot water and soap to get all the paste out. Even after vigourously washing my hands with soap and hot water, I could still feel it on my skin. I expect the shine/protection to last for a long time.

Overall, this is a wax that you simply can't go wrong with - especially if you're on a budget. I think some people may have a hard time believing my car is over 7 years old. I was surprised at the quality of the product, since it has been vehemently advertised on TV. In many cases such products lack in quality due to the companys paying so much for advertising instead of R&D.

 

[Bulli]

is it a wax or a polish?

 

[Chuck1986]

Originally Posted By: Bulli
is it a wax or a polish?


A polish...but I referred to it as a wax.

 

[demarpaint]

1/2-2/3 a can is a lot of polish to do 1 small car, no flame intended. BTW the car looks good!

Frank D

 

[Mr Nice]

I've been using NuFinish for about 15 years and I am always impressed with its results.

 

[Chuck1986]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
I've been using NuFinish for about 15 years and I am always impressed with its results.


You've got perhaps the cleanest black car I've seen (not to mention the fact it has over 60k miles), so it's nice to see you corroborate my thoughts on it!

 

[Chuck1986]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
1/2-2/3 a can is a lot of polish to do 1 small car, no flame intended. BTW the car looks good!

Frank D


I was pretty generous with how I applied it. It's also pretty liquidy so that may explain why I used so much. Thanks for the comment on my ride!

 

[Chris Meutsch]

This sells me on it. I'll use it on the Civic when I have nothing better to do.
Which is soon based on the economy and my work-from-home job.

 

[qwertydude]

NuFinish is a tad too abrasive for my taste, but then again my finish is not neglected. It does work well especially for more oxidized finishes, but if you want to get a truly show car shine with more durability you should use a finer polish/swirl remover after and follow with a pure wax like collinite. So far going on 3 weeks with one application of collinite and water spots from sprinklers still just wipe off with a car duster, no detailer required, I've never seen any product, NuFinish included that car stand up to water spots etching into paint.

 

[Cup of Joe]

I just used the paste to clean the wifes mazda5 before I covered it with NXT 2.0. For a new car I was extremely suprise how dirty the applicator ended up.

I find Klasse AIO far harsher then Nufinish. I just did half the roof on my F150 in AIO, other half in Duragloss 105 I also did 2 spots on the hood. Both applicators had stripped a ton of dead paint, the AIO far more so. It poured last night and this morning I cannot even tell a difference between either section I cleaned on the hood and the 3 week old Black Magic wet shine that was already there.

Chuck you did use way to much, if you go lighter its very easy to remove. Or use it with a cheap orbital like I did on my Grand caravan and you will really be surprise how easy it is to apply and remove as well as how little you really need.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
1/2-2/3 a can is a lot of polish to do 1 small car, no flame intended. BTW the car looks good!

Frank D


That makes it considerably more expensive per job than Zaino.

 

[qwertydude]

Wow I didn't realize AIO is so harsh. I avoid all those harsh products to begin with since I keep my finishes well maintained but if I've got a severely neglected finish to restore like a friends car I've also had great results with TR-3 Resin Glaze. That just about takes off every bit of old paint with just a few wipes and leaves a finish that only requires a waxing, no further polishing necessary.

 

[mvw2]

Hmm, grabbed a bottle of the liquid stuff a couple weeks back to do a quick wax of my and a friend's car. I have mixed impressions.

1) It seems to require a LOT of the product to do the job. You can easily use a good portion of the bottle on the car. Other liquid waxes I've used require much less. The end result seems rather thin too, but that may be unfair comparing to a wax product.

2) For a product marketed alone, it would be nice to have some sort of cleaner/polish in the product to clean the surface and remove swirl marks. My car was just washed, not in great shape for waxing but was waxed a year ago. This product really seemed to coat thin and do nothing for treating the surface. All swirls, dirt, etc. all just remain and get covered over.

I forgive #2 because any treatment does require initial prep work, at the least a cleaner or clay bar and swirl remover as needed.

I know it's not a very good review of the product. It probably works quite well and lasts a long time on a pre-prepped surface. I'll probably give it a go my next waxing after an initial prepping and see how I like it for shine and longevity. For now, I just use Mothers. Being a normal wax, it just doesn't last a long time. A non-wax, I guess I could say sealer, like NuFinish just gives a more durable treatment. However, there are other non-wax sealers on the market too, so there is competition.

Mothers 3-step process with two coats of wax:

I'll have to see if NuFinish can give that and keep it. Initial impressions, it just doesn't coat like wax, and it seems to rely more heavily on a well-prepped surface to end up looking good. I'm also not certain about the thickness and getting a deep shine. I tried two coats and was only mildly satisfied, but that was on the unprepped surface, not particularly fair. Maybe it could be used over a layer or two of wax as a long term sealer to keep the wax from coming off. I don't know.

 

[bretfraz]

Originally Posted By: mvw2
Hmm, grabbed a bottle of the liquid stuff a couple weeks back to do a quick wax of my and a friend's car. I have mixed impressions.

1) It seems to require a LOT of the product to do the job. You can easily use a good portion of the bottle on the car. Other liquid waxes I've used require much less. The end result seems rather thin too, but that may be unfair comparing to a wax product.

2) For a product marketed alone, it would be nice to have some sort of cleaner/polish in the product to clean the surface and remove swirl marks. My car was just washed, not in great shape for waxing but was waxed a year ago. This product really seemed to coat thin and do nothing for treating the surface. All swirls, dirt, etc. all just remain and get covered over.

I forgive #2 because any treatment does require initial prep work, at the least a cleaner or clay bar and swirl remover as needed.

I know it's not a very good review of the product. It probably works quite well and lasts a long time on a pre-prepped surface. I'll probably give it a go my next waxing after an initial prepping and see how I like it for shine and longevity. For now, I just use Mothers. Being a normal wax, it just doesn't last a long time. A non-wax, I guess I could say sealer, like NuFinish just gives a more durable treatment. However, there are other non-wax sealers on the market too, so there is competition.



I'll have to see if NuFinish can give that and keep it. Initial impressions, it just doesn't coat like wax, and it seems to rely more heavily on a well-prepped surface to end up looking good. I'm also not certain about the thickness and getting a deep shine. I tried two coats and was only mildly satisfied, but that was on the unprepped surface, not particularly fair. Maybe it could be used over a layer or two of wax as a long term sealer to keep the wax from coming off. I don't know.



I think that's a very fair review. No need to apologize for no paint prep, you used the product correctly and used it in a way they promote the product. The NuFinish folks never say you need to clay the paint or use a paint polish prior to their product. Their commercials have always been about using their products on the worst case paint jobs, cars hauled out of junkyards, things like that.

NuFinish has both chemical cleaners and abrasive polishing ability. I'm surprised you didn't notice that effect but maybe your paint was in good enough condition to where the product didn't/couldn't improve it much. All in all I think your observations were realistic and honest. Thanks for posting.

 

[mvw2]

No, it really didn't seem to do anything in terms of cleaning or polishing, at least in terms of something like a swirl remover would. I even did two applications over the hood and just wasn't impressed. The surface was rough to the touch (dirty even after a wash, normal given the lax approach to cleaning I do), and it did nothing with the swirls. I can go over the same area (any area) with a glaze/swirl remover just once and get a glass smooth surface in one application.

The shine even after two coats didn't impress me at all either. I know I can blame the pre-prep for this a good bit, but even so, just a wax alone will show better results on an unprepaired car. It may just be a thickness issue where it just can't cover/hide problems like a thicker wax can. I don't know. Like I said, it may just need a well prepped surface to look awesome. I'm underimpressed but also giving the product the benefit of the doubt.

As well, I can not comment on longevity which seems to be the products major trademark. It probably fairs better than Mothers plain old wax. However, I'm curious if it really lasts a year, and I'm curious how it compares to a harder wax like Turtle which offers good hardness and longevity.

The heavy use of the product bugged me though. I could very easily seeing myself using most of the bottle on just one car application. I can use any liquid car wax of comparable volume and do quite a few waxes before running out. Use was very thirsty and the end result was rather thin. I just can't tell you where it all went, lol. No in reality, it just dries up and you rub it right off.

I will give NuFinish a plus for ease of application/removal. It goes on slick and buffs off easy without streaking. It just leaves white residue in chips, scratches, seams, but many waxes will do this.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

The chemical solvents probably evaporated quickly so it didn't last as long during application.

 

[demarpaint]

I now recall using it several years ago, and having a lot of the same complaints mvw2 had. I wasn't thrilled with the shine or the white dust left behind requiring additional cleaning and dusting above and beyond most waxes and polishes. On a good prepped surface Rejex seems about the best product I've used. On a neglected surface there aren't too many corners you can cut to get a good looking long lasting job.

JMO
Frank D

 

[powayroger]

I've been a fan of it for years. In fact, I just put a coat of it on my Civic this evening.

 

[MKZman]

Originally Posted By: Chuck1986
Price: Awesome. I got the paste for $6 at Wal-Mart. It took about 1/2 - 2/3 of the can to wax my car. So it's about $3-4 per application - certainly not bad!



As an earlier poster said, 1/2 of the tin to polish is a bit much. If you think $6 is a good deal, there are a lot better deals out there. Most better OTC car waxes (Mothers, Meg's) can do at least 10 details per bottle. You do not need to use a lot.

You are seeing false economy due to the low purchase price. You can get better looking products (for 2x to 3x the price) and per use cost still do not cost significantly more. Of all the things you use to detail a car, the wax is one of the cheapest aspects.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Originally Posted By: MKZman

As an earlier poster said, 1/2 of the tin to polish is a bit much. If you think $6 is a good deal, there are a lot better deals out there. Most better OTC car waxes (Mothers, Meg's) can do at least 10 details per bottle. You do not need to use a lot.

You are seeing false economy due to the low purchase price. You can get better looking products (for 2x to 3x the price) and per use cost still do not cost significantly more. Of all the things you use to detail a car, the wax is one of the cheapest aspects.



I totally agree. The paste does seem to go a bit faster then the liquid but still. I have the paste and the liquid. With 1 bottle of the liquid I have done my F150 twice its heavily oxidized and required a ton of product. My Grand caravan once heavy water spotting from hard water and cheap car wash wax build up, still needs more work on the roof to get some of the build up off. My little Rio twice and a few other spots and test areas. I've now used 1/2 the bottle.

As for the paste I've used it a bit as well, I even covered my wifes Mazda5 with it doing a clean up before a layer of NXT 2.0 paste. I still have 80-90% or move left after doing a micro-van I mean 5, the tin was over flowing I used what as on the lid. If I used half a tin on 1 car I would call it [censored] and find something better. Just like NXT you need to put it on nice and thin. If you use it with a buffer you will be shocked how little you actually need to use. I applied the paste by hand, I use the liquid by hand and with a craftsman random orbit buffer.