Best Liquid & Paste Waxes 2024

A Good Liquid/Paste Wax?

Learn about the Testing Methodology

Easy to Apply

Liquid and paste waxes range widely in ease of application. Some traditional products can be tacky and hard to use, but many new products are incredibly easy for anyone to master. An ideal product would be easy to wipe on, flash quickly, and allow for an easy wipe up without tackiness and a sore shoulder.

Visual Appeal

We all want a glossy, reflective, and pretty car. In testing we look at a red and black test panel and compare the finished product against freshly polished paint. An ideal finish should be deep and wet looking. Liquid and paste waxes/sealants are frequently some of the prettiest products we see, though not all are as dazzling as the best!

Wash Durability

Liquid and past waxes rarely have much durability, though in some rare cases we have seen impressive results. In general expect lower durability and consider coatings and silica sprays if you need long lasting protection. Through our elcometer based abrasion testing we can verify how many washes a product can resist.

Slickness

Liquid and paste waxes are frequently very slick. They often edge out ceramic coatings. This reduces marring and scratching when washing and dusting your car. We measure the improved coefficient of static friction (μ_s) to score the slickness of sprays.

Specular Reflection

Polished paint can show you amazing reflections at the right angle. Having achieved a highly polished surface you want to preserve it. Most last step products will dull the surface slightly. Pastes and liquids tend to have bigger reductions in specular reflection than some other products, but a good liquid or paste should still perform well.

Hydrophobicity

To work out just how hydrophobic a liquid or paste wax makes our paint we can measure the contact angle by placing small droplets of de-ionized water on our test panel. Liquid and paste waxes are known to turn surfaces hydrophobic with contact angles exceeding 90 degrees. The best products are able to average over 105 degrees.

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