Mark Underwood

Lokokkee

Got your email. Message ubderstood and I'll investigate for you and get back to soon as with the info.

Mark Underwood

martin

Re the bespoke wax.....I'll cover cost of development as part of the service. The cost for a pot will not be that much. Maybe just a little more than one of the standard waxes but you'll probably land up with pot and half as this is the smallest amount I can make. That will give you around 60 to 70 complete waxing! Thats VFM.

Nick

Keith

WW products will show a big improvement on non-laquered paint. You will need to ring Mark so that you can describe exactly the condition of the paint & also how much effort you're willing to put in.

There are 2 main products. A cleanser which is available in 3 strengths. This replaces the oils in the paint that have been lost to the elements & deep-cleans the paintwork. Then the wax products will protect the paint for the future. There is a big range of waxes, some of which require a bit of elbow grease for an excellent show-car finish.

One thing I have noticed (now it's summer) is that I no longer have to panic if I get bird poops on my DBM paintwork. Last year with Autoglym, unless I cleaned off the poop almost immediately, it created a light stain in the paint. Now, with Subaru Wax, the poop has no effect - in fact it washes off in the rain.

Beef

Mark: Why didn't you reply to my question? All these people are banging on about how good your products are...but they seem fairly expensive (not necessarily a bad thing), and I'd like to check that's they are suitable for me before buying. All I want to know is if you cater for people in my situation at all.

Mark Underwood

Keith C (ala Beef)

4k on the car? Ok...I sure can recommend something for you. Do you want me to do it for you or do you want to do it?

If I do it you wont recognise your car...you'll think that you have a new one. Need the car for a few days then bingo. The cost around 200 quid plus you get all the bits to maintain finish.

For u to do it will cost around £60 and you'll need at least one full day to do the job proerly.

Why not call me on 0800 074 1608 from Wednesday onwards or 0402 822544 on sunday between 1000 and 1700.

The Wiz

darren_edwards

Another recommendation for the WW Merlin wax.

Just finished applying to my new P1 and it's looks fantastic.

It is just as easy and quick to apply and buff as Mark said it would be.

APJ

I cant say I'm really prepared to shell out an exorbitant £67 for something which allegedly is the mutts nuts. If the cost per application really is as little as a £1 - why not have one-application tester pots at £1.50?

Mossman

APJ,

You need more than one pot to show real benefit. You should cleanse the car first and then wax it. I will be at The Midlands meet next week and will sort you out if you are there! (Bristol isn't too far away is it?!).

Drop me a line on 07771 637 652 if you have any queries, or ring the Wiz on the he says.

Cheers,

Mossman.

(North East Wax Apprentice !)

Mark Underwood

APJ

If u care to email me your address I will send u a sample of cleanse and merlin wax. The cost will be a fiver to cover bottling and postage.

Call me with your details or call me on 0402 822544 Monday and Tuesday and I'll do the rest.

The Wiz

Nick

APJ

It's a shame you didn't come along to the South West meet at the Star at Cleeve yesterday. You would have had a good opportunity to see my car that had just been waxed earlier that morning with Subaru wax.

Nightmare

Mark,

Question.....
Do Autoglym actually use wax in their product (Super Resin Polish) or not? They claim to use 'low density molecular resins' (or something) If so...why is wax better, or isnt it?

I can only agree with the claims everyone else has made here btw - think the products are superb. For anyone who thinks they are expensive, the wax I bought at the motorshow is still about 3/4 full, and Ive cleaned all my cars with it about 15 times each!

Merlin wax sounds interesting though - am having a look at your site now...

and I have to say..

wtf is Dr OK Wack Chemie???!!!

Night

johnr

Just another note of support for the Wax Wizard.

Spent yesterday afternoon making good use of the starter kit and I'd say it was well worth every penny. I can see the difference even after just one application.

John

APJ

What about silver Scoobs? Cant even tell when I've washed mine, yet alone waxed it!! Previous car used to be blue mica (not a Scoob) and you could really tell when it had had a good waxing.

Nick - next one - honest!!

Rum*

Mark....sorry for being stupid....but what is your web address???....please mail me at tom@schofieldinsurance.co.uk...

cheers Rum (Tom)

Nick

Wax Wizard is at

Lou

Having spent all weekend using Autoglym products, I am a little disappointed in coming to this thread late. The products sound excellent ( especially as I have had to be very careful not to get the Super-Resin Wax on my black trim).

My only concern would be how to justify to "mission-control" the spending of that sort of money? I had enough trouble with Autoglym . All the technical stuff would fly rright over her head. Any tips on keeping the wife sweet?

Lou

[This message has been edited by Lou (edited 06-06-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Lou (edited 06-06-2000).]

MickeyG

Just a bit of advice - don't tell any of your work colleagues how much money you spent on wax from the WW.

I have been ridiculed all week by my so called "friends" - most of whom drive diesel cars which are never washed from the day they leave the forecourt. Normally they are the sorts who come out with lines like "Why did you buy that, the speed limit is 70 you know" and "I like my 2CV, it does everything I want, it gets me from A to B" etc....

They just don't understand!!!! B&*tards!!!

Thankfully this BBS exists to keep me sane, and read stuff from like minded(?) people.

Mike

Rob W

Yes i mentioned the price to my work colleagues(bad move) they couldn't understand why it is so different to normal wax/polish until they saw my car
You pays yer money......and it's worth every penny IMHO
Great Kit!!

Regards
Rob

brooks

I am intrigued by comments made about Wax Wizard products. It is said to 'feed' the paint. What is meant by this? It is also said to 'be kind to paint'. Does this mean products such as Auto Glym arent? Does Mark Underwood believe Auto Glym products damage paint work?

ChrisG

Mark Underwood,

I received one of the sample packs which included the carnauba wax and to be honest I wasn't really that impressed. However I am aware this is the "entry" level wax, and after the numerous rants in this and other threads I am thinking of trying some of the slightly more expensive brands.

Can you tell me if the Merlin wax contains silicones? (which I am led to believe can have an effect on any future paintwork carried out on the car).

Chris

Nick

Brooks
Paint looses it's oils through oxidisation in the air. As it looses these oils, the paint breaks down. The WW products aim to replace these oils - that's why there are specific high end waxes for various paints. Then the wax seals the paint. (I bet Mark can explain it better).

My understanding is that products like A* contain petroleum distilate to melt your paint & chalk to scratch it off... & a smidge of wax.

MartinM

Do Scoobs have a lacquer layer on top of the paint?

If so, can the paint oils get through the lacquer? Does water-based paint (as I understand Scoobs have) have oils in it anyway? Do we polish the lacquer layer or the paint? If repair work is needed can the bodyshop get down to the paint layer to blend in?

Mark Underwood

Nightmare, Brooks etc etc

The A* product uses a high vapour plus chalk to help the product dry.

The solvent flashes very quickly (vapourises) and also softens the top microns of the paint. The solvent also dissolves such things as tar as well as strip previous layer of itself off. The chalk acts as a mild cutting compound as well as to help dry the solution. Most damage is done after a period of time as the second stage is to buff the product. Here one actually removes the dried chalk and as a result your wipe it around over the paint and in time u have miriads of those nasty swirls. The chalk acts as a microspoic polishing agent which then removes paint as well as minor imperfections. Whilst buffing all this chalk off your get white fallout all over the place and when doing the roff it lands on the glasswork to boot. Net result is that you have to keep shaking the residue out of yer colth.

Damage to plastics and rubbers is caused by the solvent attcking the plastics or plasticised rubber as this is lower in the chain of hydrocarbon distallates. When it sinks into such plastics it takes with it microspocic bits of chalk and u land up with those nasty horrible white stains.

You then have to buy Black Magic or Back to Black etc and what is this product? It is again solvent, black dye, formaldahyde and polymer agents. The solvent sinks into the plastic and the dye attempts to dye the white stain black which it does so but only temporary. The polymer agents make the product glossy and the formaldehyde keeps the product looking wet or greasy to touch until it dries out and then guess what?...yep u have to reapply it. To boot if u live in or near dusty conditions the formaldehyde will attract the dust just like a magnet attracts metal filings. Try removing the dust and hey presto it smears like buggery. And wo betide if u get back to black on yer nicely polished or waxed paintwork...it stains and a sod to remmove and you have reapply polish or wax again. Never ending circles.

Silver cars are the singular most easiest cars to keep clean and yes with just a wash in plain water will look clean again. But the air contaminants are still there and u can hardly feel them let alone see them and this includes catlytic converter fallout, railway dust, london city dust etc etc. Silver metallic paints inherrently reflect some 80% of light back and therefore when waxed or even polished can look lkittle different. Perhaps that is why silver cars are popular.

Not all subaru paints have a clearcoat laquer just like other car manufacturers. However a clearcoat laquer is still a piant except that it has zero paint pigment but does contain shine enhancers. Clearcoats especially those that are water based have a nasty habit of showing every mark and god help us chip like buggery. New cars that have water based paints (all scoobs) will look as though some elf have stood in front of the car and machine gunned it for u. Get down on yer hands and knees and closely examine your front airdams after about 2 months or a few thousand miles and you'll see what I mean. Theres nought that u can do other that fit a physical barrier such as Armourfend to prevent the chipping. Sod the lines that you see with Armourfend. Is it better to have a few visible lines or is it better to have 6 or 700 quid knocked of the trade in price as the dealer knows he has a repaint to do on the front panels? U the buyer comes along and spot a little bit of over spray and immediately you feel unsettled as u think the car has had a front ender. And so u need some convincing.

Anyone who has done some decorating at home may have come across at some time that the pot of paint they stashed away last year and now reopened has a skin and under the skin you'll have oil and then at the bottom a thick layer of pigment etc. Mix it and the paint can be reused.

Car paint is no differnt and in order to look after paint whether it is a solid colour say black or a metallic colour say black metallic, needs nourishing or FEEDING to maintain its gloss properties. Environmental factors such as rain, acid rain, sunlight, temperature variation etc will cuase the paint to dull and then oxidise at its worst. Dulling can also be cuased by excessive use of solvents as they dry out the paint removing each time a microscopic layer of particles. Try using A* product on a plain red car thats say 2 years old and see the amount of pigment removed thats lands upin the application cloth...its frighning.

Our cleanses are almond meal based and combined with emollient oils will remove surface contamination by a "vacuming" effect and do not remove paint. Also when the product has dried (hazed) as we use no chalk there is zero residue or lots of white dust. As we also do not use solvents then even the paint cleansers will not attack yer plastics etc if accidentally wiped on such surfaces. It merely requires to be wiped to be removed.

Similarly with the waxes they are true waxes as again we do not rely on solvents or abrasives and our waxes have absolutely zero cleaning ability as a result. Carnauba wax is nature singularly most hardest wax and gloossiest property so to speak. It provides a natural yet resilient layer and provides protection against the elements. The waxes are all blended with emollient oils and also some rather nice smelling essential oils to make them unique. So safe are they that they are edible and carry zero health warnings cos there are none. Check the labelling on the A* and M** products and see how much of an irritant they are and the health warning they issue. Also one or several of the A* products actually state that one must AVOID PROLONGED USE ON BARE SKIN.

The so called waxes that A* and M* product use are sythetic resin waxes ie man made and analysis show that the content of such resin waxes is between 3.5 and 5% maximum. Lasting effect of such so called resins are around 2 weeks and sometimes 3 weeks.

I was asked today when I demonstarted to twosidc guys in exter how do the cleanses work?

We use what is known in laymans terms emulsifier cleaning agents to dissolve such contaminants as road film, tar spots, organic and inorganic contaminates which "cling" to the paint even after washing. With this dissolving cleaning action you will not create those swirl marks. The cleaning properties will even dissolve the contaminants embedded inold swirl marks and make them disappear. The emollient oils are drawn into the paint which in turn gives the molecular structure of the paint more body and therefore fluffs up the paint making swirls infill and disappear. All this is done without the use of solvents, polymers, silicones and abrasives etc. The surface of the paint is then squeaky clean after cleansing and this allows the wax to fully bond to your paint.

Some 80% of the gloss factor is created during the cleansing operation with the remainder coming from the wax. The Merlin wax using high flash oils (haze very quickly) and has zero nice smelling essential oils or food colourant added. The wax is in its natural state of yellowish brown. It has a carnauba wax content of some 40%.

Carnauba is in use in all sort sorts of things. Next time you are in the newsagents buy a packet of smarties. Youll will see that smmarties have a glazing agent known as carnauba wax. This wax is what we use but we use the best there is No1 Yellow and its derivitive white carnauba which looks like cocaine powder.

Carnauba is used on every pill you swallow except capsules to provide a glossy surface to aid swallowing. Its also used in lip sticks and other cosmetic glossing products. Its in or on M7M's, minstrels etc etc. A very versatile natural glazing agent...the best there is.

Sadly it is expensive. The white even more so. Go to a herbal shop and ask for such things as purified coconut oil etc and some essential oils and see how expensive they are. Addd to this that each batch of wax that I make produces around 10 pots and it is hand cooked hand poured etc hence the expense initially. Each wax pot will provide around 40 waxings more if its a small car. Becuase of the high wax content I was able to demonstarte today just how far one swipe acroos the wax surface will spread across the paintwork.

Phew end of techy lesson

Dr OK WacK Chemie? They are a very well respected manufacturer based in Inglestadt in Germany and supply exclusively to Porsche AG all their car care products and aslo supply Mercedes and Audi as well as BMW. So good is their windscreen wash additive that BMW fit as standard to all five and seven series cars a seperate intensive wash system!

Dr OK Wack entered the german consumer market late last year and I spotted this announcement and drove to their factory and as a result we now market tyheir products as a little sideline hoping for something big.

Their best products are windscreen additives, glass cleaners, alloy wheel cleaners and plastic polish and leather feed.

Our budget glass cleaner is manufactured by them for us and is supplied in bulk 250 ltr containers to us. We just pass on the saving gained. Their products in their bottles and labels are a little more expensive but come thoroughly recommended.

Thats it I'm off for a gin and tonic (several after this)

Regards
The Wizard

Higgy

OK, OK, but can I use the products on a hot day in the sun, it's the only time I can be bothered to spend any time washing the car properly?

H.

P.S Being a sad scientist I also know that formaldehyde is a carcinogen, and whilst lots of other common things are, like petrol additives and the burnt bits on toast (believe it or not), it's not a good idea to immerse you hands it in once a week.

ChrisG

Mark,
Thanks for all the info above, but you did not answer my question.........
Do your waxes, including Merlin, contain silicones?
Regards,
Chris

Steve Perriam

must say a big thankyou to mark for taking the time and effort to drive up to exeter yesterday to demonstrate the WW products to Chris and I.

was nice to have a company willing to travel to meet 2 prospective customers and spend a couple of hours with us demonstrating the products on my brand new MY00 scoob and Chris's MY99.

all i can say is that the stuff works ! we were both very impressed and bought the starter packs.

although it appears xpensive compared to other products its going to last you a long time.

as mark says in his above post we saw how little wax is needed on a given area. the pot you get should last a long time for most people who will only wax the car every 3-4 weeks.

any i'm off outside now to wash / cleanse and wax the car.

dsmith

>> The waxes are all blended with emollient oils and also some rather nice smelling essential oils to make them unique

would seem to suggest quite strongly that they are pure wax and oil - no silicon....

Mark Underwood

ChrisG

All our paste waxes DO NOT CONTAIN SILICON!!!

We use natural oils and food colourant etc.

The waxes have absolute zero cleaning power and will not remove simple things like water spots and road grime. If use our wax on a dirty car all u land up with is some very nice looking shiny sh**t.

Silicons are not necessarily a bad thing. The safe one are tri something or other and are fully bodyshop safe and are indeed paintable. These types of silicons are tres expensive and are usually avoided due to the high cost. Ones such as that find in MER (elsewhere on another thread) contain cheap silicones hence the cheap price of the product.

A while back we had talks with A* and we got quite excited at the amount of discount we could get if we spent on an initial order of just £2k. The discount was 75%!!!!!!!!!!

That on a seven quid product provides a very healthy margin. Consider then the amount of glossy advertising that this company does and the amount of shows it sponsors. They make hell of a lot of money and if there margin were around 50% then a bottle of Super resin polish costs to make including labelling and bottling around 75p. Wow! I wonder what exotic expensive ingredients they use.

Suffice to say that in one mag they did a product shootout and we trounced A* and beat them with our entry level Liquid Carnauba. Since then they have refused to talk to us.

Higgy...Merlin wax can be applied on cold days, wet days and even in direct sunlight if u must and can also be applied to a hot surface.

However, any product that is applied to a hot surface will merely fry itself and will not do you or itself justice and that goes for Mer, Autoglym, simoniz etc etc etc.

Do yourself and any product that you care to use, apply it in the shade and to a cool surface FOR OOTIMUM RESULTS!!!!!

Our other paste waxes are to be applied strictly in the shade.

Mark Underwood

Everbody

Since last year I have been producing and writing a very comprehensive manual on car care.

Sadly at this time of year I have liitle freetime as my time is split between the office, attending shows and making wax plus a few other mundane jobs.

I have almost finished the manual and I am on the point of hiring a typist so that I can dictate my notes etc. The manual will be produced in house and will highlight all the products in our range. Also included in the manual are fully usage instructions for each product.

The manual will be produced in A5 booklet size and will be added to complete and starter kits FOC.

Anyone that would like a copy is asked to email me or call me on 0800 074 1608. There is a small charge to cover production costs to current users of our products and a greater price for members of joe public.

Also time permitting we will also be issuing soon FOC to every customer on our database a Newsletter details some highlights of our products, customer view points etc as well as a clip coupen asking for suggestions. We will also be serialising according to the seasons details on basic car care. Also there will be a regular competition with such prizes as some motor show press day tickets etc etc.

Hope to have the first issue out by the end of June.

Website should be updated very soon now when our online shopping cart will go live...just as soon as I have done a course on how to administer the site.

Also there will be a noticeboard so please feel free to use this facility.

If any regional area of the SIDc wants me to appear at your local event please email me or call the office on 0800 074 1608 and if free I will attend if possible. Please give some advance warning.

Bright Kar

Mark,

You would have more time writing your manual if you didnt spend so much time writing stuff in BBS's !

Only kidding - interesting reading.

Does the A* glide man have a spot in this BBS

bkar