Protecting your Paint
Ok, so you’ve done a little fourwheeling down some narrow paths. Your once spotless paint job is showing those numerous underbrush light scratches down the sides of your rig. You’ve tried buffing them out with a good wax and a lot of sweat or maybe you’ve invested in a power buffer and worked on the surface scratches with the wheel. But now your finding that you just don’t have the time to keep up with applying the wax all the time and you’ve pretty much resigned to the idea that if your going to offroad, your going to have scratches, period.
Although I washed the truck when it needed it, I found that the power washes would blast off my wax and I just didn’t have time to keep applying wax to the paint to hide the scratches. Then I thought that a product like Armor All would be nice to because it could be wiped on easily and it hides the scratches. Originally I was looking for something to replace Armor All for my large tires. Keeping my tire shiny can get expensive mainly because it lasts about two minutes and it’s gone.
Then it dawned on me. I’m looking for something that shines and holds up like a “wax”. A wax… Floor Wax! I read the label and it’s good for vinyl, rubber, linoleum and other stuff. Rubber, great. I put it on my Goodyears and it lasts 5 times longer than Armor All. In fact I use my old Armor All spray bottle to apply it. As I was putting it on the tires I rubbed a little on my paint scratches and they disappeared. What the hell, the truck was just washed so using a terry cloth rag I coated the whole truck in about ten minutes. No more scratches but will it hold up. It held up for about two months before I thought I should put more on (even though the water still beaded). It also helps to keep new scratches from getting down into the paint or clearcoat.
The only concerns are that the vehicle has to be very clean (no dirt at all. clean and smooth) Mainly because the floor wax sets up a layer of clear wax and you don’t want dirt locked into the wax. Secondly, don’t get it on the Windows! I got it on my cap windows six months ago and it’s still there. Third, apply it NOT in circular a motion but in a directional motion. Like in the direction that the vehicle moves (like sanding with the grain of wood). You don’t see the streaks in the sun so much by doing so. Another thought is that it may be more visible on darker colors. I have a Silver paint job and I don’t see any streaks from applying the floor wax with the cloth. A dark color like black or dark green my show the streaks from applying the wax. But hey, try it in a small spot. It may look better than the scratches. Test it first. I like it. You may not. Last thought, I let it dry and then apply a second coat. This not only helps to hide the streaks but adds more protection. When I’m done, I have wax on my hands, so I use a paint thinner to get it off my skin.
