Zymol Carbon Vs. Zymol Titanium test

[Yellow Dave]

I thought it was about time to really test the performance of these two as I've only really played with them since receiving my holiday sampler kit. So both front wings and bonnet were stripped back and a 50/50 test started yesterday.

The car is a 08 ocean blue Focus that we've owned almost 6months that I've not yet corrected apart from the rear bumper. It did look like the dealerships BWAB had given it a good going over when we picked it up though.

Panels were washed, de tarred with tardis, de ironed with ironX. Car was clayed 2months ago so this was skipped. The next stage I went over the front end with Zymol HD Cleanse with a MF applicator to set a good base. I decided to leave a few tiny tar spots to test the cleaning ability but these weren't removed which surprised me a little. these were then removed properly with Tardis and HD cleanse applied again.

Now to the wax. As you look at the car, Carbon to the left, Titanium on the right. No pictures yet as the light was pretty poor and photo's weren't giving a true representation of the colour, also we all no how good the water behaviour is of Zymol waxes so I'll leave this for future reports.
Applying the waxes also had their differences. Although I have used the Titanium a little more, the wax felt softer. The Carbon felt a little harder, but on application felt oilier and spread a little better than titanium, not that this didn't spread easier than the majority of waxes. No gassing issues that you here reported with Glasur. I did feel that the Carbon on application did darken the paint a little, as did the HD Cleanse but after buffing this was no more noticeable than titanium.

The car will be washed once a week using AutoFinesse lather with no QD top ups of any kind. I will try and report on their performance once a week with pictures weather dependant.

 

[julzh]

I'll be watching this as it's the kinda thing I like but I've heard it a couple of times without understanding. What's "gassing"?

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

dave, is there ment to be pictures to this?

other than that sounds a good plan.

edit: helps if i read better....

 

[Joe#]

I've been meaning to ask about Titanium for a while now. Never really read much about it. So I'm looking forward to see how this goes

 

[Yellow Dave]

my interpretation of gassing is where the oils / solvents in a wax dry and cure at different rates leaving a patchy haze in areas that require a 2nd buff.

Pictures came out awful in the poor light so so I didn't bother, plus it was very hard to tell any difference between the two on camera. will get some with next weeks wash.

Titanium is claimed to be there 'durable' wax which is why it caught my attention but initial uses have shown it to be not that great, and as carbon is quite highly thought of it will be a good benchmark to put it against

My first opinion is that I prefer Carbon for both ease of use and initial look

 

[Yellow Dave]

as I know how much we all like a bit of good beading, I came home this evening to see local showers had left there remains on the bonnet. As said carbon on the left side of the bonnet, Titanium on the right.

Carbon:

Titanium

Nothing to tell between beading or sheeting so far

 

[Chapppers11]

Carbon FTW!

 

[julzh]

my interpretation of gassing is where the oils / solvents in a wax dry and cure at different rates leaving a patchy haze in areas that require a 2nd buff.

Thanks Dave, not a problem I've encountered.

 

[Jimbo_M]

Very interesting read dude, having used both quite alot in the past i do prefer Titanium, however both a great waxes and there isnt too much to separate them imo. It will be good to see how you get on with both, and see what conclusion you come to.

 

[Yellow Dave]

1st wash - Saturday 12th May - 1 week since application

Car had its usual week of commuting and muddy stable trips. Had been raining again so following pictures are of beading on a dirty bonnet, generally a good build up of dust and tree droppings as it's generally parked under some Oak trees for the most of its day.

Carbon:

Titanium:

On close inspection beading is more uniform with Carbon than it is with Titanium.

Wash was 2bm with AutoFinesse Lather with no pre sprays or QD / drying aids used. Both sides were almost sheeting off the wash solution. Rinsing off with a watering can (hose pipe ban ) showed super fast sheeting as when first applied, and beading initially returned. Rain today with a small build up of dust is showing beading similar to that pictured above with Carbon holding a slight edge. Wash down was quick and very easy with no contaminants bonding to the paint yet.

 

[JD]

Lavly.

What's on the windscreen?

 

[Cliotoby]

Wash with BTBM and it should still provide tight beading. That looks like my carbon does after a month of bad weather and about 4 washes, or if its covered in s**t.

 

[Yellow Dave]

GTechniq G1 on the windscreen since November last year. Occasionally gets a wipe over with a glass cleaner to keep it fresh. I'm very pleased with it. Although I let a friend try out G1 on my windscreen and it's pretty poor. All comes down to application with GT products unfortunately. Get it wrong and they're no better than anyone else. Get it right and you're onto a winner.

As I said the Focus is parked under / very close to oak trees for a fair time so dust and debris builds up quite. Pictures were before washing, which brought back tight beading. Next wash I will spritz some water onto the panel for clean beading shots

Don't rate BTBM as it didn't work as well with the hard water, although I could try some Gwash and see if that changes anything.

 

[Cliotoby]

Fairynuff mate. i applied G1 on mine around october I think, just re applied last week and put some new wipers on. Its been dead about a month and needed re applying about 2 months ago. Good stuff.

 

[Gally]

Gwash is utterly superb. I thought it was going to be a watery nano shampoo. So wrong. Sudsy and smells lovely.

 

[Yellow Dave]

Right sorry for the lack of updates. No pictures I'm afraid as time has been tight and weather against me.

Car was washed again on;
2nd wash - 19th May
Washed with lather again. beading still nice and tight after initial wash, Carbon taking the edge again on uniform shape and tightness, Titanium still beading well just not quite as well as I was hoping. Sheeting is still pretty good but a fraction slower than previous wash, both drying as quick as each other. Wash down was very simple, no contaminants on the paint and gloss levels retained from initial application.

3rd wash - 27th May
Washed with GTechniq GWash, beading has dropped significantly over the past week but the car has been getting covered in frequent dust and rain showers. Carbon still a little more uniform in shape but not exactly round beads. Titanium is beading but not round at all. Sheeting has really dropped off this time round, but Titanium still drying quicker. Wash off was quick and simple once again and no bonded contaminants despite some local roadworks and tar spots on the rest of the car. Titanium is not quite giving the glossy just applied look as Carbon is still holding.

4th wash - 4th June
Washed with lather again, beading on both is equally very poor, but there is still some surface tension there and water trying to hold on. Sheeting again is equally as poor and certainly not as I had hoped, but still enough to leave a fairly dry bonnet. no contaminants on wash down which again wash very simple so clearly plenty of protection still there. The finish has dropped off as well this week and not looking quite as fresh.

The car hasn't moved today and has been fairly well cleaned with today's rain, so if it is still beading in the morning I will try and get some pictures of current beading.

Unfortunately the water behaviour has really slipped a month after application but still protecting well as the rest of the car is starting to pick up more tar that won't simply wash off. The rest of the car has 2 layers of Titanium on and the water behaviour here is identical to that I found when I first applied it to the whole car. water behaviour had to be maintained by infrequent QD top ups as durability was still lasting.

 

[Yellow Dave]

5th wash - 11th June

quick update before 2 week holiday

Car was quite muddy but spent a lot of time sitting under trees also. wash down with GWash wasn't the most pleasant, felt quite rough to hand, bug splatter along the front edge came off with a 2nd pass. No sign of contamination sticking such as tar. still felt a little rough after drying as if it needed to be clayed. Sheeting was almost non existent on Titanium, Carbon did sheet but very slowly. Beading was similar in that Carbon was holding out better than Titanium but neither were tight or uniform shaped

Car will be left standing now for 2weeks until my return which I would guess sat near these trees is likely to finish them off.

 

[Cliotoby]

Somethings not right. Carbon will sheet on its 5th wash and produce beading.

 

[Yellow Dave]

The rest of the car has been wearing titanium since end March - start of April and I haven't been overly impressed with its performance. I think it's been getting quite a bit of fall out parked under / near trees at my wife's place of work. Will check it out once I get home next week

 

[Cliotoby]

Yeah probs!

parked mine under a tree at home a few days ago and its demolished the beading on a fresh coat of wax.

Carbon of course

 

[Yellow Dave]

6th wash, 24th June - 7 weeks since application.

Car spent the majority of the 2weeks parked just out from being under the oak tree. small film of dust had settled, washed off in the rain, settled again whilst away. Aphid droppings / tree sap fallout had built up again.

rinsed with the hose then washed with 2BM and GWash. most of the droppings/ fallout is still very evident to the point where I washed it a 2nd time same as first. It has bonded quite well with a small proportion being washed off. This is severely affected water behaviour to the point of no sheeting, and beading is there, just in random shapes. Nothing tight or uniform about it so there is obviously something still providing protection. I'm starting to be of the opinion that the wax is failing due to it bonding so well and not washing off. Especially compared to my silver Golf in the AF wax test were it is still washing off, albeit with less exposure but only 2 weeks difference in application. Gloss and finish is that of an unprotected car.

Drying was painful. Would not sheet with an open hose. I first tried to lightly drag the towel over the top of the wing to be as gentle as possible and I could feel it catching. Tried dabbing dry and still felt tacky against the towel.

In a normal situation (not me testing them) I would be stripping it all back and starting again at this stage. But I want to give the car another week of normal use and not being parked under the same tree at home, my Golf is parked there in the evening now, to see how they both perform this coming weekend in another wash. But I don't see them staying much longer!

 

[Cliotoby]

Drying was the biggest problem i faced after I parked under a tree. As in my pm, I ended up using a paint cleaner, wiping down with IPA then re applying the wax again.

 

[Yellow Dave]

7th wash, 29th June, 8 weeks since application.

First of all I just want to say that both waxes are present and still protecting, just not to a level that I'm happy with.

Car has had mixed use of me using it for driving to and from my building sites, nice and dusty, parked near the same oak tree and my wife also using it for work and to the stables. sahara sand had noticeably settled Wednesday night. The whole car was covered in the same aphid droppings and tree fallout. also some medium sized tar spots on the front of the bonnet.

I've just come in from washing the whole car. Pre rinse with open hose, pre soaked with auto finesse citrus power, whole car washed with 2BM with GWash, test area washed first then citrus power re applied and left to dwell whilst washing the rest of the car. test area was then re sprayed with citrus power and lightly agitated with with a detailing brush then re washed and rinsed with an open hose.

The harsh tacky spotty feel was greatly reduced, the aid of citrus power during the wash stage had really helped. Although still present the droppings were greatly reduced. Beading was still pretty pathetic in all honesty. Sheeting on the other hand had really picked up, but not really at a satisfactory level. Carbon noticeably quicker than Titanium. All in all both were still unable to resist the droppings and fallout. The tar spots on the other hand washed off in one pass on both waxes! Obviously still present and able to resist contamination of sorts.

At this stage I have decided to stop the test as spending a full week sat under the tree not moving before washing, then another 2weeks again without washing or moving is pretty irregular for my cars and lead to an excessive amount of organic fallout. Although this is not washing off, the waxes are still present and still resisting tar spots from local road works, almost sheeting. without the organic fallout I really believe these waxes would still be performing strong.

Due to the stop of the test I decided to quickly clay the centre section of the bonnet so that both waxes were covered. One or two passes and it was removed, but the colour of the clay was all a browny yellow stain, no individual spots, the water rinsing off was filthy. After this all felt smooth as would be expected. open hose rinse and sheeting was greatly improved again, carbon still fractionally quicker, almost to an acceptable standard for a normal wax, beading was dead on both though.

My apologies for wasting 8weeks and not coming back with a suitable outcome. I just don't think it's fair to carry on the test with it at an unfair advantage. I don't believe it to be a true reflection of their performance. The full car will be stripped back tomorrow with ironx, tardis, fully clayed, AF rejuvenate, and see how much contamination has bonded