Can You Use Johnson Paste Wax on Cars

Let's not misrepresent what I said.

I said that Johnson's Paste Wax was the most durable wax in terms of staying power. I did not say I put it on my car.

One person incorrectly tried to say that it is only for wood. Please, if you think you know something, don't prove you are a fool by not doing your research and pontificating anyway. It is good on wood finishes, but it can be applied to plastics, cabinets, countertops, metal, painted surfaces (not just car paint, but spray Krylon paint - I have done it). I use it in my home for lots of things, and I detail plastics under the hood or interior of all my vehicles with it. I would not use this product on my car paint, but in fact for decades it was used for that purpose, as well as on boat hardware (to prevent corrosion), and boat finishes (when boats were mostly made of wood). I have a can of this stuff from a home my parents bought on a lake, and the date on the can is 1946. So it has been around virtually unchanged for a LONG time. When something is around that long and it has not changed substantially, if at all, it works. The longevity of the product and its number of uses speaks for itself. Most of the people who would criticise my comments about using it are probably too young to remember. Simoniz and Dupont were also the big players as far as car waxes back then, such as the 50's and 60's. Not Meguiar's or Mother's or Turtle Wax. I started using car waxes in the mid to late 60's on my parent's cars. So my fund of knowledge is a little deeper than most of my supposed detractors here.

But, I digress. I use this particular wax on painted surfaces such as my lawn mower and the wheels on my ZX-9R Ninja sportbike. It does not come off very easily, is impervious to countless washings with harsh soaps, and it cleans off grease very handily, such as fling off from a motorcycle chain. It works great on SMALL areas. Once it dries, it is VERY hard, and requires a LOT of work to buff out. Which is why, in the "old days" (for many on this forum was probably before their parents were born), car owners spend days waxing their car. Not for me, thank you. I have a very busy personal life, with volunteer activities (church, USO, to name a couple) on top of a full time job, and a family life. But this thread asked about "durable" waxes. This is exactly on point. I just wouldn't use it to wax a car with all the easier to apply products now available.

Now, as far as the "$2.50" can of wax, that one is very easy. You can buy this at most national chain auto parts stores. It is called "Kit". This product came out in the late 60's and was the first wax that was easy to apply and did not take several afternoons to apply to a car. In fact, their original commercial featured several collector car owners bragging about how many afternoons they spent waxing their ride, and then the guy who used Kit said he spent his afternoons playing golf because he waxed his car so fast.

Yes, I do use this product. I never said it was the only product I use, nor did I ever say I don't buy products sold by on line auto detail sellers such as the host of this forum. I do buy other products. But this wax lasts just as long as the expensive stuff on car paint. Some people just can't leave well enough alone and they have to keep playing with their paint, so when they hear someone say they only wax every 12 months, it disturbs their sense of reality; they can't accept this as a fact. Well, it is a fact.

If you looked in my garage, you will find a corner of a 1300 square foot heated garage where there is an overhead carousel cabinet and a lower cabinet with slide out shelves, filled with all kinds of stuff for detailing. Some are only available from auto body supply dealers, not on line, like the 3M compounds used for orbital polisher work on paint. Some are cheap waxes like Kit, Super Hard Shell Turtle Wax (I think I paid about $3.50 for that one). A lot are products sold by the host of this forum.

However, having restored a couple of cars and currently owning a car that I have had for 18 years (and has been in 3 concours shows), a tournament ski boat for 18 years, and a truck I have owned for 17 years, I know what works to keep the paint intact and shiny, even if the vehicle sits outside all year long. And one rule I adhere to is that longevity paint is inversely proportional to the amount of chemicals you apply to your paint. People who think you can't just wax your car once a year are nuts or they are miserably uninformed, or they simply have bad paint on their car and feel they have to do it to try to make it look shiny. The fact is, if you averaged how often I waxed my truck prior to it being restored last year, it would have been about once every 2 years. And the paint was still very shiny when it went into the customs shop for restoration (and it sat outside 24/7, as it still does).

So less is better. Waxing a car a bunch of times every year is fine if you get rid of your cars every 2-4 years. But if you keep your cars longer, less waxing is better. Cheap waxes work as well as the expensive waxes, honest. And on my 06 Infiniti G356SP (custom ordered brand new), which is my driver, I use Kit wax on it. Why? It is very easy to put on and buff out, and it contains mild abrasives which easily remove minor paint imperfections, and the results are stunning. If I want to take out more scratches or swirl marks, then I go for more steps (lots of choices of products on this web site's retail operation), but most of the time I am too busy to do that, and this wax makes a better shine than a lot of the more expensive waxes, as long as I first clean the paint with Mequiar's Overspray Clay or something equivalent. But yes, I do use other products on it as well, depending on how much time I have and what I am trying to do with the paint.

Just as one example of the less waxing is better philosophy, my 1988 BMW Dinan M6 was purchased in 1993. It has over 138,000 miles on it now. It used to be my daily driver. I had a shop take the car down to bare metal, remove all trim, glass and bumpers and repaint it with 5 clear coats, all wet sanded, in 1995. The last time I put any wax on the paint was around 2005 or 2006. And that is probably only the second time it has been waxed. (no, I don't use Kit wax on that car finish because it has abrasives in it). The only other work that paint has seen was when I spent three months compounding it with an orbital polisher and the professional body shop line of 3M compounds and glaze, along with some wet sanding. Would I use a cheap wax on this car? If I found one that was easy to apply and take off and it had no abrasives in it, yes. Until then, I will use a paste wax such as 3M Perfect-It Showcar Pastewax or Mequiar's No. 26 Yellow Wax. The 3M product is the most durable paste wax I use that is not Johnson's Paste Wax.

I like other waxes, yes. But it depends on my objective. Easy is a good thing for me most of the time, because my time is very valuable and scarce for detailing cars (I have too many cars, motorcycles, etc.). So that means sometimes using a liquid wax (like Klasse, or some other liquid product), but these don't last as long as a paste wax.

Can You Use Johnson Paste Wax on Cars

Source: https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101-a/39976-durable-wax-5.html

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