Zaino On The Way!!!

Cha-ching! Wow, that's a lot to spend but I totally understand. Go nuts!--although, I thought using the Dawn dishwashing liquid wasn't a good thing since it's not specifically made to deal with the finish on cars? Isn't one of the things you listed good for doing the pre-wash?

 

ZFX. Order some ASAP. See if they can throw in your box before it ships. You will not regret it.

 

They are the experts. Thanks for the info, Wynder. Have fun getting getting down and dirty with your new Prius!

I was thinking about trying that claybar stuff myself.

 

Smell the stuff when it arrives. It is all good. Very good. Z-6 and Z-8 are worth the price just for the smell as you apply it.

 

You'll also want a bazillion white cotton towels. And a digital camera.

 

You definitely want the ZFX. I'm up in Newark Delaware and put two coats of Zaino on my new 2006 by squeezing around the car in my one-car garage on January 2nd and 3rd. With the garage door closed and the one to the house open, I was working at about 55 degrees.

At 50 degrees it takes many hours for the Zaino to dry before you can polish it off and put the next coat on. With ZFX, an hour or so is enough. I have been using Zaino for 5 years, mostly before ZFX was invented, and it used to be a real pain in the butt to wait for the Z-1/Z-5 or Z-1/Z-2 coat to dry in cool and or damp weather. Absolutely *wonderful* results it either case though. And the paint surface will feel like a baby's bottom for months (and bugs don't stick in the summer!)

Good luck,

- Tom

 

CLAYBAR!!!!! If you thought your car will be silky smooth after you Zaino, its even MORE SILKY if you claybar before you apply your first coat.

I also recommend ZFX. If you are planning on multiple coats, then the ZFX is a MUST.

 

Cancel the Z1 and just get the ZFX, it's just more hassle with the Z1 with no benefit. Also you could alternate coats of Z2 and Z5. The Z5 will help with very light swirls. All cars have swirls especially if the dealer preped and washed it.

I don't particularly like the zaino clay, it's not as good as other and it's expensive. The best clay I tried can be bought at autozone, pepboys, called magic clay.

Alex

 

For the effort involved, I'm not sure that clay does much on new paint. I know that the true believers and claybar sellers insist that it is important to remove contaminants picked up during shipping (brake dust from railroad cars during rail shipment, etc.), but your Prius was shipped with Rapguard covering the paint. I skipped the clay on my new Prius and the surface is as smooth as I have ever felt on a car.

I do highly recommend using the clay the next time you Zaino the car in a few months. Then it makes a big difference in getting the surface clean and smooth. I have been using clay before the springtime Zaino job the last several years and the result has been way smoother than before I started doing that.

So unless you have infinite time or are a real perfectionist, I'd skip the half day it takes me to claybar the whole car and rewash and dry it. Just concentrat on getting those first one or two (better) coats of Zaino and Gloss Enhancer onto your car before the weather goes rotten.

- Tom

 

You will love what Zaino does for you car!!!! Use a claybar, it's easy. Put the Z on thin, one ounce will give you 2-3 layers. Z1 is fine, ZFX is better. Have fun and post results.

 

I clayed my wife's new, back in 04, RX330 and I can tell you that the finish was SMOOTHER after claying than before. I did this 2 days after we took delivery.

 

We've all been waxing our cars for years. I will never "wax" again after Zaino. The stuff is amazing!

With mine I went balz-out and clayed it, then put 1 coat of Z5, & 3 coats of Z2, with Z8 between each coat.

Do yourself and your new ride a favor. Go all the way the first time. Subsequent "waxings" will be that much easier.

 

Amen Brother! I spent the ENTIRE day Zaino'ng my wife's RX330, and plan to do the same with my soon to be purchased(still on wait list) Black 06 Prius. The steps above were exactly the same process I followed. Its gets much easier with subsequent coats since there is so much joy, at least for me, in feeling the smoothness of the finish.

 

Claying doesn't take that long if you know how to do it right.

Cut the clay into strips. You can experiment how big the strips should be but when you ball up the strip and flatten it, it should be the size of a silver dollar or so.

You use each side of the silver dollar size clay and then you throw it away.

Using the full bar and kneading it in is a bad method because you ruin the clay and there's gunk and dirt that gets into the bar and finding a fresh spot on the clay is so hard.

The silver dollar method is quicker and cleaner, just like Zaino needs the thiniest layer, clay requires only a think layer to take off gunk.

You don't need to use Z8 or the Z Wash to glide the clay. The easiest time to do it is when you are washing the car.

Wash the car with DAWN, rinse, don't dry, then get a bucket of water and put some Z Wash in there and make some suds, with your sheepskin mitt, (only sheepskin because it doesn't scratch) apply some soap to a section of the car. Clay that part, repeat for the whole car, one or two swipes is all it takes to clay. With a new car, one is more than enough swipes. This shouldn't take long. It takes me about a hour to do a Ford Explorer.

Alex

 

How do you folks protect the rubber/plastic parts from the chemicals used on the metal ?