Zaino...WOW!!!

hehe, yes. but being a mad scientist is even better!

the next time we have a nice long weekend off we're going to really do up our Pri...

anyone do anything they regretted when looking back at doing their Zaino? i saw a couple good tips for application here already, just want to learn from the experiences of others. thanks

 

Zaino is really easy to work with. Prep is the key. Follow the instructions on the Zaino website. Use a clay bar, it's easy. Check out the Sticky at the Roadfly forum, server is down right now so I can't post a link---Sorry.

 

I followed the Zaino site religiously in my application. Read all you can at the Zaino site. I even went to Linens and Things and got some made-in-the-usa white bath towels.

The *only* tip I did not follow was the suggestion from some people of using an electric leaf blower to dry the car, but after the number of towels I went through to dry the car, I am seriously considering getting one.

 

Save your money......don't buy a leaf blower.....
go to walmart or some autoparts store and get a couple "Absorbers" to dry your Prius. They work wonderful.

 

Yeah, but will they get rid of my leaves too? ;-)

Did want to add that prep work is worth it. Clay barring is easy and really picks up a lot of stuff. Not as much on the new Prius, but I did clay bar / zaino my Jeep before selling and claybared / zaino'd a borrowed Caddy, both looked tons better. Sounds like a lot of work, but once you do it, don't have to invest the time again for a long, long while.

 

Absorbers are great but, for my money, I still prefer a good quality microfibre cloth.

FWIW, a little Zaino goes a long way. I mixed 2 ounces in the little shot glass that comes with the product. It didn't seem like much but turned out to be enough to do 3 coats. Even then, there was some left but it was getting dark and I had to quit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bshef\";p=\"107372)</div>

I went to Walmart yesterday and looked for absorbers. Turns out Walmart had their electric leaf blowers on sale, so I bought one of them instead. Leaf blower in possession, I washed the car and dried it with the blower, took about 4-5 minutes and dried it remaining stuff quickly with towel.

Now, with a clean car, I of course had to polish it, Z2+Z6, Z2+Z8. Add that to the other 2 coats, have 4 coats on it now. The seaside pearl is not all that smooth of a color: maybe it is the paint job, maybe it is the actual color ingredients... I don't think it'll ever get to the level of reflection that you see in the black photo above. I'm gonna stop with these 4 coats for now; boy it sure is shiny.

 

All right. We finally did it today. Let me tell you, the only word there is to explain how the car looks is "wow!"

We started with 3 coats of Z5 to take care of any swirl marks and fine scratches from road debris and such, then did 2 coats of Z2 to top it off with a nice shiny coat.

omg.

Amazing. Shiny. Beautiful. Mirror-like. Couldn't tell glass from paint.

Except it rained as we were taking off the last coat of Z2. Which made it insanely hard to remove. And we haven't seen the final result of that last coat yet. But man.

 

Welcome to the family.......

am I the only one that loves the smell or what?

 

haha, thanks bshef.
we both really liked the Z2 smell. something that reminded me of berries or something. apparently all the local bees/wasps/hornets agreed because we had a lot of them coming and bothering us!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee\";p=\"108057)</div>

5 coats! Looking forward to the photos. I used the Zaino leather treatment today. My hand smells like leather. Been showing off the smell all day! I think the smell of all of thier products might be their marketing hook.

Just wnodreing, Did you Clay Bar? Use ZFX?

 

We didn't do the clay bar... that was just TOO much work. We did use the ZFX with all coats.

Well, not sure how long pics will take. The situation got complicated because halfway through buffing the last coat out, there was a huge downpour. We missed a spot or 2, and then he had to take it out somewhere. Then we had to wash it before buffing the spots we missed... so we didn't rub road grime into the paint. Except it was dark. And the car didn't dry right, and the soap left streaks all over. The car now looks pretty bad compared to the nice Zaino shine.

I am not thrilled about this. But we're going to try to correct it ASAP and then take pictures.
I'll keep ya posted...

 

update: crisis averted. the streaks were left by the car wash soap. don't use armorall soap! we were just looking for a cheap solution but that was a bad idea.

took it to a local automatic carwash and not only did it take off the soap streaks, it removed the last of the wax for us too! it looked fantastic again. re-installed the car bra and all is well.

pictures coming soon.

 

Galaxee.....
OMG>.......over 800 points?

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Just wanted to post up a recent photo in the evolution. This is 4 coats. Good to compare to to the 0-coats and 2-coats photos from the previous page. You can begin to get a good sense of the progression.

I'm gonna start putting the progression photos in a photo album someplace on this site, instead of clogging up this thread. Where? How?

 

bigdaddy, you can start your own album here on priuschat.

go here:
http://priuschat.com/forums/album.php
below the "prius gatherings" gallery is an option to go to your personal gallery. click on the "your personal gallery" link and you will go to your album. it will be empty if you haven't loaded anything. there is an "upload picture" link on the top left area of the page. click and follow instructions.

to see what an album looks like, click my "album" link below my post.

btw, zaino pics coming this weekend. hubby has the camera and the car needs a wash anyway. black cars with zaino are actually chameleons! 8)

 

I just applied (1) layer polish lok (1) Z-5 (1) Gloss Enhancer (1) Z-2 and the tC is looking FABOLOUS. I plan on applying one more layer of each to see the final effect.

Very pleased with this product and YES DO GET 100% COTTON TOWELS!

 

Here are my Zaino pics! 8)

 

I should add that if I'm parked next to a red car, my car looks red. If I park next to another black car it looks very deep black. Next to a white car it's kinda pearly-black. It's amazing. It's like the car is a mirror.

 

Nice Galaxee! Inspirational!

So inspired, I must write a poem to Zaino!


Ode to my Zaino'd Car
by BigDaddy

Mirror, mirror, on my car
Reveal what you will
Keep it real and highly glossed
And before you we will kneel.

Your secret is a bottle named Z
And an american cloth of cotton
Your finish defies sun bugs and rain
With scratches long forgotten.

With 2 coats you are far above
The others on the street,
But a few more coats of aromatic bliss
And your finish can't be beat.

So proud to reflect yourself on us
My glistening mirror on wheels
Let passerbys who see themselves
Also covet your wax appeal.