Car wash wax fraud?

When you take your car/van/SUV/truck to one of those full-service car wash places, one of the basic bare-bones packages available is invariably the “Wash + Foam Wax and/or Sealer Wax.” And, sure enough, when you see your car inching down the wash, it’ll cross a structure after the rinse cycle that has big, friendly neon letters lighting up “FOAM WAX” or “SEALER WAX” as it sprays some thin, watery stuff on your car.

Needless to say, I suspect this stuff is just so much useless liquid. Even a beginning automobile owner knows that the minimum level of waxing that’s worth a damn is old-fashioned hand waxing, where you scrub the wax into the body, let it dry, then buff off the excess. Surely, if foam wax/sealer wax was worth anything, people would use that instead, and wax their cars in one fifth the time (“Just spray it on, then dry off your car, Hoss.”).

So, does anyone know what is in that Foam Wax/Sealer Wax stuff? Is it just water mixed with a miniscule amount of oil? Does it actually do anything worthwhile? Or is it (as I believe) just a fancy way to skim money from gullible customers who will believe whatever a bright neon tube tells them?

It’s not in any way definitive, but Click & Clack are skeptical too …

Whatever they apply, it probably has a life span of less than a week. I stripped the wax off a truck once with a polish, and some light polishing compound for a neighbor. I touched up some spots that needed repair and advised him to wax the entire car because I had just stripped it ‘naked’.

He opted for the car wash wax. And while you could see residue and the water beading, it lasted about a week…maybe ten days tops.

Around his p/up cover, you could see wax buildup…and it kinda took the gloss off the material.

I think the car wash wax is akin to those wash/wax/soaps you wash your car with. Thye just add a very little layer and might help if done weekly.