Which has a greater effect on waxing your car: the rubbing on or the wiping off? When is the shining taking place?
(I usually rub it on briskly. Then by the time it’s dry, my arm is about to fall off so I just wipe it off without much force.)
While we’re at it, how does wax work anyway?
Well, if it’s wax and nothing but wax it’s the buffing off stage.
Most automotive ‘waxes’ contain both waxes and polishing compounds though, so the answer there would be “Both”. Rubbing it on briskly gives you the most polishing action, so your technique is sound.
Wax shines stuff by filling in the microscopic valleys. Polish shines stuff by knocking down the microscopic ridges.
Its in the application because some do not have to be rubbed off. e.g. Mop Glow
BTW run back & forth not in circles.
I’ve never tried Mop 'n Glow on my car… interesting concept…
Whatever you do, don’t use Johnson’s Floor Wax on your car.
When I was a lad, my friend’s mom ordered us to wax her Pacer. We found some wax in the garage and started rubbing it in. We applied it to the whole car, under the direct Florida sun, in little 8" circles, and then started buffing.
It didn’t buff.
That Pacer spent the rest of its life with 8" swirlie patterns all over it.
I don’t mean to use mop glow on your car…there was another wax for your car that you can just spray on & not rub but I forgot the name of it.