I recently purchased a 2003 Highlander for my wife, Indigo Ink Pearl (Deep Blue). After reading all the information on Zaino Brothers, I decided to give it a try. Their new web site and on-line ordering is great. The package showed up in a few days.

Anxious to try this stuff, but being a week night, I decided to do half the hood of my Lunar Mist Tacoma. The shine is great, but not noticeably different than the new wax job from the previous weekend. Four weeks of some nasty weather later, the Zaino side is beading water noticeably better! This stuff looks like it’s going to hold up! I may put another coat of wax on the wax side and see if the Zaino outlasts the second coat.

On to the Highlander, I purchased the ZFX accelerator and put on one coat of Z5 and two of Z2. A week later, I followed with two more coats of Z2. THIS CAR GLOWS! Time will tell if the Zaino holds up better, but this is clearly the best polish I have used in my thirty years of waxing cars!

Now, my daughters 95 Honda Civic, Phantom Gray Metallic, is sitting in the drive looking pretty nasty. We have the first clear, dry Sunday in months, time to attack it with the Zaino. When the sun hit this car the right way, you could see a spider web effect. Not swirl marks, but very light lines. Two coats of Z5 and one of Z2 and they appear to be gone. The Honda looks better than new!

A few observations, with the ZFX, there is no need for the Z1. The ZFX comes with four 2 ounce bottles and some magic potion to mix with the polish to make it set up quickly. Works like a champ! Following the directions to put the product on VERY thin, I used one ounce for each coat on the Highlander…that’s right, ONE OUNCE! Starting with the hood, I figured there was no way I was going to make it around the car with a single ounce. But once you get the applicator saturated, I was using a pea size drop for every body panel. The Civic was done with about three quarters of an ounce!

The other thing I did was to purchase some 100% cotton bath towels that Zaino recommends. I used the smaller hand towels which I found a little easier to handle. I don’t know what it is, but the cotton towels, folded over a few times, work the best with the Zaino. I tried my micro fiber towels and they struggled. I tried the towels un-folded and they struggled. Folding the cotton towels over, having three or four layers of towel made a distinctive difference! However, the micro fiber towels did work very well with the Z6 Gloss Enhancer used between layers.

The products are very easy to apply, work your way around the vehicle applying the polish, and go around again taking it off. Easy on, easy off! I do think the paint needs to be in pretty good shape, if you have a finish that needs a real good cleaning there may be other products that will do the initial deep cleaning better.

The Zaino products are not cheap, but they are VERY GOOD!

 

Tomstin,

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about. I have had the same experience as you had. Been using just about every product under the sun but Zainos is the best in my book. You'll quickly find out that there's nothing better on dark colors.

No surprises reading about the spider webs on your daughter's vehicle. My wife's 95 Camry was the same way. A coat of Z5 seems lessens the visual appearance of the dreaded spideys w/ every coat. My father-in-law was amazed when he saw the pictures---he'd be even more impressed in person.

Sounds like you are doing everything right but make sure you also have a natural wash mitt or a boar's hair brush. The spideys are mostly caused by washing w/ a cheap mitt that holds the dirt particles in there while you wash. Look at a car w/ bad spideys and you'll see the natural, circular hand motion/pattern of someone washing their car. It's quite funny if you visualize it.

So show us some pics!

EDIT: And finally, Sal fixed the website. A much easier read now and finally---ONLINE ORDERING!

Bob

 

Just wanted to make sure of something. You said you did multiple coats on different days. Did you mix a different batch of Zaino and ZFX? The ZAINO with ZFX is only good for 24 hours. Just wanted to make sure you know that.

 

The directions say the maximum number of layers in 24 hours with the ZFX is three. I mix each layer as I use it. I got pretty good a judging how much to mix. Had to shake every drop out of the bottle to finish a few times. Any extra I had I used on the wheels. It seems to work pretty well there with the brake dust.

The directions on the ZFX are pretty clear. In the event you run short, you can always mix up a very little to finish up. Sit back and admire your work for the few minutes it takes to let the mixture "cure". My recommendation is to mix a little less than you think you will need the first time and see how far it goes with the way you applying it. Then you can mix almost exactly what you need.

But yes, I was aware that this doesn't keep!

One other thing, as soon as I was done with the vials, I rinsed them in dawn dish soap, then filled a peanut butter jar (can never have enough of them around) with warm water and dawn, place the vials and lids in that for a few hours before a final rinse.

 

I read the thread about the Zaino Bros. wax, and had a question. I understand that the wax beads really well, but does it provide a good protective layer for the actual paint? Allot of waxes have silicone in them, and they'll bead forever, however, they don't do anything for the actual paint of the car. Does the Zaino Bros. wax?

Marc

 

After you applied all your ZFX/Z2 or /Z5 mixture, you can apply Z5 or Z2 without ZFX mixture. ZFX/Z1 is only recommend after every 10 coats or twice a year.

 

No Silicone....Zainos is Polymer based and is the only type of polish that holds up to the New Mexico sun.

 

Question: Why does everyone apply Z5 and then two coats of Z2. I thought there was an order than mated with the numbers, ie Z5 went on after Z2 ?

Anyone tried their gplastic polish and the glass cleaner ?

 

Z5 is their swirl remover. Take a look at the tips and tricks section of Zaino.com