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What Wax Do You Use?

bstock

bstock

Active Member
Apr 1, 2013
325
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Montreal, Quebec
I want to clean and wax the playfield of the WCS94 that I just picked up. Seems like most of the products at Canadian Tire were cleaner waxes which sounded pretty abrasive to me.

I have novus 2 which I plan to use to clean the playfield.

When it comes to wax, what product do you recommend? I'm considering the Meguiar's Gold Class Paste Wax at the following link:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4 ... ?locale=en

The Meguiar's website says it's safe for clear coats.
 
DRANO

DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
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Mississauga
Everyone starts off with some Canadian Tire wax. They're okay but most don't last long enough to offer real protection.
Definitely look for something with high Carnauba content.
Mothers fits the bill, but its a "show" wax and will also be gone very quickly.

Try for a performance wax. The carnauba content may not be 100%, more like 40-50%, but the rest will be hard polymers and other compounds that'll last longer and protect.

I really like Chemical Brothers XXX Hard Core paste wax.
Another good option is Collinite Fleet Wax paste.

Of course, for cleaning, NOVUS is king. For more aggressive polishing, look into the kit from Treasure Cove.

I love the smell of carnauba :)
waxing is my favorite part of pinball maintenance.

Enjoy!

And defiantly get new balls. Old pitted pinballs act like sandpaper on your playfield.
 
frolic

frolic

Member
Nov 19, 2012
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Tdot
I bought the hardcore paste on Drano's recommendation and it is excellent.

I also ordered some of the blitz paste from pinball life but haven't used it yet.
 
DRANO

DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
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Mississauga
Online. But its available via a Canadian site.

There must be a bricks and mortar seller somewhere, but I ordered a bunch of other stuff and got free shipping.
 
superjackpot

superjackpot

Active Member
Nov 19, 2012
342
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Mississauga, ON
Years ago I started with whatever I had in the garage for my car which happened to be Meguiars Hi Tech Yellow Wax. This was always after I first used Novus 2 to clean the PF. For plastic ramps I'd finish with Novus 1, but start with Novus 2 for really dirty ramps. It turned out this yellow 'wax' was Carnauba wax blended with silicones, polymers and other waxes. And for whatever reason I wanted pure wax, so back to the garage I went to get my Mother's California Gold Pure Carnauba wax.

Over time I moved away from Novus 2 and started using Ronsonol Lighter Fuel to clean my PF before waxing as it was much less abrasive than Novus 2 and equally effective, if not better at cleaning dirt (and old wax).

When I bought my car about 4 yrs ago I was introduced to 'ICE Synthetic paste polish'.

car_photo_513514.jpg

It could be applied to black rubber trim without danger of leaving those hard to remove wax marks, and was super easy to apply and remove. I used it on the body, moulding, bumpers - awesome. I stopped using wax on my car.

ICE is now use all I use on my modern pins after a lighter fluid cleaning. I put it on the PF and ramps. I don't think it's as durable as a pure wax but a small trade off for how easily it is applies... and *without* that residue that often gets stuck in your star posts! For whatever reason, on older EMs I still use Mother's pure carnuaba wax to finish.
 
Fifty

Fifty

Active Member
Apr 22, 2014
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Ottawa, Ontario
bstock said:
That's very interesting. I've heard of people using lighter fluid or naphtha products to clean the play field. Is this generally considered safe?
Click to expand...
It's difficult to have a nice calming smoke hanging out of your mouth while cleaning the PF but other than that it's perfectly safe.
 
dnewman

dnewman

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
282
83
28
Newmarket
bstock said:
That's very interesting. I've heard of people using lighter fluid or naphtha products to clean the play field. Is this generally considered safe?
Click to expand...

The CP-100 product at Starburst is essentially naptha, and it cleans with no abrasion. I find it leaves a very slight haze, so I always wipe over with a clean dry rag afterwards. I wax with Mother's Synwax (contains no silicone), and I'm happy with it.
 
Seven

Seven

Active Member
Oct 6, 2015
255
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Prince Edward Island
www.pinballorama.com
I use Chemical Brothers XXX Hard Core paste wax as well. I have used Meguiar's Gold, but the XXX just seems to last a bit longer. It's a little more firm than the Meguiar's.

I've used ICE Synthetic on my car. Great stuff. I never thought of putting it on pinball machines simply because of the silicone content. Anything I put on the playfield I want to be able to easily remove. Silicone seems to be tricky that way.

I know some purists scream and shout about silicone on a playfield. I doubt it does any harm at all unless you one day decided to clear coat. Silicone residue will offer some trouble I guess. A newer machine with a solid modern clear coat, you're probably fine. I don't think I'd put it on an older machine with a simple lacquer paint job.
 
eh97ac

eh97ac

Active Member
Nov 19, 2012
636
149
43
Mississauga
2 years so far and I have only scratched the surface, 15-20 games. Hopefully Drano can chime in about use in larger collections.
 
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