ValetPRO are a market leader when it comes to automotive detailing. They recently sent us one of their car wax products, ValetPRO Indulgence Cream Wax, for review.
There are two commonly used types of wax, Natural and Synthetic. Carnauba is a natural wax, and synthetic waxes are man-made. They both have unique properties but most commonly natural waxes will give a better finish and synthetic waxes last longer. ValetPRO Indulgence Cream Wax is a carnauba based wax.
The bonnet was the panel of choice to demonstrate the wax. Before the process began I took some shots of the water behaviour with the current protection. I had been sampling some spray on ceramic sealants and there was still some level of protection. You can see the water sheeting off the bonnet but not much beading.
Preparation
The entire vehicle was cleaned using my normal maintenance procedure. Snowfoam leading to a two bucket wash.
To help remove any residual protection from the previous products I had used I decided to machine polish the bonnet. I used a polishing pad with some medium cut polish followed by fine cut to leave a clean unprotected panel ready for wax.
The water behaviour had changed to just a very slow sheeting showing the even unprotected surface after polishing.
Applying Indulgence Cream Wax
It was time to apply the wax. I had a wax applicator and buffing cloth at my disposal alongside the Indulgence Cream Wax itself.
I put a few spots of wax on to the applicator pad and then used a circular motion to apply the wax to the bonnet and covered the right-hand side only. Remember to apply thin layers of wax. The more you put on the harder it’ll be to buff off afterwards. I also used some low tack tape to be able to show a 50:50 comparison between the waxed and unwaxed sides of the bonnet.
I used the ValetPRO Ultra Soft Buffing Cloth to buff the wax off. There is no cure time so you can opt to wax a body panel at a time and buff straight off or wax the entire vehicle and buff off afterwards.
Often with waxes you may get white residue left if you mistakenly apply some on plastics but this is not the case with Indulgence Cream Wax. I applied some across the B pillar trim but there was no white residue after wiping it away. The picture below shows the wax before wiping away.
The Results
I peeled away the tape and rinsed the bonnet again to see the difference between the waxed (right) and unwaxed (left) sides of the bonnet. The Indulgence cream wax provides strong amounts of beading. You can see the difference in water behaviour. The unwaxed side streams away as a single sheet of water whereas the waxed side runs off as individual beads of water. If you’re less familiar with the terminology, beading comes about when the water sits on a very smooth surface at a microscopic level. It has no grooves to sit in and as a result it just slides away.
After drying the bonnet off for a second time I set about waxing the entire vehicle. Here are a few shots to show the end results.
The Verdict
I’m very happy with the finish, there is a depth and clarity to the shine on the vehicle. I absolutely love the amount of beads this wax produces. It is very easy to apply and even easier to buff off afterwards. No cure time means you can wax the vehicle very quickly too which is always a bonus. The wax comes in at £15.99 for 500ml. This would be enough to wax the vehicle several times over, so depending on how often you use it this could last you quite some time. In summary, Indulgence Cream Wax is a strong contender to replace your synthetic waxes. If you value the visual appearance the wax gives you then this is definitely for you!
