I recently started using Zaino Z-5 polish. Yesterday a bird crapped on the hood while I was at work so when I got home I washed the car but the crap had already ate into the clearcoat. As you can imagine I'm not real happy with the protection qualities of Zaino. So whats next for me to try?

 

the popular choice around here is by FAR prima. Go to the detailers paradise website and have a look or do a search here for prima. you will find it has many many followers. Sorry to hear about your crappy day ( pun intended )

 

Bird poo will eat any protective coating on your paint. The best way to fight it is to keep some quick detailer in your car and treat the poo within seconds of impact. The longer it sits, the more damage that results.

You can get often polish out bird poo etchings if they aren't too deep, but waiting until you get is too long to remove it.

While Prima is excellent--I use it and sell it--it still won't protect you from the acid in bird poo. Well it will give you a limited amount of protection--but you need to act fast, regardless.

Richard

 

Ok, I ordered a bottle of Prima Epic. Should I strip off the Zaino or use the Prima right over top?

 

Strip off the Zaino first. Dawn dish soap will take it off. Or alcohol mixed with water in a spray bottle, 50/50 mix.

Mark

 

zaino Z5 is not designed to be the sealant of choice, it has fillers designed to fill out scratches, so instead of slamming the product, why not take a deeper look into the product line before making a harsh judgement?

if you want protection, with no filler (as in no scratch filler), then look at Z2, which is their sealant, and richard is spot on, Zaino Z6 or Z8 is the QD

i've been a zaino user for 4 long years on my car, no bird poop has EVER eaten away at my paint, nor the ten billion bugs i hit on the 1000 km round trip to detroit, nor the salt the previous winter, i can see prima is a good product and i certainly give it credit, but i have not been convinced to leave zaino... probably never

and i know some people here will probably slam me for not backing prima epic, but we all make choices in life, i respect prima, i didn't ask you to respect zaino but its your view point

 

I used Zaino for many years also, and it was great. I never found the system/product line complicated as some have complained about. I also used it with some of DP's products, Hydro, Amigo, and it worked well with them. The main reason I switched sealants was ease of ordering from one place.

Mark

 

yea i know, i remember your posts, i am lucky i have local access (hell, i cna get zaino in case i run out 2 km away! )

 

Still using Zaino myself ... along with Hydro. I will try the other Prima products after I run out of the Zaino. Thing is, the Zaino lasts so long it may be a while.

I too do not find the Zaino system complicated. The Prima stuff is probably easier to follow because they have proper names instead of numbers.

 

When I was using Zaino, I would layer Z-2 & Z-5. Z-2 for protection & shine and Z-5 for filling and concealment. Although I have switched to Prima, the Zaino line is pretty good and should give you protection from bird presents as well as anything.

 

Oh, also, I'm pretty sure the degree of damage you potentially get from bird poop depends also on the kind of bird and their diet.

 

I also love my Zaino but supplement it with products from here and there (DP being my favorite). The thing with Z-5 (and most everything Z-) is you have to layer it to really get results. Which is easy to do, but you have to do it. And top with Z-2 and Z-6 or Z-8 for the WOW.

 

I am not slamming anyone's product I'm just stating the fact to everyone that the Z-5 will Not protect that well and I did use Z-8 to seal the surface. The Zaino products did what they said they would do and thats make it shine.

 

Z-8 is not a sealant; it is a quick detailer. So, yeah, your surface was not properly protected/sealed.

 

I agree with all of the above! IMO, it's an innocent mistake to blame your wax for this but there is much more to it. I would not blame Zaino for your etching.

First of all, it does depend on what kind of bird and what he ate that day, as well as the environmental conditions (ie, how long the dropping was allowed to sit in direct, intense sunlight or not).

Then, it really depends on how quickly you're able to act on the clean-up. The longer it sits on your paint, wax or no wax, the more most bird droppings will be able to etch through... first through the wax layer and then through your clearcoat, and sometimes beyond!

Finally, Z-2 is the stronger force in the Zaino line. For the toughest Zaino protective layer, you need to use Z-2, not just Z-5. Although Z-5 does offer protection, it is not as durable as Z-2, nor is it intended to be (chemical trade-offs... Z-5 has alot more filling and cleansing capabilities than Z-2).


In summary, the wax you did have on there undoubtedly lessened the etching impact of the bird dropping yet some bird droppings are just full of evil and will eat through any wax you have on! Yes, the most durable waxes (Z-2 and Prima Epic, for example) will provide a stronger layer of protection against etching than less durable waxes and certainly much more protection than no wax at all. Ultimately though, you have to remove it ASAP with a quick detail spray or a hand-washing and then hope the contents of that particular dropping is not too harsh.

-Heather

 

Although you can top Zaino with Epic, you'll get the most out of Epic (looks and durability) by stripping Zaino off first, just as lotsie desribed.

-Heather