Is a heavy-duty paste wax right for my application?

Collinite Heavy Duty Fleetwax 885 and 3M Marine Ultra Performance Paste Wax are examples of popular heavy-duty paste waxes. Designed for repelling water & UV rays and for giving a nice shiny finish, these are great wipe-on/wipe-off products for fiberglass, gelcoat, metals, plastics, and topside paints*. Paste waxes do tend to be more laborious to apply and remove because they are a harder paste form compared to liquid waxes. For this reason, they are generally seen as heavy-duty waxes.

The most important thing to note about these specific products is that they do not have any sort of ‘cleaner’ or ‘compound’ in them—they are just plain waxes. Many people have experienced or have heard horror stories where the wax ends up destroying a finish because it has other additives in it. Cleaner waxes or wax-and-compound hybrids should never be used on paints. Because they do not contain cleaners or compounds, Collinite Fleetwax 885 and 3M Marine Ultra Performance Paste Wax are safe for use on plastics, metals, gelcoat, and topside paints.

Outside of the marine world, we have found that these heavy-duty paste wax products are used for protecting cars, RVs, and trailers, among other things. 

*Awlgrip and Awlcraft recommend the use of Awlcare to protect the finish, instead of using waxes.