Chemical Guys bill Lava as a "luminous glow infusion paste wax". You can read all about it here, applied by a scantily clad chica with as many curves as the car she's working on: http://www.chemicalguysuk.com/Chemical_ ... p/lava.htm ... more perviness later
http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/cg ... CF5618.jpg
Scent? Texture? The first thing we all do with a new wax is smell it. Then, we usually rub a finger around the top of it and feel the texture.
It feels like Angel Delight - it's a very soft paste, more like a lotion than a paste and like Angel Delight, it has an artificial sweet smell which is not at all natural but still pretty damn nice.
To work ...
I cleaned down the bonnet on my 9-5 Aero with some Serious Performance Paint Cleanser, buffed up and then applied the Chemical Guys Lava with a round yellow sponge pad, which I loaded up by spreading some of the wax over the pad gently with a finger. The damn thing almost leapt out of my hand when it touched the paint - grabby!
Getting the wax on the paint was a bit of a trial - you seem to need quite a lot of it as it doesn't spread well, but you do get a long play time to spread it around and work it in. I think this is one that benefits from a small circular application, which I did and then evened up in stripes. It it difficult to see once on the paint, but not difficult to see where it is spread so long as you drop down to a shallow angle.
Back to seeming to need quite a lot of wax - I had to re-load the pad a few times even for just a bonnet. This did lead to high points, but upon removal I was not punished for this.
More perviness? Kind of sick, but I had "it rubs the lotion ..." going around in my head as I applied it
That's a 'Silence of the Lambs' flashback for those wondering what the heck is he on about?Here, we can see it curing:
http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/cg ... CF5599.jpg
Cure time is quick, and the "swipe test" showed it ready to remove within a mere few minutes!
Buffing was a lot easier than application. Little effort needed and no need to go back over any areas. Even areas showing high points came off without much effort and didn't leave sticky ridges as some waxes can when over-applied.
... buffed:
http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/cg ... CF5607.jpg
Looks? Bright and glossy, certainly ... but luminous?
The bonnet side by side against the wings and doors was no more glossy. Even when the sun hit it, it did not seem boosted. Dodo Juice Supernatural Hybrid, by way of comparison, literally put that red paint on steroids and on the black car had even my wife asking what was different about that one panel. Chemical Guys Lava did not seem to produce the same effect.
I may have captured something here:
http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/cg ... CF5600.jpg
... showing the structure of the paint boosted up. Perhaps on these low angles, the light is less coloured, more white light and so the luminous effect might not be nonsense. By filtering out how much colour is reflected back can give a more glossy effect.
From a normal vantage point and a steeper angle, it looks pretty much like more other waxes although clarity is very good.
http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/cg ... CF5609.jpg
http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/cg ... CF5603.jpg
Price pitches it more expensive than many pots regarded as more special and starting to creep towards low end boutique waxes bought more for the name than empirical performance. If this is a genuine new technology from Chemical Guys, they are going to want to capitalise but in the end, this does not feel, look, smell or work like a £50 plus wax.
In summary, not so much fun to apply, perhaps requiring more than harder paste waxes but certainly less than liquid waxes, absolutely effortless to remove and a very pleasing look. I don't think the wax, the packaging or the experience would make me feel all that special about owning a wax of such price and that is perhaps its main let-down. Fun to try, nevertheless.
Beading and post-first wash opinions to follow ...
