Best thing for my paint...
Dan,
When I first discovered the benefit of using an advanced technology selant, I was done using wax. The high quality Carnauba wax (Meguiars, Wax Shop, Mothers) were somewhat satisfactory, being a big improvement over a standard Paste type wax like Turtle Wax or Kit or somesuch.
The Carnauba types were better because the higher grade wax was quite a bit easier to wipe off, leaving less residue and a better shine. But still the problem of length of durability remained. On a garaged vehicle, I'd get about 2 months, or only a month if it sat out. Doesn't anything last longer ? Do I really have to re-wax each month or two?
Then a buddy let me try a product he bought (at the Del Mar Fair in San Diego, I recall) on a demonstration called Racers Edge Polymer Teflon Finish, that was highly touted. I tried it on the same car I had been waxing and was quite impressed at the difference. It was easier, the finish seemed tougher, dirt washed off easier, and two months later, it was still there, (the bottle proclaimed it would last a year !) with no apparent degradation.
Hard to believe it could be easier & last longer, and it did hold the nice appearance for about 10 months, when I re-applied it. I went back to the fair, bought more & interviewed the rep. He explained it didn't wash off with moisture or melt off with head like all waxes do, and that's why they'd come back each year & sell more cause most folks would be amazed & get some for friends, gifts, etc.
He did mention that the car dealers offer the same thing, but they don't sell the customer the bottles, they just do an application for them, charge them some $$$ (my dad paid $ 280 on an Izuzu P/U) for the trouble. The whole point of the Racer's Edge Finish was to offer the same benefit to do-it-yourselfers who were looking for something better than wax at a reasonable price. Back then (1985) it was $ 20 a quart for 10 cars worth.
Anyhow, that was my first experience with finally finding something that was good enough to make it enjoyable to do & recommend to others.
Funny thing is, it kind of led to the kind of work I do now with Perma Shield providing much the same thing to others.
Hope this helps.
David