Cost: £23
Date of Review: 26 April 2019 (warm with sunny spells)
The Sales Pitch from Meguiar’s:
Mirror Bright™ Paste Wax gently polishes painted finishes to reveal maximum gloss, depth of color & mirror-like reflections. Unique natural & synthetic ingredients deliver outstanding wax protection that locks in shine. Safe for all glossy paint colors & types, including lacquers, enamels & clear coats. 227g Paste Wax
- Restore your paints lustre, whilst also protecting it.
- Unique natural and synthetic ingredients deliver outstanding wax protection.
- Safe for all paint colors and types, including lacquers, enamels, and clear coats.
Source: https://www.meguiars.co.uk/shop/automobile-pastewax
What You Get:
You get 227grams of the product in an old style tin.
To open the tin you need a coin or flat blade screwdriver. This is my only downside point on the product, I would much rather have a twist of lid like other Meguiar’s range. But, the lid wasn’t difficult to lift up and didn’t distort as a result. That would be my only concern, how would the lid hold up after quite a few lift ups with a coin. But, there are four coin slots to start the list off process.
Inside the lid is an embossed Mirror Bright logo, a little nice touch. There is no supplied sponge pad. The smell is a subtle and pleasant berry type of scent which is not overpowering. With a little breeze, the smell is pretty much gone. The scent disguises the ingredients well, some other manufacturers make a point of having a strong smell to their products. For me I would rather have a more natural smell trade of for a great product rather than a fancy smelling average product.
Product Description:
Marketed as an old school wax, which will stand alongside Gold Class and Ultimate Wax range nicely. The big point is being able to restore the paints lustre. The product appears to be aimed at being an all in one filler and wax, rather than just applying shine. The instructions mention for a ‘heavily swirled finishes, a second application may be required.’
The product is also a mixture of natural and synthetic ingredients. I would like to think that it’s the best of both worlds in that case.
But, the best bit is here on the inside of the product packaging:
‘If any Mirror Bright product fails to deliver on its promise, we will refund the verified purchase price.’
Now then, that right there ladies and gentlemen is something I have not seen on any other Meguiar’s products. Let me know if I have missed it or I’m wrong. That makes this a safe confident purchase to try out if you’re not sure. This ‘guarantee’ as it were isn’t mentioned on any Mirror Bright marketing that I have seen so far, which could be a potentially missed opportunity for the brand. They are putting their money behind their Mirror Bright products, they must be confident of the expected results.
Instructions:
Very simple, if anything a little to simple. There is no optimal application temperature or conditions guide; use in the shade or cool to the touch, how much to use or apply, cure time, time between applications etc. nothing.
However, the instructions do mention that if you have swirls a second application may be required, as I pointed out earlier. This could well do away with the use of a glaze or paint sealer before the actual waxing, making the process quicker and less expensive, that’s because you don’t have to use other products to get the best results from this product.
Application:
I am going to assume that you have washed, dried and done what ever you need to the paint to make it ready for the wax.
My common sense from using all similar products tells me to apply out of direct sunlight, and cool to the touch, if you don’t then some product will dry and powder before you have a chance to work into the paint. So I decided to try it on an overcast day with spells of direct sunlight. The car was cool to the touch when I started.
I had this product applied at Meguiar’s ‘Day In The Bay’, link to the Meguiar’s YouTube video here. I was told by the product marketing manager that ‘little is more’. This has always been the case for Meguiar’s paste waxes. So that same principle was used here.
Apply sparingly and with an even, slightly over lapping circular motion. Using a Meguiar’s sponge pad pinch the top side and with light pressure twist the sponge half way round to load the pad with the product.
The product is like a cooled butter when being applied. The amount of product on the pad will be enough for a single panel, that being a door, hood, roof, trunk etc.
Tip: Apply some (three) straight lines evenly spaced across the panel first. This enables you to pick up more of product as move across the panel, thus replenishing the supply as you go along, otherwise you have lots at the beginning and hardly any at the end. You can just make out the lines here in this pic.
If the product bogs down on application or clumps up on the pad, you are using too much. If the product starts to powder up then it could be drying to quickly in the sun or heat. A little really does go a long way. You shouldn’t see the product on the car apart from a distortion on the surface and see your circular motion application.
This product can be applied to the chrome as well which I did in this case, I nice little bonus there. A warning to keep away from rubber as the wax will leave a residue on it. But you can always get the rubber back with a rubber and trim cleaner.
Allow the product to haze on the paint. Time taken for that to happen will vary depending on the atmospheric conditions.
Tip: Wipe a little of the wax with your finger. If it wipes of clean then you are ready to remove. If it leaves a slightly greasy line then leave a bit longer.
Removing:
A simple single wipe with a nice plush microfiber cloth will remove the paste. You shouldn’t have to constantly buff to remove it. In fact a single wipe with the cloth here was enough to leave the paint streak free.
Results:
Beautiful. The paint has a deep gloss and looks wet. The tiny amount of metallic fleck in the paint seems to pop. Depending on the light conditions the colour of the paint seems to change from a light blue to a deep rich blue.
There is no powdering up of the paste on removal, the cloth doesn’t bog down or drag on the paint either. Frequently turning the cloth for fresh fibres is the key. Feeling the cloth after the buffing off doesn’t feel heavy with wax and still feels dry to the touch. Very little effort required to get amazing results.
My opimion on other peoples reviews:
I have read other reviews of this product (Amazon) and they say that they have used it on two or three cars and only have enough left for one more car! If that is genuinely the case then they are using very stupid amounts of the product in the first place. They then moan it’s to thick to apply and powders up, of course it will if you use to much. To then try and remove that amount of product will be seriously hard work and I bet they used a single cheap microfiber cloth to try and remove that amount of paste. In some respects there is no helping some people with that type of mentality I’m sad to say. I have barely touched the surface of my tin to apply on a big panelled car like mine. I would expect at least thirty applications on my car from this pot. You only need to apply the thinnest of films to get the best results, you are not trying to apply a high fill primer here. I did mention that the instructions were not good, so perhaps they could be forgiven for going to mental with the wax. But, if you are using a wax paste in the first place then you should know what you are doing, this doesn’t appear to be the case. If you don’t believe me, email Meguiar’s and ask them how much to apply. If you can see it as a white paste, then you have used way to much. Watch the YouTube video here of the product being applied by the people who make the product and are the experts to apply it. I honestly recommend watching the video to see what I mean about the correct application.
After some rain:
After a ride out I got caught in a little rain shower. The water beaded up and just ran of the paint nicely.
I even took a video of the water beading.
The effects are the same as the Gold Class and Ultimate waxes.
After the water dried and tree sap:
There were some water spots as you get normally on any other wax. You can clearly see the state of the paint.
A careful wipe over with some liberally applied Meguiar’s waterless wash and wax, then a final once over with Ultimate Quick Detailer, the marks were all removed with no problem, restoring the finish exactly back to where it was before. The tree sap that was visible and more importantly able to feel on the paint, has also gone and now feels super slick again. Very Impressive. It performs just as the Ultimate Wax Paste did in similar circumstances.
Rating: 9 out 10
I am going to be very harsh and very brutal and only give this review a 9. Why?
It should be a 10. But, the longevity of the product is unknown and the instructions don’t give you an idea either. The instructions are not brilliant on how to apply the product either. I think that I am being overly hard on the product. This is not a show wax that will only last a few weeks, it’s aimed at bringing paint lustre back to life again.
But, if this lasts a month or two then this is an easy 10 mark product. So far the wax has seen rain and tree sap and the product handled it without any problems at all. I have no doubts this will be a 10 rating shortly in an update.
Ease of use – 10 so easy to apply.
Finish – 10 top quality as you expect from Meguiar’s
Would I recommend It? Yes. Without a doubt.
Would I buy it again? Yes.
Conclusion:
Don’t let my review of only a 9 put you off, make no mistake this is a great wax. Unfortunately the Mirror Bright range doesn’t have the full marketing like the Meguiar’s ‘Gold Class’ or ‘Ultimate’ range, which is a real shame. Some may even think it is a lesser product which is certainly not the case.
This wax will make your minor swirled paint look better, and enhance the depth of gloss comparable to Gold Class and Ultimate paste waxes. If you don’t have swirls then you can still use this product.
I will revisit this review for an update on the longevity of the product on the paint. I suspect I will be making this a 10 then. But I can’t review on assumptions only can I?
You even get a money back guarantee! Do any other brands offer that?