I finally made the switch to Zaino (from Blackfire), here's my perspective.
 

I will start by saying that I have been a long time proponent of Blackfire. I started using Meguiar's Gold Class, and then switched to Blackfire because it offers a similar shine with much more durability. I have read a lot about Zaino, and never dared to put it down. I have always known it was a uality product, but wasn't willing to spend a load of money and time trying new stuff.

Until my last bottle of Blackfire was about emptied out two weeks ago.

I sat and thought for a while...finally, I took a deep breath, held it, and ordered some Zaino.

It arrived last week with a free applicator pad -- maybe I got that for mentioning how Bonz's reviews and photos sold me on the deal in the comment field on my Zaino order :D So last weekend I apprehensively removed all the Blackfire from my car, used paint cleaner and a buffer twice around the car, used swirl remover, and then applied a coat of #2 and a coat of #5 to my car. It has now been a few days and a lot of rain since I applied the Zaino, so I feel I can write about it accurately. I will not go off into a rave, but I will tell you what I think of Zaino as concisely as possible compared to another great synthetic "wax".

Firstly, I was AMAZED at how good it smells. The Z5 smells like the most amazing bubble gum. I wanted to drink it like you would not believe. Holy hell, the carwash soap too. Sal is going to have a lawsuit on his hands when someone chugs that sh*t!

I was also completely amazed at how thin and easily both Z2 and Z5 are to apply. At first I thought I wasn't applying much of anything -- on my SilverStone Z, it looks completely clear! It took a few minutes of getting used to :) It is much, much, much thinner than Blackfire, which is very thick, strongly scented, and easy to see on the car.

Removing it is about as easy as removing Blackfire, the only exception being that it is harder to see the spots you may have missed with Zaino. This isn't a complaint, just a warning about double-checking.

Once I has finished and pulled my car out into the afternoon sun, I was thrilled by three things:

1.) There wasn't any "grease" on the car. Unless you use a very high quality microfiber towel, Blackfire will leave a sort of greasy sheen over the car which is impossible to totally remove unless you douse the car again and dry it.

2.) The car looked a different color -- more of a steel blue gray than yellowed. I came to realize that My multiple coats of BlackFire may have been building up and yellowing on my car, which i have heard something about. I believe that cleaning off the paint completely and starting over has given the paint a slightly less yellowed appearance. I hope Zaino makes it stay that way!

3.) Even though BlackFire claims to offer an incredibly wet look, Zaino beat it by a long shot. There is no comparison at all. With the Zaino, my car looks Grade A incredible constantly. Even when there is dirt on it after a few days of parking under a tree, from 5 feet a way you cannot tell. For the two days after I had waxed it, I was able to discern individual metal flakes in the paint by standing an arm's length away, something that normally would not have been possible with Blackfire due to the yellowing effect. Again, I can only hope that Zaino maintains the amazing clarity that it has now after I add some more coats!

Having said that, I will say that with the rain we have been getting, I have noticed that BlackFire does bead water better than Zaino. I believe that this is due to the fact that BlackFire is a much heavier, thicker wax. The trade-off, obviously, is that it is very oily and it is hard to remove the signs of that oily residue from your paint. And honestly, Zaino beads water about 90% as well as BlackFire anyhow. I am more than willing to make the trade off so long as I get to keep the beautiful depth and clarity that Zaino has restored to my paint!

Here are some photos of my car and my best friend's Z06 -- which I let him use the remains of my last bottle of Blackfire on. Here's to Zaino!

http://files.deepabyss.com/images/ferrari/IMG_0587.jpg

http://files.deepabyss.com/images/ferrari/IMG_0593.jpg

http://files.deepabyss.com/images/ferrari/IMG_0595.jpg

http://files.deepabyss.com/images/ferrari/IMG_0609.jpg

looks good... real good. Might have to try it once i'm finished with Blackfire.. probably in another year or so. BTW.. how much was the whole Zaino stuff?

I only ordered a few of their products, though I have heard that you can get the whole packaged deal for like 80 dollars.

holy cow... I don't believe what I am reading...
 

hmmmmmmmmmm.... As a dedicated Blackfire advocat, I am not going to take a low-blow verbal blast :icon34: at Bonz... or a shot or two against the traitor : syf0n.


I will remain open minded.... and wait to see further evidence for reasons to switch to the other side. :D The good Dr Bonz must be loving this thread.

The pictures remain unconvincing, however, since my Z looks great with the Blackfire... easy to use... shimmering in heat and rain..........

before i bought the car i kept hearing good things about zaino..but when i finally went to buy teh product i got scared away from all the steps that they had and the difficulty it involved

i am interested to know which Zaino products i have to buy just to wash polish and wax...no claybar ...no 10 step thing

just wash polish and wax

any help?

Z2 polish, Z5 if you have any swirl marks or scratches. ZFX if you'd like to lay down multiple coats in 1 day and the Z6 spray for that quick wax & enhanced wet look. You may want to buy their wash as well. So far I've been using another wash because I have an abundance of it but I will be switching to the Zaino wash once it's all gone. Regardless of what you use be sure to invest in some large bath towels that are 100% cotton & made in USA for wax removal. If they say 100% cotton but are made elsewhere then they are not really 100%. Using these will reduce or eliminate swirls & scratches. I've found them at Target for around 4 bucks each. See Zaino's web site for more specifics. http://www.zainobros.com

Re: holy cow... I don't believe what I am reading...
 

I know. It is something you can't really se in the pictures, I just thought I'd post them anyhow. If you don't want to use Zaino, don't do it -- when I detail my parents cars, I'm going to keep using Blackfire since they have red and black cars. But on paint with metal flakes, Zaino definitely has more clarity and looks shinier.

Its not as complicated as you may think.. its just when people are switching.. because they want the 'best' they are prep'ing their car fully first.

Zaino really is just a prep.. polish and 'wax' product.. the difference being you can 'wax' over and over again.. layering.

Traditional waxes are 2 step processes too.. but you can't really layer them.. so you find yourself polishing and waxing every time. With Zaino and Blackfire.. you can get away with polishing only once for a very long time.

The 'prep' steps are the same for these products and traditional waxes as well. Its just a difference of how far you want to go (like claying or not).

Re: Re: holy cow... I don't believe what I am reading...
 

This is what I'm waiting for.. a black Z blackfire convert.. the only reason I chose blackfire over zaino was for the supposedly better look of blackfire on dark colors. SUpposedly Zaino gets too 'silverish' on dark colors.

I did find on my second coat of blackfire.. it was much harder to buff out the residue compared to my first coat. But its not a fair comparison, since the first coat I let dry overnight, the second I only let dry for about 2 hrs.

Next time I'm going to wait overnight again and see how that does. I noticed a similar effect when I put FI detail spray on my car trying to remove a spot.. it looks different then the rest of the car and needed more buffing. When I used FI over my Blitz wax.. no such issues.

Check this thread - I created it just for people like you. If you need clarification, please reply in that thread - it was a good post until someone hijacked it. :rolleyes:

https://my350z.com/forum/cleaning-and-detailing/37839-zaino-confusion.html

Welcome to the Zaino side, syf0n! I love the pic of the sunset in your back bumper with the reen CF inserts!

:D

Im not a super black convert, as I never used anything but blackfire, but every time I think Im running low on zaino maybe Ill try the others, some thread comes along about a new formula or someone that converts to zaino. and I say, nah, Im sticking with what works.

cant blame others for doing the same tho, even if its not zaino that works for them.

Well, I'm not a convert - i just used Zaino off the bat - the car is four days old when I did this. The Z5 took out a really detracting scuff mark (I think from some idiot during the four hours it was on the showroom floor!) - so in that fashion, I'm convinced. Also took out some fine scratches the dealer had put in it near the gas tank and elsewhere.

For you guys who use Zaino. How durable is the polish?
i park my Z outdoors when i am at work. So far, i am using a 2 step method( Eagle One Wet Look Polish and Malm's Carnauba on top of it). Very satisfied with the result (considering my Z is a CS).

Zaino is very durable. I've got it on my black GTP that now lost its garage space to the Z, so it sits outside. It was still beading water after 4 months outside, but I went ahead and put another coat on recently. It lasts much longer than any carnauba wax I've used. One reason is that carnauba wax melts at high temps that are common on cars left in the sun in the summer.

I'm a wax whore and switch between Zaino and Blackfire all the time :D Can't make up my mind which looks the best, so I just use both

I just made the switch from Zaino to Klasse All In One. I can't believe how easy this stuff is to apply. No wait time at all and it buffs off so very easy. And in my opinion, the shine is just as shiny as Zaino with the same benefits. I highly recommend it.

Ditto on the AIO after your finshed add some Pinnacle and it will look even better.

Can you switch from Zaino to AIO without alot of preparation. Then can you go back to Zaino?

My best guess is that you would want to "Dawn it" before you switch.