shooterdon
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Just ordered a quart to try out.
Has anyone tried Woolwax? (thick Fluid Film)
- Thread starter newbury
- Start date
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I will be ordering Woolwax soon. For many years, I sprayed silicone on all my rubber bushings and such on my vehicle undercarriages to stop squeaks. I then switched to Fluid Film and it worked too. I think Woolwax will work longer and better because of the thickness.
ernemats
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Has anyone tried the aerosol spray can undercoating?
von-mil
Gold Member
I bought three cans of the aerosol. I have only tried a small amount (1/3 can) under the rear end of my small car. This was just a week or so ago so too early to tell if I like it. It sprayed on and clung just like Fluid Film does. It seemed to have fewer drips than Fluid Film.
horse7
Gold Member
I've used both, been using canned Fluid Film NAS for at least 10 years. Started using Woolwax in a sprayer along with Fluid Film NAS in a sprayer several months ago.
The NAS (Fluid Film AS in a can, the documentation for this stuff has been terrible until very recently) is thinner and I think works best for hem seals and in enclosed spaces. The thinner extension tube for NAS threads into existing weep holes; I don't believe in destroying good metal to drill a hole to apply rust preventative to try to keep the metal... sort of doesn't make any sense. But you can't insert the fat sprayer tube in doors easily without drilling a hole, so I don't use the fat tube and sprayer and stay with NAS cans. Because I prefer the thinner NAS for hem seals, I don't use Woolwax for that purpose. For a brand new vehicle, I may consider Woolwax for a different reason-- the hem seals are clean and the creep is less. This is somewhat important, because the material will creep up the outside of the door, and accumulate dirt. My vehicles are old and I don't care that there is a gray/brown band at the bottom of the door and tailgate, but some people have time to burn keeping their vehicles waxed and shiny and may object to the greater NAS creep.
For underbody, especially areas washed by splashing from wheels and such, Woolwax is more effective than NAS. Much more effective. I use the Fluid Film grease for steel wheel wells, NAS washes off quickly, Woolwax more slowly, the Fluid Film grease holds up fairly well. With Kellsport going to Woolwax, getting the Fluid Film grease may be difficult as Kellsport doesn't seem to carry it anymore.
On experimental areas of surface corrosion where paint is peeling away and exposed to UV, Woolwax seems to last significantly longer than NAS although for critical areas I use Dow111 silicone grease which seems to last forever unless physically rubbed off (no UV effect, rain will beat it off after a longish while). I'd like to try Fluid Film AR or Fluid Film GEL BEW... but just try to get any of this material at some reasonable price.
Tools: the Kellsport more expensive sprayer works well, sprays very well with a smallish compressor. The sprayer works with AS and Woolwax equally well. The extension tubes are recommended-- ability to use the extension tubes is the reason for buying the more expensive sprayer, even though the lateral sprayer tube barely works and is disappointing (means much more slowly withdrawing the tube when spraying to get enough coverage). Getting into box frames and under bed tubes is essentially a no-go with the cheaper spray head, one really needs those extensions. The pour can lid is a waste of money unless one wants to use the pump gadget, the pump gadget pushes material out pretty fast. But the Kellsport lid doesn't stay on the gallon can so can't be used for pouring-- I use the Home Depot silicone gallon can pouring spout, cheaper and actually stays on a gallon can (I found pouring is much easier than using the pump thing to transfer to the quart sprayer bottles anyway).
What I would like to see is Kellsport carry the Fluid Film exotica, like Fluid Film AR (very thick) and hard to get items like GEL BEW. Sales may not justify the effort, it just appears that Woolwax doesn't have a comparable product line. For AS gallons and NAS there is Amazon; I still prefer NAS for hem seals and enclosed small areas. Jury is out for Woolwax cans for spot touch ups as the Woolwax in cans hasn't been out very long from Kellsport.
Finally, I like the smell of Fluid Film. Woolwax is nearly odorless, but the odor to me is like Desitin, and that isn't a compliment. The good news is that the material doesn't stink of carcinogenic hydrocarbons.
The NAS (Fluid Film AS in a can, the documentation for this stuff has been terrible until very recently) is thinner and I think works best for hem seals and in enclosed spaces. The thinner extension tube for NAS threads into existing weep holes; I don't believe in destroying good metal to drill a hole to apply rust preventative to try to keep the metal... sort of doesn't make any sense. But you can't insert the fat sprayer tube in doors easily without drilling a hole, so I don't use the fat tube and sprayer and stay with NAS cans. Because I prefer the thinner NAS for hem seals, I don't use Woolwax for that purpose. For a brand new vehicle, I may consider Woolwax for a different reason-- the hem seals are clean and the creep is less. This is somewhat important, because the material will creep up the outside of the door, and accumulate dirt. My vehicles are old and I don't care that there is a gray/brown band at the bottom of the door and tailgate, but some people have time to burn keeping their vehicles waxed and shiny and may object to the greater NAS creep.
For underbody, especially areas washed by splashing from wheels and such, Woolwax is more effective than NAS. Much more effective. I use the Fluid Film grease for steel wheel wells, NAS washes off quickly, Woolwax more slowly, the Fluid Film grease holds up fairly well. With Kellsport going to Woolwax, getting the Fluid Film grease may be difficult as Kellsport doesn't seem to carry it anymore.
On experimental areas of surface corrosion where paint is peeling away and exposed to UV, Woolwax seems to last significantly longer than NAS although for critical areas I use Dow111 silicone grease which seems to last forever unless physically rubbed off (no UV effect, rain will beat it off after a longish while). I'd like to try Fluid Film AR or Fluid Film GEL BEW... but just try to get any of this material at some reasonable price.
Tools: the Kellsport more expensive sprayer works well, sprays very well with a smallish compressor. The sprayer works with AS and Woolwax equally well. The extension tubes are recommended-- ability to use the extension tubes is the reason for buying the more expensive sprayer, even though the lateral sprayer tube barely works and is disappointing (means much more slowly withdrawing the tube when spraying to get enough coverage). Getting into box frames and under bed tubes is essentially a no-go with the cheaper spray head, one really needs those extensions. The pour can lid is a waste of money unless one wants to use the pump gadget, the pump gadget pushes material out pretty fast. But the Kellsport lid doesn't stay on the gallon can so can't be used for pouring-- I use the Home Depot silicone gallon can pouring spout, cheaper and actually stays on a gallon can (I found pouring is much easier than using the pump thing to transfer to the quart sprayer bottles anyway).
What I would like to see is Kellsport carry the Fluid Film exotica, like Fluid Film AR (very thick) and hard to get items like GEL BEW. Sales may not justify the effort, it just appears that Woolwax doesn't have a comparable product line. For AS gallons and NAS there is Amazon; I still prefer NAS for hem seals and enclosed small areas. Jury is out for Woolwax cans for spot touch ups as the Woolwax in cans hasn't been out very long from Kellsport.
Finally, I like the smell of Fluid Film. Woolwax is nearly odorless, but the odor to me is like Desitin, and that isn't a compliment. The good news is that the material doesn't stink of carcinogenic hydrocarbons.
horse7
Gold Member
I have expanded testing. I have a vehicle that has been exposed to sunlight for nearly 20 years so the clearcoat is failing. Now, aficionados would restore the clear coat but I don't have time for that, so I just spray the flaking exterior sections with Woolwax. Somewhat to my surprise, this is pretty effective and the Woolwax holds up for months in sunlight and heavy rains. The Woolwax is easy to re-apply as needed also, with the only noted downside being some very minor streaking down the windshield from heavy rain. The Woolwax streaks seem vulnerable to methanol windshield wiper fluid so the streaking isn't a problem. It will take a few years to determine if this is a reasonable "long term" solution, and if there is any down side during winter snow and freezing rains.
Woolwax also works well on aging tractor paint loss areas, and rusting implements.
Woolwax doesn't seem much more durable than NAS for wheel wells or other areas blasted by water/dirt/mud from truck tires.
As the NAS/Woolwax FAQ notes, product application does seem to result in more flaking of scale. On heavily corroded vehicle undercarriages the process I use is to first air blast the surface to free dirt and loose scale, then manually scrape to remove heavy corrosion deposits, air blast again, then apply NAS or Woolwax. Going back a month later, a surprising additional amount of corrosion scale can be air blasted off. This is for areas using that cheap reman steel; virgin iron high grade steel tends to have more of a patina of corrosion compared to the excessive scaling from cheap "contaminated" steel made from scrap iron.
Now I have used several gallons of NAS and Woolwax, concluding that I would use Woolwax for most applications (vs. using NAS).
Woolwax also works well on aging tractor paint loss areas, and rusting implements.
Woolwax doesn't seem much more durable than NAS for wheel wells or other areas blasted by water/dirt/mud from truck tires.
As the NAS/Woolwax FAQ notes, product application does seem to result in more flaking of scale. On heavily corroded vehicle undercarriages the process I use is to first air blast the surface to free dirt and loose scale, then manually scrape to remove heavy corrosion deposits, air blast again, then apply NAS or Woolwax. Going back a month later, a surprising additional amount of corrosion scale can be air blasted off. This is for areas using that cheap reman steel; virgin iron high grade steel tends to have more of a patina of corrosion compared to the excessive scaling from cheap "contaminated" steel made from scrap iron.
Now I have used several gallons of NAS and Woolwax, concluding that I would use Woolwax for most applications (vs. using NAS).
Kingsqueak
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Just a curiosity question really, but say I was making things with mild steel and didn't want to paint them but keep them in inventory without them getting all rusted up. Woolwax seems like a good idea, more eco friendly than having oil sprayed all over.
What is a good solvent to remove the Woolwax? I'm guessing since it's basically wax that soap and water isn't going to do it, alcohol maybe?
