Griot’s Garage Best of Show Spray Wax Will Extend Your Time Between Wax Jobs

You know you should be waxing your car, right? But if you’re anything like me, it’s hard to keep up with all that life throws at you and still carve out time to just wash the car, much less to wax it. 

When my father taught me the art of waxing, I learned that it took a great deal of effort and time. Sure, the results were fantastic — and my E36 never looked as good as after a wax — but many years (and vehicles) later, I just don’t have the time I used to. Maybe you’re like me, and the car gets waxed once a year. Maybe. 

Well, the good news is that the car care industry knows that not everyone has the time to drop a few hours on their ride every weekend. This is where Griot’s Garage ceramic wax comes in. Products like Griot’s serve the purpose of prolonging the protection that wax imparts between wax jobs, without having to waste an entire day. These aren’t always intended to fully replace a major wax job, but they can help keep your ride protected no matter how busy life seems to get. 

Griot’s Garage is one of the best suppliers of car care and handy garage tools I’ve come across, so I gave the company’s Best of Show Spray Wax a test drive. Let me tell you, this is a good one.

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I put the Griot’s Best of Show Spray Wax through its paces on my 2014 GMC Acadia, aka the Family Car. The black metal flake paint is an excellent way to judge how well something goes on. If a product leaves streaks, it’s not subtle. I gave the GMC a fresh wash and then applied a few different products to different parts of the SUV. 

But Griot’s almost got me into some trouble. Application is simple: lightly mist, starting at the top of the vehicle, buff, flip your microfiber towel, and then wipe off. I started on the driver’s-side fender. It was easy, and it looked good. I thought, man, that was too easy. So I did the driver’s side door. Then the rear door. Before I realized it, I’d gotten to the taillight and had to stop myself. I still had a few products to apply! 

The Best of Show Spray Wax goes on unbelievably easy and the immediate result is similar to many other spray waxes. But the application was the highlight: quick, easy, and incredibly low effort. 

On the technical side, the Best of Show Spray Wax is a carnauba/polymer blend. The bottle spray nozzle seemed to be of decent quality, and the product is available in 22-ounce and 1-gallon sizes. The nozzle has the two usual settings (mist and stream). The mist setting worked well and allowed me to apply the product evenly as intended.

The Best of Show Spray Wax buffed and wiped off easily, and steadfastly refused to leave behind stubborn streaks for me to hunt down. Some products take a little more elbow grease when applied by hand to get to that streak-free end product, but the Best of Show made me wonder if, just maybe, I didn’t have to suffer quite so much to have a good-looking car.

Also, the inclusion of a spray nozzle of reasonable quality is something I’d like to point out. Not everyone who sells spray wax also includes packaging as good as their product. 

It’s hard to fault a product that goes on this well, and this easily. There isn’t a thing wrong with the way it goes on, but I do wish it was something you could do to replace the tedious “major waxing” process altogether. Perhaps another product from Griot’s Garage would do just that, like the company’s all-in-one products that are billed 3-4 times per year for application. 

The Best of Show doesn’t list a definitive figure for how long it’ll last, mostly because it’s not positioned as a replacement, but as something to keep your ride shining. This is the sort of product you’ll keep in the back of the show car to make sure the paint has that extra pop of depth and shine before the judges come around. 

The Griot’s Best of Show Spray Wax goes on as easily as a quick detailer, but with the shine and depth of a Carnauba wax product. When they say “quick, spray-and-wipe” convenience on their website, they’re not kidding. It is ridiculously easy, and I wish I had more cars to wax. 

The price is reasonable for spray wax, especially one that goes on this easily. Remember, you might want to get the big jug too because if you’re like me and get carried away with your task, you might end up waxing more than you set out to.

You’ve got questions. The Drive has answers.

A: Griot’s Garage describes this product as a means to extend time between “major waxings” but isn’t meant to completely replace them. The interval depends on what type of “major” wax you choose. Griot’s synthetics can be applied 1-2 times per year, and carnauba more often.

A: The bottle says it is safe on paint, plastic, and metal, so I applied some to a side window for your benefit. It went on the same as the paint — effortlessly, leaving a streak-free finish. 

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