My woolwax vs fluid film experience

So disclaimer I live in socal so I only buy a few of the cans and spray it myself, that being said here is what I noticed so far between the two.

People say fluid film smells way worse, I found that to be the opposite, fluid film did have an odor but nothing terrible. Wool wax had a lot stronger odor that lingered longer. Either cases it wasn't an issue to me.

Wool wax seems to spray on a lot thicker and I made the mistake of doing it on a windy day (got all over my face).

That being said fluid film seemed to have come off a lot faster/easier. This is my frame after offroading in the snow and some puddles, (with woolwax)

 

I had a shop spray my truck with Woolwax and after 6 months of going through high pressure washes (which have underbody sprayers) weekly I took it back so they could see how well it held up.
The only spot it wore off was on the front of the rear differential, the rest of the underside looked just like the day they sprayed it.

My wife will agree with you that Woolwax is smelly but I didn't mind it.

 

Been through a lot of salt so far this winter and much more on the way. So far the cosmoline is holding up perfect since applying it last july. The real test will be by may how it does through spring...we get a lot of salty roads in march and april.

 

Half way through a Midwest winter and my fluid film is still going strong.

 

Does the smell dissipate after fluid film or woolwax has been applied or does it stink every time you approach the vehicle? I live in the midwest and they like to spray a salty brine and apply regular salt if it looks like it might think about maybe snowing.

 

Fluid film smell dissipates after a few days. Haven't used woolwax myself.

 

Cosmoline stinks but I'd use it over anything. I wear goggles, a tyvek suit and gloves to spray the black cosmoline and still get it all over me with no wind.

 

Good to know. Thanks!

 

Fluid Film and Woolwax are made by the same company, Woolwax is just a thicker product than Fluid Film (so should stay on better/longer). I use Woolwax myself.

 

Weird. To me Fluid Film stinks, but WoolWax has almost no odor.

As for them being made by the same company, I can't find any evidence of that.
Fluid Film is made by the Eureka Chemical Company, and I can't find any parent company for WoolWax.
The best I could find is that most of the their product is made in the USA, except for the woolgrease, which is imported.

 

I want to stop the rust from consuming my truck also. I stumbled across this vid on YouTube this morning. The stuff is Surface Shield by the PB (Blaster) company. It looks promising. I'm going to give it a try. BTW, I'm in no way affiliated with PB or any company, just a Tacoma fan. Maybe next spring we can all compare notes on how the various products worked for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE1_EiZIVHs

 

In the video he says that Fluid Film doesn't creep.

For the last 5 years, Fluid Film has been creeping out of the inside of my tailgate and dripping on my rear bumper so take that for what it's worth.

 

Interesting, especially for us rust-belt folks (Ohio here). Another player in the game can only be a good thing for the consumer. Frames aside, it's not uncommon to see 7-8yr old trucks already showing rust above the rear wheel well lips, cab corners, & rockers (especially the domestics). It's a damn shame really, considering the $50K+ admission fee for most examples. Good stuff, thanks for posting.

 

Yes, especially on really hot days. Any product that stays soft will need reapplied every couple of years and every year in high wash off area's.

 

Yep, i've used both fluid film on past trucks, and now cosmoline on my 2020 tacoma. Both work, but theres no comparison when it comes down to what lasts...cosmoline wins hands down. I hate doing the job over every year after fluid film wash's off.

 

Yeah, fluid film becomes thin and oily when its hot out...it drips. Its just another reason i never became a total fan of the stuff.

 

Paid promotion. Not biased at all.....

 

Crude lanolin constitutes about 5–25% of the weight of freshly shorn wool. The wool from one Merino sheep will produce about 250–300 ml of recoverable wool grease. Lanolin is extracted by washing the wool in hot water with a special wool scouring detergent to remove dirt, wool grease (crude lanolin), suint (sweat salts), and anything else stuck to the wool. The wool grease is continuously removed during this washing process by centrifuge separators, which concentrate it into a waxlike substance melting at approximately 38 °C (100 °F)

 

Fluid film is too high maintenance. It washes off fairly easily. Get a Cosmoline based product. My CRC Heavy Duty Rust Inhibitor shows no sign of washing off. I touch up if/when needed.

 

I put Woolwax on back in November. It's still on the majority of the underside of my truck. I didn't have any issues with smell and certainly none with lingering smell. It survived a Michigan winter and several power washings over the summer. I will likely be reapplying it this fall too.

I went with Woolwax due to it being thicker than Fluid Film. I also just went with aerosol spray cans from Amazon rather than the version you can use in your own spray gun. I went through about 4.5-5 cans on my truck.