Is your paint protected?? Here's an article I wrote to help you decide!
02-27-13, 12:55 PM
#17
You can use quick detail spray in between washes if the car is not dirty - maybe just dusty.
03-05-13, 07:43 PM
#18
I used Cquartz on our previous BMW and it was marvelous. Made by CarPro I believe. A search will yield a lot of good info on it. I never had to wax or polish... just wash and it looked just like I waxed it... and it was so easy to wash. When I sold my BMW the buyer could not believe it... not one single fraction of a scratch anywhere on the car. It looked like brand new. Of course when it drove off the truck it came directly to me... no car washing at the dealership. I was the first person to wash it and then immediately applied Cquartz.
I use all the Optimum stuff on the inside... with Areospace 303 all along.
I use all the Optimum stuff on the inside... with Areospace 303 all along.
03-06-13, 06:48 AM
#19
)The paint protection market is changing rapidly. NXT2.0 while a decent enough sealant a couple years ago, doesn't hold up as well as their newer Ultimate Liquid Wax which is also a sealant. I'd suggest looking for a bottle of the newer technology next time you are in Walmart or an auto store.
Wax, most notably Carnauba, offers a different look due to the way it reflects and refracts light. Most often a sealant will yield a higher reflective look (wrapped in plastic wrap) and carnauba will deliver a warm, deep glow. IMHO, carnaubas show best on medium to dark colors and sealants will look better on lighter colors.
As to durability, sealants are longer lasting than carnaubas, while a couple carnauba waxes rival sealants in durability. Carnauba waxes need replacing every 4-6 weeks in my area. Sealants, OTOH, will easily last 3-4 months.
Protection is another animal. In my experience, sealants offer better protection against most general road grime while carnaubas seem to protect better against acidic things like bird droppings, bugs and acid rain.
You can top a sealant that has cured for 12-24 hours with a pure carnauba. Pure meaning a carnauba wax with no cleaners.
For the best durability and protection, Coatings seem to be far superior to either sealants or carnaubas. They seem more costly initially, but last years, not weeks, so overall they are a good value. They are a bit more difficult to use but they make up for that in longevity.
Coatings are just what the name implies. They scratch and develop swirls just like the original clear coat and when that becomes an issue, you'll need to machine polish the coating off and reapply. The significant thing here is that the coating is taking the abuse and not your paint. Coatings, IMO do not look quite as good as either sealants of carnauba but the difference is hardly noticeable.
All that said, I use a sealant on my personal vehicles and wash them weekly. I follow each wash with a coat of a spray-on/wipe off sealant. (Meguiar's Synthetic X-Press Spray Sealant, a.k.a. Ultimate Quik Wax). I use a quik detailer when all I need to do is remove some light dust and fingerprints or for bird droppings, bugs, etc. I typically follow the QD with the spray sealant.
I chose this option rather than a coating as I prefer the appearance on my vehicles. I want my vehicles to look as show car ready as humanly possible at all times. I don't need the durability as much as I want the appearance to be perfect. If you favor durability and decent looks a coating might be your best choice. If your car is silver, you might prefer a sealant as it shows well on lighter colors.
03-06-13, 06:55 AM
#20
1sWt2GS,
I hope this helps....
Meguiar's, like each vendor/manufacturer, might have slightly different, yet seeming universal language and definitions, for their products and it's uses.
Meguiar's sells both consumer and professional grade products and considers wax to be last product to be applied providing a sacrificial barrier to the elements. When a consumer walks into a store they are looking for a wax.
In the broad category of waxes there are natural waxes, synthetic waxes and hybrid or blended waxes. Synthetic waxes are also know as sealants. Again, that's in Meguiar's lingo.
Other manufacturers may divide last used products into waxes (those with carnauba or other natural compounds) and sealants (those with polymers or other synthetic compounds). Natural - found in nature, probably a plant or tree. Synthetic - man made by some person in a lab coat.
Common practice is to apply a sealant (say..NXT Tech Wax 2.0), the longer lasting product, first and then put on a coat of natural wax (say...Gold Class Carnauba Plus).
I hope this helps....
Meguiar's, like each vendor/manufacturer, might have slightly different, yet seeming universal language and definitions, for their products and it's uses.
Meguiar's sells both consumer and professional grade products and considers wax to be last product to be applied providing a sacrificial barrier to the elements. When a consumer walks into a store they are looking for a wax.
In the broad category of waxes there are natural waxes, synthetic waxes and hybrid or blended waxes. Synthetic waxes are also know as sealants. Again, that's in Meguiar's lingo.
Other manufacturers may divide last used products into waxes (those with carnauba or other natural compounds) and sealants (those with polymers or other synthetic compounds). Natural - found in nature, probably a plant or tree. Synthetic - man made by some person in a lab coat.
Common practice is to apply a sealant (say..NXT Tech Wax 2.0), the longer lasting product, first and then put on a coat of natural wax (say...Gold Class Carnauba Plus).
03-19-13, 08:21 AM
#21
I always recommend that a sealant should be applied 2-3 times each year and wax is routinely applied (on top of that sealant) every 4-6 weeks... and to take it one step further, I also recommend wiping the car down with a spray wax or spray sealant after every wash (if you only wash your car a couple times each month), or every other wash (assuming you wash your car about once a week).
03-19-13, 09:40 AM
#22
Moderator
FWIW, I'm not a professional detailer, and appreciate the look one may achieve placing wax over a sealant, but I would caution people that want to try it, to first check with their sealant mfgr. My experience has been, you can't generally place a sealant back over a wax and ensure it bonds correctly. You'd have to strip the wax (and likely the sealant with it) before applying another layer of sealant.
...BTW, Great Thread!
e.g. I've used Zaino (a sealant) for many years, and I recently confirmed with it's developer that the oils and other additives in carnauba waxes will not allow one to really do this layering approach at least with his products. I could put wax on the top of the Zaino (I suspect Sal would see that as blasphemy ), but am then effectively committed to using what I'd call only "wax products" until I decided to "start over" ...so, I don't know why I'd really put a sealant on to begin with unless there is some truly magical appearance with it and some carnauba wax combined. Similarly, a sealant QD won't work as it should on top of carnauba -- again, at least with Zaino.
My normal operation, since I hand wash and garage my cars, is to get any finish issues I have to resolve done with a DA once (in theory), and then I can apply layer after layer of sealant over time, using the matching QD which helps the look and improves durability between sealant applications -- generally after every other weekly wash. As long as I like the look of the sealant (which I do), that approach works until it's time to get the DA out to resolve minor finish issues I've inadvertently introduced, when I typically start the process over -- but that's truly every couple of years worst case in my situation, both on very dark metallic and lighter colored vehicles.
I've toyed with going back to the days of carnauba because of the "warmer look" it may provide, and a couple of times seriously considered trying this "topping method" to see what I get, but can't bring myself to commit to so much extra effort on a continual basis when I remain very happy with my deep mirror-like Zaino finish. I agree with some others here. There are many choices, and much of it comes down to what look one is trying to achieve, what type of durability you require, and how much effort and skill you want to put into achieving those things.), but am then effectively committed to using what I'd call only "wax products" until I decided to "start over" ...so, I don't know why I'd really put a sealant on to begin with unless there is some truly magical appearance with it and some carnauba wax combined. Similarly, a sealant QD won't work as it should on top of carnauba -- again, at least with Zaino.My normal operation, since I hand wash and garage my cars, is to get any finish issues I have to resolve done with a DA once (in theory), and then I can apply layer after layer of sealant over time, using the matching QD which helps the look and improves durability between sealant applications -- generally after every other weekly wash. As long as I like the look of the sealant (which I do), that approach works until it's time to get the DA out to resolve minor finish issues I've inadvertently introduced, when I typically start the process over -- but that's truly every couple of years worst case in my situation, both on very dark metallic and lighter colored vehicles.
...BTW, Great Thread!
03-19-13, 10:15 AM
#23
FWIW, I'm not a professional detailer, and appreciate the look one may achieve placing wax over a sealant, but I would caution people that want to try it, to first check with their sealant mfgr. My experience has been, you can't generally place a sealant back over a wax and ensure it bonds correctly. You'd have to strip the wax (and likely the sealant with it) before applying another layer of sealant.
For the best possible bond, it is always ideal to start with a surgically clean surface, however that is not fully necessary if you keep up with applying your protection on a regular basis. Washing with a concentrated citrus wash (or even Dawn) is usually enough to remove the majority of your protection so that you can apply a fresh coat. In reality, the best way to ensure that you have nothing left on your surface is to do a very light polish - however this is unreasonable if you are applying sealant and/or wax many times each year.
My vehicle is coated with 22ple, so I do not need to worry about this, however I do know that if I were to apply a wax on top of my coating, it would not last very long at all due to the properties of the coating not allowing a bond to form.
Great points though, thanks!
10-29-13, 08:11 PM
#28
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Great article. Another thing to add, always wash the car first before checking for beading. I've had opti coat on my car for a short while, maybe several weeks, but when the car is slightly dirty the beading is drastically reduced. Once the car is washed, it beads perfectly fine like day one.
10-30-13, 05:56 AM
#29
Great article. Another thing to add, always wash the car first before checking for beading. I've had opti coat on my car for a short while, maybe several weeks, but when the car is slightly dirty the beading is drastically reduced. Once the car is washed, it beads perfectly fine like day one.
Since we're on the topic.... here is a post I made on my facebook page yesterday that some people may find useful on here as well.
Originally Posted by AttentiontoDetailingPeoria
With rain in the forecast, it is easy to tell if your vehicle has a good layer of protection on it. Check out these pictures I took last week on a rainy day.
Waxes, Sealants, and Coatings are all hydrophobic - meaning they repel water. These products will create beads of water that easily roll off your vehicle. Smaller, uniform beads indicate good protection (see upper left). As your wax, sealant, or coating degrades the beading will diminish. Water droplets will get larger and less uniform - this is a key indicator that you need to apply a new layer of protection (see upper right).
The bottom 2 photos show vehicles that are completely unprotected. This can and will lead to premature paint failure which will need to be repainted to restore any gloss/shine to the paint.
*Note: If you use a true carnauba wax on your vehicle, you should be reapplying that wax every 2-8 weeks! If you use a synthetic paint sealant you should be reapplying every 4-6 months! If you've invested in a premium paint coating then you are protected for many years!
For more information on premium paint coatings, check out my website or feel free to message me!
www._______.com
Waxes, Sealants, and Coatings are all hydrophobic - meaning they repel water. These products will create beads of water that easily roll off your vehicle. Smaller, uniform beads indicate good protection (see upper left). As your wax, sealant, or coating degrades the beading will diminish. Water droplets will get larger and less uniform - this is a key indicator that you need to apply a new layer of protection (see upper right).
The bottom 2 photos show vehicles that are completely unprotected. This can and will lead to premature paint failure which will need to be repainted to restore any gloss/shine to the paint.
*Note: If you use a true carnauba wax on your vehicle, you should be reapplying that wax every 2-8 weeks! If you use a synthetic paint sealant you should be reapplying every 4-6 months! If you've invested in a premium paint coating then you are protected for many years!
For more information on premium paint coatings, check out my website or feel free to message me!
www._______.com
11-28-13, 08:03 PM
#30
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I recently got my 3IS Opti-coated and want to do a first wash. I will be using the two bucket system and want to know what's a good pre-wash solution that forms a lot of foam? I can use a hand action pressure spray to form a good foam layer. Thanks.