sm1ke

iTrader: (5)

I've used Sonax BSD in the past, but it was a little harder to apply because it comes out of the bottle a little thick. I switched to Meg's Quik Wax, which goes on much easier. A couple of months ago, my bottle of Quik Wax was nearly empty, so I bought a gallon of BeadMaker from eshine.ca.

When I initially applied BeadMaker to my CX-9, I tried a slightly different approach. After washing the car, giving it a quick clay barring, and then washing with Dawn, I dried the car off and liberally applied the BeadMaker. I purposefully didn't apply any wax beforehand because I had read that BeadMaker doesn't play nice with some waxes, and also because they say that their solution crosslinks into the paint. I didn't really let it set after spraying it on and leveling it since the instructions don't mention that. Instead I soaked an entire panel, gave it a wipe with a slightly damp microfiber to level/spread the product, then buffed off with a clean, dry microfiber. I then left it to sit and cure in the garage for almost a full 24 hours.

The slickness and the smell are next level, and the ease of use is great, but other than that, it doesn't really have any advantages over other products that are similar to it. In fact, I noticed that when using Quik Wax, my car didn't get dusty as quickly, and after a rainfall, I'd have much fewer water spots. The water does bead up with BeadMaker, but it doesn't go anywhere unless it's blown off. I will say that it is nice to use on my windshield - water droplets started flying off the glass once I got to 55-60 km/hr.

In the end, I wish I hadn't bought the gallon. It's very easy to use in that you can spray it on everything, and I love how the slickness makes it really easy to wash the car, but I don't like how the water seems to stick to the car in the rain. For example, my dad has a black 2017 Equinox with no protection and swirl marks everywhere. I parked beside him one day. Both of our cars were clean. We had a bit of rain and some sunshine right after. When I went back out to my car, the rain had dried, but my car had a ton of water spots while my dad's had less. That's unacceptable IMO.

I'm going to go back to Quik Wax or try something else once my bottle of Blackfire AIO comes in.

SW17LS

Excellent product...

AnthonyMJ

Piece of advice. If you live in an area with even moderately hard water; resist the beading products. Youtube has made these products popular. But, pros know that those beads tend to turns into water spots. Especially if you have to wash outdoors in a hot climate. Look for a product with sheeting properties so the waters slides off your car.

Beachtyme

iTrader: (1)

If you're applying anything polymer based OVER a wax (and typically a carnuba based wax, spray wax, whatever) you're wasting time AND product, IMO.

I use a modified carnuba wax as my final paint detail step (decon + correct > polish > seal > wax). All maintenance washes, no matter if they're a touch wash, low touch or low / no rinse wash are all followed up with a modified spray wax. My thought and process is this; the final wax layer is the 1st to be removed when doing any type of wash to the paint, add more back once you're done with the cleaning wash, using it as a drying aid.

I recently picked up a gallon of Bead maker just to test it out and so far I'm not overly impressed by it.

chinee

Do me a favor, back up that first statement. Since my results with BM have been inconsistent, I want to believe that statement, but I need to hear your explanation as to why?

Are you saying that the polymer should go on last over the wax? The 6 or so products I use are all polymer-based, BlackFire One Step, Sonax Polymer Net Shield, Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer, Meg's Ultimate Spray Wax, Meg's Quik Detailer and now Bead Maker. I believe I've had success with the BF, PNS and BSD regimen, but what do I know... maybe all I'm seeing and experiencing is the BSD I apply every 3-6 weeks?

SW17LS

Ceramic coatings bead AND sheet water. When washing you use a flood of water which sheets water away.

Beachtyme

iTrader: (1)

Please read the above for the process I use.

My point here is that the natural carnuba wax forms a temporary barrier that sits on top of anything else you've put on your paint (clear coat) and will not allow polymer chained products to bond correctly. By design, sealants or most polymer based products cross link on to the paint surfaces and need to come in to direct contact with the paint surface to adhere to the paint surface. If there's something in between the paint and poly-based product, it's not going to work fully like it should. Much as if you poured motor oil on a concrete driveway and then poured water on top of the oil spot, the water isn't miscible with the oil and will sit on top until it evaporates (clearly this is an over simplification of my point here, but most, if not all detail / poly-sprays and sealants are VOC free and water based).

Here's a good image of what carnuba looks like on a painted surface:



This is one of the the reasons carnuba looks the way it does and/or gives the paint depth, it fills in the voids on the painted surface to allow light to refract correctly and gives that depth and glow. There are also other benefits and this is why it's the last step in the detail process. That being said, it's also the reason it's the 1st to go over time or with any mechanical (think wash mitt on your hand) process or environmental factor(s). It's also the reason I put it back on every time I clean the vehicle.

I hope that explains why I do what I do and get very good results that not only last, but are replenished over time as a maintenance step.

As for Bead Maker the more I use and experiment with it, the more I'm convinced it's nothing more than hyped up, overpriced detail / poly-spray.

chinee

Dude I hate you , lol... I’ve considered some of what you stated above in the past, but went the lazy way and simply thought of one product sitting atop the other, with each being slightly reduced with each wash. Now I’m thinking about bonding with the paint... and changing my process... perhaps an IPA wipedown between BF one step and PNS, with BSD still as a topper since it does have some filling qualities.

Or maybe I’ll go back to my old regimen that pretty much worked over the last 15 years....Megs Cleaner Wax, applied by hand 2-3 times a year, with a spritz of Quik Detailer every now and then... Nah....

Beachtyme

iTrader: (1)

Bro, don't hate me cuz my cars are shiny.

I am NOT a pro detailer and I have no aspirations to be one, but I've owned a bunch of cars and have several close friends that are pro's. I've also studied the science of the way these products work and basically developed my process that I found works the best and achieves the best results with the effort that's put forth. I by no means claim it's the end all, be all, but the results are in the garage, drive way and on the road.

I truly feel that much of the DIY / Enthusiast crowd tends to overdo it when it comes to paint protection. There is a point of diminishing returns and/or waste, but it's that desire to keep adding products to get the elusive "better shine" when in the end they're may well be removing protection and/or just wasting $$.

As for IPA wipe downs, I do that once as part of my process and that's after clay'ing the vehicle to make sure I'm starting with a completely clean surface. The exception to this is if I need to do any spot specific repair / correction and want to remove anything that's on the paint (protection or otherwise).

As always, your mileage may vary based on driving style, conditions and amount of foot on pedal.

Beachtyme

iTrader: (1)

Noticed this VERY STRIKING similarity between these two products, both of which were free.

Co-inky-dink?? You can be the judge, but I can say if I were a betting man I'd put my $$ on they are one in the same. Hhhhmmmm.

chinee

Experiment for us... apply side by side and see if there are similarities.

Smell? BM has that distinct fruity odor.
Feel? BM is super slick.
Dustiness? BM attracts dust as though it's charged with static electricity.
Gloss? BM does have some of the best gloss I've seen.
Beading and Sheeting?

Beachtyme

iTrader: (1)

I've already used both and I'm not seeing much of a difference, really nothing. But, I have to admit I haven't done a true product comparison AKA shootout. Colors and scents can be added to any product, so that's not a true metric to compare against, but the resemblance is uncanny.

I'll be able to do a side by side on my IS300, possibly next week. It's crystal white pearl and that's not the best color to use for product testing, but it's what I have that hasn't been fully detailed. My ISF is the same color as well. My truck and the lady's Lexus have both been fully detailed already, truck just got a maintenance wash, pic below.

Stay tuned broski's.

chinee

Okay, just came back from a short trip to the market, and since there’s been no rain this week and the GS is still pretty clean, decided to use the BM as a Quick Detailer starting on the back end.

The dust is horrendous, not static cling type of dusting, but sitting next-to-a-diesel-bus-exhaust-with-your-car-covered-in-oily-film-and-stuck-on-grime type of dusting.

I saw this same behavior on my wife’s company car with BM and assumed it wasn’t the BM but heavy fallout from a bus or truck that was next to her in traffic. Seeing the same on the GS just confirms for me that BM is probably leaving a “wet” film on the surface.

After the next wash I will not apply anything to the surface after drying and see what happens. Not looking good for BM.

LexBob2

I used Bead Maker on our black X3 about a week ago. It was still clean but yesterday I decided to use a quick detailer to remove some light dust. Both of them (Meguiars Ultimate QD and Kenotek) left noticeable streaks and blotches on different areas of the hood which has never happened before with different detailers etc. It's suppose to rain tonight and I'll take the car when we go to dinner and hope things wash off. If not, I'll wash it tomorrow.

Beachtyme

iTrader: (1)

That's an interesting observation that you state it's attracting dust and fallout particles to your car's finish, which would in theory be a form of static cling. This would actually make some sense as the science behind most of these products is they use ionic interaction to encapsulate the foreign particles on the paint to help remove them from the finish and also provide a slickness that helps the particles slide off of the paint due to reduced friction AKA slickness.

IMO, the best way to test this post wash would be to do 1/2 the hood in BM using a tape line separation to determine if you can SEE or feel the difference.