Wax/Sealent for long(er) term protection - Recommendations for two cars

[anhizer]

Hey All,
thanks for the extended feedback. I think ill try the FK1000P again since i have it already. I will also try stripping all the HD speed off to ensure i have a good starting point. Is Optimum power clean good for this application? i have heard of people using IPA as well. Which is best to `clean slate` the paint?

Thanks!

[Stokdgs]

Anhizer -

Here is my thinking -
And it goes along with whats already been said above..

Prep is everything for anything to stick to paint for any amount of time..

When you say you use a nanoskin mild, is your paint really smooth after you have dried it all off?? If not, then it still had embedded gunk in it that will not let your good stuff get in there and stick...

If you ever get to correct/polish out the paintwork, and wipe it down after this step with something like car pro eraser, etc., I can promise you everything will adhere better because there is little to nothing between the paint surface and the product to interfere with the product adhesion..

Very few waxes if any - (Finish Kare, Collenite- probably the best) - are going to last very long and their protection is not that great either..

There are dozens of Sealants, etc., that evolved next, after waxes.. Some pretty good, some not...

Then Coatings, and then there are a lot of them with new ones coming out all the time...

Everyone promises the moon, without a whole lot of years of - or any - field testing; well except Optimum, which tested for years and has been out the longest in years, and still here...

If there ever was a magic product that went on and left incredible clarity gloss and years of protection without any detailed prep work, we who do this for a living would be all over it...

Good Luck !
Dan F

[mjlinane]

I might consider booking time with Joe at OCDetailing in Orinda.

Honestly, other than a pro coating, not sure what will stand up to bird bombs for any length of time.

[SGM2008]

Sonax Polymer Net Shield

[JustJesus]

...(and all bird-bombs aren`t the same either..some day one will etch my paint but good if my luck runs out).

The FK is working out for me so far.

That bird-bomb thing is so *very* true. I had one recently, the day after I did that wet sanding job using Poorboy`s products, and I tried everything I normally do to remove bird bombs. I kid you not, after a while, I thought maybe the bird ate some concrete mix. That`s what the consistency was like. It was hard to remove. haha. Yeah, it was like a bit of wet concrete fell on the hood, dried, and then a bird dropped a bomb over it!

[silverfox]

If I`m polishing, I`m claying first. Otherwise no need. Claying can mar or haze no matter how careful you are. In most cases claying should be followed with polishing.

[pwaug]

Hey All,
thanks for the extended feedback. I think ill try the FK1000P again since i have it already. I will also try stripping all the HD speed off to ensure i have a good starting point. Is Optimum power clean good for this application? i have heard of people using IPA as well. Which is best to `clean slate` the paint?

Thanks!

APC, Dawn, CG Citrus and IPA have all been shown to not really remove a good quality sealant/wax. The best method is to just give it a light polishing with a pure finishing polish that doesn`t leave much behind. After polishing with HD Polish I just give the finish a wipe down with ONR to remove any dust, but you can`t fault an IPA wipe down.

BTW--Finish Kare 1000p is not an organic wax (Carnuba or Montan)--it is a pure synthetic sealant.

LINK: LSP stripping

[Loach]

A drop in the aggressive beading is normal. If the water is going completely flat and really sticking there after your wash and rinse with soap, then something might be interfering with the bond to the paint. Even with Blackfire Wet Diamond you should see a nice sheet of water being repelled at a consistent rate well passed the 1 month mark and FK1000P should still have a very noticeable footprint even if the paint is not garaged. I recommend you give the paint a light polish with a true abrasive to prep, then put FK1000P on half the hood and Blackfire Wet Diamond on the other half. Since both of them have very different water behaviors from the very start, you can use the difference in how they behave in the long term to make a better call on whether or not they`ve really survived.

Other than FK1000P, your next step up in extreme beading is Sonax Polymer Net Shield like SGM2008 recommended. But the products you currently have should be working longer and before you try to move into other products or paint coatings you have to pinpoint why there is a current hit in the durability.

[Bunky]

Auto Finesse Tough Coat Prep has worked for me a good way to prep paint. It is easy to apply and removes very cleanly compared to some traditional pre-wax cleaners.

[rlmccarty2000]

Everyone has given great advice. I would go with a coating and I like PBL paint coating. It is easy to apply and you can wax over it if you want to do so. A coating will give you more protection against bird bombs and other environmental concerns. Just prep well and know that any defects in the paint will be magnified by this coating.

[4u2nvinmtl]

What soap and media are you using to wash? Possibly there`s road film interfering with the beading.
Do you use a drying aid? I find using a good WW as a drying aid helps a lot!

I got great results using Menz SF4000, 2x CarPro Eraser wipe downs, and 2 layers of FK1000P 12+ hours appart.

Accumulator had also recommended I try multiple layers of FK1000P each layer applied after the next few initial weekly washes (that worked extremely).

Also with FK1000P I find less is better, you don`t want to see fine lines of FK1000P (over application pictured below)


As far as recommendations I found that in the long run Collinite 476s outperformed FK1000p in terms of beading but other than that they were virtually equally matched (FK1000P had more gloss on my silver paint, IMHO). If my LSP winter durability test taught me anything it`s that coatings are the new king in town. My hood (coated with WG Uber Ceramic) beads much stronger and stays much cleaner than any other conventional LSP I tested. It also has more gloss and better reflections in the long run (at first they all look equal it`s only after 3+ months I noticed the coating was still kicking but).

As mjlinane said if your in OCDetailing`s area I`d strongly consider getting a professional coating applied by him, his work is outstanding (got lost on his web page for hours looking at his work)

[Vegas1]

FK1000P has been my winter wax/sealant for over 9 years now. Two coats in Oct. does the job. It will always last until April. It`s still going strong in May due to a fairly mild New England winter.

[Accumulator]

IME layering the FK1000P makes a big diff. I still advocate waiting between coats (due to the time I didn`t wait very long and had issues) but the last time I did it I only waited a few days and it worked out fine. I wouldn`t go overboard though, three layers is about my limit then I wait until the beading changes a little before I do it again.

[Red Orc]

Hi All,
I was hoping for some recommendations for protecting two different cars:
2013 BMW 335i - Black "sapphire" metallic: This car is my daily driver and sits outside all of the time (no garage). I have been using a variety of products but none seem to really protect the paint well from bird droppings. Is there anything that works well against this sort of fallout?

2016 Volvo XC90 - "Ice" white (metallic): Wifes daily driver which also sits outside all of the time. This is a brand new car and has whatever the dealer put on it. I plan on washing, claying, Light polish, & some sort of topcoat.

On the BMW i have tried a few different waxes/sealents to try and keep the shine. overall i think most of them perform OK, but none seem to give the protection im looking for. Also, I`m not sure how indicative of protection life, but most don`t seem to bead water nicely for more than a month or so.
HD Speed: a one step type polish; i put this on last week and had a bird dropping on it 1 wk later; paint was majorly etched (didnt see the dropping for ~6 hrs)
HD Poxy: gives a good shine but doesn`t seem to last. Also, does not hold up to birds. Doesn`t seem to bead water much longer than 1 mo
FK1000P: seems to last a bit longer but again, similar results to the HD poxy. Doesn`t seem to bead water much longer than 1 mo
Blackfire Wet Diamond (BWD): Similar to others. Doesn`t seem to bead water much longer than 1 mo


For the volvo, I will probably use whatever i get for the BMW, so no special issues there. Plus its white so it doesnt show up as readily.

Am I unrealistic in my expectations of the products? Would a coating perform better for longer term paint protection? I can wax the cars more frequently, but its difficult to set the time aside. I would like to limit it to 3-4 times/yr.

Thanks!

I had similar results with FinishKare 1000P.
It left a really nice look but it didn`t seem to bead very well at all.
But then again I`ve prabably been spoiled by Meguiars Ultimate Paste Wax and Ultimate Quick Wax.
Two of the best beading products I`ve ever tried.

[Accumulator]

I`m still scratching my head about how the FK1000P doesn`t always bead that well for others...mine`s still giving me great beading despite not having redone either for ages. Guess it`s just that YMMV thing...