Accelerated LSP testing by touchless wash?

[bcwang]

Do you guys think getting frequent touch free washes would help accelerate LSP wear for faster LSP testing? Maybe someone who owned a car wash (there are a few here) could use their machine cheaply and could test many LSPs quite easily.



There seems to be a range of perception here from a touch free wash being so harsh it strips the LSP base in one use, to those who do a touchless wash every week for an entire winter and still have good LSP protection 3-4 months later.



So what do you guys think? Requires a lot of passes? Not indicative of regular wear?



I was thinking like a wash every hour until an LSP failed.

[Banacheq]

It would be nice to have a standardized test for a number of the products we rely upon. I`ve thought about this before and I`m sure there have been similar threads here and elsewhere.



I don`t doubt that it could be done, but the biggest hurdle is $$. For this independent testing to have any value, a very trusted party or set of advisers would have to be recruited, testing standards developed, controlled testing performed, judging standards developed, and finally the results objectively (as much as can be expected) judged.



Having someone that happens to have the ability to conduct these tests in their spare time just isn`t going to hold much weight.

[ta240]

the strong chemicals used by the touchless might not be a real world test since the one LSP could just hold up better to those but not as well to sunlight, heat and regular soap.

[bcwang]

Well it doesn`t have to be some published test. But for us weekend warriors who might want to do a quick durability test of their favorite products to see what to apply before winter, maybe it would do some good. Especially if you want to test layering combos, IPA vs no IPA wipedown, few vs many multi-layer tests, it could be a faster way to get results before you get the urge to re-apply new products.



The strong LSP that help up better to a touchless could still be a good one to use when it has to hold up to frequent touchless washes during a winter. By keeping the surface clean with frequent washes, it may outlast just leaving the contaminants sitting there so the winner using this test method likely would be a good choice for winter.

[David Fermani]

It might strip the wax, but not the silicone, which also has some major beading properties too. Don`t rule out the surface tension either if the surface was prepped right. I just don`t know how you`d measure it this way?

[Bostonsfavson]

Ah, the Nu Finish test.

[HappyWax]

I think a better test would be to section off your own personal car and test that way. It will give you "real world" conditions, the prep will be the same so you know you are not giving one product an advantage over another and you will have the side by side comparison opportunity. What more could you want?



David F is right, how would you measure the wax stripping etc? It`s nice to be scientific about this stuff, but when you think about it, in this industry, if it looks good, it is good...



just my .02

[bcwang]

Well I already do section off my car to test. The problem is simply the test takes too long and new products are coming out all the time that I want to compare. How many of you are able to not touch a panel for a test before it`s actually failed? It`s hard to leave alone that long!

[AuAltima3.5]

I am gonna be the resistance in this thread:



Are you manufacturing an LSP? Why do see a need to do this?



I ask, because I see this test as a waste of resources. Just apply your LSP and see what happens, or research. Everyone`s experience is different and the prep affects alot of LSP performance.



Just being green and a jerk.

[Shutter]

not sure, I have never went thru a car wash in my entire life.

[corrswitch]

Just curious, if you measure the paint thickness in a test area (we need several readings) on a prepped surface and then apply the wax, would the thickness increase enough to be measured? If so, then if we measure it when it goes back down to the original reading that could mean that the wax is gone.



We still have the problem of surface tension though.



And it would be pretty interesting to see that we get an even lower value than the initial reading...



Just curious but this is not a solution.



I think there are just so many variables that we can`t create a perfect testing methodology.



I also believe you could try heating to remove wax...not sure about sealants but I believe heat could compromise a wax.



One other idea and please don`t laugh, but I`ve been using wax on my bathtub to protect the surface to reduce the amount of times I have to cleanup the bathtub. The protection is great but the durability isn`t so good. Maybe that`s a way to accelerate the testing. Again other variables would be dirt, water and etc.



Just to share:

Meguiars #16 lasted 2-3 weeks

WAUD lasted at most 2 days

Turtlewax Ice lasted 1 day and it was slippery.

Turtle wax super hard shell lasted 2 weeks and going since I`m trying it out now

I don`t want to waste my Collinite but I bet it would last the longest.



P.S. Looks like I found a use for leftover TW :)

And I will never waste #16 like that again.

[bcwang]

I actually applied a few products on a stainless steel pot lit. Most of them can`t seem to bond well and go away just by some simple washing. However, amazingly UTTGP can really last, it`s actually gone through multiple dishwashing cycles through the machine with enzyme based detergents and it`s still there. How can I tell? Because the UTTGP didn`t dry clear but was streaky so I can tell that section had it. And that stuff is still there visibly, still slicker than the rest of the lid, and still beads water.



I`m actually thinking of coating all my pot lids with this stuff in hopes of making the tough grease stains that normally occur from cooking, come off much more easily. Very impressive that it can survive washings from a dishwasher with it`s super harsh detergents.

[yo2tup]

to accelerate the effects of aging, you would do so by the use of heat. this concept is based on the Arrhenius equation

[bcwang]

I don`t think heat would accelerate it much more than the baseline which is already pretty dang hot sitting in the California sun all day long. Any more heat and you risk damaging the paint probably.



How many regular car washes do more LSP`s hold up to? I don`t wash my car too often, but those who do, do you find a regular wash compromises LSP much? Like foaming the whole car with car wash shampoo, waiting 3 minutes, then rinsing off. And then repeating over and over. Could you actually do this and compromise the LSP within a few hours?

[wannafbody]

I`ve had products only last 3 washes with NXT wash. It cleans good but is surprisingly harsh.