Black Pearl - Review and Airbrush Application

[Nth Degree]

I am often late to the game when it comes to new products.` The “flavor of the month� is too often the dust collector on the shelf the following month.` When I first heard about Black Pearl Tire Shine I was skeptical to say the least.` The claims sounded much like so many other similar products that disappoint.


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I was sent a sample to test.` I am a harsh critic and thorough in my reviews.` To answer the question right up front; Black Pearl is the real deal.`


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Black Pearl is no more difficult to apply than any other tire dressing.` Preparing the tire is the important part and care should be taken to do this step right or the durability can be compromised.` This step has been covered extensively in other reviews so I will spare the long description.


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Tire cleaned using the included Omni Clean:


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I applied one coat to just one half the tire.


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At 5 weeks the Black Pearl began to appear to have faded slightly.` Matthew Kelly, of Black Pearl, had stated that the shine can be restored by a quick cleaning.` So I sprayed a little Omni Clean on it, gave a quick scrub with a gentle brush and rinsed.` Most long lasting tire dressings have a tendency to be greasy/oily and attract and hold dirt.` There is definitely a different feeling that can be noticed just by how the brush passes over. `On bare rubber the bristles grab and drag.` On the coating they passed as though over plastic.` I decided to test the dirt attraction.` On the right was the bare, just cleaned rubber.` On the left was the Black Pearl side.` Had I scrubbed a little more that might have come out completely clean but this was a satisfactory indicator that Black Pearl does not attract dirt. (Video include to confirm equality.)


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEdsMvfBBdE


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Over two months in (9 weeks) this is how it is looking:


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Looking the way it does at 2 months, 6 months is definitely a reasonable expectation.`


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One of the issues I anticipated with applying Black Pearl is getting into the tight groove adjacent to the wheel.` I inquired about this to Matthew Kelly.` He recommended using an old foam polishing pad cut into a wedge.` Black Pearl can be easily wiped off painted surfaces with a damp towel when done promptly before it starts to dry.`


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The idea struck me to apply Black Pearl by airbrush.` I again contact Matthew Kelly to inquire about this and how the product should be thinned, if necessary.` He told me he was not aware of anyone applying by airbrush to tires but that no thinning should be necessary.` I experimented a little and finally came up with the following:


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The wheel was taped off and covered to prevent overspray.` This is not entirely necessary.` I have found it easier to simply use a flexible piece of plastic and holding it along the wheel lip.` I simply did this to facilitate the demo.`


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On the left side I applied Black Pearl by airbrush.` On the left I used the supplied roller.` The lower was left with one coat while the top received a second coat using the respective methods.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949wRl0ezio


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In the sun:


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One of the advantages of applying Black Pearl by airbrush is the ability to get a thicker layer in one shot rather than having to wait and apply a second coat via roller.` As you will see as you scroll, the single coat applied by roller has the least amount of gloss.` The single coat applied by airbrush is noticeably glossier.`` This could be adjusted with a little practice for lower gloss.` The section with 2 coats by roller is slightly glossier than the one coat applied by airbrush, but they are darn close and would probably not be evident if not on the same tire.` The highest gloss was the airbrushed 2 coats.` I have included many photos to show this.` The look in person is slightly different (more wet than shiny) than what appears on camera.`


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As you can see from the photos below, even though I had the tire up on a 2 X 4 I still did not get complete coverage at the bottom, which is why I included the above photos.


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This vehicle doesn’t see a lot of miles and the tires are about due to be replaced so I’m not sure this will be a good test for the durability but I’ll report back anything significant if I can.


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[Nth Degree]

Continuing on; I happened to see some Meguiar’s Ultimate Black Tire Coating at a store and thought I’d give it a quick review and comparison.


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I immediately knew I wasn’t going to like the Meguiar’s.` This is how each product looked immediately after applying.` Notice the oily look of the Meguiar’s on the right.` Black Pearl has a black tint to it and looks like ink when wet but does shrink down as it dries so drips are rare.`


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After being left to dry for about an hour I took a white towel to each product.` The Black Pearl produced almost nothing on the towel while the Meguiar’s clearly had an oily film that was lifted.


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After a couple more hours of drying I took the following photo to show the difference in the sun.


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After about a week I noticed the Meguiar’s was beginning to take on that familiar grayish/brownish color and had dust clearly imbedded.`


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So I decided to try the white towel test again, this time without any cleaning.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exdtIWIKeuQ


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After roughly 3 weeks the Meguiar’s is looking weak:


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And about 4 weeks it is almost non-existent but Black Pearl looks as good as the day it was applied.` So much for the one month durability claimed by Meguiar’s.


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While I had the airbrush out to do the airbrush review above I thought I would try Black Pearl on the rubber window trim on the Dodge Caravan.` When I first received my sample of Black Pearl I tried applying with a foam applicator to a small section on my own car.` It didn’t level out well and I didn’t like the look or feel of it.`


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So I taped off the glass and surrounding paint and airbrushed the driver’s trim.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjCiBMZba0A


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This was my first attempt at this so there is room for some fine tuning and experimentation.


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I forgot to take some before photos prior to taping so I have included matching passenger side photos for comparison.


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I had taped off a small section in the very corner by the mirror for contrast.`


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I did get one drip just above the tape line.` I also was a little surprised that the strip at the bottom of the window turned out a little splotchy while the rest looked outstanding.` I don’t think there was any difference in coverage and the rubber feels to be the same texture and hardness.` I suspect a second coat on that strip would resolve the problem.` As I said, this was an experiment.


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Thanks for reading.` I hope this helps those on the fence about Black Pearl.


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<span style="font-size:18px;">Chris Chandler


<span style="font-size:18px;">`


<span style="font-size:18px;">Nth Degree Auto Detailing