Novice BlackFire Pro Ceramic review

[silver2kws6]

Well I finally took the time to use the new blackfire pro ceramic coating
Here are my thoughts and pictures...

Car is a 2013 Chevrolet Cruze - Basic White with 100,000 + miles living in the North Carolina sun

1. Prepped the car by using Iron X along with a foam canon of only 3d pink soap and a bucket of dawn soap and some 3d pink
2. Clayed the car which seemed like a waste of time as the iron x did the majority of the work
3. Polished with a griots da polisher with a 6 inch backing plate (my 5.5 backing plate melted the hook and loop in the middle making it worthless). I used Meguiars ultimate polish since I compounded the car last year along with a lake county blue pad which I used for 1/4 of the car then changed pads. Looking back I probably could have been more aggressive as there are still some deeper scratches left behind but there are no spiderwebs so I am happy overall. Again my wife drives this daily so it will never be perfect.
4. I wiped the car down 2 times with a 13-15 % IPA dilution per Mikes instructions.
5. I recently purchased a touch up applicator that I saw via a online video and it was AMAZING !!!! so much more precise than before I had a few clogsdue to the temp in the garage but nothing that the pipe cleaner tool couldn`t handle.
6. One final wipe down with a dry micofiber towel to clear away dust and then it was GO TIME !
7. I put a semi wet stripe down the white application cloth wrapped in their applicator pad and while I do agree the applicator is small it still did the job fine. I used 2 of those white cloths per application as I noticed some fine dust sucking into the white cloth while applying the coating. I layed the product very thinly and added a few drops along the way and after 15 seconds or so wiped it off with a microfiber towel. The garage temp was close to 80-85 with high humidity so it appeared to haze rather quickly and my paranoia kicked in that I wouldn`t get it off so I may have buffed it early I don`t know. This is my first time doing this !
After I completed the car I applied a 2nd coating again using the cross hatch method but this time I used more product. the second time the paint was super slick ! After 2 applications I feel I still have 2/3 of the bottle left so i don`t know if thats good or bad ?
I only covered the painted sections not the lights which I wasn`t sure I should do so I left them alone.
8. I inspected the car and there is only 1 spot where i can see that I did not wipe off properly is near the roof mounted antenna and it looks like dry wax but it wont come off. I tried to clay it - nope so i may hand polish. It is really tough to see what is done or not done on a white car and while my lighting in the garage is bright its not exactly good for seeing spots you didnt buff. So i am open to suggestions on how to fix this. Again I am a hobbyist so I don`t need anything remotely fancy since I do this 2 times a year.

Final examination - Overall the product was very easy to apply and buff off I almost had to catch myself from buffing too aggressively as it wasnt necessary. It flashed quickly as far as I could tell but I also used a small amount of product so that might also play a part in that which is why i did 2 coats. The shine of the car is slightly better than wax alone. Someone mentioned GLASSY and I would agree to that its more of a synthetic look to the paint and not a deep shine I feel sealants / waxes provide. But the white is bright ! To the touch its not super smooth and I would like to top coat it with some wax later but for now I am just letting it cure. For being new to coatings it seemed to go well almost too well compared to what i have read. We will see how it holds up as my wife has alot of traveling to do and the car will bake outside in the south carolina sun for weeks on end before she comes home and I can wash it. So I will keep you all updated.

If you have any thoughts please share them I am definitely a novice when it comes to this but still enjoy it !


Also I immediately washed the microfiber towels on warm with minimal laundry soap and extra rinse. then followed up with almost no soap and another wash on warm. Hopefully thats all they need and the coating didnt ruin the towels which i heard can happen.

Thanks for reading !

[silver2kws6]

some pictures. I am waiting on better lighting to take outside pictures the sun is just too bright.

[Celticsfan]

I got that same touch up tool but have yet to use it, how long did you wait for the touch up to cure ?

[silver2kws6]

I waited around 8 hours. I noticed this morning that I missed 2 spots

[Chopper280]

Nice review and results!
I have used the coating several times and it is easy to work with. I live where the humidity is always high and BF has more working time than PBL coating.
I also like the touch up tool. I learned you have to really thin out the paint.
I always immediately clean my towels and have never tossed one.
One suggestion, I prefer something like PA High Gloss over the coating instead of wax. Just my opinion and I think it looks better.
Keep up the good work!