If you want recommendations on easier coatings, Kamikazee is crazy easy. I have heard the same about HPC but I have not tried it yet. However, I do like CQUK a lot and still use it but it is not as easy for me. Wiping off 2 times with microfiber towels is important. The microfiber is much better than the suede. I find it almost impossible to get a clean finish with the first towel. It is important on the 2nd wipe to go beyond what you wipe with the first towel because sometimes the first wipe can actually spread the product out i bit further. I often find myself hitting areas that i did not intend to with the first wipe and spreading the product to those areas. I take 2 towels and fold them so there are 8 sides per towel. I use 4 sides of each towel per coat so I can get through 2 coats with 2 towels. I think this may be pushing the limits of the amount of wiping I am doing per side but I have not had any problems with this.
You may be having a problem that I experienced with how long you wait for the 2nd coat. I normally wait 24 hours with all coatings. I did this with UK3.0 and had the smears or a haze look. I then waited a week and had the same result. I was told to only wait 45 minutes for the 2nd coat. I polished a panel and tried that with perfect results.
For what its worth with UK3.0, I find the timing for wiping off to about between 1.5 - 2 minutes. This is at about 68 degrees. One advantage of Kamikazee is that I can wait 10-12 minutes.
When I first began with coatings, I had the same problem as you. This was with CQ Classic. Car looked great in the garage but terrible when I got it outside. I then started to just coat 1 panel and pull the car out in the sun to check. I don`t do this anymore but it did help the first few times to make sure my process was ok.
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Thanks Dan, I think someone else mentioned Kamikazee and 22ple earlier. I was just watching a video about the application and it does seem more forgiving. I went out and bought some lights last night... Wow!! I think I might have been happier in the dark! It is amazing what some decent lighting reveals, I think I am going to polish everything off and grab some Kamikazee to start over!
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I have good lighting and use a large LED portable light and a scangrip light. I can spot problems but it is not always easy. I still have to adjust where the lights are and look from all kinds of angles. I find that the sun still shows the defects much quicker and easier. When I had the problem with the UK3.0, I found it using LEDs on a stand. I had to have the light position and my eyeball position so perfect to see it that I marked where I was standing and where the light was so I could replicate it later. It`s funny but different types of light or maybe different colors show different things. I`ve had things I could not see in the sun but stood out in the garage light. Orange peel is one that comes to mind. With coatings though, I find sun to be most revealing.
Make sure to get some microfibers and use 2 wipes. This is more important than the brand of coating. One thing I would say about the CQ coating - the water beading is incredible. Even though I don`t see any advantage to water beads, it bring a smile to my face. The CQUK3.0 is also supposed to be better than the previous CQ brands at holding up against salt which I am interested in. Also, I have experienced slight waterspots with the Kamikazee but never with the CQ. These are the reasons I still use it sometimes. I get 2 years out of CQ Classic and Kamikazee on cars that are outside 24/7 and driven in Chicagoland winter. At 2 years, the coatings are still there but I choose to redo them anyway.
I have used reload and other toppers once in awhile. I never used them directly after coating. I never had any problems with reload and I over apply it bigtime. I have had problems with some other toppers when over applied. I don`t use any toppers anymore. They seem to last only about a month for me and I get plenty of coating life without them. I find that after 2 years, the car can use a polish anyway.
I see you are doing multiple cars. I put different coatings on different cars to see what I like and compare against one another. I haven`t come out with a clear favorite yet. I like different things about different coatings.
Is Esoteric the exclusive dealer for Kamikaze? Also, any issues with water spots? Do you use it along withe the ISM or is Overcoat sufficient?
As far as I know, Esoteric is the only one. I have had slight water spots but very faint and this seemed to only happen when the coating was getting quite old. Really not an issue to me. It only happened on the cars that sat outside 24/7. The garaged cars that were driven daily never had it. I think the water spotting problem varies for people depending on where they live and what may be in the rain. With Kamikazee, I have only used the Miyabi - no ISM. I have used the overcoat which is similar to reload except be careful not to over apply. I had problems due to this. It seemed to hold up a bit longer than reload. Very little goes a long way.
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It`s a little strange with some products how the seller describe the application. This case CQUK 3.0 I have looked at 4 different places and they have a slight difference in the description. So much more of unsecurity when doing it for the first time.
What I have found out is that the kit of CQUK is not a complete kit. You would be getting an extra applicator and 5 extra suede applicator towels and at least 5 extra suede towels. And this is minimum of towels and the applicator block you can re-use. The suede towel to level the coating is used on about 3 panels before getting saturated and to not work against you. This is also with an application that is not much talked about. That is that you keep going in a criss cross patern until it has just flashed and then you wipe or level out the very little residue you have left on the section you coated. I don`t know who have done a tweak on the application recommendation. But this is what I have seen in the description here in EU. On Carpro US it`s the description as you have done it. But then you are going to be useing the 2 towel method of wipe it off or level it. And for even 1 coat it`s not enough with 1 suede towel to level the coating with. Since they also says to be throwing the towel after rinse off for safety reasons. And they recommend you to be doing 2 layers and max 3. This is the unison from them all with 2 layers of CQUK at minimum. Wait about 1 hour before the next layer or if you get long over this time to the next day. As Mike Lambert mentioned if you wait more than 1 day and apply it a couple of days later. I think it has cured to much to be layered and will lead to not much of the second layer will be able to bond and you get a lot of excess product to wipe off. So go with just 1 layer but don`t expect the longer longevity over 2 years from it then. In general you can say that 1 gets you about the 18 months and the 1 layer more is about 6 months extra and the 3 layer 3-6 months generally speaking this is.
So if you do it again and feeled comfortable with 1 criss cross patern and wait until it`s flashes. Get some of the extra leveling towels and the extra suede applicator towels for the second layer. And with your new lights you will be fine. If doing the second layer try to get that applyied around the 1 hour after the first application layer. And if you don`t get through the 1 layer under the hour. Stop and do start to apply the second layer where you started. And finish the rest of the car when you have reach where you stopped. This I think is needed when application on the Raptor. And remember just a firm handshake grip on the applicator and steer it in the criss cross patern no pressure is needed. Apex detailing chanel on Youtube video where he goes through the whole detailing with an IGL coating as LSP is a great guide in general on the application of a coating with the prep too.5 videos series is it that was put up a week or 2 ago. Lots of tips and trix he shared there.
Then sure it`s other coatings that are easier to apply. But I think it`s much about you think you get all in the coating kits and timing on the different coatings is very important when you level and if and when you apply the second layer. 22ple and Kamikaze I would ad Polish Angel in the class of very easy application and forgiving. Polish Angels coatings Cosmic v2 coating and Viking Coat is like a sealant to apply with a long time before wipe it off or level it about 30 minutes.
Yeah you only need miyabi or ISM. Their is a lot who like to do both, I believe ISM over miyabi 2 to 1. I think only affects looks though. You can top with whatever you like but the water behavior in the overcoat is way crazier than most others. A lot like to top with Polish Angel products also great water behavior. Seem to be the best “premium” toppers out their.
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The 2 coats of Miyabi, maintained with Overcoat is the most common application; 30ml bottle of Miyabi should be enough for normal car. You can throw 1 layer of ISM on top to town down the sharp gloss of Miyabi, adds a bit of depth, richness and complexity on dark colors and increases longevity a bit. ISM also really adds a nice effect on metallic paints.
I`m at 21 months, 37k miles on my daily driver (Miyabi/ISM/Overcoat and occasionally Infinity Wax) and it`s about done on lower side panels. Wife`s winter driver, same combo applied in 10/2016 is still doing great, albeit only 17k miles traveled in that time. It sits outside 24/7 90% of the year, often covered by wet leaves and other environmental debris. Due to relatively low usage, the coating(s) will make it another year easily on this car.
For me, the Kamikaze Collection is about layering, not so much for durability but to achieve a look I find pleasing to my eye.
- Miyabi is a nice, hard, reflective gloss typical of many coatings. Can be layered
- ISM is a warmer, deeper, wax-like glow look. ISM Cannot be layered, if using alone 1 layer is all that is needed. Leftover ISM also makes great coating for plastic trim.
- Infinity Wax just adds a layer `of relaxed high gloss` but I think mostly I use it on occasion for something to do that stays within the product `family`. Either that or I just think the jars are really cool.
- Overcoat is the maintenance topper, applied to dry or wet surface. Crazy water behavior IMO, great at self cleaning. Polish Angel Cosmic Spritz is also a nice choice instead of Overcoat; easier to apply use, a bit of a `blingier` gloss.
As for the above, quite possible it`s all in my head and everything looks the same...YMMV but if I *think* it`s true/valid in my mind, does it really matter if it`s actually true?
As for Overcoat, can be a bit streaky if over-applied so I`ll usually using it as a drying aid with a Rag Company Platinum Pluffle or if applying to dry paint, a very light mist of water on a 420gsm microfiber prior to application seems to keep the streaking at bay.
When I did CQ UK 3 recently, applied 2nd layer within an hour (like 45 minutes) and had no issues. Used it over Essence
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Stick with it you did good for first time recoat in the area were you polish grab a bunch of towels and get it in the sun right after you finish
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Hey chalk it up as learning experience so now you know and have experience. Gloss coat from opti is easiest but cquk is the superior product IMO and has top notch hydrophobic bead action.
Plus opti gloss coat is 10mls and they put it in giant syringe to hide fact if the put in bottle no one would buy the tiny 10 ml bottle. The value of 10mls of gloss coat should be around $20 not 59.99
Optimum charging that price for 10mls is too much they are acting like they invented clear coat or something
Adam`s new coating is UV reactive, with a UV light it makes checking for coverage and finding high spots dead easy. IMHO this is perfect for people who want to get their feet wet but fear they`ll screw something up. This would be the coating I`d recommend to the me that got into detailing 7 years ago. Back then I was needless to say, pretty wreck less and didn`t really read directions lol.
[QUOTE=quebert;2167425..I was needless to say, pretty wreck less and didn`t really read directions lol.[/QUOTE]
Better Wreck less than reckless Sorry, sorry..I just couldn`t resist
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