2021 WOWA Sealants?

Dan

Dan

Well-known member
After a few rounds with various coatings I think I’m back to my old routine of clay and AIO every nine to 12 or so months. One product I’ve really enjoyed is Optiseal. If it lasted six months outdoors it would be perfect actually, I get about two months before performance decreases with Optiseal. Which is only marginally better than TW SnS.

My bottle is a decade old and almost finished. What should I replace it with? I need goof proof, plays nice with others and is durable. Bonus points for slickness and beading. A coating-lite is fine as long as it is easy to use and plays nice with anything. Also can’t have stuff harden up in a bottle.
 
Adams graphene spray coating has same application as optiseal just as easy and it beads really well. It’s even sun friendly.

here is what I’m usually playing with

crystal seal by wowo or nu finish ceramic or IGL premier if I want water based spray sealants

adams graphene coating or spray coating- solvent based coatings that are easy to apply with great beading

old school sealants duragloss all the way 111 or 105 or 501

wax’s are dead to me when I buy them I never use them
 
If your Opti-Seal is really 10 years old, there was an improved version that came out in 2012. They also have an SiO2-enhanced version of it called Hyper Seal, a new version of which just came out which also contains SiC. That is in the Opti-Coat line, which you can only buy at the Opticoat (.com) website.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
If your Opti-Seal is really 10 years old, there was an improved version that came out in 2012. They also have an SiO2-enhanced version of it called Hyper Seal, a new version of which just came out which also contains SiC. That is in the Opti-Coat line, which you can only buy at the Opticoat (.com) website.
Click to expand...

I just went and looked at Optimum Hyper-Seal at the Optimum site..
It`s $49.95 for a 16oz bottle.. plus shipping..
Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
I just went and looked at Optimum Hyper-Seal at the Optimum site..
It`s $49.95 for a 16oz bottle.. plus shipping..
Click to expand...

I never said it was cheap! I haven`t tried any, I still have my original bottle of Opti-Seal from when it came out, along with my bottle of Zaino Clear Seal. Too many waxes, too many other things to do. The shipping at the Optimum store is flat rate, BTW.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I never said it was cheap! I haven`t tried any, I still have my original bottle of Opti-Seal from when it came out, along with my bottle of Zaino Clear Seal. Too many waxes, too many other things to do. The shipping at the Optimum store is flat rate, BTW.
Click to expand...

Amigo -
I never said it was expensive ! :)
Just trying to help..
Dan F
 
William_Wallace said:
Adams graphene spray coating has same application as optiseal just as easy and it beads really well. It’s even sun friendly.

here is what I’m usually playing with

crystal seal by wowo or nu finish ceramic or IGL premier if I want water based spray sealants

adams graphene coating or spray coating- solvent based coatings that are easy to apply with great beading

old school sealants duragloss all the way 111 or 105 or 501

wax’s are dead to me when I buy them I never use them
Click to expand...

You`ve got my ear, I`m a huge fan of 105 and 501, the perfect liquid sealants, if they could get FK1000P to apply in the same way, I might throw everything else out the window.


How is the Nu Finish, the online retailer reviews look terrible!

Also how durable is Adams Graphene? More durable that DG105?

Setec Astronomy said:
If your Opti-Seal is really 10 years old, there was an improved version that came out in 2012. They also have an SiO2-enhanced version of it called Hyper Seal, a new version of which just came out which also contains SiC. That is in the Opti-Coat line, which you can only buy at the Opticoat (.com) website.
Click to expand...

I do have the original, the never one at the time was rumored to be marginally more durable, so even if it added a month, I`m not sure it would be enough. Hyper Seal sounds interesting IF it can go six months, I have no issue with the price.

I`m also toying around with the idea of Sonax PnS, I`m not sure it will make 6 months outdoors, but it really checks all the boxes. My one question with it is, does it actually offer any sort of protection?
 
The concept of Wipe On ,Walk Away (which it what the acronym WOWA stand for) seems counter-intuitive to me. Or more precisely, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I know many of you SWEAR by Opti-Seal and its use as a drying-aide for 2-bucket washes. But applying something and then let it self-level and dry without any detailer intervention seems, well, hard to believe. But as another cliche says,"Don`t knock it until you`ve tried it."
(Oh yeah, we forgot. Captain Obvious is also Captain Cliche!)

Are there other WOWA products out there that I am not aware of?
 
Dan,
When I was Detailing out of the Best German Car Shop in Issaquah, WA., I had a chance to paint correct the Boss`s Jet Black 5 Series.
It had never been Detailed and was covered in scratches..

It was easy to paint correct it using Sonax Perfect Finish and my Rotary, and turned out a black, rolling, mirror.
I finished it with Sonax Polymer Net Shield, and it was just beautiful..

Sonax Polymer Net Shield applies "grabby" but just control the amount, keep going, wipe it off quickly, and it leaves a great finish and protection..

The Boss then parked this beautiful, Jet Black Bimmer out in front of the Shop for 1 year.. It got rained on (this is Washington, you know), for most of the year, then there was sporadic sunlight for a couple of months and rain. Snow in Winter.

The Bimmer was never washed, etc., by me or at the Chevron Station down at the corner..
I saw it all the time when I came in to work, and it always looked beautiful..

At the end of that year, I washed it up and it still had the Sonax Polymer Net Shield on it...
Of course, it was not as strong as it was 1 year ago, but it was still there and this Bimmer paintwork was still beautiful..

l have always seen that the Less we mess with our paintwork after we LSP it, the better it will be long term...
Yes, it will eventually need to be refreshed, etc., especially if it`s outside 24/7..

Exactly when that refresh happens is always the variable that cannot ever be predicted to certainty..

Dan F
 
Lonnie said:
The concept of Wipe On ,Walk Away (which it what the acronym WOWA stand for) seems counter-intuitive to me. Or more precisely, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I know many of you SWEAR by Opti-Seal and its use as a drying-aide for 2-bucket washes. But applying something and then let it self-level and dry without any detailer intervention seems, well, hard to believe. But as another cliche says,"Don`t knock it until you`ve tried it."
(Oh yeah, we forgot. Captain Obvious is also Captain Cliche!)

Are there other WOWA products out there that I am not aware of?
Click to expand...

Amigo,
Perhaps before your time, but when they were invented, all the clear seal spray products self-leveled just fine...

Sal Zaino started the ball rolling with his own products, and then others followed suit..

I have used a lot of Optimum Opti-Seal on several vehicles over the years and it never fails to self level just fine..

Perhaps because I graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Zaino School of 3 Coats of Z2/Z5 with ZFX, I never have an issue laying down perfectly flat, even layers, I don`t know... :)

Dan F
 
Lonnie said:
The concept of Wipe On ,Walk Away (which it what the acronym WOWA stand for) seems counter-intuitive to me. Or more precisely, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I know many of you SWEAR by Opti-Seal and its use as a drying-aide for 2-bucket washes. But applying something and then let it self-level and dry without any detailer intervention seems, well, hard to believe. But as another cliche says,"Don`t knock it until you`ve tried it."
(Oh yeah, we forgot. Captain Obvious is also Captain Cliche!)

Are there other WOWA products out there that I am not aware of?
Click to expand...

As Stokdgs noted, Zaino was first out of the gate in I believe Feb. 2007, followed by Optimum in the middle of the year and DavidB with the Ultima line late in 2007. He had been sending out Beta samples of...what was it, Red Dot 14 or something which was a conventional sealant that had the Polycharger ingredient which ultimately (ha) became the Ultima line. I`m pretty sure there is/was Wolfang and Blackfire WOWA`s, and probably some others.

This has been noted before but Anthony Orosco claims to be responsible for development of WOWA sealants because he asked Dr. G to create a sealant that you could "just wipe on and walk away", and Dr. G purportedly developed Opti-Seal on the way to creating the first version of Opti-Coat. How Zaino beat them to market was a source of consternation for Anthony at the time. Someone with time to search should be able to find the threads with these tidbits.

But to tie this together, applying a WOWA is a lot like applying a coating, and a WOWA is good practice (and the high spots are a lot easier to remove). I honestly don`t know why WOWA`s didn`t transform the market, even if they don`t last as long as some other products, the ease of reapplication offsets that. I always said if I was starting over, I think that`s all I`d use, on everything, paint, trim, glass, chrome. I mean who wants to go back and wipe off residue, when you can just "wipe on and walk away"?
 
I started looking around for (stand alone) reviews of Hyper Seal. Can`t find anything. As a side note it blows my mind how a grown up with a functioning brain can talk about the durability of two stacked products. Bonus points when they top those or re-apply. Best I can find is Ron @ Optimum saying it lasts 4-6 months, which probably, at least for me means 2-3, which takes it just above TW SnS, so hardly worth it, if at all. All roads keep going back to PNS.
 
You could look at these coating lite’s:

Gyeon CanCoat
Adams Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating

PNS is good. You also have the option to upgrade to their CC36 coating. It’s PNS taken to another level. Rated at one year but can be maintained with the same products as PNS.

I enjoyed it for what it is. The only downside is you would need two kits for a large vehicle.
 
Dan said:
I started looking around for (stand alone) reviews of Hyper Seal. Can`t find anything.
Click to expand...

Since those Opti-Coat products are only sold by installers or at the Opti-Coat site, they don`t get much play. A lot of what happens at Optimum seems to be driven by the certified installer base (or maybe a few vocal ones), and they wanted an exclusive line that they could sell to their clients for maintaining their expensive Opti-Coat installation.
 
The Guz said:
You could look at these coating lite’s:

Gyeon CanCoat
Adams Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating

PNS is good. You also have the option to upgrade to their CC36 coating. It’s PNS taken to another level. Rated at one year but can be maintained with the same products as PNS.

I enjoyed it for what it is. The only downside is you would need two kits for a large vehicle.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Adams is on my short list. Can coat looks appealing but I seem to recall reading it goes bad?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Since those Opti-Coat products are only sold by installers or at the Opti-Coat site, they don`t get much play. A lot of what happens at Optimum seems to be driven by the certified installer base (or maybe a few vocal ones), and they wanted an exclusive line that they could sell to their clients for maintaining their expensive Opti-Coat installation.
Click to expand...

Yep, and I saw your posts over there :-). The posts saying it wasn’t much better than Optiseal weren’t uplifting. If it was $25-30 I’d probably give it a shot. But the current price tag puts it right next to alternatives that have more review support. It’s not even the money, I just don’t want more shelf filler. The old Dan would have bought everything recommended in this thread. No more.
 
Dan said:
Thanks. Adams is on my short list. Can coat looks appealing but I seem to recall reading it goes bad?
Click to expand...

It’s not going to last on your shelf for 10 years that’s for sure. A couple at most before it becomes unusable.

Both will clog the sprayers after use.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Since those Opti-Coat products are only sold by installers or at the Opti-Coat site, they don`t get much play. A lot of what happens at Optimum seems to be driven by the certified installer base (or maybe a few vocal ones), and they wanted an exclusive line that they could sell to their clients for maintaining their expensive Opti-Coat installation.
Click to expand...

Setec Astronomy:
The above statement seems to be either an observation or an accusation.
That said, I have looked at the Opti-Coat website and yes, Optimum has "developed" other car-care products with the Opti-Coat namesake /logo. It just is hard to believe that Optimum Polymer Technology and Dr. David Ghodouss would resort to this sort of marketing, but after the Opti-Coat "certified" dealer/installer product pricing and warranty debacle from several years back, OPT does need to appease the remaining Opti-Coat certified dealer/installer base. If they make money, so does OPT, because they are both selling car-care products and services. Cannot fault them for that in a free-market economy.
So is Hyper-Seal THAT much better than the available-to-the-"regular"-detailer Opti-Seal and is it worth the extra increase price? Is my question an observation (pay more for a better product)or an accusation (Pay more for a similar product with an "exclusive" name, AKA rebranding)?

I use OPT car-care products because they they are reasonably-priced and they delivery the excellent results I desire for my detailing tasks as a hobbyist. But I am not a certified installer, so the Opti-Coat line is not available to me to buy and use. Should it be? That`s another issue.
 
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