Anyone else not really on the coating bandwagon??

T

TGates

Active member
I think I`ve decided coatings aren`t really for me. I have given them a fair shake, most recently with Adam`s Graphene Advanced coating. I fully understand the benefits of a coating, but I`m just not sure the extra time and effort required before and during application/removal is worth it for me. I find it agonizingly laborious inspecting every square inch of the finish when removing the residue to ensure there are no high spots while also ensuring even coverage. If I miss a spot when applying a sealant, I can just go back and add some. If I miss a spot during removal and don`t catch it for a day or two, I can just wipe it off.

I think I will stick with traditional sealants and some of the newer ceramic infused products and make the trade off of more frequent applications in lieu of 10 years of protection from a single application of a "true" coating.

The older I get, the more I gravitate towards ease of use, and coatings are not easy to use for me personally.

Anyone else?
 
I don`t view coatings as particularly user friendly either nor the best in the looks department so I continue to use sealant-wax. I don`t mind having to reapply every 4 months or so. Yes, if you miss part of the area you sealed you can simply wipe it days later

I do think true coatings (ones that last at least a year) are going to evolve though. I see them becoming easier to use in the future. If they also look great, that will be the time that they fully replace wax and sealants.
 
I`ve only used 2 high solid coatings. Nv EVO outside was considerably easier to use then CQUK.

That said i used CQUK in my basement and it was just as easy as EVO outside.

I do believe they put off a different look but i never used many waxes or sealants. Colly 845, sonax PNS and polish angel`s cosmic V2 is about it.

It does take a lot of effort. If the coatings fail in less then 12mths since i done everything outdoors i will be going with cancoat next year i`d say. So far so good. Wicked water behavior and overall gloss.
 
I have not used a sealant in a long time. I went to coatings long ago. The thing is people stress themselves out worrying about high spots as if it is the end of the world. Such an easy fix. As far as the look goes well that is debatable. They have come a long way. The future will be one layer coatings rather than multiple layers.

I had no issues with the advanced graphene version.
 
The Guz said:
I have not used a sealant in a long time. I went to coatings long ago. The thing is people stress themselves out worrying about high spots as if it is the end of the world. Such an easy fix. As far as the look goes well that is debatable. They have come a long way. The future will be one layer coatings rather than multiple layers.

I had no issues with the advanced graphene version.
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I had to polish off high spots this year and i loved it! :D It was 2 layers of CQUK/reload on my trunk lid. Crazy water beading but the high spots drove me nuts. It was about 5-7 days old when i polished it off with rupes yellow pad and 3D One i`m pretty sure. Didn`t take long, i could see it coming off. I applied a single coat after with reload. Its still holding up since may. Coatings are clearly way more durable then waxes or sealants.

Truck lid? Test spot. :D
 
I don`t find coatings to be a big time saver. Their performance isn`t night and day between a good sealant. Waxes and sealants have more pop.

That said if I`m polishing a car, it`s getting a coating. It`s not much more time to put one on. Maybe an hour.
 
I started experimenting with Coatings when they first came out, I believe 15-16 years ago.

The Coating worked great and made cleaning the outside of vehicles so much easier and faster..

I cannot stress enough how important it is to really spend the time in the Prep Work before using this product...If you do not, or cannot, the results will be different than mine.

Have always done complete paint correction; cleaning, cleaning again, and cleaning, before even taking that big horse syringe of coating out of the box..

Have only applied this product in very well lit, climate controlled, garage or shop, with the vehicles not exposed to outside until the product is absolutely dry, (Not cured) to be able to go outside..

Never had issues, never had comebacks, and the technology has only gotten better...

Yes, other products with oils will always make any finish look better because of the oils.. But do oils last very long?
Nothing wrong with using these products either... It is just what one`s priorities are now, compared to what they were X number of years ago, right ?

Coatings = long term time saver.. Yes, all the steps involved to getting to applying it take time, but if you only have to do that once, and it will stay looking really great for a long, long, time; is it not worth it to you? Well, it is, and has been to me.. :)

Dan F
 
I`m not coating things these days.

While the earlier versions of Optimum`s coatings worked well for me on my wheels, they weren`t *THAT* much better IME than the FK1000P, just lasted a lot longer.

I`m *NOT* hating on Coatings. I think they`re great. BUT I worry that they might not prove Accumulator-proof given my..sigh...New Normal Vision, which makes even "normal" Detailing more of a challenge than I ever expected. And from what I hear, the current Coatings, while having all sorts of great characteristics, apparently don`t last for years on end the way my Optimum ones did (actually...make that "do" as the stuff on the outer faces of the Tahoe`s wheels is still working great after quite a few years).

I can AIO+FK my wheels with virtually zero effort and *absolutely* zero chance of a visible "oops!", and doing that annually (yep, that`s all that I ever need to do) isn`t *NEARLY* as challenging as coating my wheels was even back when my vision was so much better. Like..."minutes instead of hours", and I mean that literally.

So conventional LSPs are a total WIN for me, but hey, that`s just me.
 
I like the Wolfgang Spray Ceramic Coating. Pretty much as easy as a sealant to apply. Durability is roughly 6 months outside for me.
 
TGates said:
I think I`ve decided coatings aren`t really for me. I have given them a fair shake, most recently with Adam`s Graphene Advanced coating. I fully understand the benefits of a coating, but I`m just not sure the extra time and effort required before and during application/removal is worth it for me. I find it agonizingly laborious inspecting every square inch of the finish when removing the residue to ensure there are no high spots while also ensuring even coverage. If I miss a spot when applying a sealant, I can just go back and add some. If I miss a spot during removal and don`t catch it for a day or two, I can just wipe it off.

I think I will stick with traditional sealants and some of the newer ceramic infused products and make the trade off of more frequent applications in lieu of 10 years of protection from a single application of a "true" coating.

The older I get, the more I gravitate towards ease of use, and coatings are not easy to use for me personally.

Anyone else?
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Did you use the UV light with Adams AGC? Makes high spots super easy to find. If tired of true coatings give there Graphene spray coating a try. Easy as a sealant to apply but with better water behavior than sealants.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
TGates said:
The older I get, the more I gravitate towards ease of use, and coatings are not easy to use for me personally.
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I`m the exact opposite. The older I get the more I use coatings.

I would much rather spend a day polishing out a vehicle and applying a coating once every two years than having to re-seal the vehicle every six months. I`d spend the same amount of time regardless of the product used, now I just do it far less often. That really becomes a lot of time when you have multiple vehicles in a household. Not only that, but the investment in time I spend in applying the coating pays off in spades by how much easier it is to wash and keep clean compared to traditional sealants. My life is actually easier and more simple.

With an easy to apply coating like CQuartz UK or their recently departed TiO2, I never had many issues with high spots. I was always carefully looking at each section as I removed the sealants to ensure I removed everything and do the same thing with the coatings.
 
I guess I`m lost at the time savings part. Let`s say six hours is plenty for a polish and coating. Are you washing half as much during a year?
 
Dan said:
I guess I`m lost at the time savings part. Let`s say six hours is plenty for a polish and coating. Are you washing half as much during a year?
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I would have to get much better to polish and coat a car in 6 hours.

I took a good 20 hours to polish and coat my car over multiple days this year. And i still don`t have the glass or bonnet done.

But she`s pretty shiny lol

Finish the bonnet off with 3D`s ACA 520 tomorrow and the rupes white pad i have. Then a coating of Nv EVO which is very easy to use.
 
noorth said:
I would have to get much better to polish and coat a car in 6 hours.

I took a good 20 hours to polish and coat my car over multiple days this year. And i still don`t have the glass or bonnet done.

But she`s pretty shiny lol

Finish the bonnet off with 3D`s ACA 520 tomorrow and the rupes white pad i have. Then a coating of Nv EVO which is very easy to use.
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Indeed, I often take much longer than that, but six is plenty for wash (which actually you would do anyway), clay, light polish, paint prep (solvent or whatever your product of choice is), and then do the actual coating. Regardless of the time taken for that, I need to know where the time savings is.

Is it in not having to wash as often? Not needing to QD/LSP?
 
Dan said:
Indeed, I often take much longer than that, but six is plenty for wash (which actually you would do anyway), clay, light polish, paint prep (solvent or whatever your product of choice is), and then do the actual coating. Regardless of the time taken for that, I need to know where the time savings is.

Is it in not having to wash as often? Not needing to QD/LSP?
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You lost me at need lol And "time" I actually would spend 20min a day polishing my car if it was practical.
 
Dan said:
I guess I`m lost at the time savings part. Let`s say six hours is plenty for a polish and coating. Are you washing half as much during a year?
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Here is where I find my time savings:

Actual detailing of the vehicles: When I used sealants I would clay/polish the vehicle every 6 months. That`s about 8~10 hours per car or 16~20 hours per year. With a coating I can do the job in about 12 hours, so that`s 12 hours every two years. Since the coatings last so long, I can spread out our 2~3 household vehicles and never really do more than 1~2 a year vs doing 3 cars 2x a year.

Washing:
- I do find I don`t have to wash as often. With sealants I`d have to wash every 1~2 weeks. In the spring due to pollen, I`d often wash weekly and even then my car would still be pretty dirty. With a coating the pollen and dust doesn`t seem to accumulate as much and a good rain will rinse it right off. I can now go 2~3 weeks between washing. Not only am I washing less, but I have more flexibility in scheduling the family vehicles because they aren`t getting as dirty as quickly.

- Actual washing is faster. Here the savings are in minutes, but it adds up over time. The coated vehicles are much faster to wash in general and things like bugs and other random road grime is far easier to remove. Drying is faster because most coatings sheet so well I can dry them with a flood rinse and then just go an gently dry of the few remaining water drops.
 
Desertnate said:
Here is where I find my time savings:

Actual detailing of the vehicles: When I used sealants I would clay/polish the vehicle every 6 months. That`s about 8~10 hours per car or 16~20 hours per year. With a coating I can do the job in about 12 hours, so that`s 12 hours every two years. Since the coatings last so long, I can spread out our 2~3 household vehicles and never really do more than 1~2 a year vs doing 3 cars 2x a year.

Washing:
- I do find I don`t have to wash as often. With sealants I`d have to wash every 1~2 weeks. In the spring due to pollen, I`d often wash weekly and even then my car would still be pretty dirty. With a coating the pollen and dust doesn`t seem to accumulate as much and a good rain will rinse it right off. I can now go 2~3 weeks between washing. Not only am I washing less, but I have more flexibility in scheduling the family vehicles because they aren`t getting as dirty as quickly.

- Actual washing is faster. Here the savings are in minutes, but it adds up over time. The coated vehicles are much faster to wash in general and things like bugs and other random road grime is far easier to remove. Drying is faster because most coatings sheet so well I can dry them with a flood rinse and then just go an gently dry of the few remaining water drops.
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Playing devils advocate here... so bear with me...

Why do you need to polish every 6 months without a coating? Is whatever wax/sealant you are using degrading to to the point you are getting paint damage?

Same with the washes, are you comparing side by side sealant vs coating? I too wanted to believe the "magic" but I did a few panels on a car and had to look at my notes to see what parts were coated vs a sealant.

Do you find you are not needing to clay at all with a coating?

For me, if I`m being honest with myself, the biggest time savings is regular washing and using a great spray wax. I did that for four years on my Wrangler, it looked better the day I sold it than it did new. With a good spray wax/sealant, nothing sticks and washes are easy. There is no heavy prep required and the spray wax/sealants do a nice job of hiding swirls/marring that come from day to day life.

The value in coatings for me personally is a layer of something to scratch before you get to the clear. I don`t get any maintenance induced swirls, so that`s not a big help, but when people/things brush against my paint, its somewhat of a relief that they`re mainly brushing against a replenishable coating.

Just want to say I`m not picking on anyone, just pointing out my thought process and experience.
 
I was polishing every six months with a sealant simply to remove what bit of sealant remained at that point and start with a fresh surface. There were a few times when I skipped the fall polishing and simply applied another coating of sealant, but that didn`t happen very often.

I have done side-by-side with regards to washing (not on the same car though) and bug removal alone is far easier as is general washing and especially drying when there is very little water left on the car.

I still clay my coated vehicles, but only every two years before polishing and applying a new coating. Even then, I`ve noticed very little material in the clay compared to when I used sealants.
 
Some sorta-ramdom additional comments follow:

Note that many of us simply *cannot* correct our vehicles for one reason or another. Even leaving aside time/effort/ability, there`s only so much paint to work with, and most of our vehicles simply don`t have enough left for more abrasion.

In the YMMV! category, I`m somehow *so lucky* with regard to pollen as it`s simply not an issue for me. Blows/washes/rinses right off, like "from yellowish-green back to silver" with no real effort.

And/but, under different circumstances !oh man! would I be all about some of the marring-resistant coatings. I do honestly wish they were right for me, and if I ever start paying somebody to do this stuff for me, that`s absolutely the way I`d want it done.
 
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