AQuartz/CQuartz/OptiSeal - Has you washing routine/regime changed ?

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pingable

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With these *non stick* so called sealants, has you washing regimen changed ?



Less soap / and or don't care how ~lubricious~ your soap is.

Soap with or without glossing agents.



No soap - just a strong powerful rinse with the pressure washer ?

Pre-foam and the pressure wash off .





I'm curious. I've never really jumped on the ONR bandwagon, and the only time I will use ONR is if I want to wash it after polishing and or just clean the car that's been sitting around that has been washed but just has dust.
 
Its Opti Coat not Opti Seal that's the coating product. Also IMO you probably should still use good washing technique and not that fall by the wayside if you want the coating to last as long as possible.
 
Well for my clients with opti coat I havent changed the way I wash, but generally speaking they tend to be a little less diligent than similar clients without OC. I don't know it OC is advertised as able to prevent marring, but ime it definitely does. I've applied it to some pretty finicky paints (black subarus, f150s, jb bmws, etc) and they universally hold up better than non-coated cars.
 
Picus -



I'm inclined to hear more on your experiance in finicky paints.



My outlook depending on who the owner is, is that even though a finish can be professionally finished to a T, it all goes OUT the door the minute the customer takes it home and either A: takes it to a carwash or B: even with the best intents, they induct micromarring via proper wash/dry techniques. Granted, people who participate on this forum take paint just a tad more serious than JOE next door.



Does the finish in these finicky opticoated paints come back with severly less marring, etc, etc.
 
In my experience, yes. A resounding yes, in fact. Here are two examples, one just happened.



A client brought me a 2010 black a4, he bought it as a demo, it'd been washed a few times. When he went in for his first service it was washed with a dirty brush - massive RIDS. He complained, they buffed and didn't remove any rids, but scoured the paint and left crazy holograms. Incredibly soft paint. I fixed the issue via compounding; the paint was that silly soft black you see on BMWs, Audis, etc, so soft that plush pfs leave light marring. I washed the car before and after compounding, every time I touched it it marred a little. I got it as close to perfect as possible and opti-coated, then the next day washed again... zero issues with marring, none. It was like washing a different car.



Second example. Black F150, very careful owner but its a black F150... I deal with a few and generally they are "rough" when I see them after a year. The opti-coated one I saw after ~7-8 months. Not a mark, like...no marring at all. Yes, the guy is careful, but I attribute some of it to the opticoat for sure.



The issues, of course, are applying opti coat to a perfectly finished, ipa/prep washed surface without inducing any marring, which is tough. I think on paint like that it is 100% worth it though.
 
Judicious snippage...



chefwong said:
Does the finish in these finicky opticoated paints come back with severly less marring, etc, etc.
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Picus said:
In my experience, yes. A resounding yes, in fact. Here are two examples, one just happened.



..... the paint was that silly soft black you see on BMWs, Audis, etc, so soft that plush pfs leave light marring. I washed the car before and after compounding, every time I touched it it marred a little. I got it as close to perfect as possible and opti-coated, then the next day washed again... zero issues with marring, none. It was like washing a different car.



I think on paint like that it is 100% worth it though.
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Man, that's the report I've been waiting to hear! :clap2: I've got one of those silly-soft CCs on a black Harley that was a hair-puller trying to get it to finish out well. Once I employed some assbackwards methods that provided stellar results it'd marr if you breathed on it. Forget about wiping it down with QD if it was dusty... only thing that wouldn't appreciably marr just wiping off polish residue was a super-soft WW spritzed with 425.



The Opti Coat will have to wait for winter, right now it's time to ride. Some doo-dads will have to come off and a few chips filled and wet sanded before the perfecto polish job and Opti Coat. Very gratifying to know there's a light at the end of the tunnel! :madgrin: (pretty sure it isn't a freight train coming)



Here's a little blurb I posted on AGO the other day after using Opti Coat in a somewhat non-stardard way. Really worked well!



UPS rolled up the other day with a tube of Opti Coat 2.0. I'd been in the garage cleaning the tar and crud from the underside of the fenderwells of my truck after being unable to avoid some highway construction. Mucho Tarminator and clay later they were once again spotless. Not bad for a 3 year old DD that didn't get a thorough cleaning until I got hold of it 5 months ago.

On past trucks I usually sprayed the painted surfaces under the rear wells with undercoating because you just can't keep 'em clean on a DD. On this one after the first cleanup I decided to try sealing 'em with 845 and see what happened. Yeah, they were easier to keep clean but it usually took a vigorous round with a wheel brush and APCs or ARO that stripped the protection.



After reading a few Opti Coat threads and seeing some videos of how easy contaminents came off a treated finish I decided to give the OC a try under the fenderwells. Cleaned 'em again with OPC and after they dried IPA'd and I gave 'em a dose of OC. After all the concerns some had about application, curing, high spots etc I was pretty surprised at the ease of use of Opti Coat. If you've used Opti Seal yoiu may as well have used Opti Coat, they go on the same. On white you probably ought to have a pad in one hand and a Brinkmann in the other for even coverage.. you can barely see it going on.



Naturally, I was unable to avoid another construction area the other day and gritted my teeth listening to the tar, chipcoat and asphalt bits rattling up under the wells. Drove a few days in the rain and crud before I was able to wash the truck. When I got to the rear wells I figured I was in for another marathon session with Tarminator and clay because they were black!. :furious: Wish I would've got some pics of the worst. However, after giving them a blast with the hose I was surprised at how much crud rinsed off!



IMG_0081_Medium_.jpg




Instead of reaching for the stout brush and a bunch of cleaners I grabbed a utility mitt and lightly dipped it in the wash bucket and gave the fenderwell a wipe. I experienced a smooth, lubrous-feeling, slick wipeoff and after rinsing I was rewarded with this!



IMG_0079_Medium_.jpg




Quick and easy and results you can't argue with! :clap2:



I recall a post where Chris @ Optimum either replied or was quoted as saying he uses Opti Coat on "everything but tires". Once I get the time for the perfecto polishing session that's what the DD is getting. Paint, glass, trim... the works. Yeah, I'll be depriving myself of the joy of constantly trying new sealants and polishes and waxes... which isn't much of a joy on an extended cab, full size pickup that seems to get larger as you work on it. Looks like I'll have some time to do other things instead. :)
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TL
 
Unless Audi paint has recently changed, I wouldn't characterize it as having soft clear coat paint, I'd characterize it as having very hard clear coat paint that can be a super b*tch to polish ,especially if it has anything more severe than the slightest micromarring. An older BMW I once had to randomly sand here and there cleaned up wonderfully because it polished up so nicely. Audi, I've spent multiple hours on mine just removing micromarring from one panel-factoring in plenty of inspecting with different light sources. The paint is literally and figuratively hard-hard-- difficult-- to polish because the paint is so hard--tough .Lot of work!
 
So far the only thing I've used my OptiCoat on has been the Tahoe's wheels (brand new from GM, the faces have that "machined finish" that looks kinda like chrome). I've washed them a few times, and I can't really say I've noticed any diff between how the OptiCoat cleans up and how wheels done with layers of FK1000P do :nixweiss I was expecting the OptiCoated ones to clean up a lot easier, but no such luck :think:
 
Accumulator said:
So far the only thing I've used my OptiCoat on has been the Tahoe's wheels (brand new from GM, the faces have that "machined finish" that looks kinda like chrome). I've washed them a few times, and I can't really say I've noticed any diff between how the OptiCoat cleans up and how wheels done with layers of FK1000P do :nixweiss I was expecting the OptiCoated ones to clean up a lot easier, but no such luck :think:
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i did my s4 wheels with opti coat instead of fk1000. i noticed that cleaning them took about the same effort. but after two years i've not had to re coat them like i would have if i'd done them with fk1000. still use fk1000 on the wife's dd.
 
wascallyrabbit said:
i did my s4 wheels with opti coat instead of fk1000. i noticed that cleaning them took about the same effort. but after two years i've not had to re coat them like i would have if i'd done them with fk1000. still use fk1000 on the wife's dd.
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Yeah, I'd have to agree with that...it's more about the durability. Plus you can use cleaners on OC where most will diminish other sealants after a few washes.
 
IF the OptiCoat lasts a few years it'll be great (assuming the polishing before recoating isn't some huge PIA, the lugnut caps are making me :think: in that regard). I'll probably start cleaning these wheels with Wheel Cleaner or whatever I'm using on the wells/etc. but I wanted to try my usual potent-shampoo mix so I could do a fair comparison.
 
No, wash methods have not changed for me. However, something to think about before applying one of these coatings is, how often will you be polishing the car? I haven't personally tested the marring resistance of opti- coat, especially on soft black paint. But if the paint gets marred/ scratched easily and is polished once a year, then maybe a coating which is designed to last for multiple years isn't right for you, especially if you have to pay $$$ to have a pro apply it. Just something to consider...
 
Bill D said:
Unless Audi paint has recently changed, I wouldn't characterize it as having soft clear coat paint, I'd characterize it as having very hard clear coat paint that can be a super b*tch to polish ,especially if it has anything more severe than the slightest micromarring. An older BMW I once had to randomly sand here and there cleaned up wonderfully because it polished up so nicely. Audi, I've spent multiple hours on mine just removing micromarring from one panel-factoring in plenty of inspecting with different light sources. The paint is literally and figuratively hard-hard-- difficult-- to polish because the paint is so hard--tough .Lot of work!
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2010/2011 models are as soft or softer than anything I've worked on. The a4 I just mentioned would marr under a soft, clean, plush mf with light pressure and a qd.
 
Picus said:
2010/2011 models are as soft or softer than anything I've worked on. The a4 I just mentioned would marr under a soft, clean, plush mf with light pressure and a qd.
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Huh...I ONRed a bird-bomb off the hood of a new 2011 Q5 loaner without any special precautions and I didn't mar it :nixweiss Maybe they're not using all the same paint across the board :think:



Gee, if they're using softer clear that's one more reason why I'll stick with my older ones, I simply will not own a vehicle with stupid-soft clear.
 
wascallyrabbit said:
could be color related. sometimes certain colors (black commonly) are softer than some of the other color within a model year.
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Yeah, like the BMW Jet Black. Wonder why that is...what with "clearcoat is clearcoat" :confused:
 
Wow! Sounds like at least some of the new Audi paint is even softer than my Honda's- and that's as soft as I'll accept.
 
Ya I wouldn't come out and say 'its super soft' without a decent sample set; but I have clients with jet black, metallic black, ocean blue, etc... audis all 2010/2011 that are silly, stupid, stinking soft. Hard to say if it's color related since the marring you see on the "soft" dark paints is that irritating rainbow-y looking marring, that is so shallow it's virtually impossible to see on light cars, but is horrendous looking on dark cars. That A4 I just did was painfully soft, the owner was getting really frustrated (and I can feel his pain), he was saying something as simple as wiping away a water spot after a wash with a qd/clean soft mf was marring the paint. :x
 
Picus said:
Y he was saying something as simple as wiping away a water spot after a wash with a qd/clean soft mf was marring the paint. :x
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:eek: :eek: With paint that soft, that's just unacceptable even for non-Autopians. Audi must've dropped the ball this past year or so.:nono Can't seem to get it right --either too darn hard or way *so* soft. :wall :(
 
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