Are we actually regressing using coatings instead of waxs?

[JSFM35X]

Personal opinions make for a never ending debate because there is no real answer. I’ll just state that for me, maintaining my own vehicles coating are here to stay and I’m not going back to waxed or sealants because :

1. I like the optically correct reflection of a well polished car with a coating. (No I don’t miss the warm wax look)
2. I have no time or patients to stay on top of an lsp that performs for 1/24th the time of a good coating.
3. I do not have the desire to wash an uncoated car. Nothing or very little sticks to a coated car compared to a waxed or sealed car.

 

[Wnc]

Personal opinions make for a never ending debate because there is no real answer. I’ll just state that for me, maintaining my own vehicles coating are here to stay and I’m not going back to waxed or sealants because :

1. I like the optically correct reflection of a well polished car with a coating. (No I don’t miss the warm wax look)
2. I have no time or patients to stay on top of an lsp that performs for 1/24th the time of a good coating.
3. I do not have the desire to wash an uncoated car. Nothing or very little sticks to a coated car compared to a waxed or sealed car.

Preach it brother, preach it!!! We on the same page!!

 

[gspam]

Just taking care of my and the wife`s cars. Both cars are coated. I only have the energy and patience to clean 1 vehicle per weekend. The off-vehicle goes to the manual spray off car wash early on the weekend on our way to get her fancy coffee. I don`t use soap, I just rinse the car thoroughly with the wand, and then dry with my cordless leaf blower. Not touching the paint since it isn`t really clean. Only a detailer would notice that car isn`t clean, 90% of the dirt comes off in the wash bay thanks to the coating. From 5 feet away it looks great. And the next weekend that one gets detailed.

 

[Accumulator]

Q for you Coating Converts: Were any of you using FK1000P prior to switching to a coating?

I`m genuinely curious about any "the FK didn`t protect/last well enough, thank goodness I switched to a coating!"-type experiences. Having only coated wheels, I don`t really have basis for a worthwhile comparison.

 

[Stokdgs]

Q for you Coating Converts: Were any of you using FK1000P prior to switching to a coating?

I`m genuinely curious about any "the FK didn`t protect/last well enough, thank goodness I switched to a coating!"-type experiences. Having only coated wheels, I don`t really have basis for a worthwhile comparison.

I have never used FinishKare1000P... Tried first Sealants... Some were pretty good, but not as durable as I wanted... Went to Coatings.. Now we`re talking...
Dan F

 

[Accumulator]

Stokdgs- None of the other sealants I`ve used came even remotely close to the FK other than at least 6 layers of KSG. Actually, the few others I tried didn`t even rival Collinite`s waxes.

I`m asking not just because of my ongoing love affair with FK1000P but also because it seems that *every* time somebody posts about how great the coatings are I think "...just like the FK is for me". Well, other than that Improved Marring Resistance, which I`m sure not discounting. So it`s a specific comparison; when I read how some had to reapply conventional LSPs every few months/worry about etching/etc., well...that`s why I`ve quit using such stuff too.

 

[jatleson]

Q for you Coating Converts: Were any of you using FK1000P prior to switching to a coating?

I`m genuinely curious about any "the FK didn`t protect/last well enough, thank goodness I switched to a coating!"-type experiences. Having only coated wheels, I don`t really have basis for a worthwhile comparison.

Not FK, but Collinite 845 (different thread for the more durable between those two). The coatings leave a slicker surface that seem to clean easier. Like I noted earlier in the thread, I don`t buy all the hype on longevity and greatest thing since sliced bread, but I do like the results I got. Some of the latest talk about pros/cons of long term coatings are where my thoughts are. Being in an area with two seasons (construction and salt use), I will be curious to see how the cars look next April.

 

[Accumulator]

Not FK, but Collinite 845 (different thread for the more durable between those two)..

My Collinite never lasted all *that* long nor did it clean up/protect like the FK, except when freshly applied. OK, maybe Collinite lasted a *little* longer than M16, but nothing really impressive IME. The areas of the `93 Audi that I still do with 845 need redone quite often compared to the FK`ed parts.

I honestly can`t tell any diff between wheels I`ve coated and wheels I`ve done with FK1000P, other than needing to redo the FK`ed ones more often. If "more often" meant "every few months" that`d be one thing, but it`s rare for them to need redone before it`s time for the winter/spring changeover anyhow.

 

[DetailZeus]

My Collinite never lasted all *that* long nor did it clean up/protect like the FK, except when freshly applied. OK, maybe Collinite lasted a *little* longer than M16, but nothing really impressive IME. The areas of the `93 Audi that I still do with 845 need redone quite often compared to the FK`ed parts.

I honestly can`t tell any diff between wheels I`ve coated and wheels I`ve done with FK1000P, other than needing to redo the FK`ed ones more often. If "more often" meant "every few months" that`d be one thing, but it`s rare for them to need redone before it`s time for the winter/spring changeover anyhow.

Accum do you have gloss coat on wheels? Are you seeing more than a year out of it? I ask because personally I don`t think it`s worth the extra cost if I have to redo them annually anyway. FK1000P would cost pennies on the dollar and if it gets me 80% through the year, so be it. Right now I`m just squirting spray sealants on the wheel faces every couple of washes and calling it day.

 

[Accumulator]

Accum do you have gloss coat on wheels? Are you seeing more than a year out of it?

Yeah, I have the old Optimum Gloss Coat on some wheels and it does last me far longer than a year. But my LSPs/etc. seem to last me an awfully long time.

I ask because personally I don`t think it`s worth the extra cost if I have to redo them annually anyway. FK1000P would cost pennies on the dollar and if it gets me 80% through the year, so be it. Right now I`m just squirting spray sealants on the wheel faces every couple of washes and calling it day.

I`m using all of those approaches on one vehicle or another. The Gloss Coat was worth it IMO on wheels that are a big PIA to do (as in, hours of work) just so I wouldn`t have to deal with it again for a long time. But on my wife`s daily (Audi A8, supposedly one of those "German cars with bad brake dust") the five-spokes are so easy to do that an AIO/FK1000P approach is just fine- one proper job with an AIO and a few coats, then I just refresh the faces in the rare event that it`s necessary. On the Crown Vic`s wheelcovers I`m currently just using a spray as my Drying Aid and that`s working fine too. In fact, I don`t do anything to the Tahoe`s winter wheels other than use a wheel cleaner...and *that* is perfectly OK, they just look worse between cleanings and won`t clean up perfectly with only a pressure washer rinse.

Eh, same ol` same ol`....I`m undoubtedly *not* as Autopian about this stuff as many here, but IMO I *am* pretty particular and it`s not like anybody IRL would ever suggest I need to do better. If whatever you`re doing now satisfies *you* then I`d say "good enough". I see coating wheels as a great solution to a number of problems, but if you don`t *have* such problems....

 

[Stokdgs]

Stokdgs- None of the other sealants I`ve used came even remotely close to the FK other than at least 6 layers of KSG. Actually, the few others I tried didn`t even rival Collinite`s waxes.

I`m asking not just because of my ongoing love affair with FK1000P but also because it seems that *every* time somebody posts about how great the coatings are I think "...just like the FK is for me". Well, other than that Improved Marring Resistance, which I`m sure not discounting. So it`s a specific comparison; when I read how some had to reapply conventional LSPs every few months/worry about etching/etc., well...that`s why I`ve quit using such stuff too.

Hermano,
Hope you guys are all doing good !
I totally get what you are saying ref FK1000P..

Maybe it`s just me, but every time I used any product that was a wax, etc., it seemed to take away some of the clarity, like it was a "film" etc., over the paint that while it shined, looked, great, it altered the original, just polished naked paintwork.. And then it attracted and held onto dirt, and left the paint, without even giving the standard 2-weeks notice !
Someday, I will buy a can of FK1000P and try it out on one of my kid`s cars, etc., and let you know how it works for me..

Until then, even this old Optimum stuff I have had for years, is still giving me great, clear, no "film" over the gloss and clarity, protection, that goes for way longer than 1 year..
And on the wheels - goes way longer as well.. My wheels on the Grand Cherokee are so easy to clean and the inner wheel, looks brand new all the time..

And the kicker -- Optimum never came out with all these extra "toppers" etc., that you had to use to "renew" the coating..
I believe it was only after someone tried out their Opti-Seal Spray on their Coatings, did they come back and say it was ok to do this, if you wanted to, but it did not need it..

I would not want a Coating that required so much extra work right out of the gate - ever...
Used to be way back when, the whole idea of a Coating was to protect, be maintenance free, and not require annual/bi-annual/etc., maintenance...
Then the Market was flooded with all these new coatings that were flashy, etc., but wait, you needed to spend a few hundred dollars more for all the things to "keep it up"...
Why would that ever be a good idea ???

It is too bad that along the way, Optimum decided it was time to run over all the awesome Detailers that used their products faithfully, and pretty much do a form of highway robbery on them by upping the price to use their Pro products to incredible numbers...
Those moves took me off of their list, and I have been happy to keep all that extra bank in MY bank instead of theirs..
Dan F

 

[SWETM]

I think that all maintance and toppers that gives you a longer longevity on coatings. Is since the environment is so different around the world. If your coating is holding up on it`s own with a great car soap with no glossenhancer or extra protection. I don`t see the use of those extra toppers. But with as we call it autopians we like to do something with our paints on somewhat regualar basis. And those toppers that ad some sio2 on the coating. I think was meant to be used at the end of the coating life to extend the longevity and have a great performance from it. If you read the fine print on the adding sio2 toppers it`s could be applyied on the coating at any time during the lifetime cycle. But is more to the extend the longevity of it in the end. Then you have the Top coats which gives you a slicker surface. And for those with problems with hard water and water spotting this can help you.

The things with maintance of coatings I would look closer to is the different cleaning chemicals they offer for them. I think it`s more important to have a clean coating to hold up the performance from it. They are very chemical resistant and you can hold down the different contaminants that the chemicals can desolve. One interesting product to a coating that a Italian company named ma-fra and their line named laboscosmetica has done. Is some different car soap and chemical wipe down that take care of the lime scale build up from water and other minerals from water. Different strengthes to handle different amount of the water minerals and build up you got. This products is on the acidic based ph level. Gyeon has made their bathe car soap slightly at that acidic side but still ph neutral. With that car soap and you have water spotting issue I would try Gyeon Bathe as your regualar car soap.

The more you learn about what contaminants you are have problem with if any. And you use the right chemical cleaning product to adress those in time and before the build up gets to big. You will have a coating perform at it`s best until the mileage and wear degrades it.

Don`t know if this makes any sense but are some thoughts I have gathered from coatings. And this can be applyied to some chemical resistant sealants too. The waxes that are synthetic is in the sealant category too for me.

Accumulator if you have read this far. You use Garry Dean Infinity Detail Juice if I got the name right lol. Do you know what it`s based on? And did it change the longevity of fk1000p when you started useing this?

 

[Accumulator]

Stokdgs- I hope you *do* try the FK some time, I`d *REALLY* appreciate your take on it, whichever way it goes.

Yeah, I hear you on the "clarity" issue...one wax that`ll remain nameless talks about clarity in ad-copy, but killed the look of every paint I tried it on No such issues with the FK1000P, at least not to *my* eyes, but that might not be saying much. Another that didn`t do that is UPP, but with it offering *ZERO* protection and mediocre durability (at best), IMO it`s almost a "synthetic Souveran" for practical purposes.


BTW, saw your post on another recent thread...heh heh, you started this stuff just a few years before I did

Stokdgs & SWETM- I agree completely about the "special stuff for coatings"! Not knocking whatever works for others, but 1) I`d use a coating to *AVOID* having to "do the same stuff with special products", which might not be an accurate description, but *is* how I see it, and 2) I can`t help but think "money grab", a whole `nother batch of products to maintain something in a slightly different way. I seem to do *far* less work and never mind the lower cost, with my conventional LSPs than some do with coatings! When I coat wheels, it sure takes a *LOT* longer than when I just FK `em....sheesh, I`m gonna talk myself right out of coating wheels if I keep thinking about it!

For the umpteenth time, I`m not knocking that approach, just astounded that so many people are doing so much over something that`s supposed to make things easier.

Accumulator if you have read this far. You use Garry Dean Infinity Detail Juice if I got the name right lol. Do you know what it`s based on? And did it change the longevity of fk1000p when you started useing this?

Yes, I did indeed read through your post, including that bit about how (*some* ) Autopians "..like to do something with our paints on somewhat regualar basis".

But seriously...yeah, I`m all about the IUDJ for a rinseless/QD/etc.

No, I have zero idea what`s in it.

No, it does *NOT* interfere with the FK1000P in any way. Whatever the IUDJ leaves behind, and I mix it pretty strong so it leaves plenty, seems 100% compatible with the FK1000P.

Actually, I do all sorts of "heretical" things with the FK...don`t always strip the paint after polishing, apply it over top of products that don`t last long (on their own), reapply without even claying...and/but *none* of that has had any detrimental effect. When I post my seemingly impossible durability/protection claims about it, it`s often in reference to a vehicle where I "failed to do the right stuff that everybody knows is essential".

 

[scharnhorst310]

Given the relative costs of coatings vs fk1000p; it seems a coating guy trying FK would be easier than a FK user spending a lot more for a coating to test. At $17 it is hardly a substantial investment, i`m just trying to think when and where can I use it to compare them. I guess it is nearing time to polish up the old DD car, (wish it were black instead of pearl white, find it is easier to spot differences on black) and give it a shot. Should have some leftovers coatings.

 

[Accumulator]

... I guess it is nearing time to polish up the old DD car, (wish it were black instead of pearl white, find it is easier to spot differences on black) and give [a FK vs. coating comparison] a shot..

Heh heh, easier to spot *everything* on black, for better or worse

It sure would be interesting to hear how such a comparison works out for you, should you decide to do it.

Too bad they don`t have those little sample tins of FK1000P like they used to...one of those is what started me on this whole kick (despite being basically "all dried out").

 

[The Guz]

Until then, even this old Optimum stuff I have had for years, is still giving me great, clear, no "film" over the gloss and clarity, protection, that goes for way longer than 1 year..
And on the wheels - goes way longer as well.. My wheels on the Grand Cherokee are so easy to clean and the inner wheel, looks brand new all the time..

And the kicker -- Optimum never came out with all these extra "toppers" etc., that you had to use to "renew" the coating..
I believe it was only after someone tried out their Opti-Seal Spray on their Coatings, did they come back and say it was ok to do this, if you wanted to, but it did not need it..

I would not want a Coating that required so much extra work right out of the gate - ever...
Used to be way back when, the whole idea of a Coating was to protect, be maintenance free, and not require annual/bi-annual/etc., maintenance...
Then the Market was flooded with all these new coatings that were flashy, etc., but wait, you needed to spend a few hundred dollars more for all the things to "keep it up"...
Why would that ever be a good idea ???

It is too bad that along the way, Optimum decided it was time to run over all the awesome Detailers that used their products faithfully, and pretty much do a form of highway robbery on them by upping the price to use their Pro products to incredible numbers...
Those moves took me off of their list, and I have been happy to keep all that extra bank in MY bank instead of theirs..
Dan F

Hate to break it to you Dan but optimum has their own coating maintenance line now . Much needed as I think Gloss Coat is lacking in the durability aspects from personal experience.

Maintenance products are optional regardless if it is a coating, wax or sealant.

 

[Accumulator]

.. I think Gloss Coat is lacking in the durability aspects from personal experience. ..

Huh, interesting.

 

[SWETM]

Stokdgs- I hope you *do* try the FK some time, I`d *REALLY* appreciate your take on it, whichever way it goes.

Yeah, I hear you on the "clarity" issue...one wax that`ll remain nameless talks about clarity in ad-copy, but killed the look of every paint I tried it on No such issues with the FK1000P, at least not to *my* eyes, but that might not be saying much. Another that didn`t do that is UPP, but with it offering *ZERO* protection and mediocre durability (at best), IMO it`s almost a "synthetic Souveran" for practical purposes.


BTW, saw your post on another recent thread...heh heh, you started this stuff just a few years before I did

Stokdgs & SWETM- I agree completely about the "special stuff for coatings"! Not knocking whatever works for others, but 1) I`d use a coating to *AVOID* having to "do the same stuff with special products", which might not be an accurate description, but *is* how I see it, and 2) I can`t help but think "money grab", a whole `nother batch of products to maintain something in a slightly different way. I seem to do *far* less work and never mind the lower cost, with my conventional LSPs than some do with coatings! When I coat wheels, it sure takes a *LOT* longer than when I just FK `em....sheesh, I`m gonna talk myself right out of coating wheels if I keep thinking about it!

For the umpteenth time, I`m not knocking that approach, just astounded that so many people are doing so much over something that`s supposed to make things easier.





Yes, I did indeed read through your post, including that bit about how (*some* ) Autopians "..like to do something with our paints on somewhat regualar basis".

But seriously...yeah, I`m all about the IUDJ for a rinseless/QD/etc.

No, I have zero idea what`s in it.

No, it does *NOT* interfere with the FK1000P in any way. Whatever the IUDJ leaves behind, and I mix it pretty strong so it leaves plenty, seems 100% compatible with the FK1000P.

Actually, I do all sorts of "heretical" things with the FK...don`t always strip the paint after polishing, apply it over top of products that don`t last long (on their own), reapply without even claying...and/but *none* of that has had any detrimental effect. When I post my seemingly impossible durability/protection claims about it, it`s often in reference to a vehicle where I "failed to do the right stuff that everybody knows is essential".

Do you think that the IUDJ is haveing an interfear with it to extend the longevity of fk1000p. As some toppers do on some LSP. It was in that expect I was thinking of. It`s great when you find products that works in synergy and are from different brands and you like.

 

[Accumulator]

Do you think that the IUDJ is haveing an interfear with it to extend the longevity of fk1000p. As some toppers do on some LSP. It was in that expect I was thinking of. It`s great when you find products that works in synergy and are from different brands and you like.

Sorry, must not have answered as well as I thought I had

No, the IUDJ is *not* interfering with the longevity of the FK1000P. If anything, using IUDJ as a Drying Aid is helping the FK1000P last longer.

I tried using IUDJ at QD-strength as a Drying Aid, which undoubtedly left a lot of "IUDJ stuff" on the surface. I immediately applied FK1000P right over top of that. No problems at all.

 

[Stokdgs]

Mike ---
Ref --- ""Hate to break it to you Dan but optimum has their own coating maintenance line now """. Much needed as I think Gloss Coat is lacking in the durability aspects from personal experience.
Sorry, I did not see these products at the Autopian Store... Will research a couple other places and see these things for the first time..
All I ever knew about was the Opti-Seal Spray that has been around for what - 10 years ??
Dan F