BLACKFIRE... <insert dramatic drum roll here> ;)

That begs the question, what about BF(2) on the glass? Water/dirt could be flying off it too! Hmmm.



PS: just received my BF(2), tried it on my painted side mirror - you guys are right, this stuff spreads! I put about as small a drop of it as I could on the applicator and it really spread. I experimented on the mirror and put on three coats (stripped wax first, of course). First coat looked good (viewed under a strong light), still saw some imperfections. Second coat a little better, but the third coat did make a noticable improvement. The paint is now approaching that freshly poured on look (almost). Good stuff. Only problem, when I do the whole car and really like it, I'll have one expensive paperweight in the form of a Souveran container!:D :xyxthumbs
 
RobD said:
Good stuff. Only problem, when I do the whole car and really like it, I'll have one expensive paperweight in the form of a Souveran container!:D :xyxthumbs



That is what is so great about this new version of Blackfire. After applying several coats it does not beg for more or require a topper. This stuff is actually a little boring ;) . I applied a couple of coats last week on my garage queen and everyday I state that I will apply another or just QD. No need... no dust, no decrease in wetness or gloss, no marring suddenly appearing ( evaporation of oils) and no reason to touch perfection. I am in black car nirvana.:xyxthumbs



up-date on durability:

After one week of constant rain, foggy mornings and short periods of sunshine the BF2 is holding up well. Since beading as if just applied. Shine and depth still uneffected.:xyxthumbs :wavey
 
blkZ28Conv said:
That is what is so great about this new version of Blackfire. After applying several coats it does not beg for more or require a topper. This stuff is actually a little boring ;) . I applied a couple of coats last week on my garage queen and everyday I state that I will apply another or just QD. No need... no dust, no decrease in wetness or gloss, no marring suddenly appearing ( evaporation of oils) and no reason to touch perfection. I am in black car nirvana.:xyxthumbs



up-date on durability:

After one week of constant rain, foggy mornings and short periods of sunshine the BF2 is holding up well. Since beading as if just applied. Shine and depth still uneffected.:xyxthumbs :wavey



OK, that settles it - Monday I'm going over to CMA and get some of this stuff. Thanks everyone!
 
DP-Jedi said:
OK, that settles it - Monday I'm going over to CMA and get some of this stuff. Thanks everyone!



DP-Jedi,

What is your vehicles presently protected by?

If Zaino just layer the BF2 protectant on top. No problem with compatibility. Make sure that you apply very,very, very thin coats. A little goes a long way. The instructions call for a nickel size dab. That is way too much. One 1/4" dabs will do the 1/2 of the average size hood or complete panel. Have fun and post results.:wavey
 
blkZ28Conv said:
DP-Jedi,

What is your vehicles presently protected by?

If Zaino just layer the BF2 protectant on top. No problem with compatibility. Make sure that you apply very,very, very thin coats. A little goes a long way. The instructions call for a nickel size dab. That is way too much. One 1/4" dabs will do the 1/2 of the average size hood or complete panel. Have fun and post results.:wavey



On my Stang, I put a coat of Collinite on it back in June, and a coat of #26 paste about 2 weeks ago. I'll do the dawn wash thing before I put the BF on. I'm going to put it on my wife's Escape as well, though it's a considerably lighter color. Thanks for the tips on applying it:up
 
I just laughed because my first wax EVER was Meguiars Cleaner-Wax. At the time I thought it could be layered. That was more than two years ago.
 
My overall experience with the "new" Blackfire formula has been very positive.



Easy Application

Very Slick

Deep gloss

A little goes a long way - feels more creamy

Does not stain black trimming

Does not attract dust





With my initial review, I have to rate the "new" Blackfire formula with par to Zaino. The paint just glistens. As far as durability that is still being reviewed but based on my first impressions, I think it will hold up well.



With Aloha,

Ranney
 
PakShak said:
With my initial review, I have to rate the "new" Blackfire formula with par to Zaino.



Oh yeah, this thread's gonna get locked... :o ;) j/k :)



I didn't end up washing my car this weekend, so I haven't tried out the BF shampoo. But for the most part, except the lower panels and right behind the front wheel, the car really looks great in spite of driving through a day of rain. It is supposed to rain this week too, so I'll get to check out how the beads fly off too.



Instead, this weekend I washed my Dad's '97 Regal GS and then used Swirl Free Polish followed by the old BF and then a coat of #26 (trying to use the old BF and #26 up). It looked great, but it really was obvious how non-slick the old stuff was. On top of the SFP (which is very squeaky and almost grabby) the BF(1) didn't result in a very slick surface at all. The #26 did, though. I think to use up the old BF, I will just be using it underneath other things to increase the look but so there is something slick on top. The more I see and interact with the new stuff, the more I like it better than the old.
 
Aurora40 said:
Oh yeah, this thread's gonna get locked... :o ;) j/k :)



I didn't end up washing my car this weekend, so I haven't tried out the BF shampoo.



Don't mean to be fussy, but I would check with CMA technical support. When I ordered the new Blackfire I asked also about ordering the Blackfire Quick Detailer and was told that if I used it the slickness would be lost, and the finish wouldn't last quite as long.



What is the experience of applying the new Blackfire Paint Protectant by hand? I want to put it on top of my existing old Blackfire.
 
mrdetailer said:


What is the experience of applying the new Blackfire Paint Protectant by hand? I want to put it on top of my existing old Blackfire.



I have only applied Blackfire by hand. I also applied it directly on top of my existing Blackfire and Zaino combo after Qd'ing with BF's Qd. Very easy and a little goes a long way. One tends to massage the protectant into/ on to the finish. Similiar to using P21S/S100.



I use Zaino's Z7 shampoo with excellent results on all my cars. I have no intentions of trying the Blackfire shampoo because of reports of its harshness.

The Blackfire QD worked well with the original BF and seems to work equally as well with the new version.



So far I have only found one problem with the new version. It is very sensitive to humidity. This was a trait that I also noticed with Zaino. High humidity greatly increases the drying time. This weekend I did an experiment with applying the BF2 one day with extreme humidity (90-100%) and one day with low humidity (~50%). There was a significant increase in hazing time. This is not really a problem but sometime that should be factored in when applying.

Dry day - cure time ~15-20 minutes

Humid day - cure time ~30 - 40 minutes

Is this unique to my experiences or has anyone else noticed this trait?



Durability test after one week of rain.... still beading very well:wavey
 
I too have noticed that the new BF tends to be a bit sensitive to humidity. It was a tad humid the day I applied it, but only relatively speaking though since it never really gets all that humid here in LA. Instead of appling to the panel and buffing immediately, I was getting better results waiting 10 minutes. However, this works out well for me since I'll be applying BF by machine to the entire car first and then buffing. With the exception of the Souveran, PasteGlaze & P21S waxes which are in an entire league of their own, the new Blackfire is the most user-friendly product I've ever tried.
 
mrdetailer said:
Don't mean to be fussy, but I would check with CMA technical support. When I ordered the new Blackfire I asked also about ordering the Blackfire Quick Detailer and was told that if I used it the slickness would be lost, and the finish wouldn't last quite as long.



WHAAAAAAA???? :shocked :scared Man, that had better not be the case or I will be a tad upset. The whole reason I bought that stuff was to use with the new BF. In fact, I noted that in the comments for my order that I was looking forward to using it with the new stuff to keep up the shine and slickness. Well, I should probably verify this before getting worked up. But I sure hope it turns out not to be true!
 
I used the BF QD over my application of the new BF this weekend. This morning I did not notice ANY difference in "slickness". Still as slick as ever :xyxthumbs
 
Well,



I after our first rain ( Southern Cal ) and some good road grime & grease I washed the Maxima's new BF finish.



First off the way it quckly beaded and the water then sheeted off was amazing both during rain and washing. Then after drying I was shocked:o



The shine actually seemed to look better than after initial application. Wow this stuff is amazing.:up :up



But yes, I couldn't help but wonder what it would look like if I QD'd it also.



My question is for you guys that DQ'd the new BF. Which QD did you use and could you tell the siginicant difference/improvement???



I am thinking of trying some Meguiar's QD that I have over the BF but I am concerned about screwing up an already good thing with unnecessary product & time.



If Terry is saying QD will possibly take away from the new BF finish 'OR' the difference it makes is minimalistic at best then why QD over BF???:nixweiss



Thanks,



Derek
 
Well, let's wait to see what Terry has to say. It's possible one of the sales people was just misinformed. Considering the QD and shampoo probably leave an awfully small amount of polymer behind, and that BF(1) and BF(2) have basically the same polymers, just in different amounts, it seems possible that this was just a salesperson who spoke incorrectly. Let's not get rumors flying until it's confirmed (MrDetailer, I'm assuming you spoke to a salesperson, and not Terry? You didn't specify). I called to speak to Terry, but he was out. The person I spoke to did say that the QD and shampoo will enhance the new BF too. However, perhaps we can get Terry to give the "ultimate" word on this.



However, Meguiar's QD should work just fine over BF. I mainly use QD's to remove crud from the paint before it has time to set. For this, it can be any QD (except a carnauba one). #34 or Quik Detailer is perfect for this. They are also good if your car is just a little dusty, or if it was clean and got rained on (not driven in rain, but just rained on) and you want to clean it up without a wash. Dust it with a CCD if dusty and not rained on, and then QD it and your car will look freshly washed. The BF QD is supposed to renew the finish and extend the durability of the BF layer by adding more polymers to the finish (but not so much as another layer of protectant would). So, this could be used after a wash when the finish is already clean and shiny just to enhance the protection (although BF wash should do this too). That's mainly why I bought it. It's too expensive just to use for removing bird turds. Meguiar's works great for that and is much cheaper.



So, I guess you need to determine what you want the QD for, and then you can buy one that works for what you want. In my opinion, it would be a waste to spend $15 on BF QD just to wipe turds off when a $5 bottle of #34 works just as well.



P.S. Did you use the BF wash or something else on the Maxima?
 
Thanks for the response on the Meguiar's QD.



I used some Meguiar's car wash ( can't remember the exact name of it) that I bought from Pep Boys to clean the BF2 surface.



I hope that it wasn't too strong though... :nixweiss



I want to make sure and give the BF a fair chance at demonstrating its longevity. This seems to be one of the main areas of concern that people have here with the old BF formula.



I can't complain about a free sample from CMA and if it holds up fairly well I would definately pay full price for it in the future.



Derek
 
Dl4surf, I really doubt the Meguiar's car wash would be too strong. I use their Gold Class all the time. If you use the BF stuff, it will add to the protection to keep it looking new and extend the life a bit, but using Meguiar's will still keep it looking clean. It just won't add to the life of the BF.



I have heard back from Terry about the QD and shampoo. He does recommend them to maintain the new BF finish. He also went on to say that the new BF is all the same polymers as before but in some different ratios to make it slippery. So the QD/shampoo still have the same polymers as the protectant. And they leave an awfully thin layer when used. It seems unlikely the QD would reduce the slickness. Plus, it is probably such a fine change that it would be pretty subjective if you noticed a difference. I imagine that the QD and shampoo don't necessarily have the polymers in the same ratios as the protectant anyway seeing as how they are QD's and shampoos, and apply differently and do a very different job. But the QD and shampoo will certainly help the life of the BF protectant.
 
I'll have to admit that it puzzled me. Glad to hear that I was misinformed.



Still wondering if anyone has applied the new Blackfire by Hand?
 
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