Coatings made in the U.S.A.

rlmccarty2000

rlmccarty2000

Active member
How many coating products are made in the USA? I keep seeing more coatings being produced in Germany and other European countries, Japan, China, and Korea. Why is the US lagging behind or is that just my perception?
 
liability insurance, I bet there is some nasty stuff in the coatings and IronX.

that's why I wear gloves and use in fresh air.

There is no reason why Megs cant have this stuff too.
 
Meguiars does have a coating in Asia. Listen to the podcast Larry kossila did with Jason rose about why Meguiars doesn't bring it here. Very interesting!
 
Mike, can you sum up why Meguires won't bring their coating to the US? Cost for development is always in the equation, but reward should be in there too.
 
Basically since there are coatings that sheet and ones that bead, Jason said there would have to be re education of the American public as to coatings and the differences. Which would I think be a major undertaking?
 
Oh so he wont bring a coating to the states because he thinks it would be too complicated to explain the difference between sheeting and beading?
 
I wonder if they think it would cut into their sales of wax products? I am now a believer that sheeting is better than beading. It only took me about 4 years. I had to use Hydro2 to believe it.
 
Regarding sheeting vs beading, Rlmccarty2000, you are exactly spot on!!!

Since a little lad working at my Dad's shop, I was taught then that when you wash a car, you need to do the last rinse with the hose that has no metal nozzle on it, turn the water pressure down so it is just "flowing out", and then starting at the top, with the bare rubber hose end ON the center of the top, slowly rinse the water off in - wait for it - SHEETS - so there will be very little left on the car to wipe off...

What a concept back in the late 50's !!!! :)

Think of the time saved by not chasing every last bead off the car.... It's huge... :)

I also have always tried to get the water off in Sheets rather than a zillion little beads, that sometimes just move around and dont really go very far - even with air blowing on them...

Beading is great for those that like it; Im sticking to getting as much water off the car the first time, and putting that time saved to other things that pop up..
Dan F
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
How many coating products are made in the USA? I keep seeing more coatings being produced in Germany and other European countries, Japan, China, and Korea. Why is the US lagging behind or is that just my perception?
Click to expand...

I believe Optimum Technologies, founded in Memphis, Tennessee, a long time ago is manufacturing their products here...
Dan F
 
I waded through both segments and what I took away from it, people want beading which is detrimental and megs wants to give people sheeting.

They also are wondering why people want a coating, is it for long term beading, because they already have that. , but I think its the increase in scratch resistance, better self cleaning and multiple years of protection.

To give a hard scratch resistant coating might only be accomplished with awesome beading, but the solution is to create a spray topper that makes it sheet, for those who care about that.

I remember when NXT came out, B U T I T S H E E T S!!! ----and no one cared.
 
II also waded (slogged) through both parts and what I took away from it is that Meguires is a big company and is not sure how to proceed in the American market because Americans don't know that sheeting is better than beading. This was recorded over 2 years ago and their focus groups and marketing people haven't figured out how to sell a coating to Average Joe and make a profit. Instead they introduced Mirror Bright. I am in no way targeting Meguires! I love and use many of their products. They were/are selling a coating in Asia, I don't know how successful it was there. With "hundreds" of coating being sold in Asia, it seems to me Meguires should be a big player here in the US in the coating market. It could be that coatings are a niche market and Meguires does not feel the market share would be large enough to merit the consumer education program they would have to launch. I did enjoy the part on microfiber pad creation.
 
As a more or less uneducated autopian (hey I'm learnin'!) and weekend warrior, I will acknowledge and understand that sheeting is better than beading but....

I understand a lot of people on here are all about protecting the paint and durability etc. (thus the reason to use coatings) but for me, it's a Saturday morning activity, I love detailing and keeping my car clean and beading vs. sheeting doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me and I'm not real likely to fork over the big bucks for a coating when a carnuba wax serves my purposes just fine.

Given all of that, I'm not particularly interested in purchasing or using coatings of any kind. Heh, I guess I am contributing to the reason Meg's won't bring it over here but hey, that's just my take on it.

But I suppose that wasn't really a response to the original question asked by rlmccarty2000 so I digress.
 
It seems to be a natural progression (with progress not always being a good thing) from wax to sealant to coating. If you can get better gloss and protection from a coating why bother with wax (on a daily driver). I like to wax my car, it's soothing, but when the temperature hits 100 in the shade in South Georgia, I'm not going outside unless I have to go. Waxing just for the sake of waxing is a hobby to be enjoyed. I coat my wife's car and offer it to my friends and family that are not going to take care of their paint.
 
Coatings imo are not suited for anybody who is anal about having a show car shine, even if it's your DD. Why? Because as mike Phillips had written and proved... Even a garage queen or a show car needs to be polished once or twice a year to maintain a show car shine. The paint will dull even sitting in a garage 24/7. The point is that coatings are great for cars that are not maintained or babied which is about 95% of car owners. For the other 5% who demand that "extra something", the old fashioned way is still very much alive and well.
 
For me coatings are a way to preserve my clear coat. Believe me I'm OCD...I baby and take great care of my vehicles but there is no way I am going to polish it twice a year. I don't even want to do it once a year with how thin factory clear is.

A coating can keep my vehicles looking very very good for two years so I only have to lightly polish and recoat. To me that's perfect. The less clear I have to remove the longer my DD's paint will last.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
Fun thread. I think a lot of this goes back to LSP "theory" i.e. "why am I putting this on my paint". I'm sure you've all discussed this before.

For me, I could care less about "sheeting" but care more about "shedding". I want my lsp to repel dirt/droppings/bugs/spots and allow more of them to come off when I hose down the car then my clear coat would alone. From what I've read here, it sounds to me coatings are great at this but there are many waxes/sealants/hybrids that rival or better the coatings in shedding ability.

I've only had experience with sealants but I'm quite satisfied with applying my WOWO three or four times a year. It's pretty much idiot proof in application, even moreso than the spray sealant I tried (gave me some streaks).

What I'd like to see is some coatings with filling ability. If the coating could cover about what i'd remove with a finishing polish, then you'd have my attention.
 
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