I'll see your beading and raise you...

Nth Degree

New member
Everyone seems to be obsessed with how their car beads water. It has been the standard by which many determine whether their LSP is still present.



I did a one step correction on this VW EOS back in June. The car sat on a dealership lot for some time before being purchased by the OCD owner. Needless to say the constant washes by the lot attendants caused a situation not acceptable to the owner. She wanted perfection, but since she lives in an apartment and the car sits outside 24/7 I explained to her that perfection is difficult to maintain and the paint can only take so much correction before compromising the clear coat. She was thrilled with the results of the one step and I have maintained the car monthly since.



VWEOS97.jpg




The car was sealed with BFWD. This photo is from the first maintenance wash I performed on it. The initial rinse gave the typical good beading. I washed the car with Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds II. I started with the passenger side roof, hood and trunk lid. Since it was July and the temp was already pushing 90 I rinsed often. I was a bit amazed to see the difference between the washed side and the unwashed. While the unwashed side beaded water very well, the washed side simply shed the water immediately.



Needless to say, drying was incredibly easy and concern of water spots was diminished. Whether this was due to the BFWD or the CGMS2 or the combination isn't the point. I just wanted to point out that beading is not the end all indicator of the effectiveness of a wax or sealant.
 
I agree. I'd rather my car lose water quickly than to have that water sitting pretty on top of my paint, collecting a little dust, then leaving my car with spots all over it.



I love when water is sitting on my car and I start driving and can see the water go pouring down my rear windshield, then coming to a stop and seeing it pour down my front windshield.
 
This gets me thinking that there's beading that just sits there (e.g., the unwashed side) and there's beading that also "sheets dry" (e.g., the washed side).



I just experienced something similar this afternoon when I washed the FK1000P'ed Tahoe, and that product generally "beads as opposed to sheets". But if I played around with the hose, the "sheeted away" cleaned areas would bead per usual. It was kinda weird how I could alter the beading/sheeting that way...



Eh, I have no idea whether anybody can make sense out of what I'm trying to say :o
 
Last night I applied some Permanon to my kitchen sink. Very mixed results but the main one is the impressive amount of beading, whilst everything is nice and shiny the water just turns into tight beads and then dries. It is very easy to remove the water marks but unless you wipe everything with a dry cloth the sink does not look nice



Given a choice I would rather have a product which sheets water from horizontal surfaces
 
Accumulator said:
This gets me thinking that there's beading that just sits there (e.g., the unwashed side) and there's beading that also "sheets dry" (e.g., the washed side).



I just experienced something similar this afternoon when I washed the FK1000P'ed Tahoe, and that product generally "beads as opposed to sheets". But if I played around with the hose, the "sheeted away" cleaned areas would bead per usual. It was kinda weird how I could alter the beading/sheeting that way...



Eh, I have no idea whether anybody can make sense out of what I'm trying to say :o



Agreed. What method/sprayer the water is used to rinse with any LSP will effect how it beads or sheets. A good example would be my video of Opti-Guard.
 
Nice video. At the start I was thinking how much I would like to see more a shower output as this is more realistic and hay presto that is what you showed
 
Back
Top