Is beading an indicator of wax?

to be blunt bead size means squat. fresh #26 produces rather large rain beads, Collinite 845 produces rather small rain beads. both protect- SIZE DOESN"T MATTER. This is the reason I find the so called expert tests to be laughable. Most products tested are claimed to be gone in 2 or 4 weeks and never do they wonder whether beading is the DEFINITVE sign of a LSP on the surface. They simply ASSUME that the product is gone and tell you how poor all those products performed.
 
Fresh paint beads water because it doesn't unite with water, it repels it. Find an old car, single stage, with oxidation and wet it down and you'll most likely notice that it sheets more than beads. Now polish a small area and wet it again and you'll notice beading in that polished area, even without wax.



Now wax that polished area and wet it down again and you'll notice most likely the same amount of beading but the bead will also most likely bead at first then gather together into larger beads or if on a semi-vertical panel it should bead, gather and then sheet off.



Paint sealants will also bead water at first but then sheet water. So water beading, while it can indicate the presence of wax or a sealant, is not the ONLY reason for water beading. Paint that is clean and free of contaminates and wax/sealants will also bead water.



Anthony
 
Not sure if this is relevant, or not, but I've noticed that after a fresh wax, the beads forming on my car are quite circular. As the protective layer fades, the beads tend to be quite a bit more misshapen...
 
Nitwit said:
Not sure if this is relevant, or not, but I've noticed that after a fresh wax, the beads forming on my car are quite circular. As the protective layer fades, the beads tend to be quite a bit more misshapen...
Click to expand...

I guess that makes sense....at an "optimum" surface tension the beads should be very circular, but as the wax loses some of it's effectiveness and the surface tension changes, the tidiness of the beads should begin to break down. Hey, it's not like the surface tension will suddenly "snap" to a level where the water won't bead, right?
 
I've observed that a wax like #476 or #16 will not only produce round beads but they are tight, round, tall beads ..... think of the yoke of an egg in a pan.



FMJ initially produces beads like this but in about two weeks (daily driver) the beads get loose .... they're not tall, tight, or very round .... think of an egg yoke that has broken but I'm sure there is still protection.



The amount of rain (wetting) is significant but I don't know why. If the rain is a downpour, the water just runs off (sheeting) but if it's a gentle rain, almost a mist, the beads (carnauba or FMJ) will look incredible.



Someone (perhaps Scottwax) posted a pic last year of a car that sat-out overnight in a gentle rain & the roof looked like a cobblestone road.... great pic .
 
When I worked at a body shop, the techs would almost always use a glaze or polish on the paint after it was painted. Because after the vehicles were painted, my job was to wash the cars. I would often find rotary holograms all over the vehicles.
 
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