Temporary LSP - What would you use?

Oneheadlite

Oneheadlite

New member
So here’s kind of an odd one. Sorry to cut`n paste cross post from AG, but looking for folks` input - mainly on if any of these are a bear to polish off.


Short Version: What would you use (products below in bold) to protect a decon`d car until you can do full correction and LSP`ing? Want adequate protection, but nothing that`s a pain to polish off.




Long Version/Backstory:


I’m in a position where there’s just not enough time in the day (or free time in a weekend) to sit down with either car and get them taken care of nose-to-tail. Between work, commute, 4 year old, and normal home life, I just don’t end up with the free time I’d like to be able to sit down and do them right.


With winter coming up, I really need to go through and do at least a minor correction and get a proper LSP on each car. After watching weekend after weekend pass by, I’ve decided to revise my approach.


My plan is to do a thorough decontamination wash in one sitting: Iron removal, deep clean, and mechanical decontamination. Not being a production retailer, I know this is going to be a good chunk of time, and I won’t be able to proceed directly to the correction and LSP steps.


So, after the wash process, I’d like to apply an LSP to provide short-term coverage until I can start the next steps. This way the paint’s not bare-naked, susceptible to whatever life throws at it (both cars are daily drivers). Ideally the LSP will be long lasting enough to get me by until I can finish the process, while not being a colossal pain to polish off.


I`m going to stick to inventory on hand, since I already have more LSPs than I have cars to put them on: McKee’s Hydro Blue, Optimum OptiSeal, Turtle Wax Seal N Shine. These seem like they`d make the most sense as they`re incredibly easy to apply. I`m leaning towards Hydro Blue, as it seems like it would give me the longest buffer/best performance until I can get to final correcting/protecting. I`m hesitant to do Seal N Shine based on what I hear about how resilient it is; does anyone have experience polishing it off? OptiSeal is super easy to put on, but I feel like it had some drawback that made me stop using it. It`s been a while...


Things I also have, but aren`t at the top of the list: Griot`s Spray On Wax (Worry it`s too short term), Griot`s Liquid Poly Wax (Would be machine applied; seems like too much time invested for the purpose. May be a final LSP on one of the cars), FK1000 (Another likely final LSP candidate), and Griot`s Foaming Poly Gloss (Love this stuff, but feel it doesn`t carry the durability that may be required).




Once I get the decon and seal done, the plan will be to do my correction and final LSP panel by panel so I can focus on getting the best results instead of stressing about getting things done in time. It`ll drive me crazy to have a fender done but not the door next to it, but at least this way I can focus on finally making some progress.


Thanks for reading!
 
Of your choices, I would probably use OptiSeal or Hydro Blue. Both are quick and easy to apply. If you`re worried about it not polishing off when you`re ready to do the correction, just give it an IPA wipedown. I don`t think any wax or sealant can survive that.
 
My question is when you say "temporary" what is your definition or how long are you looking for?

Also what "long term" sealant are you planning on using once you get everything prepped? Why not just apply that to each area as you get them ready?



If it was me and temporary was a month or so I would prefer to use Griot`s Spray On Wax and apply it multiple times as it would be easier to remove.

McKee’s Hydro Blue, Optimum Opti-Seal would be my choice for a slightly longer term sealant.

 
Im imagining TW SNS will actually give the longest performance. Hydroblue is like 3-4 weeks on a prepped panel in most normal 4 season weather states

All are easy to polish off no worries about that


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the input all!


TroyScherer said:
My question is when you say "temporary" what is your definition or how long are you looking for?
Click to expand...

This unfortunately is the great unknown. In a perfect world I’d say less than a month, but in all reality I may not be able to execute my idea on both cars before winter.
TroyScherer said:
Also what "long term" sealant are you planning on using once you get everything prepped? Why not just apply that to each area as you get them ready?
Click to expand...

For long term sealant, I’m probably going to do FK1000P for my car.

My wife’s car I’m torn between some options. Due to her car having more plastic/rubber I’d have to avoid with the FK, I’m leaning towards trying something else. I’ve also just spent too much time on here, so I’d like to try experience something different on her car.

I’m tempted to give Sonax PolyNet Sealant a second try (Haven’t been terribly impressed with it thus far; applied it 6 months or so ago without doing any decontamination beforehand. Just wanted to get some form of protection on the car at the time. I don’t want to cast judgement on it since obviously it didn’t go on over proper prep work.)

I’ve got Optimum Gloss Coat that I should use on something; I know in today’s market there are many options that will outperform it, but when I bought it it was receiving more forum love. Ultimately I may use it to do both sets of wheels for both cars.

Last real contender is doing the Griot’s Liquid Gloss Poly Wax. Big motivator for that stuff is just how easy/foolproof it is to work with.

Not looking to buy anything new right now, I’ve already got more products than cars/time to use them on.

For the last part, to me each area will only be ready once it’s received paint correction.
TroyScherer said:
McKee’s Hydro Blue, Optimum Opti-Seal would be my choice for a slightly longer term sealant.
Click to expand...
With all the input, I’m leaning towards going with Opti-Seal for my own car. For my car, I’ll be able to sneak it into the shop at the end of the day/over my lunch break and work on knocking out a panel here and there, so I’m not as worried about the durability.

For the Mrs’, I’m leaning towards Hydro-Blue. Worst case scenario I’ll top it up if I don’t get it done in time before winter hits (despite it being 85 in MN right now, I’ve no doubt it’ll turn fast...).


I know this all seems like way too much mental energy put into something so simple; it’s just that lately all of my car care has felt like I’ve had to do it as fast as possible, completely removing any element of joy/relaxation from the process. Garage lighting limitations (and an absence of free funds to correct that situation), and just a general lack of time/energy at the end of the day keep me from trying to fit this all in at night during the week.
 
Update FWIW:

Ended up being able to squeeze in a complete detail on the Mrs’ car a couple weekends ago. Ended up with Fast Correcting Cream on Orange foam (Griot’s regular and BOSS Correcting) followed by Perfecting Cream on yellow BOSS Perfecting Pad. For LSP, I ended up stealing the CanCoat I had on the shelf for a friend’s car.

Side Note: Learned at this point in life I’m just not a coating person. I have so little time to put into trying to enjoy detailing as a hobby, I had zero joy trying to get it applied properly. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to apply a second coat, so now I’m left wondering if I just top it with PNS to make sure the whole thing’s covered. But then what was the point of CanCoat? *facepalm*

For my own car, I took advantage of some time in between the end of the work day and a training class I went to to get the decon wash in. Wash, Iron-X, clay mitt. Then I followed it with an application of Hydro Blue.

So far I’ve only managed to get my LF fender corrected and FK1000’d. Learned it’s going to have to be an after-work project as it was too much time to do during my lunch break like I hoped. The correcting part wasn’t that bad, but then you add in setup and tear down. I guess at least now I get a side-by-side of FK and HydroBlue.
 
Oneheadlite- Glad you`re making progress and that the correction wasn`t that bad after all.

Heh heh, I hear ya on the coatings vs. conventional LSPs ;)
 
Oneheadlite said:
Side Note: Learned at this point in life I’m just not a coating person. I have so little time to put into trying to enjoy detailing as a hobby, I had zero joy trying to get it applied properly. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to apply a second coat, so now I’m left wondering if I just top it with PNS to make sure the whole thing’s covered. But then what was the point of CanCoat? *facepalm*
Click to expand...

You will be surprised how long the CanCoat will last you. I applied a single coat to my last car and then topped it up with Cure about once a month, except during the winter. That alone lasted me 10 months and still didn`t need to be replaced when I traded in the car. No telling how long it might have lasted. When I wasn`t applying Cure, I simply hit it with ECH2O after each wash to get rid of any water spots. It`s really easy to maintain and more durable than most people realize. Even if you put nothing on it, you should get some pretty good durability.

Hang in there, keep things simple, and just take joy in the opportunties you get to detail your cars. Even if they aren`t as often as you`d like.
 
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