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Old 03-14-2019, 10:02 PM   #27
FH212

 
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Drives: 2021 Camaro SS 1LE
Join Date: May 2009
Location: NM
Posts: 884
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunkk View Post
Yes basically all of these new coatings more or less replace the water repellency and gloss effects of the old school liquid and paste waxes. The spray and wipe sealants are much easier to apply and last much longer. You can put traditional waxes over these spray on sealants and coatings, but IMO there is really no great benefit from doing so.

None of these coatings and sprays can fix swirls and scratches. There is really nothing that will cover them up. Instead you polish them out using a dual action polisher and the correct pad and polish.

What many of the new generation of coatings do offer is extreme low surface energy. This is what makes water bead up and roll off easy. It also makes the paint more resistant to adsorption of dirt and dust. Then in some cases a rinse with a hose will remove most of the dirt. This means less scrubbing with wash rags/mits/sponges, thus less grinding and dragging that dirt across the paint, less swirls.

It’s The Museum Rule: the less you touch a thing, the longer it lasts. If you never touch the paint, you never scratch the paint. The more easily you can clean your car with the least amount of contact, the less you scratch and swirl the paint. Durable superhydrophobic coatings like Gtechniq EXO and Fenlab Topcoat achieve these goals remarkably well: water will lift dust off and carry it away. The spray-n-wipe sealants also perform well in this regard.

At the NMCA @ Bradenton Motorsports park last wekend I watched a wax company put wax on a pickup truck. They let it sit, wax drying in the sun for a few hours, all the while collecting dust from the passing crowds walking by in the dry dusty grass. Then they took a dry low pile cheap microfiber towel and aggressively rubbed and buffed it back off. Grinding all that dust into the paint. Getting white dusty wax residue everywhere.

I remember doing all that insanity myself, hours of work on my very first car 34 years ago.

Today I can get a better looking and longer lasting result with Carpro Reload in about 10 minutes when I wash & dry my car.

So can you.
Wow that’s truly amazing. I guess I’m so old school it’s hard for me to fathom spraying on a coating and not having to wax and it work the same way. I definitely want to learn more and do it myself to my Camaro and my Trans Am this spring. This has been very helpful. Thanks!
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2021 Camaro 1SS 1LE - Red Hot
2015 Camaro Z/28 - Red Hot
2001 Mecham Trans Am #3 - 7.0L LS1
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