[wrankin]

Originally Posted by ninetres

Cliff notes: Tough call. I thought they’d be similar, the application was different, and each one seems to have its difficulties. If I had to pick which one I thought left a better initial appearance.....it would be Reload.

Side note: My car was coated with CQUK in Dec 2017.


I sprayed a heavy dose of the BF onto a Platinum Pluffle (my favorite towel of all BTW), and applied in straight lines across 1 panel at a time, and after 1 full pass/panel I immediately made a pass with the same towel perpendicularly. Then I buffed it with a separate plush towel. Buffed the first few panels with an Everest 800 and it seemed to kind of leave a hazy residue that wouldn’t fully disappear. Switched to platinum pluffle for the rest of the panels and it seemed to do a better job.....although some spots still seemed a tad hazy. Reload can be finicky with streaking if you aren’t fairly careful during application so neither one is 10000% dummy proof it seems.....but both are as close as you can get it seems for an si02 wipe-on-while-dry sealant.

I sorta recall Reload immediately leaving a darker “wetter” look during application onto the Red Hot that I liked. But I used a slightly different application process with Reload using a MF application square. Maybe that made a difference??? This product didn’t seem to produce as much of a wet look during initial application, but left a nearly similar wet appearance after buffing. The finished surface was semi-slick.....but not off the charts slippery or anything.

The BF consistency seems more like a spray detailer, whereas Reload seemed a tad thicker and special to me if that makes since.....like it didn’t just seem like colored water. No scent what-so-ever with BF if you are into that. I’ll update this post with its water behavior the next time I do a full wash.

As I am not a professional detailer, I will only be needing a product like this for ~4 applications per year. With that frequency in mind, I’d probably spring the extra bucks for the Reload.

Looking good, and thanks for the detailed report

Bill

[SSport16]

Reload is very easy to use, just use a good thick quality MF towel, indoors application and not outside in the sun.

[ninetres]

Dust seems to stick to the car more now after trying this topper

[KirkH]

Originally Posted by ninetres

Dust seems to stick to the car more now after trying this topper

It is spring time and pollen season. Perhaps the "dust" has increased?

[ninetres]

Originally Posted by KirkH

It is spring time and pollen season. Perhaps the "dust" has increased?

That’s entirely possible. But as clean as I keep my car, and as little as I drive it....I have a pretty good understanding of the pattern of accumulation per drive I’m used to over the last year.

[NYJets12]

How much sio2 does BLACKFIRE have compared to reload? Wonder if it’s more less or the same? maybe that’s why it’s cheaper it has less sio2.
I looked on blackfires website and didn’t see how much was in it.

[ninetres]

It’s not listed anywhere.