ilogikal1 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Ceramic coatings are awesome but they do have limitations to what they can actually do. Despite any amount of marketing, they simply can't be an apply-once-last-for-eternity, completely self-cleaning, one-stop-solution to soft paint miracle cure to everything. One of my favourite myths about coatings is increasing the hardness (Mohs rating) of your paint - whilst true to tiny degree if the paint underneath a coating is soft, then by its nature it allows for more movement under the coating - think of the coating like a plank of plywood; place it on a concrete floor (hard paint) and it'll take a fair bit of pressure on it to break the plank (coating). Put it on a mattress (soft paint) and it'll break much sooner and with much less pressure. Sorry, random tangent... 17 minutes ago, SuperStu said: I've gone off the one on my BRZ, once they scratch, it's there until you're brave enough to wetsand. Polishing will be enough to remove even stubborn coatings applied properly.... it's just a question of how much polishing! Wet sanding is only really needed if you need to remove a particularly stubborn coating quickly. Or at least with less effort. But yes, in cases of scratches, a coating is no different to paint. The only saving grace is if it's not deep enough to penetrate the coating, it'll "fix" itself over the 18-24 months that the rest of the coating lasts... or you can actually fill the scratch by topping up the coating, similar to a smart repair for paint, but easier to colour match. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) Given the choice between x1 BAL bucket wash with grit guard, compared to snow foam, pressure wash and then dry. All day long would it be option 1, I'd never consider touching the paintwork with a drying towel after the pre wash stage. Edited June 15, 2018 by davey_83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Save yourself the pain of a drying phase, IIRC @ilogikal1 has one of the cool inline filters which means the water can be left to evaporate. It’s right up on my shopping list for my new place. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 My point was a pre wash doesn't yield clean paintwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 You’re right, pre-wash alone won’t get the car as clean as a proper wash. But a proper wash alone won’t be as safe as a pre-wash. When you’re not able (or willing, because sometimes we all CBA) to do both you need to choose the lesser of two evils... which will depend on how concerned you are for the other. The less you can touch the car, the safer though, so DI filter FTW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 A proper wash includes pre wash, takes minimal effort to apply and rinse a TFR product. DI filter ftw, however the car will still be dirty..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Not disagreeing with you. To someone like me a proper wash means all in, every little detail in a very regimented process. The car is still “dirty” to me if you don’t do a full decontamination & de-tar... To some people so long as it looks shinier than when they started it’s enough. The point I was trying to make is that it depends on what you’re trying to achieve and how far you’re willing to go to achieve that, that’s all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) I agree, but were on about a weekly wash. All I wash saying is to most folks that don't have a DI filter like the OP, to try and dry a car after only pre wash is suicide imo. You know when you spot another car on the road that's just had a £4 special with missed bits from a the wash. That's small areas that were missed by the wash mitt or sponge. To then run a drying towel over that....... *shakes head. Edited June 15, 2018 by davey_83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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