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Car Care: Controlled experiment - test gloss and durability of the top paint finishes

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Firstly I have to say that I find it difficult to be completely subjective when it comes to judging how good the level of shine is on my car. Nevertheless, having washed my car with Maguires car wash which contains polymers I was disappointed with the residual Glare shine . It still looked good but not as good a shine as I remembered. I decided to boost the shine by using the Glaze dry car wash as a detailer. Unfortunately, my subjective results are consistent with those found in the previous test of gloss durabily on this forum. Having used the detailer it became apparent that the glare gloss had all but disappeared over the previous week or so. Very disappointing and although the new shine is again exceptionally good I am not convinced that it is as good as that provided by the original two coats Glare 'wax'. Its a pity that no one can provide even a semi permanent increase in gloss. Anyway, I am still hopeful of the leather and vinal cleaner which I used on the Audi with absolutely superb results have lasted for a couple of weeks to date.
I have also used the Glare tyre dressing which although too light in color to contrast adequately with the silver paintwork does seem to stick to the tire rubber well. I have used Maguires tyre dressing over this and the combination
seemss to be working well.
That's my two pence worth at present. Hope it helps.
TheMac
The reference to the Glaze car wash above should read Glare car wash.
 
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I just thought I'd post some recent photos here. This was right after a normal wash. Unedited photos - not enhanced in any way. Straight up jpgs from a Nikon D90 camera.

I had Glared mine several times over the summer. The first time earlier in the summer was a two coat glare, with the first coat using a medium abrasiveness pad to work it in and 2nd coat using a finer finishing pad (used DA polisher). About a month later I did it again with the fine pad. Then once or twice I used the Sahara spray to keep it up with microfiber cloths to work it in and wipe it off. And I think about two more times with the last time being probably back in late September or early October I had just applied Glare using microfiber cloths. So while I've done it a number of times over the summer, I haven't done anything since in the last two months.

Last wkd I just did a straight up wash using standard techniques - foam sprayer, microfiber wash mitt, bucket, dried with microfiber towels, and air-blown dry using one of those micro air force blasters (I actually use it more for vacuuming but it has a reverse setting on it for blowing air, I never thought it would be effective but man I never realized how many crevices there were they hold water that you simply can't dry with a towel). Anywho, like I said, basic washing techniques and haven't used Glare for over 2 months and I was surprised at how shiny the car still looks when clean. I had always thought people were photoshopping or enhancing photos in some way to get photos of their cars to shine like this but like I said these were raw pics right off the cam. I'm at 33.1k miles now too ;)

01.jpg


05.jpg


08.jpg


14.jpg
 
I just thought I'd post some recent photos here. This was right after a normal wash. Unedited photos - not enhanced in any way. Straight up jpgs from a Nikon D90 camera.

I had Glared mine several times over the summer. The first time earlier in the summer was a two coat glare, with the first coat using a medium abrasiveness pad to work it in and 2nd coat using a finer finishing pad (used DA polisher). About a month later I did it again with the fine pad. Then once or twice I used the Sahara spray to keep it up with microfiber cloths to work it in and wipe it off. And I think about two more times with the last time being probably back in late September or early October I had just applied Glare using microfiber cloths. So while I've done it a number of times over the summer, I haven't done anything since in the last two months.

Last wkd I just did a straight up wash using standard techniques - foam sprayer, microfiber wash mitt, bucket, dried with microfiber towels, and air-blown dry using one of those micro air force blasters (I actually use it more for vacuuming but it has a reverse setting on it for blowing air, I never thought it would be effective but man I never realized how many crevices there were they hold water that you simply can't dry with a towel). Anywho, like I said, basic washing techniques and haven't used Glare for over 2 months and I was surprised at how shiny the car still looks when clean. I had always thought people were photoshopping or enhancing photos in some way to get photos of their cars to shine like this but like I said these were raw pics right off the cam. I'm at 33.1k miles now too ;)

I'm having the same experience with Glare. The durability of the shine is outstanding. For more than a week my car has been covered in salt and grime from the recent snow storms here. After a normal wash a few days ago the car looks like it was polished yesterday.
 
Great testing in order to determine if these protective polishes have any lasting gloss.
It appears from the spreadsheet that we can make the following observations:

1. The best initial gloss increase was: Optic-Coat 2.0 (7.2%); Blackfire Wet Diamond (7.1%); Glare Pro (6.8%);
2. Over the following 2 weeks, all (except 22ple) lost that initial gloss increase;
3. At 4 weeks, every gloss reading was less than baseline except Glare;
4. At 8 weeks, every gloss reading was less than baseline except 22ple;

I am sure the paint is well protected by all of these polishes, but it appears to really maintain a gloss level beyond the baseline level requires re-applying the products at least every 2-4 weeks. With that being the case, why not simply purchase the product that 1) is the least expensive, 2) is easy to apply, 3) and has demonstrated longevity.

Bob
 
I just thought I'd post some recent photos here. This was right after a normal wash. Unedited photos - not enhanced in any way. Straight up jpgs from a Nikon D90 camera.


yobigd20 -- beautiful detailing and great photos! I see that you have the XPel ultimate film? Any issues/gotchas applying the Glare on top of the film? Do you use any wax/sealant on top of the Glare? I have been using the XPel sealant on panels where I have the film and Meguirs NXT on the rest.

XPEL Technologies Corp: Product Detail
 
Car Care: Controlled experiment - test gloss and durability of the top paint ...

yobigd20 -- beautiful detailing and great photos! I see that you have the XPel ultimate film? Any issues/gotchas applying the Glare on top of the film? Do you use any wax/sealant on top of the Glare? I have been using the XPel sealant on panels where I have the film and Meguirs NXT on the rest.

XPEL Technologies Corp: Product Detail

I can no longer recommend Glare. It seemed good at the time, but now I realize it provided virtually no protection. It does not last very long. It may look good immediately after application , but it just doesn't last. It didn't take long to have swirls galore on my car despite proper washing techniques.

Last weekend I ended up doing a 2 step correction with HD Adapt and HD Polish to get rid of all the swirls and buff out some of the RIDS. This time I went with 22ple. Two coats. It came out VERY nice. We'll see how long the protection lasts from this. A full gallery of the 22ple after application is here (first few pictures show how and my car was swirled up). Tesla22ple

Also I didn't have any issues applying anything on top of XPEL. Even polishing it to clean it up works fine too. The only thing that can be a pain is if you don't tape the edges some clay bar or polish can get get caught and then that can be a pain to clean off.

Attaching a few pics from the 22ple gallery here:

u2aga2eb.jpg


ry8e4yvu.jpg


su3anude.jpg

ru5enu5u.jpg
 

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Great testing in order to determine if these protective polishes have any lasting gloss.
It appears from the spreadsheet that we can make the following observations:

1. The best initial gloss increase was: Optic-Coat 2.0 (7.2%); Blackfire Wet Diamond (7.1%); Glare Pro (6.8%);
2. Over the following 2 weeks, all (except 22ple) lost that initial gloss increase;
3. At 4 weeks, every gloss reading was less than baseline except Glare;
4. At 8 weeks, every gloss reading was less than baseline except 22ple;

I am sure the paint is well protected by all of these polishes, but it appears to really maintain a gloss level beyond the baseline level requires re-applying the products at least every 2-4 weeks. With that being the case, why not simply purchase the product that 1) is the least expensive, 2) is easy to apply, 3) and has demonstrated longevity.

Bob


Easy to see after two weeks how the gloss numbers compare to the initial background tests. Not much change!


Polish gloss tests.jpg
 
I bought the 22PLE PRO CAR KIT and I am very happy with the finish. It went on really easy - much easier than waxing, and after two months, it still really beads.

This place had the best price I found online and great customer service since I was ordering from Canada and needed them to ship it to my box in the States - which they did:

I initially bought the Pro kit:

22PLE Pro Car Kit - EsotericCarCare.com!

But when I re-order, I will get just the large bottle alone:

VX1 Pro Glass Coating 50ML
 
I bought the 22PLE PRO CAR KIT and I am very happy with the finish. It went on really easy - much easier than waxing, and after two months, it still really beads.

This place had the best price I found online and great customer service since I was ordering from Canada and needed them to ship it to my box in the States - which they did:

I initially bought the Pro kit:

22PLE Pro Car Kit - EsotericCarCare.com!

But when I re-order, I will get just the large bottle alone:

VX1 Pro Glass Coating 50ML

Hah. I did that same thing and said the same thing to myself. Bought the kit but when I buy again I'll just buy the 50ml bottle.
 
I bought a load of Glare polish some time ago and I am now thinking of investing in a little help.Someone on the net suggested that Glare polish is a machine paste and that polishing by hand does not do the product justice. Can anyone tell me how to apply Glare polish with a polishing machine? I would like a better shine than I can get with elbow grease but I know virtually nothing about polishing or machine waxing. Should I for instance buy a rotary or an orbital polisher and what type / colour of cutting pads I should use? I know Glare sell pads at some ridiculous price which may or may not fit standard machines but I would prefer to buy the industry standard ones at a more reasonable price. Do you for instance have to apply it like a sealant and does anyone know if it cuts into the car lacquer - if not then a rotary machine maybe would not be in a position to damage the paint. The longevity of the gloss shine on this product is disappointing similar to the others tested in this thread. It has been suggested by a local detailer that wax would last a lot longer and if applied over the Glare product would protect it although this may interfere with the shine.
I have a bottle of microfinish which I suspect is a cutting agent. Does anyone know if machine buffing the car with this product would be likely to result in hazing or spider webs
This is a nightmare! Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in anticipation
TheMac
 
I bought a load of Glare polish some time ago and I am now thinking of investing in a little help.Someone on the net suggested that Glare polish is a machine paste and that polishing by hand does not do the product justice. Can anyone tell me how to apply Glare polish with a polishing machine? I would like a better shine than I can get with elbow grease but I know virtually nothing about polishing or machine waxing. Should I for instance buy a rotary or an orbital polisher and what type / colour of cutting pads I should use? I know Glare sell pads at some ridiculous price which may or may not fit standard machines but I would prefer to buy the industry standard ones at a more reasonable price. Do you for instance have to apply it like a sealant and does anyone know if it cuts into the car lacquer - if not then a rotary machine maybe would not be in a position to damage the paint. The longevity of the gloss shine on this product is disappointing similar to the others tested in this thread. It has been suggested by a local detailer that wax would last a lot longer and if applied over the Glare product would protect it although this may interfere with the shine.
I have a bottle of microfinish which I suspect is a cutting agent. Does anyone know if machine buffing the car with this product would be likely to result in hazing or spider webs
This is a nightmare! Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in anticipation
TheMac

A lot of questions but it's simpler and easier than it appears.

First I recommend the Cyclo Orbital Polisher Model 5 Pro Series. It has two heads that rotate in opposite directions, a speed control, and it's easy to use (that wouldn't seem to be the case with two heads, but it is). It's not inexpensive but given what i spent on my car it's worth every penny. I also recommend the Cyclo pads and pad covers. You don't need different foam pads. The pad covers serve that purpose and fit over the pads like a bonnet. The pads themselves attach to the machine with velcro. There are various covers for specific purposes. They can be washed after use with a special solution so they're reusable and with care will last a long time.

Polishing the car does not impart spider webs or swirls -- it diminishes them and with the proper polish (something like 3M machine polish) removes them completely.

I put a coat of Glare on my car once every 4 months or so using the Cyclo. It looks newer than new -- better than it looked when I picked it up at the Rockville SC more than 14 months ago. I get compliments all the time about the pristine appearance of my Model S.

This is not an area where you want to sacrifice the quality of the materials or hardware that you use. I did a lot of research before I settled on the Cyclo.

The other solution is to take your car to a detailer and have someone else do the work for you.

One thing for sure -- my car never sees the inside of a commercial car wash -- that's the sure fire way to get swirls and other compromises to the finish.
 
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Artsci
Many thanks for the reply. The machine polisher seems to be the way to go and I will certainly have a look at the Cyclo Orbital Polisher although I suspect it will be too expensive for me as I am retired. Also from your reply I take it that your car still looks well between Gare applications even though the gloss will have worn off after the first few weeks.