Has Anyone Tried Bead Maker?

[mzairboy]

Hey, Mzairboy,
I found one more product that you may want to include in your test. It is Eagle 1 Wipe and Shine. Here is a video by Apex Detail comparing Eagle 1 W and S to Bead Maker. Spoiler Alert: Except for gloss, in which Bead Maker had a slight edge, Eage 1 came out ahead in almost all other categories.

My biggest concern about Bead Maker is that it is not very durable and does not offer a huge amount of protection. Yes, it is cheap and you can reapply it frequently, but I'd rather have piece of mind knowing that my paint is protected.

Here is a link to the video:

Based on YouTube videos, I do not think BeadMaker is very durable. It will probably last about a month. If you want long term durability, there are better, and more expensive options. BeadMaker has been working great for me so far because it is cheap and I apply it every time I wash the car as a final wipe down. For my application, it has been working well. I have the ceramic coating as my main protection, and am using a top coating for a final wipe down for water spots and to increase gloss.

Apex Detailing also compared Turtle Wax Seal and Shine against the Eagle 1 Seal and Shine. The Turtle Wax Seal and Shine compared similar, with a slight edge. I have a bottle of the Turtle Wax Seal and Shine since it is much cheaper than the Eagle 1 Seal and Shine. I will be testing the Turtle Wax Seal and Shine against other products.

Thanks for posting the video, very informative!

 

[bedoig]

I think what I'm going to do with the remaining amount I have in the bottle is this: Continue to use it, even heavily, but only *ever* on the driver's side of the car, never applying it to the passenger side of the car.

Does this include doing the driver's side half of the rear bumper / trunk area? I'd love to see if that showed any results. I tried some of this Meguiar's hybrid ceramic spray stuff (just because I happened to be at Walmart for the first time in years and they had some...) and it seemed to work OK actually. My car is about 9 months old and after applying a heavy first coat I could tell a big difference in beading. No control like your tests, but it was night and day different driving in the rain where the water would bead and fly off the windshield without using the wipers in moderate/heavy rain. I'm too lazy to apply real wax, so these spray things interest me if I can just apply a light layer while drying anyway.

 

[kgoroway]

Does this include doing the driver's side half of the rear bumper / trunk area?

Yes. That's my plan. From now on, until I run out of the stuff, I'm going to apply it liberally to the entire driver's side of the car after every car wash (which is weekly, in general). That should build up a really good coating of the stuff, and should show an obvious difference versus the other side of the car if it is doing anything at all (other than making the car *feel* very slick, which is absolutely does.)

One thing I should add. On Sunday morning (so after it had time to cure, and before it rained) I happened to stop by PepBoys because I needed some more car wash. I parked in a spot, which, unfortunately was next to the grass that happened to get mowed while I was inside. I came out to the front of the car pretty much covered in grass clippings that were being fired out the side of the lawnmower. I thought they would blow off during the ride home since the car was very slick to the touch...but, when I got home, the nose and a good portion of the hood still had grass clippings on them. I was able to use a microfiber towel to basically very lightly brush these clippings off of the car. I *do* feel that they came off easier than they would have without the bead maker applied, but, again, without a control, that's hard to quantify. I followed it up with some quick detailing spray, and all was good.

 

[islandchick]

I can only speak for myself. I think very highly of Griot's products and have wanted to try them, but I already have so many products that I have not purchased them yet. Lately I have been on a quest for more economical (i.e. lower cost) products and that is why I was attracted to both TW Seal and Shine and Bead Maker.

If there is a particular Griot's product that you have used and like, please share and let us know.

I don't think there is a product of theirs I dislike. That being said, I am partial to Griot's as they were the company who introduced clay to me. It was so amazing I just became an immediate fangirl. And I really want to try the new BOSS system, but only currently have a small cordless random orbital and think I will need to go full corded for that. They also finally gave in and are selling products for real cars, not just showcars that you spend eons detailing.

 

[juls_esp]

I have used Beadmaker it was very easy to apply and the smell was nice as well, it is however on a pricier side and acts more like a spray detailer.

Recently purchased and tried turtle wax seal and shine the application was not as easy but the reviews online for durability is excellent
for 7 dollars its worth a try

 

[groovidad]

a gallon size bottle of this cost as much as 2 coatings of DIY ceramic coating... that said, a gallon of beadmaker applied every month should do a great job. also look into something like gyeon wetcoat or carpro hydrO2. both are spray on spray off coatings and couldnt be easier to apply for the protection you get

Really?! "a gallon of beadmaker applied every month should do a great job". Not sure I'd want to be spending the $24-$28/mos on slickness(?)

 

[Burrito]

I typed that incorrectly. Lol. A gallon lasts a long time. Lol. I’ve had mine over 2 months and detail my car weekly and my wife’s minivan once a month. I still have a ton least half a gallon.

 

[mzairboy]

Last night I applied Beadmaker, Seal & Shine, Ice Spray Wax, and Hydrosilex and will test them,
Automotive Wax and Top Coating Experiment

 

[TyH2009]

Last night I applied Beadmaker, Seal & Shine, Ice Spray Wax, and Hydrosilex and will test them,
Automotive Wax and Top Coating Experiment

Very cool, will be interesting to see.

 

[joebruin77]

So I have a Bead Maker update to share with those who are interested. I ordered a quart of Bead Maker and just used it for the first time. My dark blue P3D is fully wrapped in Xpel PPF and was sealed with Optimum Hyper Seal (last application of Hyper Seal was about 3 weeks ago). This morning, I washed the car using one of my favorite waterless washes, McKee's 37 Waterless Wash on the Go. I then applied Bead Maker to the entire car. Per the instructions, I used a very liberal amount since this is my first coat. I was very excited to try BM and was hoping to "fall in love", so to speak.

I realize that Bead Maker needs several hours to cure, so I am holding off on making my final decision. But I wanted to share my initial impressions with those who are considering using Bead Maker.

In terms of the pros, I can see why so many people are fond of this product. It is very easy to apply. No issues with streaking or difficulty in buffing to a shine. In fact, the feeling of slickness was definitely addictive. The car does have a very high degree of gloss and slickness.

In terms of the cons, the product has a very thin or watery consistency. This is a personal preference, but I prefer a sealant that feels more substantial, like there is something there to bond to the paint. The smell or scent was ok, but I personally prefer the scent of Meguiars D156 synthetic spray. Finally, the amount of product needed for the first application was very substantial. I realize future applications would require less product, but I am not sure how cost effective Bead Maker is if I have to use so much product to achieve the desied amount of gloss and slickness. Finally, although I do not yet have any personal experience with evaluating the durability of Bead Maker, I do have concerns that it will provide a sufficient amount of protection, even shortly after application.

In terms of other products that I have used that may be good alternatives to Bead Maker, I suggest people try Optimum's Hyper Seal. Yes, the cost for one bottle of Hyper Seal is a bit more than a gallon of Bead Maker. However, you can achieve the same or possibly more slickness and gloss as when using Bead Maker with a much much smaller amount of product. Plus Hyper Seal is likely to provide gloss, slickness, and, most importantly, protection for several months, as opposed to days or weeks for Bead Maker. Over the course of say a year or two, I think the total cost for Hyper Seal would end up costing less than a year or two's worth of BM.

So far, I also prefer Meguiar's D156 Synthetic Spray Wax to Bead Maker. Meguiar's may offer just a touch less gloss and shine, but it is still substantial. I think the hydrophobic property of Meguiar's is better and I like the scent and "user experience" of D156 better. There is something about the scent of D156 that I find very very pleasant, perhaps one of the best smelling car care products I have ever tried. I think the slickness of D156 is on par with that of BM. And you can achieve the slickness using far less product.

If you don't want to buy a gallon of D156 (It is a professional product and it only comes in gallon bottles), then you can try Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Wax. Many experts believe that D156 and UQW are basically the same product, but in different size bottles and packaging.

I'll check out my P3D in about 8 hours and see if there is a noticeable difference once the Bead Maker has cured.

 

[Dana1]

So I have a Bead Maker update to share with those who are interested. I ordered a quart of Bead Maker and just used it for the first time. My dark blue P3D is fully wrapped in Xpel PPF and was sealed with Optimum Hyper Seal (last application of Hyper Seal was about 3 weeks ago). This morning, I washed the car using one of my favorite waterless washes, McKee's 37 Waterless Wash on the Go. I then applied Bead Maker to the entire car. Per the instructions, I used a very liberal amount since this is my first coat. I was very excited to try BM and was hoping to "fall in love", so to speak.

I realize that Bead Maker needs several hours to cure, so I am holding off on making my final decision. But I wanted to share my initial impressions with those who are considering using Bead Maker.

In terms of the pros, I can see why so many people are fond of this product. It is very easy to apply. No issues with streaking or difficulty in buffing to a shine. In fact, the feeling of slickness was definitely addictive. The car does have a very high degree of gloss and slickness.

In terms of the cons, the product has a very thin or watery consistency. This is a personal preference, but I prefer a sealant that feels more substantial, like there is something there to bond to the paint. The smell or scent was ok, but I personally prefer the scent of Meguiars D156 synthetic spray. Finally, the amount of product needed for the first application was very substantial. I realize future applications would require less product, but I am not sure how cost effective Bead Maker is if I have to use so much product to achieve the desied amount of gloss and slickness. Finally, although I do not yet have any personal experience with evaluating the durability of Bead Maker, I do have concerns that it will provide a sufficient amount of protection, even shortly after application.

In terms of other products that I have used that may be good alternatives to Bead Maker, I suggest people try Optimum's Hyper Seal. Yes, the cost for one bottle of Hyper Seal is a bit more than a gallon of Bead Maker. However, you can achieve the same or possibly more slickness and gloss as when using Bead Maker with a much much smaller amount of product. Plus Hyper Seal is likely to provide gloss, slickness, and, most importantly, protection for several months, as opposed to days or weeks for Bead Maker. Over the course of say a year or two, I think the total cost for Hyper Seal would end up costing less than a year or two's worth of BM.

So far, I also prefer Meguiar's D156 Synthetic Spray Wax to Bead Maker. Meguiar's may offer just a touch less gloss and shine, but it is still substantial. I think the hydrophobic property of Meguiar's is better and I like the scent and "user experience" of D156 better. There is something about the scent of D156 that I find very very pleasant, perhaps one of the best smelling car care products I have ever tried. I think the slickness of D156 is on par with that of BM. And you can achieve the slickness using far less product.

If you don't want to buy a gallon of D156 (It is a professional product and it only comes in gallon bottles), then you can try Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Wax. Many experts believe that D156 and UQW are basically the same product, but in different size bottles and packaging.

I'll check out my P3D in about 8 hours and see if there is a noticeable difference once the Bead Maker has cured.

When you mention “buffing” are you buffing by hand or mechanical buffer?

 

[joebruin77]

When you mention “buffing” are you buffing by hand or mechanical buffer?

By hand. I used 2 MF towels. One to spread the BM evenly, the other to dry to a shine.

 

[kgoroway]

I did my first one-half (driver's side) application of bead maker. Using the passenger side as a control. I used it very liberally. And, after previously doing a very liberal coat on the front, top-front glass, and rear, I still have 3/4 of a bottle left...So I'm not seeing the same results in terms of required amounts as posted by @joebruin77. Whether or not this stuff actually does anything (other than feel slick) remains to be seen.

I'm aware that due to my initial coating (where I wasn't planning for control areas), and now applying it only to the driver's side, there *are* only a few places which have never seen bead maker on my car. Those are passenger side doors, and the passenger side of the rear/top glass, passenger side of the windshield. Unfortunately, that means I have very little control areas where it is paint ready for a side-by-side comparison. The windshield and rear/top glass will be useful since it's easy to compare one side versus the other to see if there is a difference. Driver's side doors versus passenger side doors is somewhat harder. I'm hoping the experiment lasts long enough for the initial coating on the entire hood and rear of the car on the passenger side is no longer important, but that will be hard to tell... I could have tried to strip everything before starting the controlled experiment, but I wasn't willing to do that...

 

[jebinc]

After reading this tread, I decided to give Beadmaker a try and ordered a pint bottle for $12 from Amazon - Same day delivery too!

 

[joebruin77]

Ok, I came across one more product that has peaked my interest. I was curious if anyone has tried this stuff. It sounds like it may offer the gloss, slickness, and protection that I am looking for:

https://www.amazon.com/Technicians-...TCLJ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1

I am going to order some and give it a shot.

 

[kgoroway]

It rained this morning. My car was outside on the charger at work.

When I went to take it off the charger, I had a good look at the dirt/grime/water marks from the rain.

I can't tell the slightest difference between the drivers side of the car (with beadmaker applied) from the passenger side of the car (with beadmaker not applied). In general, I focused on the panels which have never had any beadmaker at all on the passenger side. Zero difference. I still can say that the drivers side "feels" slicker, and that *should* amount to something, but it appears to me that beadmaker is doing absolutely nothing in terms of better protection/stays clean longer/easier to clean versus having no beadmaker at all. Maybe this will change when I go to clean the car again this weekend, but the amount of dirt that is on the car now is never a problem to remove in the first place...maybe bug splatter on the nose will convince me otherwise.

The experiment continues though...still have plenty left to apply to the driver's side.

 

[joebruin77]

It rained this morning. My car was outside on the charger at work.

When I went to take it off the charger, I had a good look at the dirt/grime/water marks from the rain.

I can't tell the slightest difference between the drivers side of the car (with beadmaker applied) from the passenger side of the car (with beadmaker not applied). In general, I focused on the panels which have never had any beadmaker at all on the passenger side. Zero difference. I still can say that the drivers side "feels" slicker, and that *should* amount to something, but it appears to me that beadmaker is doing absolutely nothing in terms of better protection/stays clean longer/easier to clean versus having no beadmaker at all. Maybe this will change when I go to clean the car again this weekend, but the amount of dirt that is on the car now is never a problem to remove in the first place...maybe bug splatter on the nose will convince me otherwise.

The experiment continues though...still have plenty left to apply to the driver's side.

I had similar results. I think Bead Maker does add noticeable gloss and slickness to the paint, but I did not notice any benefit in water beading or protection. I think Bead Maker is a great product to use if you want to clean your car before a night out on the town or before a car show or any other occasion where you want the paint to have a high level of gloss for a short time. But if you want to protect the paint and have a higher level of water beading, then there are other, better prodcuts.

I expect to get my order of Technicians Choice Ceramic Detail Spray within the next few days. I hope and expect that this product will provide BM's level of gloss and slickness but with a much higher level of protection. I'll report back here afte I had a chance to test it out.

 

[kgoroway]

you want the paint to have a high level of gloss for a short time.

I see no *visible* differences between the drivers side of the car (with beadmaker) and the passenger side of the car (without beadmaker).

For quick cleaning, I've always used maguires quick detailer. Doesn't claim to do anything that it doesn't do.

 

[kgoroway]

Update on my 1/2 car experiment from this past weekend.

I've changed my mind. It works. (not a 100% recommendation, read below for details)

First, during a light rain I noticed that the drivers side windshield had the rain drops beading off in an upwards direction, the passenger side was barely doing that, and needed the wipers. The difference is the bead maker, clearly. But then, more importantly:

I had a car show to go to Saturday morning. Normally, I do a full two bucket wash, hand dry, quick detail, then 1/2 car with bead maker. But, it was incredibly hot, and the car was barely dirty (only 1 rainy day this week) so I did something that I don't ever do, and really don't plan to do again (unless it ends up always working out well). Instead of washing the car, I just skipped right to the quick detail step (but, in this case, I pretty much planned to do the entire car to remove the dust, instead of spot cleaning). At first, I didn't notice anything...everything was going as expected. Until I got to the first panel that had never seen bead maker. The passenger side of the rear roof glass. Whereas every other part of the car was taking the quick detailer perfectly, with a simple wipe on, wipe off, this panel was somehow, well, sticky? Not really, of course, it just wasn't slick like everything else. It actually took real effort to wipe it clean. Especially since this was the glass roof, it was mostly water spots I was dealing with. They needed actual scrubbing. The drivers side needed no effort at all. This was clearly the beadmaker working. Next panel was the front roof glass. No issues (but it had received beadmaker 2 weeks ago). Then, front windshield. Same issue as the rear glass panel.

Oddly enough, I didn't notice this on the passenger side doors, which also had never seen beadmaker. So this was limited to the glass for some reason.

By the time I got to the front windshield I had pretty much determined that I will be buying the gallon refill, and applying this to the entire car from now on, but then I decided to hold off and see this experiment to the end.

A couple of points:
1) I'm not sure why this is (so far?) limited to the glass panels, which is why I want to continue the experiment.
2) This only seems to matter if I skip the full two bucket wash, and I'm planning to move to a power washer/foam canon, leaf blower no-touch method as soon as my foam canon arrives.
3) The top front glass roof *also* seems to show that beadmaker lasts multiple weeks, even with two bucket car washes in between. The passenger side was still slick despite not having beadmaker applied since the initial application.

The experiment continues...

 

[mzairboy]

Update on my 1/2 car experiment from this past weekend.

I've changed my mind. It works. (not a 100% recommendation, read below for details)

First, during a light rain I noticed that the drivers side windshield had the rain drops beading off in an upwards direction, the passenger side was barely doing that, and needed the wipers. The difference is the bead maker, clearly. But then, more importantly:

I had a car show to go to Saturday morning. Normally, I do a full two bucket wash, hand dry, quick detail, then 1/2 car with bead maker. But, it was incredibly hot, and the car was barely dirty (only 1 rainy day this week) so I did something that I don't ever do, and really don't plan to do again (unless it ends up always working out well). Instead of washing the car, I just skipped right to the quick detail step (but, in this case, I pretty much planned to do the entire car to remove the dust, instead of spot cleaning). At first, I didn't notice anything...everything was going as expected. Until I got to the first panel that had never seen bead maker. The passenger side of the rear roof glass. Whereas every other part of the car was taking the quick detailer perfectly, with a simple wipe on, wipe off, this panel was somehow, well, sticky? Not really, of course, it just wasn't slick like everything else. It actually took real effort to wipe it clean. Especially since this was the glass roof, it was mostly water spots I was dealing with. They needed actual scrubbing. The drivers side needed no effort at all. This was clearly the beadmaker working. Next panel was the front roof glass. No issues (but it had received beadmaker 2 weeks ago). Then, front windshield. Same issue as the rear glass panel.

Oddly enough, I didn't notice this on the passenger side doors, which also had never seen beadmaker. So this was limited to the glass for some reason.

By the time I got to the front windshield I had pretty much determined that I will be buying the gallon refill, and applying this to the entire car from now on, but then I decided to hold off and see this experiment to the end.

A couple of points:
1) I'm not sure why this is (so far?) limited to the glass panels, which is why I want to continue the experiment.
2) This only seems to matter if I skip the full two bucket wash, and I'm planning to move to a power washer/foam canon, leaf blower no-touch method as soon as my foam canon arrives.
3) The top front glass roof *also* seems to show that beadmaker lasts multiple weeks, even with two bucket car washes in between. The passenger side was still slick despite not having beadmaker applied since the initial application.

The experiment continues...

Something I experienced this weekend:
My Model 3 was ceramic coated last year. When the ceramic coating was professionally applied, the shop recommended pressure washing the car as a no touch method. They said it would get clean that way. I was never impressed and it was never all that clean after pressure washing at the local car wash. So after a few months I began a 2 bucket wash method at home, and began top coating the ceramic coating with a spray like Hydrosilex or Turtle Wax Ice Spray as a final touch up on any water spots since I have hard water at home. Using a pressure washer to wash the car with these coatings applied, it still never got clean using a pressure washer alone. It always had a light film on the paint. Recently I started using Beadmaker. On Saturday I was running some errands and the car was filthy with dust and bugs. I quickly pressure washed off the car since I didn't have time for a thorough 2 bucket wash and jumped in the car and went about my day and let the wind blow dry the car. When I got to my first destination I was amazed at how clean the car was. It was 99% clean with a few water spots here and there and some dust streaks on the back end. I was extremely impressed with how clean it got with pressure washing alone. I was able to apply more Beadmaker as a wipe down when I got home and it was shiny and slick again.

Beadmaker doesn't seem to last all that long compared to other products on the market, but it has been working well for me as a final wipe down spray and gloss enhancer. I've heard the Turtle Wax Seal & Shine lasts a lot longer, and I am interested in seeing how it compares to the Beadmaker and other products I am testing on another vehicle. Beadmaker probably isn't the best product if you are looking for paint protection, but right now it is impressing me with gloss, slickness, and making the vehicle easier to clean.