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Can you get Optimum No Rinse or something similar? I've been using it to wash my car in my garage and it works well with minimal drips and no runoff going into the storm drains (HOA rules say something about no car washing). I recently polished my car for the first time and applied Optimum Gloss Coat, all of which were a lot easier than I expected. Modern coatings and DA polishers conflict with everything my dad ever taught me about how to wash & wax a car.
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Oct 10, 2018 19:43
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 04:10 |
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Considering the prep and polishing hours involved in doing a coating, I haven't found a use for the 3 bottles of Ali Express coating I bought. It's a few  to use Optimum Gloss Coat instead, but getting more months out of it seems worth a bit more money.
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Jan 28, 2019 21:20
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fknlo posted:I got a new rear bumper painted about a week and a half ago. How long until I can take the car to a touchless car wash? Does it need to be a month? It seems like you can hand wash before 30 days but that's not super realistic this time of year with my current living situation. I should probably do a polish + ceramic coat, but that's a lot of work at one time and just washing & applying Meguiar's spray wax as a drying aid is a good maintenance option.
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Mar 5, 2020 07:25
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Bajaha posted:That's pretty much textbook case for claybar. Should do the trick. I haven't had success cleaning off rubber streaks with Griot's synthetic clay, maybe a real clay bar would work better. Mothers Racing Rubber Remover works well for this, or Ammo NYC recommends a lot of spray wax and slightly warming it with a heat gun.
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Jul 30, 2020 20:56
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The expensive part of a ceramic coat is the polishing, which doesn't line up with doing PPF. There's not much downside to doing a ceramic coat on PPF, but doing one of the DIY ones makes sense since you just have to get it clean first. I polished my car & applied Optimum Gloss-Coat to it a while ago- I have no idea how it's holding up, since the car is garaged and I wash it with Beadmaker as a drying aid when it gets dirty. I'm not really sure how useful the ceramic coat is with the use of a protectant or spray wax along with frequent washes.
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Oct 21, 2020 23:01
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I just use the same ONR wash and spray wax or Beadmaker top coat as the rest of the car on the clear film areas of mine. If I was doing it again, I would have done clear bra on the A-pillars and leading edge of the roof along with the bumper, front of hood, and mirror caps: there are still plenty of rock chips on those other areas now.
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May 15, 2021 00:34
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Polishing or compound is to remove scratches, coating / sealant / wax are for protection once the surface is free of scratches. My personal approach is polishing every year or two, Optimum coating after polish, synthetic clay as needed, wash with spray wax or Bead Maker as a drying aid.
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Jul 9, 2021 23:53
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My car has PPF on the front bumper, front 6" of hood and leading edges of fenders, door edges, and mirror caps: it's pretty clear that this has avoided a lot of rock chips. If I was doing it again, I'd add the A-pillars and leading edge of the roof along with the rest of the hood to cover the other exposed areas. Door and rocker coverage may be more vehicle dependent. Some sort of small mud flap could help with those areas.
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Sep 16, 2021 01:02
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 04:10 |
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The important part of a ceramic coat is the paint correction (polishing) before applying the coating, which a dealership may or may not actually be good at. If you're keeping the car in a garage, washing regularly, and using some sort of spray wax or protectant as part of the wash process, a ceramic coat doesn't really matter. It's a lot more durable than a wax job or lower effort sealant if you want to ignore your paint more.
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Jan 26, 2024 07:20
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