CQuartz mistake with essence plus

[MeanMike]

I've been polishing up all of our cars the last few months. I originally polished my CTSV with M105/205 then a layer of M21. It was on there for about a month while I polished my truck and the wifes car. Both of those were coated with CQuartz UK. I had about 10ml left over and I decided I liked the CQUK so much that I wanted to coat my V.

I read about essence, so I decided to try that. I had a few remaining rids from before and I figured it would help strip the M21. Well, when shopping, I bought essence+ instead of essence. I figured it was just an improved version. Thus my dilemma, I put essence+ down first topped with CQUK. I later figured out the plus was not the same as regular essence and it was to be applied over the coating, not under. The car is a nice weather ride only and it's been in the garage mostly since applying the cquk and to this day it all seems fine. I don't think I've even washed it since applying.

My questions?

What will I notice as this stuff degrades?
Will it actually delaminate the cquk?
Should I just go ahead and strip it off?

I'm all out of the cquk now and I'm not sure I want to buy more. It seems wishy washy, but I'm considering going back to a sealant/wax combo on my play toy car so I can shine it up more often. It gives me an excuse for more garage "me time".

Will something like HDspeed strip the CQUK/Essence+? Or should I polish it off with a dedicated polish like M205.

[KirkH]

I think you will be fine. The Essence Plus is essentially an All In One polish with little to no abrasives. At the very least, you can monitor how your new process holds up and report on it!

[zmcgovern45]

Essence is a primer polish that contains SiO2 resins which will cooperate with SiO2 coatings.

Essence Plus is a form of protection that also contains SiO2, but is not meant to be used beneath a coating as a primer. Essence Plus is meant to be used on top of an existing coating to fill/hide minor defects and also boost hydrophobic properties.

My understanding is that if you used Essence Plus as a primer for a coating, you run the risk of the coating not properly bonding to the surface and therefore significantly reducing the life/durability of the coating.

As long as the vehicle looks OK, there is no real harm that can occur from your mistake. The biggest issue is going to be coating durability.

So in my opinion your options are to either leave it as is and just see how the coating performs, or polish the entire car with something like M205 and then decide if you want to reapply a coating or just use a traditional sealant.

-Zach

[Rsurfer]

I say leave it alone and use Reload as a topper to give you some garage time. LOL

[fly07sti]

I agree with Zach. If it still looks good, I'd just wash with Hydrofoam and top with Reload or Ech2o if you really wanna put something on as a topper.