Need recommendations for paint protection setup

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Hello everyone
I'm making this lengthy post as I am kind of reorganizing my detailing product set up since this year is gonna be the year I fully correct my car and try to make it as swirl and scratch free as possible.
Now I'm on roadblock regarding paint protection. I'm not sure what to go with.
When it's summer and hot-ish here I usually do 2 bucket washes and got my pressure washer at home. I plan to use Griot garage best of show detailer as a drying aid and sealant/wax/coating rejuvanator.
I also plan on doing touchless maintenance wash when 2 bucket is not needed with the griot garage foaming setup cleaner and the polygloss foam (kind of a foaming sealant I think).
Now my main issue is when winter arrives... I'm in Canada. As a test I think it would work for full winter was using my Sonax polymer netshield and I'm kind of dissapointed. I applied it around October and at this date there is zero water beading so I think it's gone. In the winter I don't really wash the car per say. I do go to a coinwash once a week and put my ph neutral soap (same I would do my 2 bucket washes) and spray down the car with that mixed in a sprayer then rinse down the car and that's it. And one day I just noticed hey there is no beading at all.
So here comes the big question. Is ceramic coating my only option to get something to last all winter. I would rather get a sealant because I think it would be more compatible with the summer stuff I use like poly gloss or the griot best of show detailer for drying aid.
So I ask here to help me out. All the rest has been mostly figured out I'm just looking into a good paint protector for my needs.

[spazzz]

Have you tried any of the Collinite waxes/sealants. 476 is supposed to be the most robust. It's been said Finish Kare 1000p is a solid winter choice.

Other than that, I'ld probably go with an inexpensive 30ml CQuartz UK3.0. Coat it in spring, roll through winter and repeat process.
You might spend a little money re-upping a new topper selection for the warm months.

Without a warm place to boost your LSP a coating would be the way to go.

[SWETM]

It can be that the PNS is done. But most likely it's clogged up with different contaminants that don't come off with touchless washes. So a degreaser and a 2bm wash with something like Carpro Reset and you will see how it comes back. And I think that you would be in the same situation if you had a ceramic coating on. As it would also clogg the water behavior on it. Just my experience with winter months here in Sweden. Maybe you could go up a notch with the combo of Gyeon Primer Polish and CanCoat. That would get you through the winter with ease. PNS and no maintance is on the edge of what it can handle I think. But would be interesting to hear if you could revive it.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Have you tried any of the Collinite waxes/sealants. 476 is supposed to be the most robust. It's been said Finish Kare 1000p is a solid winter choice.

Other than that, I'ld probably go with an inexpensive 30ml CQuartz UK3.0. Coat it in spring, roll through winter and repeat process.
You might spend a little money re-upping a new topper selection for the warm months.

Without a warm place to boost your LSP a coating would be the way to go.

Ok thanks for the reply! I did a quick search on Collonite stuff and oh my god how have I not heard about that? I've read that they even have one that lasts a year and resist detergent in winter??? WOW.

To me that CQuartz thing was expensive haha it's a ceramic coating right? Look to be about 80$ Canadian.

Yeah... I can't do 2 bucket wash from I would say October until March/April. But I got to coinwash so maybe a topper that you can spray on and rinse would be a good idea? I know they sell these spray sealant like sonax or 303 but I guess the paint would have to be 100% clean...


It can be that the PNS is done. But most likely it's clogged up with different contaminants that don't come off with touchless washes. So a degreaser and a 2bm wash with something like Carpro Reset and you will see how it comes back. And I think that you would be in the same situation if you had a ceramic coating on. As it would also clogg the water behavior on it. Just my experience with winter months here in Sweden. Maybe you could go up a notch with the combo of Gyeon Primer Polish and CanCoat. That would get you through the winter with ease. PNS and no maintance is on the edge of what it can handle I think. But would be interesting to hear if you could revive it.

Oh yeah you think it's just like dirty/clogged up? It sucks though I won't really be able to do a 2 bucket wash until late march or april depending on outside temps. Before I ended season I topped my car with sonax brilliant shine detailer and it helped as well. As for the Gyeon and CanCoat really don't want to get into mores products... already about to do a 150$ order of Griot stuff. Just need something for protection really... man it's complicated haha.

Or does sealant or protection dont 'really matter in the winter and it's more for when your doing touch washes and gloss? I couldn't really care for that since I just rinse the car.

[SWETM]

When only doing touchless washes. I would like to have a base protection that I know will get me through the winter. Even if it gets dirty and clogged I would know it's on the protection and not the bare paint. So even if you don't have the water behavior and self cleaning ability from PNS and BSD you would have the protection still performing under the dirt and contaminants. That's is basicly what you would want from a base protection that it withstand it. So when you can do the 2bm wash and a decon wash. And you see the water behavior is revived or not. You get your proof that your protection is working.

I have the same problem that it goes a long time before I can do a 2bm wash. Sadly I have not been able to be applying a LSP with a long longevity. I have the Polish Angel esclate lotion and Master Sealant combo at home waiting to be applyied. Hope I can get it done when spring comes and the most of the old road salt is off the roads. Know I have Carpro Hydro2 lite as a stand alone LSP applyied 2 times from november. And Sonax Spray and Seal on my mothers car but only applyied once in early december IIRC. So after a decon wash and 2bm wash with carpro reset I will see how they have done. But don't expect that it's doing the protection so much more know. Maybe the Hydro2 lite has some left.

Have you an option to do a rinseless wash after the touchless wash. Some says with warm water it can be done in low temperature. And if you can spray something strong like a degreaser and or a tar remover.

[PaulMys]

476s will last through the winter. No problems. :props:

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

When only doing touchless washes. I would like to have a base protection that I know will get me through the winter. Even if it gets dirty and clogged I would know it's on the protection and not the bare paint. So even if you don't have the water behavior and self cleaning ability from PNS and BSD you would have the protection still performing under the dirt and contaminants. That's is basicly what you would want from a base protection that it withstand it. So when you can do the 2bm wash and a decon wash. And you see the water behavior is revived or not. You get your proof that your protection is working.

I have the same problem that it goes a long time before I can do a 2bm wash. Sadly I have not been able to be applying a LSP with a long longevity. I have the Polish Angel esclate lotion and Master Sealant combo at home waiting to be applyied. Hope I can get it done when spring comes and the most of the old road salt is off the roads. Know I have Carpro Hydro2 lite as a stand alone LSP applyied 2 times from november. And Sonax Spray and Seal on my mothers car but only applyied once in early december IIRC. So after a decon wash and 2bm wash with carpro reset I will see how they have done. But don't expect that it's doing the protection so much more know. Maybe the Hydro2 lite has some left.

Have you an option to do a rinseless wash after the touchless wash. Some says with warm water it can be done in low temperature. And if you can spray something strong like a degreaser and or a tar remover.

Ah ok I see. I also gonna have to decon my car also since I noticed the rear trunk has a lot of rust specs. Probably gonna need to clay to...

Anyhow I understand your theory. If the dirt is over dirt of course it's not gonna bead haha. Ok well you give me some hope. I could technically do a 2 bucket wash if it gets like 0c or hotter. Just gonna have to rinse the car using said buckets by pouring over.

But yeah I was really getting into Collinite stuff. Either the 845 or 476. One thing that put me off though is I watched some of my favs detailers on youtube and they say that it's still technically a wax and not a sealant polymer. And they even apply a sealant under it. But the thing is the Collinite 476 for example probably outlasts the sealant lol so that's why I'm a bit put off, ore more to say I don't really understand.

Also now there is also something I'm not to sure. Let's say I get my main LSP which would be a Collinite product. For touch cleaning I planned to use Griot Best of show detailer as a drying aid. But I wasn't sure if I should just use their best of show spray wax instead. My understanding is best of show detailer would renew gloss from the product description but at the same time... it's not a wax/sealant so in my mind that's not working out in the way that... if it's not sealant or wax how can it apply new protection or help the old stuff. You know what I mean? Now if we go by the logic of using both product sepertaly than man now I need to spend even more. If spray wax can be used to dry aid + renew/add a small LSP then what is the point of a detailer.

As for touchless wash well it includes a foaming sealant/wax so there is that and for drying my touchless I'm sure my shop vac on blow will push the water thanks to the fresh sealant.

[Route246]

Hello everyone
I'm making this lengthy post as I am kind of reorganizing my detailing product set up since this year is gonna be the year I fully correct my car and try to make it as swirl and scratch free as possible.
Now I'm on roadblock regarding paint protection. I'm not sure what to go with.
When it's summer and hot-ish here I usually do 2 bucket washes and got my pressure washer at home. I plan to use Griot garage best of show detailer as a drying aid and sealant/wax/coating rejuvanator.
I also plan on doing touchless maintenance wash when 2 bucket is not needed with the griot garage foaming setup cleaner and the polygloss foam (kind of a foaming sealant I think).
Now my main issue is when winter arrives... I'm in Canada. As a test I think it would work for full winter was using my Sonax polymer netshield and I'm kind of dissapointed. I applied it around October and at this date there is zero water beading so I think it's gone. In the winter I don't really wash the car per say. I do go to a coinwash once a week and put my ph neutral soap (same I would do my 2 bucket washes) and spray down the car with that mixed in a sprayer then rinse down the car and that's it. And one day I just noticed hey there is no beading at all.
So here comes the big question. Is ceramic coating my only option to get something to last all winter. I would rather get a sealant because I think it would be more compatible with the summer stuff I use like poly gloss or the griot best of show detailer for drying aid.
So I ask here to help me out. All the rest has been mostly figured out I'm just looking into a good paint protector for my needs.

So, you're not drying the paint at all during the winter? Just spray and rinse? That could be why there is no beading. I hit mine with spray wax all winter as a "drying aid" even if it is wet outside. Wiping the paint down with spray wax keeps my paint beading. But then, I do wash it using soap before hitting it with spray wax. I've done this in the rain, too. I know your weather is severe but even a panel at a time would be helpful to your paint. You don't need to do the whole car at once as you do in the summer. The side panels are most important in the winter because that is where all of the spray is going to hit.

[PaulMys]

But yeah I was really getting into Collinite stuff. Either the 845 or 476. One thing that put me off though is I watched some of my favs detailers on youtube and they say that it's still technically a wax and not a sealant polymer. And they even apply a sealant under it. But the thing is the Collinite 476 for example probably outlasts the sealant lol so that's why I'm a bit put off, ore more to say I don't really understand.

Check the actual Collinite website. 476s is a wax/polymer hybrid........

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Check the actual Collinite website. 476s is a wax/polymer hybrid........

Aye I know sorry I didn't write it.

Would that still be considered a good product for a like a base coat type of thing? Looks good in summer to?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

So, you're not drying the paint at all during the winter? Just spray and rinse? That could be why there is no beading. I hit mine with spray wax all winter as a "drying aid" even if it is wet outside. Wiping the paint down with spray wax keeps my paint beading. But then, I do wash it using soap before hitting it with spray wax. I've done this in the rain, too. I know your weather is severe but even a panel at a time would be helpful to your paint. You don't need to do the whole car at once as you do in the summer. The side panels are most important in the winter because that is where all of the spray is going to hit.

Yeah basically. I was thinking of adding a spray wax or something like that but IMO if there is anyhing that touches my car during winter it's gonna do some damage weither it be light swirls or something deeper.

Spraying my car soap with water from a sprayer is definitely not cleaning the panel perfectly or comfortable enough for me to touch it IMO.

When you spray with wax do you then dry with a MF?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

The collinite 476s really sounds great! I'm a bit scared of using paste wax tho and the learnign curve... perhaps I should get 845? How long 845 lasts? If it's a good 5 months that's enough don't mind applying ~ 2 to 3 times a year.

Also these products could be used on wheels as well right?

[PaulMys]

The collinite 476s really sounds great! I'm a bit scared of using paste wax tho and the learnign curve... perhaps I should get 845? How long 845 lasts? If it's a good 5 months that's enough don't mind applying ~ 2 to 3 times a year.

Also these products could be used on wheels as well right?

No learning curve. Directions say it all. THIN application to a panel, then remove after a couple of minutes.

That's it!

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

No learning curve. Directions say it all. THIN application to a panel, then remove after a couple of minutes.

Okay I think I might pull the trigger on the paste then when I put my order in!

One small question. While it lasts much longer than 845, does it provide less gloss over the course of the time or it's still a top pick even if I didn't need durability? I know they have their "elegance" one but that seems real fancy lol

[PaulMys]

Okay I think I might pull the trigger on the paste then when I put my order in!

One small question. While it lasts much longer than 845, does it provide less gloss over the course of the time or it's still a top pick even if I didn't need durability? I know they have their "elegance" one but that seems real fancy lol

I am sure you will get a thousand opinions, but 476 makes the mineral gray metallic on my truck pop like crazy. I will also top it all summer with DG aqua wax, which is incredible.