Review: IGL Poly Ceramic Coating - 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S

[Mike Phillips]

Review: IGL Poly Ceramic Coating - 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews-by-mike-phillips/127525-review-igl-poly-ceramic-coating-2020-porsche-911-carrera-s.html)


This is IGL Poly Ceramic Coating or as we say in the industry.... the glassy look!

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_027.JPG




The back story...

So my friend buys a brand new Porsche and of course, he wants to get a ceramic coating installed to protect the paint. Here's the car and how it looked when it arrived, this is before I washed it, clayed the paint or did anything to it.

Not bad huh?

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_001.JPG


Close Inspection

The first thing I did was a waterless wash using SONAX Glass Cleaner. Sorry no pictures, pretty basic stuff. Wipe the car down to remove any loose dirt and road grime.


The Baggie Test

Being brand new, the lazy side of me was hoping the paint and the glass as well as the smooth plastic surfaces would pass the Baggie Test but NOPE - she's contaminated.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_003.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_004.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_005.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_006.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_007.JPG


And claying or mechanical decontamination is one area you don't want to skip. You see, buffing with FOAM pads normally will NOT remove above surface bonded contaminants. The foam will simply GLIDE over the contaminants and likely make them shiny - but it will not remove them. So to do the job right you need to clay the paint, which I did. For this I used an ultra fine grade clay and SONAX Glass Cleaner.



Drizzle Stains on Glass

After I clayed the paint and the glass, the next thing I needed to do was machine polish the glass. All of the glass was covered with what I call Drizzle Stains.

What is a Drizzle Stain?

Great question, I'm glad you asked.

Drizzle Stains is a FILM on the glass with a pattern that shows how water, in the form of rain or any other source, like washing or sprinklers, etc., flush over the glass and over time, leave a visible stain-pattern ON THE GLASS. You normally cannot see Drizzle Staining on glass until you spray some type of liquid onto the glass and WIPE. Then for a brief moment - the drizzle staining shows up in the thin film of liquid on the surface immediately AFTER you've wiped a section of glass. In a matter of seconds - the visible drizzle stains will disappear as the liquid you wiped evaporates off the glass.

Drizzle Stains are difficult to capture with a camera - if it were easy - I would have taken a picture. But this type of photo-documentation is best done with 2 people. One person does the wiping of the glass while the other person takes the picture and alas - I was alone.


How to remove Drizzle Stains

Yancy and I recently conducted one of our LIVE Detailing Classes where we shared how to remove Wiper Marks, which are scratches IN the glass. I call these Sub-Surface Glass Defects. For this type of defect you must use special abrasive technology that has the ability to abrade glass while at the same time - not leaving it's own scratch behind in the glass. If the thing you're using to remove scratches out of glass at the same time puts scratches into the glass that's called a self-defeating process.

Drizzle Stains are NOT sub-surface glass defects but instead or TOPICAL defects in that they are a FILM build-up ON the glass. As such, you don't need the same type of specialized abrasive technology required for removing sub-surface defects. In fact, in most cases, when it comes to removing topical film-build staining off glass surfaces you can use any quality clearcoat-safe compound. For light cleaning, you can even use less aggressive clearcoat safe polishes.

Because I planned to use the IGL Ecocoat Poly Ceramic Coating on the paint, I figured I'd keep this detailing project in the family and use the IGL Compound for the glass polishing. I'm happy to say the IGL Compound, paired with a RUPES contour profile yellow foam polishing pad on the FLEX Supa Beast did the trick.

NOTE: Before using the 7" pad to buff out the major portions of the glass windows I first did what I call EDGING. Edging is where I take the RUPES Nano Long Neck in Rotary Mode with a 1" pad and machine polish all the edges of the glass windows so I don't have to try to get the larger pad on the larger polisher close to the edge where the glass meets the paint. The reason I do this is because realistically - it's really difficult to remove all the drizzle staining in that strip of glass about 1" wide next to the framing around the glass. If I don't do this then you meaning the customer, can see perfectly clear glass EXCEPT all the outer edges of the glass. This is a little extra step I do as a professional. I could skip it and probably know one would know the difference, but in my world I treat customer's cars as if they were my own. I also teach this in all my classes, both how to edge and how to treat a customer's car as your own.

Here's a few pictures I took showing all the glass machine polished

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_008.JPG


This is the NEW RUPES contour profile yellow foam polishing pad and these are now my favorite pads for the Supa BEAST.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_009.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_010.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_011.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_012.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_013.JPG



Here's the windows wiped clean and that's it. I have not started the paint correction to the paint yet.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_014.JPG





Paint Correction

Why machine polish a brand new car Mike?

Great question, I'm glad you asked. Here's why,


I practice what I preach

What I preach in my classes is that ANYTIME - did you notice the word anytime is all CAPITAL letters?

ANYTIME you do any mechanical decontamination process to car paint you should have already factored-in at least one machine polishing step to remove any marring of the paint from the mechanical decontamination step.

What is mechanical decontamination?

Mechanical decontamination is when you rub detailing clay over paint. It's also when you use any clay substitute tool to remove above surface contamination. Rubbing clay and clay substitutes over scratch-sensitive clearcoat paints can and will mar the paint.


Marring and the word mar are the kind, fluffy nice words we us when what we really mean is scratch and scratching.


So if you're going to clay someone's car or even your own car, as a professional you always follow this with at least one machine polishing step to make sure there is no marring in the paint.


Perfect the paint before installing a paint coating

Besides removing any marring or potential marring, anytime you're going to install a ceramic coating - and especially for a cool car like this Porsche, you need to be sure the paint is not only free from any other previously applied waxes or sealants or even gloss enhances from car shampoos, but for a car like this you also want the paint to be perfect or perfected and that's where machine polishing comes into play.

Machine polishing will remove any previously applied products and also remove all the fine swirls and scratches that are in the paint from the time the popped out of the assembly plant, was transported to the dealership and was then handled/washed/wiped at the dealership.

The above are my own reasons for machine polishing the paint on a brand new car, you can adopt them as your own or find your own process. Some people will simply wash a car and then coat it, that's not for me. I want to know for sure the paint is completely bare-naked, or bare paint and I also want it to be as defect-free as possible before installing a coating. Installing a coating takes a few hours worth of time and work and the final results like a new custom paint job start with the proper prep-work.



Tape-off and Cover-up

Before I start, I'm going to machine polish all the paint. Before starting the machine polishing, if you ever work on one of these Porsche's - I'd highly recommend covering-over and taping off the rear air louvers or air grill over the engine. Mostly because they are a matte black finish and they will be a real pain in the butt to clean off any splatter dots. If you don't know what splatter dots are - you're new to machine polishing and this is okay -but try to learn from me in this little tidbit I'm sharing so you don't have to learn the hard way, why I cover stuff like this up. :D

Here you can see where I've cover-over the rear air louvers for fresh air intake to the engine compartment. I did this using 3 microfiber towels and some 3M Painter's Tap. The strip of tape under the rear deck lid is to protect the PORSCHE lettering. This would be another area where it would be time-consuming to remove splatter dots of polish after the paint correction step.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_015.JPG




Chemically Stripping the Paint

I'm not sure what other detailers in our industry call this step? I call it chemically stripping the paint because at it's core - this is what you're doing. You're using a SOLVENT to wipe and re-wipe the painted body panels to remove any trace polishing oils from the paint correction step so there is nothing on the paint that can interfere with the bonding of the coating to the paint. Most of the solvents for this step are generically referred to as Panel Wipes.

But it doesn't sound right to say,

Panel Wiping the Paint

So I say I'm going to chemically strip the paint as this is in fact what needs to be done. Then proceed to use a Panel Wipe to strip the paint. I don't see much of anyone else now days writing about car detailing thus I don't see anyone typing out these kinds of details via text. On YouTube you can be a lot sloppier as that is the nature of video.

Sorry no pictures of me chemically stripping the paint - you'll just have to take my word for it I used a bunch of these really nice IGL microfiber towels and about a half a bottle of IGL PRECOAT to wipe and then re-wipe every square millimeter of paint, plastic, glass and PPF on the car before coating all these areas.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_016.JPG




Installing the IGL Ecocoat Poly Ceramic Paint Coating

Again - no pictures of me doing the work but it didn't' apply itself. :D

I took the picture below after installing 2 coats of the IGL Ecocoat Poly, which is the name for their consumer grade of ceramic coating. Don't let the words consumer grade taint your view, IGL is one of the TOP names in ceramic paint coating technology. Also for those that might not know, when you see me type or say the word installing a coating, this is coating jargon. In the old days you would say, apply a coat of wax, in today's world, it's the same idea only we say, install a coating. All it means is taking your human hand and applying the coating to the paint using a small foam block and a patch of soft microfiber cloth. Same idea - different words.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_017.JPG



Here are the results...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_018.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_019.JPG



In this shot you can see the area I covered up and the lettering I placed painter's tape over

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_020.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_021.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_022.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_023.JPG



Here's the famous glass-like look that IGL Ecocoat Poly creates on perfectly polished and prepped paint...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_024.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_025.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_026.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_027.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_028.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_029.JPG




Tools - Pads - Products

I know it's easy to think to "install" a ceramic paint coating on your car all you have to do is order the coating, as in order the tiny glass bottle of product. But that's a false reality. In the real-world, you're going to need a polisher, pads, products and lots of clean, un-contaminated microfiber towels to do the job right.

Here's a few pictures showing what I used to install a ceramic coating to a brand new Porsche.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_031.JPG



Glass and Paint Polishing

SONAX Glass Cleaner for a waterless wash, clay lube and also as a glass cleaner. I used the F1 Compound for the glass and the F3 Finish for the paint. I did not use the F2 Polish but pictured it here so everyone that reads this write-up into the future knows it's available.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_032.JPG



Glass and Paint Polishing

I used the FLEX Supa BEAST for both the glass polishing, (major portions of glass), and the paint polishing. The pad you see are the NEW RUPES 180mm Contour Profile Foam Pads in white and yellow. White for the paint and yellow for the glass. Also pictured is the FLEX PXE 80 or as I call it the FLEX PiXiE - I used this in 12mm free spinning random orbit mode for machine polishing thin panels and plastic areas on the car.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_033.JPG



Chemically Striping the Paint and sealing the paint with a ceramic paint coating

This is the IGL PRECOAT, which is a Panel Wipe and a REALLY nice panel wipe at that. Citrus based, wipes really nice, leaves a clear, clean finish. The coating is pro-grade in my opinion. This bottle was a little over half full when I started. I also used this bottle for this review on Single Stage Paint (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews-by-mike-phillips/126706-review-igl-poly-ceramic-coating-igl-compounds-polishes-great-abrasive-technology.html). Also pictured is the foam block and microfiber patch of cloth used to apply the coating to the paint. (in case you're new to coatings)

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_034.JPG



Glass Polishing and Plastic Polishing

These are RUPES Nano micro-polishers. The short neck is set up for 3mm free spinning random orbit and I used it to machine polish some Piano Plastic on the back of the car around the fresh air intake louvers. The long neck is set up in rotary mode and I used this to edge all the glass to remove the drizzle stains.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_035.JPG




High Spot Inspection

I really like the LED bar light on the Griot's BOSS Swirl Finder Light for inspecting for high spots after installing the coating. For those of you that are new to ceramic paint coatings, a HIGH SPOT is simply a patch of coating you didn't fully wipe-off and remove. You need a great hand-held light to find high spots and you MUST remove them before they fully dry and harden you they won't wipe off.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_036.JPG


Altogether now...

I share pictures like this just to show the products and the car - I'm sure it makes it easier to believe the above write-up. If I just had a picture of a shiny car and another picture of some products... well who know what that would mean? Mock-up? :laughing:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_037.JPG



Tires and Wheels

I wiped the wheels and the tires clean using the SONAX Glass Cleaner. (In case you haven't noticed, I use this a lot). Then I applied the PBL Wheel Coating to the MATTE finished wheels. And I applied the Pinnacle Natural Brilliance Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner to the tires. The owner, as near as I can tell is NOT into car detailing. For this reason I didn't want to put anything on the tires that would be oily or greasy. The Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner is water-soluble. It won't last and I don't want it to last. It will look good for when the owner picks up the car and then the tires will fade back to how they looked when the car arrived. My guess is the owner will never notice and this is why I chose to use something that won't last. It's called matching the products to the owner, not the detail. (I teach this in my classes too)

Pinnacle Black Label Wheel Coating

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_038.JPG


Pinnacle Natural Brilliance Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_040.JPG




Cleaned, coated and detailed....

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_039.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_030.JPG

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/IGL_Pcar_041.JPG





Review

IGL F1 Compound
Worked great as a topical glass polish. It also works great for removing serious paint defects in car paint.

IGL F3 Finish
This is a fine cut polish and perfect for times when you only need minor paint correction. IGL compounds and polishes use great abrasive technology and because they have 3 different products there's always the perfect product for the level of defects you're trying to remove.

IGL PRECOAT
This is a super nice panel wipe. There are a lot of panel wipes on the market and they all work. I like the way this one seems to really clean the surface without any leftover residue. Do keep in mind you need a lot of microfiber towels for this step to avoid cross-contamination.


IGL Ecocoat Poly Ceramic Paint Coating

This is a Rock Star in the paint coating world. There are a lot of paint coatings on the market and more and more being introduced daily. When people ask me,

What's a good ceramic coating?

I always say the same thing,

Go with an established brand

And IGL is an established brand that you can't go wrong with. When it comes to installing and wiping off a coating there's not too much to say except that this one spreads nice and wipes off easy. A poor quality coating will tend to wipe-on easy it's the wipe-off that can be either sticky or must be done quickly before the solid components start to set-up on the paint. With this coating, simply apply to a section about 2 feet by 2 feet at one time, wait about 30 to 45 seconds and then softly wipe the section. Wiping the section will act to further spread the product over the paint evenly and also remove any excess. It's really a nice choice for both experienced detailers and newbies alike.


Final comments....

While the car looked great when it first arrived - it has zero protection. It also did not have the very wet glassy look it has now after the coating installation. The paint is now protected from the elements and it will be dramatically less prone to micro-marring moving forward. Best of all, due to the hydrophobic nature of the coating, there will be a self-cleaning effect that takes place anytime it rains hard and it will wash and dry faster when the owner wants a clean looking car for the weekend.



On Autogeek.net


IGL Ecocoat Poly (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.autogeek.net%2Figl-ecocoat-poly.html)

IGL Ecoshine Compound F1 10 oz. (https://www.autogeek.net/igl-ecoshine-compound-f1-300gm.html)

IGL Ecoshine Polish F2 10 oz. (https://www.autogeek.net/igl-ecoshine-polish-f2-300gm.html)

IGL Ecoshine Finish F3 10 oz. (https://www.autogeek.net/igl-ecoshine-finish-f3-300gm.html)

IGL Ecoclean PreCoat (https://www.autogeek.net/igl-ecocoat-precoat.html)

IGL Coating Removal Towels - 10 Pack (https://www.autogeek.net/igl-coating-removal-towels.html)

FLEX Supa BEAST (https://www.autogeek.net/flex-xce-10-8-125-corded-polisher.html) Part number = FLEX XCE 10-8 125 Corded Polisher

FLEX PXE 80 (https://www.autogeek.net/flex-pxe-80-12v-ec-kit.html)

Rupes iBrid Nano Long Neck Starter Kit (https://www.autogeek.net/ibrid-nano-long-neck-cordless-essentials-kit.html)

Rupes iBrid Short Neck Starter Kit (https://www.autogeek.net/ibrid-short-neck-cordless-essentials-kit.html)

RUPES D-A System 180mm or 7 Inch Pads (https://www.autogeek.net/rupes-da-system-pads-7-inch.html)

Griot's Garage THE BOSS LED Swirl-Finder Light (https://www.autogeek.net/griots-boss-swirl-finder-light.html)

SONAX Glass Cleaner (https://www.autogeek.net/sonax-glass-cleaner.html)

Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Wheel Coating (https://www.autogeek.net/pinnacle-wheel-coating.html)

Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner (https://www.autogeek.net/pinnacle-vinyl-and-rubber-cleaner-conditioner.html)




:)

[Mike Phillips]

More,


Here's a short video on my Facebook page on Drizzle Stains


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4115/TopicalGlassPolishing.JPG (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=315626053001728&extid=K9DTLfXfJz2RardV)




:)

[Mike Phillips]

More....


On the topic of marring... specifically where I wrote this,





ANYTIME you do any mechanical decontamination process to car paint you should have already factored-in at least one machine polishing step to remove any marring of the paint from the mechanical decontamination step.




Here's a recent article WITH PICTURES showing marring.

Clay mars soft paint - 2020 C8 Corvette - Soft Paint (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/127067-clay-mars-soft-paint-2020-c8-corvette-soft-paint.html)


It's a real thing.



:)

[Rsurfer]

Originally Posted by Mike Phillips: The first thing I did was a waterless wash using SONAX Glass Cleaner. Sorry no pictures, pretty basic stuff. Wipe the car down to remove any loose dirt and road grime.



You did a waterless wash with a glass cleaner?

[Mike Phillips]

You did a waterless wash with a glass cleaner?



Yes. I use SONAX Glass Cleaner for a "Prep Wash" most of the time.

Either as a waterless wash or a rinseless wash. I prefer the waterless wash technique as there's less water on the floor. But I also use as a rinseless wash if the dirt level warrants.

SONAX Glass Cleaner as a Prep Wash (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/126153-sonax-glass-cleaner-prep-wash.html)

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4013/Glass_Cleaner_Prep_Wash_02.JPG



There's a reason for this.


:)

[Desertnate]

I am a real sucker for blue cars and Porsches. That car is beautiful and really hits a soft spot for me. Amazing!


Originally Posted by Mike Phillips: The first thing I did was a waterless wash using SONAX Glass Cleaner. Sorry no pictures, pretty basic stuff. Wipe the car down to remove any loose dirt and road grime.



You did a waterless wash with a glass cleaner?

Ha! Out of the long, and very good write up, that part really stood out to me too. Considering the amount of other product info being provided it shouldn't, but that was the one thing the didn't compute in my brain also. These days Mike is using it for clay lube too, so it must be a pretty flexible product.

I notice on the product page they are talking about it only having approximately a year of durability. This would put it in the CanCoat or CQuartz Lite realm. For a product that applies like it does and the price I would have thought it would be more of a multi-year CQuartz UK competitor.

- How would you rank the shine compared to the new Wolfgange Profi Coating or the new PBL Diamond Coating you've reviewed recently. I'm sure there are subtle differences, but since the next car I'll be coating has metallic paint, I'd prefer something that has a more glassy or candy coated look that won't mute the flake like some products which tend to darken the surface.

As a general observation, it seems most of the new coatings reviewed/sold here and other brands like Adams, now seem to only sell in 50ml bottles. Only the "older" players in the market tend to offer 30ml bottles. I wonder why? You can easily do a car with less than 30ml. For a hobbyist like myself, I'm not sure how I'd be able to use up a 50ml bottle before it went bad unless I coated all of my family vehicles within a few months of each other.

[Mike Phillips]

I am a real sucker for blue cars and Porsches. That car is beautiful and really hits a soft spot for me. Amazing!




I'm not a Porsche fan except for the one time they got it right and put a water-cooled V8 in the FRONT of the car. :D






Ha! Out of the long, and very good write up, that part really stood out to me too. Considering the amount of other product info being provided it shouldn't, but that was the one thing the didn't compute in my brain also.




:laughing: I like the SONAX Glass Cleaner because all it does is CLEAN.

If you take a look at all the waterless washes, rinseless washes, spray detailers etc., damn near everyone of them ADDS something. Adds protection, adds gloss and shine, adds Si02, adds Carnauba Wax, ad nauseam. These types of products are GREAT for AFTER you detail a car but when I'm prepping a car to do PAINT CORRECTION - why would I want ANY of these types of ingredients in my cleaning solutions.

Besides being a waster of what are probably great ingredients - it makes it so painter's tape WON'T STICK to things like PLASTIC TRIM.


You know how annoying this is? Very annoying.

Here's an example - I used a great product to do a waterless wash to a truck I needed clean before doing the paint correction work. My normal work habits are,


Try to kill as many birds with one stone as humanly possible.


Out of this truck detail, I obtained at least 2 reviews. One review was for the waterless wash and the other was for a polish. After using the waterless wash to clean the truck, because it lays down a substantial amount of Si02 and other protection and glossing ingredients.... guess what?

Tape don't stick to stupid plastic trim

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/Tape-Wont_Stick.JPG




And some people wonder why I like to buff out old cars?

Why?

No stupid plastic trim.

Give me a classic Chevelle any freaking day of the week. No plastic trim.

In fact, with cars like this you PURPOSEFULLY run the buffer OVER THE TRIM and make it SHINY again. :buffing:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=99179









These days Mike is using it for clay lube too, so it must be a pretty flexible product.



I learned this from Rob McCrary at SONAX. SONAX recommends using their glass cleaner with their Clay Disc and it not only works great but AGAIN - if you're claying a car, or using a CLAY DISC - this is in the context of prepping the car for paint correction.

So follow me,

You wash a car or in my case I use SONAX Glass Cleaner to clean the car.

I clay the car using SONAX Glass Cleaner - Now I'm CLEANING the car a second time. See where I'm going with this?

My entire goal is to get the car as CLEAN as possible in preparation for paint correction. Everything I do is always walking forward in the process, that is each step should be getting a car closer and closer to perfection, never walking or going backwards.






I notice on the product page they are talking about it only having approximately a year of durability. This would put it in the CanCoat or CQuartz Lite realm. For a product that applies like it does and the price I would have thought it would be more of a multi-year CQuartz UK competitor.



This is their do-it-yourselfer offering to the enthusiast market. BEFORE this product IGL ONLY offered coatings to qualified professional detailers. In their WISDOM - they introduced a coating that anyone can buy and increased their market share by a hundred-fold or more.

IGL makes great products - the 1-year claim is a MINIMUM because they have KNOW idea how Joe Blow is going to wash or TOUCH the paint.

How long ANY product, be it a wax, a sealant or a coating - lasts on a car comes down to how you and I TOUCH the paint or TOUCH the car after the fact. In fact - I have an article on this topic,,

How long will a ceramic coating last on my car? (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/123663-how-long-will-ceramic-coating-last-my-car.html)


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3696/BF_Pro_Ceramic_051.JPG









- How would you rank the shine compared to the new Wolfgange Profi Coating or the new PBL Diamond Coating you've reviewed recently. I'm sure there are subtle differences, but since the next car I'll be coating has metallic paint, I'd prefer something that has a more glassy or candy coated look that won't mute the flake like some products which tend to darken the surface.



I think all quality coatings that I've used tend to create a glassy look. The key is always in the prep work, getting the paint smooth and defect free.

I know I can locate pictures of cars I've coated with any brand and share a picture that shows the glassy look. For example, the first time I used this new coating (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews-by-mike-phillips/126706-review-igl-poly-ceramic-coating-igl-compounds-polishes-great-abrasive-technology.html) for do-it-yourselfers I was able to do this and I think most people would agree - this looks glassy!

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4045/1937_Ford_080.JPG









As a general observation, it seems most of the new coatings reviewed/sold here and other brands like Adams, now seem to only sell in 50ml bottles. Only the "older" players in the market tend to offer 30ml bottles. I wonder why?


You can easily do a car with less than 30ml. For a hobbyist like myself, I'm not sure how I'd be able to use up a 50ml bottle before it went bad unless I coated all of my family vehicles within a few months of each other.




Good question and good point. My only input would be,

A 30ml bottle will easily coat the average size passenger car. Now if a person want's to apply or install 2 applications - then a 30ml might not be enough. Early coatings were not marketed as coatings you could stack, that is apply multiple coats.

It does seem to be a trend now that most brands are creating coatings you can stack or apply multiple layers BUT you must apply second and third layers within a window-of-time so there is a proper bond between the two applications. BUT you don't want to apply the second or third coat too soon or it will simply dissolve the first coat to create yet a single layer. There's a timing aspect to this. Also wind, temperature, humidity and size of vehicle are all factors as is the skill level of the person doing the work.



Thanks for the questions and I hope the above clears up any confusion.



:dblthumb2:

[TTQ B4U]

That 911 looks familiar ;)


https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/127368-beautiful-911-gentian-blue-metallic-gets-coated.html#post1687879


https://pbase.com/timothylauro/image/170974432/original.jpg



:)

[Mike Phillips]

That 911 looks familiar ;)




I just clicked over to your write-up for the same car, same color and same overall condition. Nice work!


The Porsche I detailed had like 4-5 deeper scratches here and there and they polished out with the IGL compound. The Piano Plastic in front of and behind the sunroof glass was a little more marred than the paint and that's probably because it's super soft. It corrected super easy and the ceramic coating should keep it looking nicer longer.


After buffing out this car I would say the paint was on the medium/soft side. I wouldn't call it soft by any measure but it also wasn't hard.


How would you describe the paint on the Pcar you detailed?


:)

[Desertnate]

After buffing out this car I would say the paint was on the medium/soft side. I wouldn't call it soft by any measure but it also wasn't hard.

Interesting to hear the blue paint was fairly easy to work with. This black metallic Porsche Cayenne (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/126923-2017-porsche-cayenne-s-exterior-detail.html) was rock hard. Even harder than a VW I owned with the same color paint.

[TTQ B4U]

I just clicked over to your write-up for the same car, same color and same overall condition. Nice work!


The Porsche I detailed had like 4-5 deeper scratches here and there and they polished out with the IGL compound. The Piano Plastic in front of and behind the sunroof glass was a little more marred than the paint and that's probably because it's super soft. It corrected super easy and the ceramic coating should keep it looking nicer longer.


After buffing out this car I would say the paint was on the medium/soft side. I wouldn't call it soft by any measure but it also wasn't hard.


How would you describe the paint on the Pcar you detailed?


:)


Mine was also marred up on the roof. B-Pillar soft plastic up there for sure. Came out beautifully though. He just came by today to have me ceramic over top of the Paint Protection Film/PPF he had installed. Did the entire front end, headlights, entire hood, both front fenders, mirrors and the plastic front/back of sunroof.

Agree that the paint was medium. I've done a number of 911's and they are all about the same. Not rock-hard at all. IMO thus far Audi/VW continue to have the hardest paint thus when medium marring is present, I quote appropriately based on the amount of correction the customer is looking to achieve. The Porsche I did was a one-step with CarPro Essence. Being brand new there wasn't a ton of correction needed though.

[Mike Phillips]

Mine was also marred up on the roof. B-Pillar soft plastic up there for sure. Came out beautifully though.



Piano Plastic is easy to polish as long as you stick with safe abrasive technology and soft pads.





He just came by today to have me ceramic over top of the Paint Protection Film/PPF he had installed. Did the entire front end, headlights, entire hood, both front fenders, mirrors and the plastic front/back of sunroof.



Good idea. I coated over all the PPF on this Porsche also.





Agree that the paint was medium.




And in my opinion, this is where we want car paint to be. Not so hard it's a pain in the butt to correct and not so soft that wiping it with a clean, quality microfiber towel scratches it.







Being brand new there wasn't a ton of correction needed though.



My favorite cars to detail?

Car's that don't need much correction. :D


I actually had a guy on one of my other social media platforms call me out for working on a car in good condition. As though I never work on cars in bad condition?


:)

[oneheadlite]

...

I learned this from Rob McCrary at SONAX. SONAX recommends using their glass cleaner with their Clay Disc and it not only works great but AGAIN - if you're claying a car, or using a CLAY DISC - this is in the context of prepping the car for paint correction.

So follow me,

You wash a car or in my case I use SONAX Glass Cleaner to clean the car.

I clay the car using SONAX Glass Cleaner - Now I'm CLEANING the car a second time. See where I'm going with this?

My entire goal is to get the car as CLEAN as possible in preparation for paint correction. Everything I do is always walking forward in the process, that is each step should be getting a car closer and closer to perfection, never walking or going backwards.
...

Mike - have you tried other brands of glass cleaner for your waterless/rinseless/clay lube approach?



Thinking about, I suppose there's a few ways to look at it:

1: When the product maker themselves has this recommendation, seems like a pretty safe bet to just stick with what you know works.

2: Considering the bold font quoted above - even if you end up with slightly more light marring than you would get when using a standard clay lubricant, at least your surface will be as pure of a starting point as it can be, and you're doing a correction anyway.

3: Just like paint correction, a test spot would probably be a good idea the first time anyone tries this method. I would imagine you'd quickly find out if it was going to be more of a problem than a convenience.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike - have you tried other brands of glass cleaner for your waterless/rinseless/clay lube approach?



Probably - but for my classes - everyone gets their own STUFF. That is - if we're going of RUPES tools - everyone gets their own RUPES tool. If we're using the BOSS Fast Correction Cream - everyone gets their own bottle of Fast Correction Cream.

Starting to see the theme here? In my classes - NO ONE stands around with their hands in their pockets because they don't have the thing we're training on in the present moment.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/Full_CLASS_01.jpg


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/Full_CLASS_02.jpg M




Now let me apply this to SONAX Glass Cleaner - I have 20 bottles of SONAX Glass Cleaner so everyone has their own bottle for a Prep Wash. As the bottles get used up - as a good steward of our companies resources as well as a good steward of the Earth - I don't throw away empty bottles (for anything), I refill them for the next class.

SONAX Glass Cleaner is available in a 10 Liter Jug for refilling.

SONAX Glass Cleaner 10 Liter Jug (https://www.autogeek.net/sonax-glass-cleaner-5l.html)

Plus it really is a nice product. I can't say that about all glass cleaners and I know cheap glass cleaners are just that - cheap.







Thinking about, I suppose there's a few ways to look at it:

1: When the product maker themselves has this recommendation, seems like a pretty safe bet to just stick with what you know works.



Copy that. :)






2: Considering the bold font quoted above - even if you end up with slightly more light marring than you would get when using a standard clay lubricant, at least your surface will be as pure of a starting point as it can be, and you're doing a correction anyway.



Copy that. :)






3: Just like paint correction, a test spot would probably be a good idea the first time anyone tries this method. I would imagine you'd quickly find out if it was going to be more of a problem than a convenience.




Been using SONAX Glass Cleaner as a Prep Wash/Waterless Wash/Rinseless Wash for a couple of years now. Myself and in my classes and together we've collectively cleaned and detailed a LOT of cars. Can't think of a single car that's ever come out bad. Just the opposite in fact.


Great questions - thank you for asking.

:buffing: