Why is Opti-Seal not more popular?

[VP Mark]

I'm just wondering why Opti-Seal is not mentioned more often on these forums as a go to sealant, especially for pro's. I use Opti-Seal constantly and am constantly impressed with the ease of use.

For those of you that don't know, Opti-Seal is a spray on, walk away sealant from Optimum. You can get 30+ applications from one 8 oz. bottle, and the looks are excellent.



2-4 months durability (my experience, harsh climate here), would probably be more multiple applications and stringent paint prep
Incredibly easy, and fast to use
No curing time
Looks are excellent, especially on lighter colored vehicles

Anyway, I was just curious about this. I got a sample of deep gloss paint sealant, read how it has to cure 12 hours, and chucked into the bottom of my sample bin. I hardly ever use HD Poxy anymore because of the cure time, and it only needs 45 minutes.


Why would someone spend all night waiting for a sealant to cure when you could slap on a couple coats of Opti-Seal in about 30 minutes and be done?


Not trying to rouse anything here, just wanted to see what everyone else thought about a seemingly extremely underrated product. :)

[Setec Astronomy]

That's an interesting question, why WOWA sealants haven't completely taken over the market. You can use it on every surface of the car, without worrying about getting any residue on trim or crevices. If you do have a high spot, you'll know pretty fast and it's easy to wipe off.

So why are there still other sealants? For me I have so much other stuff that I haven't used up yet...here in the forum world the grass is always greener and people want to try other products. I think there is also some psychological resistance, just as people can't wrap their head around a spray wax being anything more than a booster, or 0W oil being bad (to paraphrase another thread), perhaps people feel like a WOWA can't be substantial because it seem so insubstantial and too easy.

[VP Mark]

That's an interesting question, why WOWA sealants haven't completely taken over the market. You can use it on every surface of the car, without worrying about getting any residue on trim or crevices. If you do have a high spot, you'll know pretty fast and it's easy to wipe off.

So why are there still other sealants? For me I have so much other stuff that I haven't used up yet...here in the forum world the grass is always greener and people want to try other products. I think there is also some psychological resistance, just as people can't wrap their head around a spray wax being anything more than a booster, or 0W oil being bad (to paraphrase another thread), perhaps people feel like a WOWA can't be substantial because it seem so insubstantial and too easy.

I actually thought of this. There is just no "wow" factor with Opti-Seal. It is a boring product to look at and use, even thought it works great and is extremely easy to use.

[Mike Calloway]

I use opti-seal all the time after correction and it is a phenomenal product. If it I do a lighter package I use OCW. The ease of use and time savings of both is just breakthrough.

+1 for Optimum Products.

(Just got a gallon of Opti-bond, testing tomorrow)

[Setec Astronomy]

I actually thought of this. There is just no "wow" factor with Opti-Seal. It is a boring product to look at and use, even thought it works great and is extremely easy to use.

I've said before if I was starting over with a new car and no products, knowing what I know now (and forgetting about coatings), I'd just go with a WOWA and use it on every surface of the car. You can't get any easier or more foolproof.

It is kind of a mystery why the WOWA's haven't killed more of the LSP market off, as I said, maybe it's too easy and people feel like they are cheating.

[SR99]

There are just too darn many products to try and keep up with all the new product releases and what really stands the test of time after release.

In many product lines, they have so many products now that it's hard to know where one product ends and another begins (i.e. they overlap). Plus there seems to be about a dozen nearly-equivalent substitutes for just about any product, and there are people that love each one, and they are all probably pretty good products. Some products should probably be retired

What other comparable products have you tried? Who knows, it might be quite popular in sales, just not in posts here. I wonder if the auto detailing industry has market research firms that track sales statistics of all products, the way most other industries do.

[Bigbull2984]

I love WOWA sealant, it's the stigma that if its too easy it's too good too true.
I explained WOWA to some local people and thought I was nuts.........

[spiralout462]

I'm looking foward to trying my un-opened WDGLS when I get the time to wash my truck. I'm hoping the WOWA's are gonna benefit me since I have limited detail time in the summer months.

[Pureshine]

Most of my daily drivers customers do not want to pay the extra money for opti-coat so I use a normal sealant. That said everyone of my high end customers and car guys have it done.

[dc52nv]

I love and use Opti-Seal every couple of months for my headlights/tails. I use it to seal my paint every now and then.

[Blackthorn One]

I like the crystal clear shine of Opti Seal, particularly on silver. It is IMO, the ONLY product type to use on and around badges with lettering. Completely protecting that area with wax and having to remove excess? Forget that!

[Shortspark]

"It is kind of a mystery why the WOWA's haven't killed more of the LSP market off, as I said, maybe it's too easy and people feel like they are cheating".

There is your answer, at least in part, in the quote above. For a professional detailer a product such as this may be a God-send but for those of us who wax (or seal) just one or two cars every four or five months it simply takes all the fun out of it. There was a similar discussion about Opti Seal a few months ago and I said it then and I'll say it now - advance product technology but don't take the fun factor out of detailing. Again, I'm not talking about the pros but for us who detail only because we enjoy doing it, products like this leave us wanting for a bit more, even if the paint looks great. I want to rub on my car, I want to see the gloss come through when I move the microfiber towel over the paint, I want to complete the polishing and prep stages in the same fashion I started the process and that always requires a little work - but it is a labor of love. When I do all this my satisfaction level goes way up.

We can make an analogy with automatic transmissions. Sure, we won't give them up and they were revolutionary when they came out. But no one here who ever drove a great Hemi four speed on the floor for example, can tell me that they don't miss that experience. Of course the auto is more convenient but is the driving experience and total control of the car you get with the manual transmission the same? Not even close. The manual transmission, although it took more work, made the control factor and driving experience complete. A big smile would come over your face as you controlled your rpms and saw the tach hit the red line on each gear on the way up. Same goes with detailing products that require no effort at all and leaves you with no appreciation of a good days work. When I rub my paint and see my results I smile, not so much at the quality of the product (heck, they're all good these days) but at my effort, my knowledge and the experience I've gained that brought back to life the looks of a car.

Continue to make great products but don't make the technology so great that the fun and experience of detailing is taken away from me.

[SRConcepts]

Very well said Shortspark, I completely agree.

Sent from my ADR6325 using AG Online

[jlax2485]

Love opti-seal. I prefer to use it instead of a spray wax when I dont have a lot of time to put on an LSP. I do really like to experiment with different wax and sealants though. To me that's half the fun of detailing.

[WRXINXS]

What I don't get is why Crystal Seal and Liquid Seal are always talked about but not Opti-Seal? You would THINK that OS would be the better product as OS was one of the originals and had more time to perfect the forumula.

I use OS a good bit, but I do not get anywhere near the slickness of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant.

Also to the OP, there is a cure time with Opti-Seal and I believe it is 12 hours (Call Optimum to double check they are super nice over there).

If you put on multiple coats before that time it will equal one super thick coat. If you wait the 12 hours you will have multiple layered coats.

Last post down:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/42311-does-opti-seal-layer.html

Although it is weird one time I though someone from Optimum said 1 hour? Here it is second post down:

Cure time for opti-seal? - Optimum Opti-Seal - Optimum Forum (http://optimumforums.org/index.php?showtopic=1854)

I have heard 12 hours much more often though.