Trouble with CQuartz UK Longevity--Tips?

[Schlotzky]

If washing with Reset doesn't restore the coating, then I would question your prep stages. I would never use Megs UP before a coating. No way a simple 15% IPA solution will remove what that polish leaves behind. A true panel wipe would be the only thing I would trust or something like DG Squeaky Clean or M37 Coating Prep polish.

This was my original thought the first time the coating seemed to fail, which is why my most recent application, I wiped the whole truck down twice with 90% IPA. But maybe even that wasn't enough and I should've used a different polish.

[Schlotzky]

Well I hit the truck with a thorough coating of Iron-X followed by a thorough wash with Reset. It was hard to tell if the Iron-X was doing anything, but after rinsing, I noticed quite a bit of purple on my driveway, so there must have been substantial build-up despite the truck spending 75% of it's 1-year life in the garage (man that stuff stinks!). After washing it down with Reset, the water behavior appears to be 90% of original, so it really must have just been clogged up with crap. I think I'll need to upgrade my standard wash soap to something with a little more kick. Reset worked fine, but smells awful, which is an unwelcome departure from my usual Megs ultimate wash for my DD or Deep Crystal for my truck. What about something like Megs Hyper-Wash or Shampoo Plus, or maybe CGs Carbon Flex wash? Would these keep my coating cleaner without smelling like hair dye?

[The Guz]

Hyper Wash will work fine. Shampoo Plus contains gloss enhancers like Gold Class which can mask the properties of any LSP.

Reset is good to use at least one a month.

[Ebg18t]

What about something like Megs Hyper-Wash or Shampoo Plus, or maybe CGs Carbon Flex wash? Would these keep my coating cleaner without smelling like hair dye?

Glad you got it cleaned up. Coatings are great, but they like to be clean.

I use McKees 37 SiO2 Auto wash on all our coated cars. Smells like watermelon and works great.

Here’s a link:
McKee's 37 Sio2 Auto Wash 128 oz.

[fly07sti]

Reset is a great soap. Meg’s hyperwash is good and Griots foaming surface wash is another contender.

[Bruno Soares]

Are you sure the smell was from Reset and not Iron-X? The former doesn’t smell bad at all. The latter smells terrible.

[SWETM]

I don't know about the smell from them but gtechnic g-wash and Gyeon Bathe and the Bathe Plus is adding little Sio2. McKees 37 Sio2 Wash seems to be a good maintance car soap. But Reset or gtechnic g-wash every 3-5 washes depending on the clogging you see. Megs Hyper Wash is also one that don't leave anything behind and could be good for maintance washes. I don't find the smell to high or noticeble in a bad way. As mentioned the IronX smell can be hanging around long in no good way LOL. Be thorough when dilute the Reset as 1:400 is all that needs or even up to 1:800 for maintance washes as long as you feel the lubrication you want.

[Boudin]

Try Essence plus with a finishing pad, low speed, low pressure to restore the coating and clean the paint up.

Love me some Cquartz UK 3.0. Occasional wipe down or Rinseless Wash with Ech2o. Also the new Elixir works well.

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[RippyD]

Few things based on my experience with road grime and coatings. I live in the NW U.S. and drive in the rain frequently.

1. Reset doesn't stink. That had to have been the Ironx. I haven't seen any significant increase in coating behavior after using IronX. Reset can help.

2. I usually clay my coatings every 4 months or so which brings back the sheeting behavior. Likely also shortens the coating life expectancy as well. I've gotten a solid year out of Cquartz UK. It was still there after a year but wasn't doing much.

3. You mentioned swirls in your paint. I haven't found that coatings do much of anything to prevent swirls. Given the small number of times you washed may need to evaluate your washing technique to eliminate the swirls?

Out of the few coatings I tired Cquartz U.K. seemed to hold up the best in my weather. (I didn't try any of the more expensive coatings.) Given the issues with coatings I've gone back to sealants. The value doesn't outweigh the issues for me.

[Schlotzky]

Few things based on my experience with road grime and coatings. I live in the NW U.S. and drive in the rain frequently.

1. Reset doesn't stink. That had to have been the Ironx. I haven't seen any significant increase in coating behavior after using IronX. Reset can help.

2. I usually clay my coatings every 4 months or so which brings back the sheeting behavior. Likely also shortens the coating life expectancy as well. I've gotten a solid year out of Cquartz UK. It was still there after a year but wasn't doing much.

3. You mentioned swirls in your paint. I haven't found that coatings do much of anything to prevent swirls. Given the small number of times you washed may need to evaluate your washing technique to eliminate the swirls?

Out of the few coatings I tired Cquartz U.K. seemed to hold up the best in my weather. (I didn't try any of the more expensive coatings.) Given the issues with coatings I've gone back to sealants. The value doesn't outweigh the issues for me.

I'm in Portland (area) too and am really only now starting to appreciate how annoying the rain is when trying to keep a new black vehicle perfect. My first car was black and I swore it off when i sold it, but here I am again, and it's worse than I remember! lol

I was smelling the IronX on my clothes/hands for the rest of the day, so maybe it was the foul smell of IronX sticking around. I still missed the smell of deep crystal.

This does get to my follow up question, though. I did the plastic baggie test after IronX and Reset, and the paint still feels pretty terrible. I clayed one door using the CarPro quick detailer which certainly picked up the rest of the contaminates but I'm concerned that I'm micro scratching the finish, and am hesitant to do the rest of the truck without polishing afterwards. Are the nanoskin or similar clay sponges/towels any more scratch safe than the regular clay I'm using? Seems like normal clay might be the safest in that it can 'absorb' the contaminates.

As for wash techniques, I'm pretty sure all the swirls I mentioned earlier were from a particular rinse-less wash I did last winter when there was still some grit left on the roads after they graveled and it was really too dirty for rinse-less. It was one of the first rinse-less washes I'd done and I'm learning how little dirt they can really handle. The truck now is 6-months swirl-free aside from an area where someone brushed up against the bed in a parking lot when it had a light layer of dust on it.