Newbie preparing for ceramic coating - (CQUARTZ UK 3.0)

[tcope]

For the polishing step, what towels would you recommend just for buffing off excess Menzerna SF3500 polish? Is that considered "polishing" or "buffing" because there are different towels recommended for each. I know Ill get 100 answers but I'm tired of reading so I'll get the first one that receives a couple recommendations. How many should be minimum for a large, white, daily driver, SUV? I was amazed at the number some stated and I assume they are doing this professionally where you can pass along the cost. I cannot.

You want a towel with a low pile. I actually switched to a terry towel with a GSM of 365. I find it works much better at removing polishing compound. However, most anything with a low pile will work just fine. For example, those towels that most big manufactures put in with their waxes would work. You fold a 16x16 towel into 4 parts. So one towel can do a lot of panels, I'd say probably 4 no problem. I tend to use 2-3 towels on a car. You might use 4 on a truck. You can certainly use more if you like.

Oh, I forgot AG now carried Rag Company towels so I can mention them. Something like this:

16x16 Edgeless Pearl Microfiber Towel - Ice Grey

or

16x16 Creature Edgeless Dual-Pile (150/cs) - Ice Grey

[The Guz]

You want a towel with a low pile. I actually switched to a terry towel with a GSM of 365. I find it works much better at removing polishing compound. However, most anything with a low pile will work just fine. For example, those towels that most big manufactures put in with their waxes would work. You fold a 16x16 towel into 4 parts. So one towel can do a lot of panels, I'd say probably 4 no problem. I tend to use 2-3 towels on a car. You might use 4 on a truck. You can certainly use more if you like.

Oh, I forgot AG now carried Rag Company towels so I can mention them. Something like this:

16x16 Edgeless Pearl Microfiber Towel - Ice Grey

or

16x16 Creature Edgeless Dual-Pile (150/cs) - Ice Grey

I picked up some of these pearl towels when they came out. After testing them with various coatings, I am glad I did not purchase any more. They wipe off fine but they load up quick. As a matter of fact when I coated my car with the SPS graphene coating, I didn't even bother trying to save the pearl towels. I just wanted to use them and chuck them in the trash. The edgeless 300 is the way to go for coating removal. I would even take a kirkland towel over the pearl lol.

I could never get into the creature either. It did not do anything for me. Edgeless 365 has it beat in my experience for polish removal.

[tcope]

I picked up some of these pearl towels when they came out. After testing them with various coatings, I am glad I did not purchase any more. They wipe off fine but they load up quick. As a matter of fact when I coated my car with the SPS graphene coating, I didn't even bother trying to save the pearl towels. I just wanted to use them and chuck them in the trash. The edgeless 300 is the way to go for coating removal. I would even take a kirkland towel over the pearl lol.

That is what I use (I modified my post from terry to microfiber). I did not mention the 300's as I don't see that AG is selling them. However, it is all I use for polish removal now. I reviewed shat AG sold for one with about the same GSM and a low pile.

[N8huntsman]

I ordered 3 Griots PFM drying towels and the rest Rag Company edgeless towels. 10 - 500 gsm for future rinseless washing/final buffing; 10 - 365gsm for polishing and Eraser; and 10 - 360gsm for the coating. All my stuff is taking a while to arrive these days but we're getting closer. Should have my polisher tomorrow and the rest (reset, gliss, eraser, cquartz, towels, longer pressure washer hose, etc) by the 8th. Like all hobbies, this is getting expensive! New DI filters are assembled and working great. Saving me a lot of time in not having to dry the car now.

[WillSports3]

For coating removal, I like the Gyeon bald wipe towels. Do yourself a favour, after all that work polishing and what not, as well asp utting on CQUK, skip reload. I don't really see the need for it, just don't let your car get wet for a bit. Or better yet, after application let it bake in the sun for a few hours. I don't know if it's just me but anytime I use reload on top of CQUK, the durability of the coating's beading turns into complete trash.

[N8huntsman]

For coating removal, I like the Gyeon bald wipe towels. Do yourself a favour, after all that work polishing and what not, as well asp utting on CQUK, skip reload. I don't really see the need for it, just don't let your car get wet for a bit. Or better yet, after application let it bake in the sun for a few hours. I don't know if it's just me but anytime I use reload on top of CQUK, the durability of the coating's beading turns into complete trash.

I'll replace the reload application with GLISS. It's already on order anyway. I've read that this is a nice upgrade for DD's that sit outside like mine. Agreed?

[2wookies]

For coating removal, I like the Gyeon bald wipe towels. Do yourself a favour, after all that work polishing and what not, as well asp utting on CQUK, skip reload. I don't really see the need for it, just don't let your car get wet for a bit. Or better yet, after application let it bake in the sun for a few hours. I don't know if it's just me but anytime I use reload on top of CQUK, the durability of the coating's beading turns into complete trash.

Couldn’t agree more! I have found that cutting it 1:1 with distilled water helps the application and removal, just not a fan of the after effects.

[WillSports3]

I ended up tossing my reload away, I really like CarPro products but I don't know what the point of reload is. I think every single version has had application problems, and the customer base has had to invent their own application methods such as 50/50 distilled water, wiping down with a cold towel first.. the application process is literally more work than the application process for their coating line.

Either way, the trick to a good coating process is a good polishing process, a good panel prep wipe process as well as a lot of appropriate towels. Use a lower nap towel for initial wipe down then another slightly longer one to wipe everything down.

Make sure you spray a generous amount of whatever panel prep you choose, and follow up with a towel that's been sprayed a few times as well. Dissolving the polishing oils is not an instant act, the cleaning agent needs time to fully dissolve it all. I usually go around with two towels as well after spraying down a panel. One that has been sprayed with more Eraser/IPA and wipe down slowly after giving the panel wipe at least like.. 10 seconds to dissolve.

After you're done, go take a break for like 15 minutes, give all the trace chemicals time to fully evaporate so when you come back, the panel is completely dry and nothing is on it but bare clearcoat.

[Mikem3574]

Rinsing isn’t going to get all the dirt off and i tried iron X before washing and after. After worked better as it allowed the Iron X to get straight to the iron and not have to penetrate through the dirt.

Also dried the car so wetness would not water down the product.

Lastly, Iron X is great but i really liked Griot better. The consistency is more gel like and it clung to paint better.

Save $20 on a gallon compared to Iron X too.


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Im doing a ceramic coating on my fiance's black Chrysler this weekend and im a bit confused on the steps taken prior to polish.....should I:

1. Wash and rinse
2. Apply 3M BDX for iron removal
3. Wash and rinse (again)
4. Clay

Or swap the positions of BDX and Clay in the steps?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[The Guz]

Im doing a ceramic coating on my fiance's black Chrysler this weekend and im a bit confused on the steps taken prior to polish.....should I:

1. Wash and rinse
2. Apply 3M BDX for iron removal
3. Wash and rinse (again)
4. Clay

Or swap the positions of BDX and Clay in the steps?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Iron before clay. You can use iron before or after the wash. It’s up to you depending on how dirty the paint is.