CarPro Essence Extreme shelf life accuracy

[acuRAS82]

Question for Essence and coating users. I have a large 1000ml bottle of Essence I’ve been using for 2 years. It’s from July 2018, therefore expiration date of July 2019.

I had heard from CarPro that 2 years isn’t unreasonable for an actual shelf life if kept indoors, tightly sealed, out of sun, etc. which I have.

So now I’m past 2 years, I used it a few weeks ago on the Acura and the consistency seemed fine, it applied normal. Cancoat is on top and seems to be OK except not beading it’s best but that could very well be because if the Cancoat age as well so I’m leaving that as no data learned.

Now I plan to apply CQ UK and have the difficult decision on whether to use Essence underneath and risk the coating life if Essence is somehow “expired”, not living out it’s true bonding and therefore longevity as a base primer. The safe move is to apply UK on bare paint which is what I’m leaning towards but I enjoy Essence for all of its good qualities and it’s expensive so if I knew it will still work as advertised I would certainly prefer it.

This leads to my questions:
Have any Essence Extreme users ever used it past 2 years from bottle date? If so, any issues with it not lasting like it should after application, such as the LSP dying out sooner?

Has anyone experienced the consistency changing, separating, etc which would make it clear that it is no good anymore?

Obviously with normal polishes if it shakes and mixes and smells fine, it should be fine. Even though Essence is doing all these things like normal, how can I tell if it is no longer beneficial to use?

I know there may not be a solid answer but wanted to ask the question in case something useful can be learned.

Thanks in advance!

[The Guz]

It’s fine to use. CarPro just puts it on there due to some policy.

As long as it’s not clumpy it’s good to go.

[acuRAS82]

It’s fine to use. CarPro just puts it on there due to some policy.

As long as it’s not clumpy it’s good to go.

Thanks Guz! Any opinion/preference on whether to put the UK you so graciously provided me on top of Essence versus bare paint?

Once you give me your thoughts you can come over and apply it for me too since to this point you’ve done every part of my first full paint coating experience.

[Bruno Soares]

Normally I ignore the expiration date on CarPro products but Essence, because it had SiO2 in it, I think it might slowly cure in the bottle once opened and could very well expire. If I’m going though all the trouble and will coat a car I don’t want the primer to jeopardize the life of that coating. I think I’d be ok with using it up until 1.5 or maybe 2 years from opening but perhaps not more than that.

I had no adverse experience, just saying what I think based on logic and not facts

[The Guz]

Thanks Guz! Any opinion/preference on whether to put the UK you so graciously provided me on top of Essence versus bare paint?

Once you give me your thoughts you can come over and apply it for me too since to this point you’ve done every part of my first full paint coating experience.

Give it a shot with UK. Seems to give the coating a little better performance over Essence than bare paint.

For best results from my experience, use Essence, wipe it off and let it sit overnight. Come back the next day with a light eraser wipe and coat away.

I’ll come over and show you how to do it on one spot. From there you are in you’re own. I’ll be there for moral support

[acuRAS82]

Give it a shot with UK. Seems to give the coating a little better performance over Essence than bare paint.

For best results from my experience, use Essence, wipe it off and let it sit overnight. Come back the next day with a light eraser wipe and coat away.

I’ll come over and show you how to do it on one spot. From there you are in you’re own. I’ll be there for moral support

Lol, I’ll appreciate the moral support.

No prob letting Essence sit. I don’t have Eraser but I have:
- Kleen Strip Prep-All (love it but might be too strong and harm Essence?)
- Wolfgang Perfekt Pain Prep (seems to leave behind residue when heavy wiping in my experience, but a light wipe on Essence might be fine)
- Feynlab Pure Rinseless 1 or 2:128 dilution)
- N-914 (1:8 prep dilution)

Other than Prep-All maybe being too strong, I would imagine any of these would be OK for the light Essence wipe before UK.

[The Guz]

Kleen Strip is probably too strong. I have not used Wolfgang's prep spray. That would be ok to use. I have N914 but never used it as a prep wipe. I imagine it would be ok to use as well.

[acuRAS82]

Kleen Strip is probably too strong. I have not used Wolfgang's prep spray. That would be ok to use. I have N914 but never used it as a prep wipe. I imagine it would be ok to use as well.

Thanks again Guz. I’ll use one of the choices that is not Prep-All, the other 3 are sold as prep sprays (at one dilution or another) and for a quick wipe I’m sure they can do what is needed.

I’m beyond excited to start the coating. I’m still finishing correction and then prep, then Essence prep, then spray prep... all whenever I can around work and parenting, but hopefully will be coating Monday night or sooner.

[WillSports3]

The reason for expiration date is because Korea requires everything produced for export to have an expiration date.
I've used 3 year old Essence (I don't use it too much normally, only when I coat with Cquartz UK.) However, my advice would be to give it a good solid shake for a while before you use it to make sure everything mixes up again.

[pgeorgan]

The reason for expiration date is because Korea requires everything produced for export to have an expiration date.
I've used 3 year old Essence (I don't use it too much normally, only when I coat with Cquartz UK.) However, my advice would be to give it a good solid shake for a while before you use it to make sure everything mixes up again.

Interesting.

Nevertheless, there are some CarPro products that will definitely expire...