Did pollen eat through Wolfgang Fuzion?

**ihaveacamaro** · 03-11-2013, 09:39 PM

Hey guys, some of you may remember this test I did Wolfgang Fuzion Review - Just Half A Test Episode 1 - YouTube with 1/2 hood with WG Fuzion and 1/2 with no LSP.

Well I went to clean this car (my gf's) after 3 weeks, no one else touched it, and guess what?

0, and I mean ZERO, beading or sheeting to be found on the hood.

Now before I applied the Fuzion, I had clayed and prepped the surface properly.

And I know through sheeting and beading video above that it was on there and working.

Fast forward 3 weeks, and with a huge layer of pollen on the car, when I washed no wax characteristics to be found. It was completely stripped.

This car is never garaged and in sunny Florida, but I've had plenty of LSPs last in this weather, so I don't think that's the issue.

Do you guys think it was from the pollen?

**CM8 6MT** · 03-11-2013, 09:44 PM

Wow, first bugs the size of birds and now acid burning pollen? Florida is hard core!!

On a serious note, how long exactly is Fuzion supposed to last? I dont think Pollen would have any impact as far as degrading your LSP.

**Klasse Act** · 03-11-2013, 09:50 PM

I applied Fuzion to my car before winter and its beading pretty good still. No stripping was done but rather a lot of layers, Fuzion just happened to be my LSP for the season. We had a mild Dec/Jan and got our butts kicked in February. I've run it through a touch-free a couple times along with a good "dancing strips" wash when the salt was caked on ( a good carwash, yes, they're out there), did that 3x's. I've also done about 3-4 rinseless washes, so that's my history of Fuzion since it being applied mid November last year.

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online

**FUNX650** · 03-12-2013, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by ihaveacamaro

Do you guys think it was from the pollen?

It's quite possible!

Originally Posted by TOGWT

Pollen[: Micro gametophytes - pollen grains]

"The sky is falling, the sky is falling" Chicken Little

The yellow fines to coarse powders you see in the air is made up of small sperm cells from blooming plants and are one of the most common allergy triggers. The pollen from trees are the main concern, vehicles get hit with pollen laced trees that include: oak, western red cedar, elm, birch, ash, hickory, polar, sycamore, maple, cypress and walnut (which also leaves an oily residue). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged.

Pollen must be strong to protect the male gametes on their journey. The outer wall of the pollen grain, called the exine, is composed of a very unusual substance called sporopollenin which is very tough. The inner layer is made of cellulose and is similar in construction to an ordinary plant cell wall; pollen will literally ‘wear’ away wax or polymer sealants.

Pollen isn't removed by air friction as you drive because it adheres to a surface with microscopic barbs that can attach to even a very slightly uneven surface, and adheres to a natural wax better than a synthetic polymer. As well as being allergic pollen is also very abrasive (due to its exine or barbs) and slightly acidic dust, especially when mixed with moisture and should therefore be removed from paint surfaces as soon as is practicable.

To remove heavy dust (do not use a California Duster as the pollen exine will cause surface marring) instead use Optimum No Rinse (ONR) a quick ‘wash’; formulated with surfactants to keep dirt in suspension, avoiding surface contact, it also provides surface lubrication, thereby avoiding surface marring. As soon as is practical, thoroughly rinse the vehicle with a hose and clean water to ensure all the pollen is removed.

No wax or polymer sealant can provide a permanent shield against: Micro gametophytes (pollen) Collinite 845 Insulator Wax is probably the most durable Carnauba wax product; but this may only provide enough of a barrier to enable it to be removed quickly before causing too much damage to the paint film surface

Information resource:
Wikipedia Dictionary - http://en.wikipedia.org/####/Pollens
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition - http://info.britannica.co.uk

Bob

**Setec Astronomy** · 03-12-2013, 06:23 AM

Pollen always seems brutal on LSP's. Some have postulated that it's very abrasive, although perhaps the same mechanism it uses to attach to plants when it gets where it's going causes it to attack the LSP.

**Setec Astronomy** · 03-12-2013, 06:48 AM

Or maybe this is the problem:

Global warming brings on more pollen - CNN.com

Of course, you don't really have to worry about that Roshan, in a few more years Florida will be underwater anyway...check out the new waterproof doors at Autogeek while you're at DetailFest!

**jpegs13** · 03-12-2013, 07:35 AM

Some pollen here in the north play havoc on LSP's. You may have found the south's equivalent. It can be quite abrasive and or acidic

**Joelotto** · 03-12-2013, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by ihaveacamaro

Hey guys, some of you may remember this test I did Wolfgang Fuzion Review - Just Half A Test Episode 1 - YouTube with 1/2 hood with WG Fuzion and 1/2 with no LSP.

Well I went to clean this car (my gf's) after 3 weeks, no one else touched it, and guess what?

0, and I mean ZERO, beading or sheeting to be found on the hood.

Now before I applied the Fuzion, I had clayed and prepped the surface properly.

And I know through sheeting and beading video above that it was on there and working.

Fast forward 3 weeks, and with a huge layer of pollen on the car, when I washed no wax characteristics to be found. It was completely stripped.

This car is never garaged and in sunny Florida, but I've had plenty of LSPs last in this weather, so I don't think that's the issue.

Do you guys think it was from the pollen?

This kind of reminds me of a post I read where someone's car didn't have beading or sheeting with opti coat after a short amount of time. Ended up the contamination didn't come off with a regular wash and required iron-x and everything was good to go afterwards. Maybe there is something you can use that won't strip the fusion off the car but remove any contaminates that are interfering with the sheeting and beading. I'm by no means an expert around here or even 1% but this could be possible right??????

**cartman57** · 03-12-2013, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by ihaveacamaro

Hey guys, some of you may remember this test I did Wolfgang Fuzion Review - Just Half A Test Episode 1 - YouTube with 1/2 hood with WG Fuzion and 1/2 with no LSP.

Well I went to clean this car (my gf's) after 3 weeks, no one else touched it, and guess what?

0, and I mean ZERO, beading or sheeting to be found on the hood.

Now before I applied the Fuzion, I had clayed and prepped the surface properly.

And I know through sheeting and beading video above that it was on there and working.

Fast forward 3 weeks, and with a huge layer of pollen on the car, when I washed no wax characteristics to be found. It was completely stripped.

This car is never garaged and in sunny Florida, but I've had plenty of LSPs last in this weather, so I don't think that's the issue.

Do you guys think it was from the pollen?

It's possibly still there, the pollen (very sticky stuff) has bonded to the surface but in a microscopic fashion causing the water not to sheet or bead away.

When our kids had allergies, the doctor had some photos of different kinds of pollen as seen with the eye but under a microscope they looked like spiked baseballs! This is what caused an alergic reaction with them.

Imagine making a snowball made up of thousands of snowflakes, the pollen we see is essentially the same thing.

Hope the Fuzion is still there! Keep us posted.

**ihaveacamaro** · 03-12-2013, 09:05 AM

Thank you all for the info, I do now think the pollen has eaten away at the Fuzion.

I ONR'd the car and the surface of the car feels very smooth and it really doesn't feel like it needs claying.

I guess I'll be taking more care of the gf's car in the future lol. C845 here we go!