Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating
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Ceramic coatings have reached the Tipping Point, for any of you that have read the classic book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, you now what I'm talking about. That is, ceramic coatings have gone mainstream.
While your dad and your grandpa know this to be the product you use to protect your car's paint,
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The masses have finally caught up with pro detailers and serious car detailing enthusiasts, and now understand today's car wax comes in small glass vials.
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And the clear, thin liquid inside these small glass vials easily out protects and outlasts traditional car waxes and synthetic paint sealants.
The key difference between ceramic paint coatings and the other two categories of paint protection products, car waxes and synthetic paint sealants, is the prep work you must perform to the paint in order for the ceramic coating to form a proper bond to the paint surface. If you do not do the paint prep steps correctly all your time, money and efforts are simply nullified to a form of exercise. In this article, I will go over the proper steps to correct and prep your car's paint for the application of a ceramic paint coating.
Coating Lingo
First - Let's talk about the new lingo that has evolved with ceramic paint coatings. Below are some traditional words used when talking about "waxing a car" and their new replacements when talking about "coating a car".
We use say compounding and polishing - now it's paint correction
We use to say applying a coat of wax, now it's installing a ceramic coating
We use to say wiping off a coat of wax, now it's giving the panel a final buff
We use to say, removing wax smears, now it's removing high spots
In reality, the action of doing any of the above for coatings is the same action when working with waxes, the only thing that has changed is the product and now the lingo. And when you start using the new lingo around the un-initiated, they are going to look at you as though you are from Mars!
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Can you dig it?
Technical Information
- 9H+ hardness that is graded to last up to 2 years.
- Easy application
- Fast flash time
- Easy wipe-off
- Super high gloss
- Maximum clarity
- Incredible deep, wet shine
- Solvent and fluorine free formula
From the BLACKFIRE PRO CERAMIC Store Page
Perfect for the professional or the enthusiast!
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating bridges the gap between entry level commercial ceramic coatings and professional-only industrial ceramic coatings, allowing everyone to achieve an extraordinary mirror-like shine! BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating was designed using a solvent and fluorine free formula to maximize its user-safety and ensure that it can be applied anywhere, even in enclosed environments. The thermoplastic component contained in the formula for BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating creates a flexible, cross-linked matrix that provides 9H+ hardness that is graded to last up to 2 years. The incredible structural integrity of this matrix makes BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating one of the most abrasion and corrosion resistant ceramic coatings on the market today!
My take on this Pro/Consumer Ceramic Coating
If you're new to ceramic coatings, the above is everything you want from a pro-grade ceramic coating. If you've tried a few ceramic coatings and they've left you with mixed feelings and/or mediocre results, then you're going to love BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating.
What - Who- Where - Why - When
What is it?
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating is a high performance ceramic coating for automotive paints.
Who is it for?
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating is formulated for the pro detailer who needs a quality coating that offers consistent results over a wide-spectrum of application environments. The fast flash time and easy wipe-off makes the BF Pro Ceramic Coating easy to use no matter what the temperature or humidity in your area. Drying time and sticky wipe-off are the most common problems with many ceramic coatings and this is mostly due to how the product dries and wipes off depending upon the temperature and humidity in the detailing environment. BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating flashes fast, within a 45 seconds to a minute, regardless of ambient temperature and humidity. Wipe-off is easy too as long as you're following directions and keeping your application area limited to the norm for all coating applications and that's a section no larger than 2' by 2'. Of course, for really hot areas you would want to work smaller areas due to the fast flash time.
Fast flash time is key to working fast. If a coating takes too long to flash, the waiting time adds up and increases the overall time to install a coating. So a fast flashing coating is desirable to decrease application time and increase profitability. The other part of flash time is wipe-off, if excess coating on the surface or high spots are difficult to wipe off this will increase the overall time to install a coating and just as bad, physically wear-you-out and it also increase the risk of marring the paint.
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating overcomes both the slow flash time and sticky wipe-off making this coating perfect for professionals that understand the time-factor involved with application and wipe-off as well as the fatigue factor associated with many coatings.
Where
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating is intended for use on automotive clearcoat paints.
Why use a ceramic coating?
Great question! Let me break it down into 2 answers, targeting two distinct groups.
Benefits for you customers
- Longer lasting protection – coatings won’t wear off like waxes and sealants.
- Helps prevent swirls, scratches and marring.
- Vehicles stay cleaner longer.
- Faster, easier and safer washing.
- Faster, easier and safer drying.
- Pride of ownership as you car will look showroom new longer.
Benefits to coatings
- Self-cleaning effect – vehicles stay cleaner longer.
- Dirt and road-film resistance – exterior is less prone to staining.
- Maintains factory finish which maintains resale or trade-in value.
- Creates a glassy look, more gloss than waxes and sealants.
- Dramatically outlasts both car waxes and synthetic sealants.
Benefits to your business --> Profitability
Coatings may be the highest profit margin activity in the business
Example
Paint Prep with = 30 minutes.
Coating install = 1 to 2 hours depending upon the size of the vehicle.
Total Time = 2.5 Hours.
Average Retail Price = $600.00
That's approximately $200.00 per hour. Where else in car detailing business are you making $200.00 per Hour?
When?
The best time to apply a ceramic paint coating is when a car is brand new, before any damage has occurred, (swirls and scratches are damage), and before the paint gets a build-up of road film or water spots. If you detail cars professionally then your best bet for coating customers are people that have just purchased a brand new car, truck or suv. The paint is or at least should be in excellent condition, requiring the least amount of time and labor to correct, polish or clean before chemically stripping. At this time, the owner is most concerned about protecting their new [major] investment.
Review
This is a super easy to use ceramic paint coating. As long as you do what so many don't do and that is follow the directions. The biggest problem I see people experiencing with ceramic coatings includes,
1: Trying to coat too large an area at one time.
2: Overusing the coating and ending up with excess coating on the section being treated.
3: Struggling to wipe-off the excess coating --> see number 1 and 2 above.
If you can practice patience and only work a small section at a time, you find that by slowing down you will speed up. Applying ceramic coatings is really an example of how the Tortoise wins the race while the Rabbit tires himself out and loses the race. Coatings are NOT car waxes or synthetic sealants. With a wax or sealant, because they are so forgiving, you can apply to an entire vehicle at one time and then wipe-off at your leisure. Not so with coatings.
The BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating is brand new to the market and as such, the chemistry used is evolutionary from both a chemistry aspect but also a user interface. Coatings have been around for over 10 years now and as such, a lot of data and feedback has been collected to help the chemist modify the formula for easier application and removal. From the chemistry aspect, we all know new technology is being introduced faster than anyone can keep up with so that's the new norm.
Glassy not glossy
Besides easy application or installation and easy buff-off of the panel and any high spots, the results are just like you would expect and hope for and that is a very glassy looking finish. A few years ago I attached the term glassy to the appearance results from ceramic coatings. My experience was that a quality coating did more than make paint look glossy, it took gloss to a higher level and created a glassy appearance AND a glassy appearance that hold up over time.
Extended protection and extended visual results
The secondary benefit to a ceramic paint coating is its durability. Actually, for some of you, durability is the primary benefit and appearance is the secondary benefit. Either preference is acceptable, it comes down to what you look for most and probably in part, the kind of car you drive and how you view your car. Some people view their car as transportation and look for durability, other people view their car as an extension of their personality and their priority is a show car finish.
It's easy to create a high gloss finish using a quality wax or synthetic paint sealant but even after a few car washes, the initial gloss fall off or is diminished because the act of washing these types of protection also acts to wear them off. Not so with a ceramic paint coating. The bond between the coating and the paint is semi-permanent, this means as long as you don't wash your car with a brick, it's not going to wear off, at least it's not going to wear off using quality wash mitts and quality car wash products plus an intelligent wash approach, that is don't scrub your car's paint but gently move the mitt over a panel for a few passes then then STOP and rinse.
If you're new to ceramic coatings or if you're not committed to your current ceramic coating, then give the BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating a test drive. Be sure to get the BLACKFIRE Paint Prep to correctly and properly prep the paint before application of the coating as well as a good supply of high quality prep towels and final buff towels.
This is the glassy look!
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:)
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Continued.....
Order of steps to properly apply a coating
Step 1: Wash and dry vehicle to remove loose dirt.
Step 2: Inspect paint for above surface bonded contaminants and if discovered, remove using detailing clay or some other mechanical tool for removing bonded contaminants. (Bonded contaminants are things like overspray paint, industrial fallout, etc.,)
Step 3: Inspect paint for below surface defects like swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation, if discovered remove these below surface defects by correcting the paint.
Step 4: Chemically strip the paint to remove any residual polishing oils or other substances left on the paint by the correction step. The paint must be completely free from any substance that could hinder or prevent the proper bonding of the coating to the paint.
Step 5: Install the ceramic paint coating. Follow manufacturers directions for application size, pattern of application, waiting time before giving the panel a final buff.
Step 6: Inspect paint for high spots and if discovered, immediately buff off using a clean, soft microfiber towel.
The key difference between installing a ceramic paint coating and the traditional method of applying a coat of wax or applying a synthetic paint sealant, is step 4 where you chemically strip the paint. With traditional car waxes and synthetic paint sealants you immediately apply these two categories of product after wiping off any compounding or polishing residues.
The important aspect of chemically stripping the paint is to do it in such a way as to not mar or scratch the paint in the process. Prep products that are formulated to chemically strip paint will contain some form of paint-friendly solvent that is strong enough to dissolve polishing oils left on the paint by compounds and polishes are not also great lubricants. So secret to successfully chemically stripping scratch-sensitive clearcoats paint is to have a dedicated collection of un-contaminated very soft microfiber towels.
Visual Inspection
One of the best ways to visually inspect the paint on a car is to use bright, overhead sunlight around noon so that it is shining down directly onto the horizontal panels of a car. Then stand in a way that the sunlight is reflection off the paint and towards your eyes. Hee's an article specific to where to stand when inspecting for swirls.
How to inspect paint for swirls using overhead sunlight
Here's my buddy Brian's 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster. This car has a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint system just like the Ford or Honda in your garage or driveway. We're going to apply the BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Paint Coating to the paint to not only protect the paint to create a super high gloss finish that all of Brian's buddies will be jealous over. :)
In this picture I'm standing behind the car about 5 or 6 feet away and the sun is up high and over to my left in the sky. You can see the sunlight shining down on the back of the Highboy.
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Now I zoom in with my camera and now you can really see the swirls and that one random straight scratch running up and down in the paint.
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In this shot, I'm now standing just to the side of the passenger door and the sun is high overhead and shining down directly on the top portion of the trunk lid.
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Again, you can clearly see both swirls, (circular looking scratches), and a distinct straight line scratch in the paint.
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Now I'm standing at the front of the car and looking down on the top of the hood of the car.
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Here you can see swirls and multiple straight line scratches...
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What to do if you don't have bright sunlight?
Some times you don't have bright overhead sunlight, for example maybe it's winter time? Maybe it's simply cloudy outside. Perhaps your a professional detailer and assuming you're starting in the morning so by the time the sun is high overhead you've already washed and corrected the paint, thus there's no reason to move the car back outside and even if you did there wouldn't be anything to see by using the sun. This is where a swirl finder light comes in handy. There are zillions of LED flashlights on the market that people call swirl finder lights and they work and it's all about what works for you and your budget.
The SCANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light
SCANGRIP is the manufacturer of specialty lights for the automotive industry, my favorite for a multitude of job duties is the the SCANGRIP Sunmatch swirl finder light. I'll include a link to all my articles on how I use this light below.
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On the hood, I found what looks like some heavy scouring to the paint. I have know idea how this happened but we will do our best to remove these scratches.
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Here I've moved the SCANGRIP light over to the left just a little to fully light-up the scouring scratches.
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Lighting up the cowl with the SCANGRIP Sunmatch
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Lighting up the door with the SCANGRIP Sunmatch
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Lighting up the body behind the door using the SCANGRIP Sunmatch
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Lighting up the radiator shroud using the SCANGRIP Sunmatch
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Both methods of inspecting the paint work, overhead sunlight and a quality swirl finder light. The important thing is to have enough light to correctly diagnose the surface condition of the paint so you will know what needs to be done in order to correct the paint to prep it for a coating.
Here's the link to my SCANGRIP articles.
All my SCANGRIP Swirl Finder Light articles in one place - Mike Phillips
:)
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Continued.....
Car Washing
To clean this old 2-door Ford, we did a waterless wash. A waterless wash is an alternative to a traditional wash only instead of using running water and a bucket with a wash mitt, you spray down a heavy saturation of a quality waterless wash and then wipe each panel using lots of clean, soft microfiber towels. For more information on how to use a waterless wash click this link.
Mechanical Decontamination
Next we did the baggie test and found the paint to be lightly contaminated so we clayed the paint to remove the contaminants. If you're not sure how to do the baggie test (or why), or how to use detailing clay, then watch this video link
Test Spot
After getting the paint clean from any loose dirt and dust and then removing the bonded contaminants, the next thing to do is to called a Test Spot. A test spot is where you test a few products and pads to find out what is needed to effectlveyl remove all the below surface defects like swirls and scratches and leave a like-new finish.
Test the least aggressive product to get the job done
Below is my good friend and alumni student of our 3-day car detailing classes here at Autogeek, Frank or FrankS on this forum. Frank started the test spot in the correct way by testing a Lake Country Force Hybrid foam polishing pad with the BLACKFIRE Polish. While this combo removed most of the swirls and scratches the deeper swirls and scratches remained.
Because we're looking for 99.9% defect removal, (it is kind of a show car), next Frank tested a Lake Country Force Hybrid foam cutting pad with the BLACKFIRE Compound. This is what you see him using on the cowl with the FLEX 3401 8mm gear-driven orbital polisher. This combo did the trick, it removed 99.9% of the defects in the paint so this is the combo we used for the first step. After using this combo for the first step, we followed it with the polishing pad and the BLACKFIRE Polish to remove any haze from the aggressive first step and maximize the gloss and clarity.
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To show the level of defect removal, we placed a strip of painter's tape down the middle of the radiator cowl and then buffed on one side.
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Here's the before side
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Here you can see where the tape-line was placed...
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Here's the results of both compounding and then polishing...
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So important...
If you're new to paint correction, it's vitally important to do a complete test spot and make 100% sure of your process before buffing out the entire car. You want to PROVE your system or process works to one small area BEFORE buffing out the entire car.
Continued....
After dialing in and proving our approach to correcting the paint we tag-teamed the major panels using the FLEX 3401 and the BLACKFIRE Compound & Polish.
Tackling the small panels and tight areas
Because the owner attends a lot of the local car shows and cruise-ins, we also wanted to polish out the thin panels and tight areas that get a lot of looks due to the exposed engine. To tackle these areas we used the Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher with the same compound and polish but with small, thin pads by Lake Country called ThinPro pads.
That's me compounding the side of the radiator shroud....
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Now the frame rails...
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Here's Frank compounding these same areas on the passenger side of the Highboy...
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How many pads does it take to correct paint?
Anytime I buff out a car I stack up all the pads I used to show people that you need more than ONE pad to buff out a car. As you work around a car your buffing pads become wet from re-application of the compound or polish. Wet pads loose their cutting and/or polishing abilty, so you want and NEED to switch to a clean, dry pad often. Keep this in mind when getting into machine polishing. Most kits come with a STARTER collection of pads, that is a few pads to get you started, you need to order MORE PADS in order to actually buff out an entire car. A good rule-of-thumb is one pad per panel for the compounding step. A panel = a fender, or a panel equals a door, so count up how many panels your car has and order your pads accordingly. Because the compounding step requires the most time and intense buffing work you really need clean fresh cutting pads for this step. When you move onto the polishing step, you don't need to buff as long, make as many section passes or use as much intensity when pressing the buffer against the paint, so you don't need as many pads. You can easily use one pad for two panels.
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Compounding results
Here are the results after JUST compounding. Looks pretty good under the lights huh?
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Some areas had compounding haze and this is usually cased by the aggressiveness of the foam cutting pad.
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Compounding haze is normal and when using a high quality compound it can be a sing of soft paint. It's normal and not a problem as the polishing step will remove the compounding haze. The important thing to know and understand is that course foam pads can and will leave some minor haze behind in the process of removing the deeper swirls and scratches. Simply move onto the next step and the paint will look great.
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:)
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Continued....
The polishing step
When correcting the paint, it's usually a 2-step process depending upon how deep the swirls and scratches are and how hard or soft the paint is. These are uknown variables that you can really only know after doing the test spot. In our test spot we found we needed to compound first with a foam cutting pad to get the desired results for defect removal.
Now we're ready to move onto the polishing step. We're using the same tool but we've switched over to softer pads and a less aggressive pad.
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Here's the trunk lid completely polished.
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Here I've wiped off a small section of polish to show the results...
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As you can see, all the compounding haze has been completely removed.
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This is the SCANGRIP Sunmatch swirl finder light shining down on the same section and even with this powerful light the paint still looks defect and haze-free.
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And the hood after polishing...
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:)
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Continued....
Prepping the paint for a ceramic coating
When we talk about prepping the paint for a coating, besides the paint correction step, we need to chemically strip the paint to remove any residual oils left on the surface after any compounding and polishing steps.
BLACKFIRE Paint Prep
This is a paint-friendly solvent that will enable you to remove polishing oils, fillers and any other substance left on the surface after compounding and polishing.
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BLACKFIRE Paint Prep - Comes in 32 ounce bottles, one of the best values for you money when it comes to chemically stripping your car's paint for a ceramic coating.
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Lots of clean, soft microfiber towels. I've tried a lot of microfiber towels and I find the best towels are towels with a flat weave design.
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Techniques for chemically stripping paint
As I've used ceramic coatings I've had to come up with a simple technique that I felt would be both effective, that is I could trust had removed all the polishing oils and other substances so the coating could form a proper bond but also EASY so that anyone with any reasonable level of skill could duplicate and this is where I cam up with,
The Wet Pass and Insurance Wipe 2-Step Chemical Stripping Technique
The Wet Pass
The wet pass is the first time you go around the car and wipe it down panel by panel. For this first pass you want to use plenty of the BLACKFIRE Paint Prep to ensure 99.9% of any oils residues are removed.
Start by spraying a heavy saturation of the Paint Prep directly onto the paint.
Spray enough Paint Prep onto the surface that you can actually see beads of product pile up on the surface.
You should spray enough that the product almost starts to run off the paint but not so much that it is running off the paint as this will just waste product.
Next using plenty of clean, dry microfiber towels, wipe off the Paint Prep and turn to a clean side of your towel often to avoid any potential cross-contamination.
The Insurance Pass
For the second wipe or the Insurance Pass, simply MIST some Paint Prep onto a clean, folded microfiber towel and use this slightly damped side of the towel to re-wipe a panel. After wiping one panel, flip or fold to a clean side and repeat until you've made this second pass to the entire vehicle.
NOTE: For the Insurance Pass, don't spray Paint Prep directly onto a body panel, you'll get overspray mist onto panels you've already wiped down.
:)
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Continued....
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating
This is a 50ml bottle that you can easily coat 2-3 passenger cars.
Note the protective nitrile gloves. While this is a solvent and fluorine free formula you still want to wear gloves when applying coatings.
How to install the BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating
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Step 1: Wrap the BLACKFIRE Microfiber Suede Patch around the BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating Applicator Block and then pour a strip of coating down the center of the microfiber suede patch.
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If you look closely, you can see a strip of the coating down the center of the microfiber suede patch on the applicator block.
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Step 2: Apply the coating to small section of paint at a time. Because car body panels come in all shapes and sizes I like to use natural body lines and edges where panels start and stop to divide larger panels into smaller sections. For the hood on the 1932 Ford Highboy, I'm applying to only one half of the hood at a time. After applying and give this half of the hood the final buff and then inspecting for high spots, I'll move to the other side of the car and install the coating to the other side of the hood.
Direction to apply the coating
Apply the coating in two directions, using a cross-hatch pattern. This means move the applicator from side-to-side using overlapping passes until you have covered the section of paint you're coating and then move the applicator front-to-back using overlapping passes until you have covered the section of paint you are coating.
Hand speed
Use a brisk hand speed and you'll find the coating spreads and applies easier than a slow hand speed.
Pressure
Use light pressure, only enough to keep the face of the applicator block flat to the surface.
Watch the application of the coating
As you're installing the coating, use your eyes and surrounding light to watch the coating as its being spread over the surface. Because the coating is clear, you need to look closely to ensure that you are in fact laying down a thin film of product. If you do not see a thin film of liquid being spread over the surface, apply more coating to the applicator. While you do not need or want to overuse the product, at the same time you do need a film of product to coat over the surface. You will notice that at the end of a stroke you'll see excess coating pile up on the paint, re-gather this with your applicator pad and continue to spread it over the surface. As a general rule of thumb, you want to make 3 passes in each of the two directions over a section of paint.
Disappearing coating
Ideally, you will find the sweet spot of how much coating to apply to spread over a section of paint and that after a few passes in a crosshatch pattern you see the coating film actually disappear into the paint.
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Apply using a cross-hatch pattern, that is apply side-to-side and then front-to-back.
This is a crosshatch pattern
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High Spot
Here you can see a high spot
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Here's Frank gently wiping off the high spot using a clean, soft microfiber towel.
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With a soft wipe the high spot is removed and the results are a crystal clear glassy looking finish.
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:)
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Great write up Mike. Frank and yourself did a great job. The coating looks pretty straight forward to use.
Re: Review & How-to: BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Guz
Great write up Mike. Frank and yourself did a great job.
For an Engineer, Frank is a very good deailer! :dblthumb2:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Guz
The coating looks pretty straight forward to use.
Easy to apply, easy to wipe off. No foul smell either.
Here's a video about the new coating - remember this won't show up if you're using the broken Bill Gates Microsoft Internet Explorer so switch over to any other browser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3BQlyGqxW0
:)
