First Wash - 303 Graphene

[Don M]

First Wash - 303 Graphene


It's been just over a week since I applied the 303 to the Camaro and in that time, I've driven close to 900 miles, and while the front end collected A LOT of bugs, the rest of the car didn't seem to have collected much dust/dirt at all. So I guess it's safe to say that the 303 isn't a dust magnet and the bugs that hit the windshield, 'skipped off' rather than leave a big splat mark (yes, I coated the windshield too).


Since there was almost no dust/dirt to rinse off, I'll speak more on the bugs. Using the pressure of a garden hose (I don't have a pressure washer), I'd say that at least 90% of the guts/remains rinsed right off, with only the largest and most stubborn entrails remaining and those wiped right off with the wash mitt. No scrubbing at all.


Water beading and sheeting (during the pre-rinse) were excellent, I dare say a tick better than the Turtle Wax Flex Wax. During the wash (Meg's Hyper-Wash) the 303 strongly fought off the soap. I would wash a panel, and by the time I was done with that panel, the soapy water was sheeting off impressively. The rinse was no surprise, with the rinse, the water beading and sheeting came back strong. I didn't 'flood' rinse the car as I was fighting time against an oncoming storm, I just dried it and put it back in the garage in the nick of time...it's raining pretty good now.


I did take some beading pics after a heavy rinse and I thought they were impressive. I will be putting the 2nd and 3rd coat of 303 on the car tomorrow and I will follow up in this thread (3 coats total, because in a round about way in their literature, 303 recommends 3 coats).


Stay tuned:

[2black1s]

Funny that you say you hurried to get it back in the garage before the rain... I've actually done the opposite with my truck in the past.

My water is so bad (~500 TDS) that I have actually washed it in the rain and then allowed it to sit out in the rain for the rinse... Then dry it once the rain stopped.

[TTQ B4U]

Looks good. Love that is a driver too vs just an occasional use car. Glad it's working out.

Maybe later this summer we can meet up and Ceramic coat it. You will for sure enjoy the sheeting action then.

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[Don M]

Looks good. Love that is a driver too vs just an occasional use car. Glad it's working out.

Maybe later this summer we can meet up and Ceramic coat it. You will for sure enjoy the sheeting action then.

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It IS a driver...I've got almost 144,000 miles on it now. I got it just after Christmas, 2015 with 24,000 miles.

If we get to hook up this summer, it will be to do the wife's Escape... 1) She deserves to have her car get the best and 2) While I really don't mind doing her car, I HATE doing the roof on an SUV, ladder work and I don't get along LOL. It would be a nice surprise for her, she's always been asking me to do her cars, but I kind of ignored her Explorer - it was a HUGE SUV and rusty as hell, didn't want to risk getting rust and debris in my pads and towels. Now she has a nice car and I would love to Ceramic coat it, I just don't have the experience (or talent) to do a real Ceramic myself. She did ask me to use the best I had, and at the time, it was the TW Graphene Flex Wax-which is holding up decently after 3 weeks of heavy rains, but if I redo it, I will probably use the 303 Graphene which I'm starting to think is better than the TW (even though it isn't SLICK like everything else I've used in the past).

Thanks for the offer!!!

[Mike Phillips]

Nice detailed follow-up for the 303 Graphene Nano Spray Coating.

[Don M]

It's done. The Camaro now has 3 coats of 303 Graphene Nano Spray Coating on the finish.

For the 2nd coat, I tried it the way Mike did in his review on the orange beast - I applied it to the whole car (all glass included) and then buffed it off. Again application was stupid easy. One spray onto the microfiber applicator and you were good to cover an entire panel, or most of a large one. The hood, the largest single panel on the car took 3 sprays. and I was around the whole car in minutes...Here's the Con to using the 'apply to the whole car method,' If you LIKE the Old School Paste Wax fight to remove the haze, then this application method is for you. If however, you are like me and prefer the 'New Age' "Easy on, Easy off" of the modern sealants, apply to a panel (or 1/2 panel) at a time and buff it off BEFORE it fully hazes. It is MUCH easier and the sealant comes off MUCH 'cleaner,' meaning NO haze / smears / shadowing, just a perfect finish. THIS is how I applied coat #3.

As for the "feel" of this product, it might be a LITTLE slicker than the 1st coat, but if it is, it's not by much. BUT by the 3rd coat, the paint FELT SMOOTHER, like before and after a good compounding/polishing. Not slick, but smooooth, if you know what I mean.

Today is overcast, so no sun shots, BUT, it's on overcast days that I can really see how well a product removes-especially on my highly polished Camaro, which as I mentioned elsewhere, shows EVERY BIT of smearing, hazing and clouding. With the one panel at a time method, there is simply nothing but a clean, clear, perfect finish.

Another thing I noticed is that there is absolutely no cleaning ability with the 303, it is a pure sealant. What I mean is that on a freshly washed car, there is always water hiding somewhere waiting to drip out onto the paint and dry there leaving marks. Almost all cleaner waxes and many "sealants" (even a damp microfiber will remove these marks) will easily remove these 'fresh' water marks upon application. Not so the 303, when applied over one of these water marks, the mark TEMPORARILY disappears because the sealant is 'wet,' but as soon as you wipe off the residue, there the marks are, faint, but clear as day...even if you really rubbed the sealant in over those spots, like you would a cleaner wax, the 303 ain't taking them off.

That's all I can think of right now, here are the pics: