In reference to this.....
"b) Both 22PLE and Blackfire have to be watched like a hawk when they are flashing. If you miss a spot, be prepared to repolish and reapply. In my applications, I went very slowly and found I needed at least 2 hours to apply and buff off. Was pretty painful. "
When is the best time to apply a BF coating?
I now have FK1000..to try.
Do you guys feel applying a coating can be a task I don't want to take on?
I plan on trying the BF kit when it gets cooler in NJ.
Or should I trade it?
I don't want to have to polish out the car if there's a possibility of something going wrong.
First to answer your questions: coating is a task for sure; it is definitely doable but what do you want to accomplish. It is not worth it if shine is all you are after. If durability, BF was pretty easy as well as 22ple but you need to go slow and watch carefully. If something goes wrong you will need to repolish. See this excellent thread for a disaster.
Blackfire Crystal Coating - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
I am rethinking my conclusions as to coatings (but still not 100 percent sure) since although still protecting, BF lost its shine after one week (sigh).
What i really appreciate about this thread is the overall (if I would be so bold to suggest) summary and conclusions (boxingfan30 to add of course) :
a) Two camps - one is the durability camp and the other (obviously) the gloss, reflectivity, shine camp.
b) For durability - most (if not all) coatings, assuming adequate maintenance, should last a year at least
c) For gloss, shine, etc - most (if not all) coatings, don't provide (and possibility not as much) more gloss/shine than a really good LSP, be it Zaino, BF, Pinnacle, etc. There are so many great sealants it just depends on the user. My preference has been Zaino as at least 22PLE and BF Crystal Coat did not look as good. I am addicted to the reflective ripples on my lexus black paint and while coatings look like a mirror, after multiple coats of Zaino the paint looks like a small pond with a rock thrown in the middle. I am hoping that eventually I can get a sealant or coating that does this in one application but not sure that is possible.
So at least my first conclusion is you first decide on what you want - durability or shine - then decide on the product.
My second conclusion is: coatings are hard. Flashing issues, high spots, applicators, topping issues, etc I am still confused on what to do. Let's take 22ple first. I think I did a really good job applying it but it wasn't slick; in fact it was sticky. So I bought 22ple vs1 and applied it a week after - well there went a small section on my hood. The second i applied it, the whole area completely smeared and ruined a large portion of the hood. I was pretty upset but nothing I can do, so now I have a smearing looking hood until March of next year. BF Crystal Coat - no idea. I studied the thread carefully on AGO, and you get different answers - the best was to apply BF instant detailer and it did nothing. I think Pinnacle BL maybe the way to go - it has toppers, wash etc and at least this way you buy a line and work with products as intended.
My final conclusion, as a lot of us know, is that doing detailing is quite enjoyable since you get instant results and it actually is a good workout so doing something beyond a rinseless every week or every other week is a reason to go to a sealant. Zaino figured this out long ago (ie the difference between 5 layers and 50 layers is probably nill but we know guys who do 50). Duragloss is similar so I may try that line next year. I am really looking for a coating that has the look of Zaino that can be topped to bring the 98 percent to 99.9 shine. Any product suggestions welcome and I thank boxingfan30 for keeping this thread on track and helping me figure out what to do for next year.
