televascular said:
I read somewhere that even five layers of KSG (applied within a short period) only lasted about as long as one layer. Since it's going to hit the 7-month mark when the snow starts, I wanted to start over from the clearcoat and build another five layers to last another half-year or so.
Is this not necessary? Can five coats of KSG noticeably last longer than one layer? And does claybarring really negate a layer of KSG?
*In my experience* multiple layers of KSG last a lot longer than one, and more last longer than fewer. I've experimented with this on adjacent panels and the difference was striking. Note that I redo my KSG when it starts to sheet as opposed to bead and thus I consider it "dead" long before it really is- and six layers last a long, long time for me (still beading after over a year, with no QDing or other extraneous variables, the one time I really studied it) while one layer lasts a bit longer than a month and a half. This is on the minivan which gets used regularly in all sorts of weather. This durability-when-layered is the only reason I use KSG. Multiple layers even last for months on end on my wheels, and some of our vehicles produce nasty brake dust. One layer hardly lasts any time at all on said wheels.
Note that I always allow for at leat 24 hours between applications and I generally don't use the W-O-W-O method except on black plastic trim.
I wash with Griot's Car Wash, which does not appear to have any stripping effect on KSG.
I've also experimented rather extensively with the Sonus green clay, using it to intentionally cut through various LSPs to see how easy/difficult it is. A proper/gentle claying with the Sonus green clay will absolutely *not* cut through a healthy layer of KSG. You can still feel the KSG on the surface, it still beads and looks the same...the ultra-fine clay simply doesn't take it off unless you clay so aggressively that IMO you're claying incorrectly.
I understand if you don't want to trust some semi-anonymous poster on the internet (i.e., me

) and erring on the side of caution won't hurt anything except your free time, but if I thought my minivan could benefit from anything other than a gentle claying with the Sonus green and another coat of KSG, I'd do it. It doesn't need anything more than that so that's all I'm gonna do until it picks up some marring that I have to polish out. I haven't AIOed it for over a year and there's no need to do it now. But your situation and the condition of your vehicle might be different.
As for reapplying KSG without claying, I've never clayed (after a few months and before the reapplication) without the clay picking up *some* kind of contamination that would've otherwise been trapped under the KSG. Sealing in contamination doesn't make for the best appearance
Gee

the above kinda bordered on a rant, huh?