Rob Tomlin
Lotus Exige S
Dunbar42 said:
It definitely gets better in the looks department with continued use!
Another "FK1 425 Rocks" thread.
- Thread starter SuperBee364
- Start date
It definitely gets better in the looks department with continued use!
Thought I would post my thoughts on the stuff.
I received my gallon Friday and used it on two cars this weekend (Dark Blue Truck and my Black Integra).
My previous detailer was Meguiars Last Touch so I'll compare to it.
Anti-Static:
FK1 425 didn't really do much for the dust accumulation, though we are in the height of pollen season here. There was probably a little less dust than normal but after an hour or two in the garage, there was still pollen all over the car. Maybe a hair less than Last Touch, but not much difference to my eyes. Same went for the truck I did this weekend which I was told was covered in pollen a couple hours after dropping it off. I'm sure the stuff isn't suppossed to be a miracle worker during strong pollen season so I'll re-assess this part when the pollen passes.
Slickness:
Very, very slick stuff. Last weekend I did M21 and AW 12 hours later which is a crazy slick combo. After my wash I wiped a panel down with 425 and it was noticably slicker than the non QD'd side. Compare this to LT which improved gloss some but did little for slickness. From a back of the hand/fingers test it's probably close to twice as slick as the non-QD'd section.
Gloss:
Very impressive. I wiped down the fender and a little got on part of the door. Sprayed and wiped off and there was a BIG noticable difference in gloss between the section I did and where I hadn't done yet. The portion that got on the door showed as that part had much more gloss than the rest of the door. Overall gloss was really nice and seemed to help improve and work with the looks of my LSP combo rather than overpower it. Compared to Last Touch which helped with gloss a little, but not a noticable side-by-side difference while applying the QD.
Ease of Use:
Pretty easy with little to none streaking. I'd spray a section, wipe with MF, flip MF and wipe one light final pass. Using this method it went on streak free even when the MF started to get a little wet from the QD. Last Touch had a little bit more streaking issue, but was also fairly easy to use. 425 is a little better in this area in my opinion. Regarding this section, Turtle Wax Platinum Ultra Gloss QD is the easiest stuff I've ever applied. You don't even have to flip the MF after wiping it off and gloss isn't bad either. (just thought I'd throw that one in there).
Overall:
I purchased this stuff over another gallon of Last Touch for the sole reason of the anti-static properties. Those anti-static properties left me pretty dissapointed. That said, I'm very happy I went with 425 instead of the Last Touch again. Gloss is much better, slickness is like none other, and ease of use equal or better than Last Touch. Anti Static is not worse and a little better than Last Touch but even with that part failing my high expectations, the other features wowed me more than expected. Oh and price.....425 is only like $5/gallon more than Last Touch. I got my gallon directly from FK1's website and it was 27 plus 5 buck shipping.
I received my gallon Friday and used it on two cars this weekend (Dark Blue Truck and my Black Integra).
My previous detailer was Meguiars Last Touch so I'll compare to it.
Anti-Static:
FK1 425 didn't really do much for the dust accumulation, though we are in the height of pollen season here. There was probably a little less dust than normal but after an hour or two in the garage, there was still pollen all over the car. Maybe a hair less than Last Touch, but not much difference to my eyes. Same went for the truck I did this weekend which I was told was covered in pollen a couple hours after dropping it off. I'm sure the stuff isn't suppossed to be a miracle worker during strong pollen season so I'll re-assess this part when the pollen passes.
Slickness:
Very, very slick stuff. Last weekend I did M21 and AW 12 hours later which is a crazy slick combo. After my wash I wiped a panel down with 425 and it was noticably slicker than the non QD'd side. Compare this to LT which improved gloss some but did little for slickness. From a back of the hand/fingers test it's probably close to twice as slick as the non-QD'd section.
Gloss:
Very impressive. I wiped down the fender and a little got on part of the door. Sprayed and wiped off and there was a BIG noticable difference in gloss between the section I did and where I hadn't done yet. The portion that got on the door showed as that part had much more gloss than the rest of the door. Overall gloss was really nice and seemed to help improve and work with the looks of my LSP combo rather than overpower it. Compared to Last Touch which helped with gloss a little, but not a noticable side-by-side difference while applying the QD.
Ease of Use:
Pretty easy with little to none streaking. I'd spray a section, wipe with MF, flip MF and wipe one light final pass. Using this method it went on streak free even when the MF started to get a little wet from the QD. Last Touch had a little bit more streaking issue, but was also fairly easy to use. 425 is a little better in this area in my opinion. Regarding this section, Turtle Wax Platinum Ultra Gloss QD is the easiest stuff I've ever applied. You don't even have to flip the MF after wiping it off and gloss isn't bad either. (just thought I'd throw that one in there).
Overall:
I purchased this stuff over another gallon of Last Touch for the sole reason of the anti-static properties. Those anti-static properties left me pretty dissapointed. That said, I'm very happy I went with 425 instead of the Last Touch again. Gloss is much better, slickness is like none other, and ease of use equal or better than Last Touch. Anti Static is not worse and a little better than Last Touch but even with that part failing my high expectations, the other features wowed me more than expected. Oh and price.....425 is only like $5/gallon more than Last Touch. I got my gallon directly from FK1's website and it was 27 plus 5 buck shipping.
SuperBee364
New member
Unfortunately, the stuff that is in the air and subsequently falls on to something isn't going to be repelled by 425. Alot of dust that would have missed your car will get sucked onto it by static electricity. After treating the surface with 425, it no longer sucks dust over to it. But stuff still falls from the air, and if your car is under it, it's still gonna land there.
If your air is loaded with pollen, it's gonna get on your car no matter what.
In my relatively dust-free garage, my car would look like it had sat for weeks in a few short days because of the dust attractive qualities of my carnauba LSP's. Now if it sits in the garage, it has nothing more than just the normal amount of dust on it (which ends up being a huge difference).
Great write up, CleanGSR... The only thing I don't like about 425 is the spray head they use. It's still hard to beat the Maguiars maroon bottle QD spray head.
If your air is loaded with pollen, it's gonna get on your car no matter what.
In my relatively dust-free garage, my car would look like it had sat for weeks in a few short days because of the dust attractive qualities of my carnauba LSP's. Now if it sits in the garage, it has nothing more than just the normal amount of dust on it (which ends up being a huge difference).
Great write up, CleanGSR... The only thing I don't like about 425 is the spray head they use. It's still hard to beat the Maguiars maroon bottle QD spray head.
Rob Tomlin
Lotus Exige S
CleanGSR said:
Great review!
The most important aspect of any QD is how much improvement it makes to the paint (gloss, wetness, depth etc.).
I've never used a QD that helped in this area as much as FK1 425.
It does have anti-static properties for sure, but so do other QD's, so this, alone, isn't the main reason to use 425. It's the looks!
And pollen sucks.
Rob Tomlin
Lotus Exige S
SuperBee364 said:
I never ordered the spray bottle as I started off with the gallon size. I use an empty bottle of Z6 (the irony)!
MDRX8 said:
Well, it didn't really change the look of my paint regarding the gloss, it just enhanced it. It basically took the "type" of gloss that I already had and kind of magnified it. My car with M21 + AW looks really wet...dripping wet and dark (both m21 and AW darken IME). It's not an overly reflective nor deep combo. Adding 425 after the wash gave it a wetter glossy look just enhancing what was there. It neither changed the depth, nor the reflectivity.
I'd be willing to bet that if I used it over a nuba like M26 that it wouldn't change the look much and maybe just enhance the depth/darkness of the paint (just a speculation tough).
To answer your question, yes I want a high gloss but not highly reflective look (opposite on lighter colors for my preference). I like the way a dark wet black looks over a mirrored black.
Rob Tomlin said:I never ordered the spray bottle as I started off with the gallon size. I use an empty bottle of Z6 (the irony)!
Likewise, I have spray bottles that I got from the ironing board section at walmart and it works great. I recycled a ONR QD bottle I had for the 425 and have another one for the Last Touch I have left.
Let us know what it does to the look of your carnuba based LSP. My favorite LSP on my car is M26 but I opt for M21 due to the dust issue.....I get much less dust accumulation from M21. If it doesn't alter the "nuba look" or not much, then this will open me up to using my M26 again and using 425 to help with the dust issue of M26.
Edit: I'll probably give this a shot anyway next time I re-wax, but would still like to hear your experiences.
Edit: I'll probably give this a shot anyway next time I re-wax, but would still like to hear your experiences.
imported_Bence
New member
CleanGSR, as Bee stated it won't stop the settling dust. No QD can overpower gravity right? No QD has a miracle force field. Just basic physics. However, when a surface is charged with static electricity and pulls the dust to itself, well, that WILL be stopped with 425.
Yes, #26 is a big dust magnet, but 425 complements its look very favorably.
Yes, #26 is a big dust magnet, but 425 complements its look very favorably.
SuperBee364
New member
Bence said:
Same with Vintage in both respects.