Nth Degree
New member
I am often late to the game when it comes to new products. The “flavor of the month� is too often the dust collector on the shelf the following month. When I first heard about Black Pearl Tire Shine I was skeptical to say the least. The claims sounded much like so many other similar products that disappoint.
I was sent a sample to test. I am a harsh critic and thorough in my reviews. To answer the question right up front; Black Pearl is the real deal.
Black Pearl is no more difficult to apply than any other tire dressing. Preparing the tire is the important part and care should be taken to do this step right or the durability can be compromised. This step has been covered extensively in other reviews so I will spare the long description.
Tire cleaned using the included Omni Clean:
I applied one coat to just one half the tire.
At 5 weeks the Black Pearl began to appear to have faded slightly. Matthew Kelly, of Black Pearl, had stated that the shine can be restored by a quick cleaning. So I sprayed a little Omni Clean on it, gave a quick scrub with a gentle brush and rinsed. Most long lasting tire dressings have a tendency to be greasy/oily and attract and hold dirt. There is definitely a different feeling that can be noticed just by how the brush passes over. On bare rubber the bristles grab and drag. On the coating they passed as though over plastic. I decided to test the dirt attraction. On the right was the bare, just cleaned rubber. On the left was the Black Pearl side. Had I scrubbed a little more that might have come out completely clean but this was a satisfactory indicator that Black Pearl does not attract dirt. (Video include to confirm equality.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEdsMvfBBdE
Over two months in (9 weeks) this is how it is looking:
Looking the way it does at 2 months, 6 months is definitely a reasonable expectation.
One of the issues I anticipated with applying Black Pearl is getting into the tight groove adjacent to the wheel. I inquired about this to Matthew Kelly. He recommended using an old foam polishing pad cut into a wedge. Black Pearl can be easily wiped off painted surfaces with a damp towel when done promptly before it starts to dry.
The idea struck me to apply Black Pearl by airbrush. I again contact Matthew Kelly to inquire about this and how the product should be thinned, if necessary. He told me he was not aware of anyone applying by airbrush to tires but that no thinning should be necessary. I experimented a little and finally came up with the following:
The wheel was taped off and covered to prevent overspray. This is not entirely necessary. I have found it easier to simply use a flexible piece of plastic and holding it along the wheel lip. I simply did this to facilitate the demo.
On the left side I applied Black Pearl by airbrush. On the left I used the supplied roller. The lower was left with one coat while the top received a second coat using the respective methods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949wRl0ezio
In the sun:
One of the advantages of applying Black Pearl by airbrush is the ability to get a thicker layer in one shot rather than having to wait and apply a second coat via roller. As you will see as you scroll, the single coat applied by roller has the least amount of gloss. The single coat applied by airbrush is noticeably glossier. This could be adjusted with a little practice for lower gloss. The section with 2 coats by roller is slightly glossier than the one coat applied by airbrush, but they are darn close and would probably not be evident if not on the same tire. The highest gloss was the airbrushed 2 coats. I have included many photos to show this. The look in person is slightly different (more wet than shiny) than what appears on camera.
As you can see from the photos below, even though I had the tire up on a 2 X 4 I still did not get complete coverage at the bottom, which is why I included the above photos.
This vehicle doesn’t see a lot of miles and the tires are about due to be replaced so I’m not sure this will be a good test for the durability but I’ll report back anything significant if I can.
I was sent a sample to test. I am a harsh critic and thorough in my reviews. To answer the question right up front; Black Pearl is the real deal.
Black Pearl is no more difficult to apply than any other tire dressing. Preparing the tire is the important part and care should be taken to do this step right or the durability can be compromised. This step has been covered extensively in other reviews so I will spare the long description.
Tire cleaned using the included Omni Clean:
I applied one coat to just one half the tire.
At 5 weeks the Black Pearl began to appear to have faded slightly. Matthew Kelly, of Black Pearl, had stated that the shine can be restored by a quick cleaning. So I sprayed a little Omni Clean on it, gave a quick scrub with a gentle brush and rinsed. Most long lasting tire dressings have a tendency to be greasy/oily and attract and hold dirt. There is definitely a different feeling that can be noticed just by how the brush passes over. On bare rubber the bristles grab and drag. On the coating they passed as though over plastic. I decided to test the dirt attraction. On the right was the bare, just cleaned rubber. On the left was the Black Pearl side. Had I scrubbed a little more that might have come out completely clean but this was a satisfactory indicator that Black Pearl does not attract dirt. (Video include to confirm equality.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEdsMvfBBdE
Over two months in (9 weeks) this is how it is looking:
Looking the way it does at 2 months, 6 months is definitely a reasonable expectation.
One of the issues I anticipated with applying Black Pearl is getting into the tight groove adjacent to the wheel. I inquired about this to Matthew Kelly. He recommended using an old foam polishing pad cut into a wedge. Black Pearl can be easily wiped off painted surfaces with a damp towel when done promptly before it starts to dry.
The idea struck me to apply Black Pearl by airbrush. I again contact Matthew Kelly to inquire about this and how the product should be thinned, if necessary. He told me he was not aware of anyone applying by airbrush to tires but that no thinning should be necessary. I experimented a little and finally came up with the following:
The wheel was taped off and covered to prevent overspray. This is not entirely necessary. I have found it easier to simply use a flexible piece of plastic and holding it along the wheel lip. I simply did this to facilitate the demo.
On the left side I applied Black Pearl by airbrush. On the left I used the supplied roller. The lower was left with one coat while the top received a second coat using the respective methods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949wRl0ezio
In the sun:
One of the advantages of applying Black Pearl by airbrush is the ability to get a thicker layer in one shot rather than having to wait and apply a second coat via roller. As you will see as you scroll, the single coat applied by roller has the least amount of gloss. The single coat applied by airbrush is noticeably glossier. This could be adjusted with a little practice for lower gloss. The section with 2 coats by roller is slightly glossier than the one coat applied by airbrush, but they are darn close and would probably not be evident if not on the same tire. The highest gloss was the airbrushed 2 coats. I have included many photos to show this. The look in person is slightly different (more wet than shiny) than what appears on camera.
As you can see from the photos below, even though I had the tire up on a 2 X 4 I still did not get complete coverage at the bottom, which is why I included the above photos.
This vehicle doesn’t see a lot of miles and the tires are about due to be replaced so I’m not sure this will be a good test for the durability but I’ll report back anything significant if I can.
