I am now not a fan of Blackfire.

We are currently painting the house, and I accidentally got paint on the car. I thought it would strip the wax but that's all it did was bead up (this is latex paint), the car was clean so I used some Final Inspection and it still looks good. I think this product is very durable.
 
Intermezzo said:
Sorry, I'm gonna be blunt about this....



I had the same problem as you. I applied the product as thin as humanly possible via both PC and hand and the stuff is very smeary. This is very unfortunate too because like you said, on the areas where it DIDN'T smear, it looked pretty nice.



The product even feels greasy when being applied and spread on the car. I applied it during during the late winter when temps were around 65-70 here in LA, so granted it was not the ideal temp, but NO product should do this just because it's not hot outside. I even tried letting it dry overnight and it didn't buff any easier.



Per CMA's suggestions, I tried spritzing the smeary areas with water and QD and that didn't do anything. I also tried 're-applying' product to see if that would work (also, per CMA's suggestion) and it didn't do squat.



I tried a few other 'desperate measures' like diluting the product with water first (hey, it's an oil in water solvent base, right?). Nothing worked. BTW, how on earth is a product supposed to dry if there is no solvent to be evaporated?? :nixweiss



The ONLY thing that finally worked for me was applying P21S right on top of the smears.



I'm sorry, but I give BFII a big :down :mad: :down :mad:



Intermezzo,



I"m running right with you on this one here. Dad and even I have tried different techniques to help the smearing go away. My Dad has a black 02 GP GT, the car is slicker and wetter looking but man, I touch it after the BFII treatment, like taking your fingers and running it over butter and spreading it everywhere on the car. Greasy, oily:down I"m not bashing just because I don't know or never used the product before but I have actually tried to use it and I can't figure the stuff out. Thank god there is more great products out there:xyxthumbs ,,,,,,91
 
F-150_91 said:
My Dad has a black 02 GP GT, the car is slicker and wetter looking but man, I touch it after the BFII treatment, like taking your fingers and running it over butter and spreading it everywhere on the car. Greasy, oily:down



Exactly! The areas which aren't smeary look really nice and wet...but one touch with the fingers pretty much ruins it. The stuff does not seem to dry!
 
I mean still though c'mon, a quality product shouldn't smear everywhere, feels greasy as hell!! Damn, even Turtle wax doesn't do that!! A good wax or sealant in this case should be applied easily, taken off with ease and last at least 3-4 months and that's it no have to wash it after the application or anything. I just strongly believe you should be able to apply your wax/sealant, take it off and not do anything else to it just let it cure JMO :)
 
F-150_91 said:
I mean still though c'mon, a quality product shouldn't smear everywhere, feels greasy as hell!! Damn, even Turtle wax doesn't do that!! A good wax or sealant in this case should be applied easily, taken off with ease and last at least 3-4 months and that's it no have to wash it after the application or anything.

Well, just because Turtle Wax applies easily doesn't mean it will be the new product on everyone's shelf. It may do well in this area, but it does very poorly in others. Blackfire does very well in other areas, and falls short on this. So of course your preference about what's important will play a role in whether you like it or not.



There also aren't a lot of products that apply easily and are taken off with ease that can also approach the 3-4 month durability requirement you mention.



F-150_91 said:
I just strongly believe you should be able to apply your wax/sealant, take it off and not do anything else to it just let it cure JMO :)

Well, if that's your main criteria for a wax, then you probably won't like Blackfire.



I can't say that I've ever noticed the smearing you all are talking about once the car has been washed. Is this something you have persist?



If the product is still not buffed completely and is smearing or hazing, then I'm not really surprised it will feel oily/smeary. There's still excess product on the paint.



Do you notice this for the 5 or 6 months that the BF look/beading persists for? Or just the first few days or so? I'm not sure if what you're saying is just a rehash of the smearing/hard to buff nature of the product, or some different problem? If you have that smearing persisting, that's really pretty weird and I wouldn't be too happy with that either. If it's just for a few days or until the first wash, then that's basically the same issue others are having. In which case a wash should clear it up. Just trying to understand... :)
 
Well, I'm puzzled about the problems. I've put Blackfire on in November when the humidity was over 75% and the temperatures were in the 40's . Not ideal conditions, but if I don't get it on when I can at that time of the year, I may have to go 3-4 months depending on the snowfall, and the temperatures.



Now I followed the advice and applied the product very thinly.



When I tried to wipe if it still smeared, that meant it wasn't quite dry. In those conditions I often had to move the car out into the sun and wait for an hour or two. But after that, it came off quickly.



I know that in blistering heat this product has been wonderful. We hae had en extremely hot summer. My red Mazda just hammerred the P21S finish I put on last year in 4 weeks. This summer was hotter, and the Blackfire was on for 5 months and still beading. I'm impressed with it.
 
Me too.. I tried SMEARFIRE, oh, sorry, Blackfire long ago and hated the way it smeared! Took me some time to resolve and results were not that spectacular for all this effort.



I then switched to Zaino and didn't have the problem. However, the new Z5 will leave a bit of smear or haze, and found that a little Z7/distilled water in spray did the trick. No more smear after that.



I remember the old Megs #20 smearing all over due to all the solvents working the finish trying to clean and bond all at once!



Look at it this way, if it's that much of a PITA to apply and remove/maintain etc, then it's time to move to something else and toss the problem product away. Then, it's off to find something new and better, easier etc.



Regards,

Deanski
 
I don't know, it isn't very deep. It's reflective, but it looks unnatural. It has a metallic look to it. I like my black clear, deep, and reflective. I think I'll only use it on the silver Focus. I just want something durable. :(
 
Corey Bit Spank said:
I don't know, it isn't very deep. It's reflective, but it looks unnatural. It has a metallic look to it. I like my black clear, deep, and reflective. I think I'll only use it on the silver Focus. I just want something durable. :(



When you say "I just want something durable", you mean on the Focus? It sounds like on your black car, you want something clear, deep, and reflective.



Blackfire does have a sort of unnatural look to it, but it really brings out metallics. I guess on a non-metallic car, this might not be as cool. I think it's pretty neat, though, and has a lot of pop. It really doesn't look much like a carnauba. Maybe you'll like it better on silver.



One thing you could try if you are interested is to top the Blackfire with a deep carnauba like #26 or S100 or Souveran or something. Otherwise, it's probably time to look for something else. It reduces the metallic glow a bit (which I find unfortunate, but maybe you'll prefer) and adds a bit of depth. I use Souveran on Blackfire from time to time (when I get restless).



How do you like the beading? I use it on all the glass because it is so dang beady.
 
I Also Learned the Hard way To Apply Blackfire....I Used to Much and It Smeared ..and was a PITA to remove..

I Washed the car and tried it again with My PC Using Two Small drops per panel and WOW...It Worked! No More Smear/streaks





I have been Using Zaino and I Think the Black fire Makes The Black look darker...But The Wait for Zaino made me Look for a product That I Can Apply without the dreaded wait



Meguiars has a NEW Line Out soon so I was Told from Mike..

Looking to try it at the Clinic Next Month at Meguiars

as It Never Hurts to try a NEW Product...
 
Oh the beading is a PITA. In a good way :) Drying the car takes a lot longer now. I'm going to put another coat of BF on, wait another week, and then top it with my free bottle of Liquid Souveran. That should make it perdier. :p
 
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