extrabolts
New member
Cliff notes:
1. 10ml of product is more than enough to do your car / SUV
2. Don't worry about driving in rain the next day
3. If you mess up some spots, lightly polish those areas by hand, do an IPA wipedown, and reapply. This is very easy
After years of only using waxes or sealants, I decided to opti-coat our new toyota highlander. The car is black and sits outside in the southern heat and sun constantly, so I couldn't keep any wax on the car longer than a couple of weeks. Unfortunately despite keeping it waxed regularly with some standby products (collinite, FK, etc), the hood already has many spots where bird bombs and other things had etched through the paint. So I got some Gloss Coat, here is my experience.
I washed, clayed, lightly polished, re-washed with dawn dish soap mix, and dried with IPA. I applied the gloss coat at night in a poorly lit garage despite the warnings otherwise. I did the entire car going up and down, then side to side, covering all body panels, the roof, and headlights. While applying, I rarely had to wipe down with a microfiber and the product flashed quickly despite very high humidity.
When I was done I looked at the bottle and had only use 2ml out of the 10ml! For anyone wondering, 10ml is PLENTY of product. So of course I figured I had put it on too light, which lead to researching whether I could top it with another coat and when I should do that. I didn't find much on gloss coat but did find a few things opti coat. I decided just to throw another coat on, this was about an hour or two after I had finished the first coat. This time I used more product than the recommended 2-3 drops per panel, instead applying 2-3 drops for every section I did, which comes out to maybe 7-10 drops per panel. At the end of my entire heavier coat, which I also did up / down and left / right passes, I had used another 3ml. So I've put two full coats on and have used 5ml. I also used the pad that the product comes with, which supposedly uses more product compared to other options.
The next day I pulled the car out into the sun and there were some spots where the product had dried and puddled. This was my fault from not having enough light when applying. So I put some finishing polish on a soft machine pad and, by hand, very lightly buffed those spots. The product at that time has not fully cured so I buffed through the gloss coat and down to paint easily, did a quick IPA wipedown of the area, and reapplied gloss coat. That whole processed worked fine.
Also the day after initial application, I was driving around we got caught in a rainstorm without any adverse effects.
The surface upon initial application is extremely slick, comparable to having just applied a glaze and at least as slick as any of the many waxes I've tried. The gloss / shine is also great.
The car sat outside again for two weeks and the hood took on another beating. Rain spots were forming on the hood and looked like they might be etching through, but I gave the car a basic wash and found that the gloss coat was protecting the paint and the rain / dirt / bird spots were only on the surface. After the wash, I dried with duragloss aquawax without any issue.
Overall I'm very happy with the product and will be using it again. I will be topping the car with FK or Collinite to try and get all the protection I can.
1. 10ml of product is more than enough to do your car / SUV
2. Don't worry about driving in rain the next day
3. If you mess up some spots, lightly polish those areas by hand, do an IPA wipedown, and reapply. This is very easy
After years of only using waxes or sealants, I decided to opti-coat our new toyota highlander. The car is black and sits outside in the southern heat and sun constantly, so I couldn't keep any wax on the car longer than a couple of weeks. Unfortunately despite keeping it waxed regularly with some standby products (collinite, FK, etc), the hood already has many spots where bird bombs and other things had etched through the paint. So I got some Gloss Coat, here is my experience.
I washed, clayed, lightly polished, re-washed with dawn dish soap mix, and dried with IPA. I applied the gloss coat at night in a poorly lit garage despite the warnings otherwise. I did the entire car going up and down, then side to side, covering all body panels, the roof, and headlights. While applying, I rarely had to wipe down with a microfiber and the product flashed quickly despite very high humidity.
When I was done I looked at the bottle and had only use 2ml out of the 10ml! For anyone wondering, 10ml is PLENTY of product. So of course I figured I had put it on too light, which lead to researching whether I could top it with another coat and when I should do that. I didn't find much on gloss coat but did find a few things opti coat. I decided just to throw another coat on, this was about an hour or two after I had finished the first coat. This time I used more product than the recommended 2-3 drops per panel, instead applying 2-3 drops for every section I did, which comes out to maybe 7-10 drops per panel. At the end of my entire heavier coat, which I also did up / down and left / right passes, I had used another 3ml. So I've put two full coats on and have used 5ml. I also used the pad that the product comes with, which supposedly uses more product compared to other options.
The next day I pulled the car out into the sun and there were some spots where the product had dried and puddled. This was my fault from not having enough light when applying. So I put some finishing polish on a soft machine pad and, by hand, very lightly buffed those spots. The product at that time has not fully cured so I buffed through the gloss coat and down to paint easily, did a quick IPA wipedown of the area, and reapplied gloss coat. That whole processed worked fine.
Also the day after initial application, I was driving around we got caught in a rainstorm without any adverse effects.
The surface upon initial application is extremely slick, comparable to having just applied a glaze and at least as slick as any of the many waxes I've tried. The gloss / shine is also great.
The car sat outside again for two weeks and the hood took on another beating. Rain spots were forming on the hood and looked like they might be etching through, but I gave the car a basic wash and found that the gloss coat was protecting the paint and the rain / dirt / bird spots were only on the surface. After the wash, I dried with duragloss aquawax without any issue.
Overall I'm very happy with the product and will be using it again. I will be topping the car with FK or Collinite to try and get all the protection I can.
