Optimum Opti-Coat Review

[69-912]

Ok I must admit I don't like using my good wax on other peoples cars! I like to keep it to myself. So a few months back I went to one of those huge Kruse car auctions and they had a vendor setup. The booth was selling/promoting a wax called IBIZ.



It is a liquid cleaner/wax in one. He was selling huge bottles of the stuff for $24.99 so I figured I would buy as bottle to use as a regular wax when I wax family members or friends vehicles.



I have been using it here and there for the past few months and I must say I am impressed with it's price vs. performance ratio. I was using Meguairs Gold Class as my, "Alternative Wax."



This stuff however blows that out of the water. It's VERY easy to use and smells good to heh. I've used it mainly on a black 300ZX and the White 1995 Firebird Formula (just sold that car) and it gave me nothing but excellent results. I highly recommend it if you need a lot of wax for a reasonable price.

 

[Hypersion]

Yea IBIZ is a good wax it's very easy to buff out, almost no effort needed but it doesn't last long. I did half my car in Ibiz and the other half in sonax wax (kmart brand). They both looked about the same but the IBIZ was night and day easier to buff out. But a few weeks later i washed my car and you could tell that the sonax wax caused the water to bead more the the ibiz side.

 

[Don2000g]

I'm glad you liked the cleaner wax. I'm not sure its a product I would like to use on my pride and joy on a monthly basis though. Sure its a mild cleaner but I just don't like the idea or even sound of it. Just my .02. Laters

 

[69-912]

Yea that would be foolish thats why I don't use it on my newer cars. The only car I use it on is the 65 Mustang and then people's car's whom I detail for $5.00 or whatever when I'm bored.

 

[Don2000g]

Good for you. Damn for $5 a detail you'd be working on 20 cars an hour here. Everyone in the city would be lining up to your detail service. Ahhh, to be youthful once more. Laters

 

[seech]

I received a sample of Optimum Opti-Coat with a shipment of Optimum products from the US.

According to Optimum, Opti-Coat forms a permanent coating that acts as a second layer of clear coat that bonds to all surfaces. As the Opti-Coat will seal in any paint defects or contamination on the surface, it is only sold to professional detailers who have to sign a release form before they can purchase the Opti-Coat.

Naturally, after signing a release form and reading about how Opti-Coat forms a permanent coating that acts as a second layer of clear coat, I had to try it out for myself.

Although the Opti-Coat is supposed to provide an additional layer of protection on top of the regular clear coat, what better way to try out a product that is supposed to act as an additional layer of clear coat than on a car with clear coat failure?

I had carried out a trial in 2009 on a Mazda 626 which suffered from clear coat failure on the trunk of the car. At that time I was evaluating the correction potential of a few Meguiar's products.

Some pictures from that trial. Before:

After:

Note that despite the clear coat failure as evident in the first picture, the paint defects were removed by compounding. However, this was only temporary as the paint would fade back to its original condition due to a lack of a clear coat.

While not designed for this purpose, would the Opti-Coat be able to act as a 'new' clear coat? Only one way to find out.....

Inspired by the Porsche Design Cayman I did a couple of weeks earlier, I decided to replicate the stripes by taping off the middle of the trunk for the trial.

Compounded the trial area with Optimum Compound II + Meg's 2.0 Foam Cutting Pad. As the Opti-Coat will permanently seal the surface of the paint, it was critical to ensure that the surface was properly prepared so the OCII was followed up with Optimum Polish II and Optimum Finish.

Ready for Opti-Coat:

A few drops of Opti-Coat were applied to the surface of the paint and spread with a foam applicator pad until evenly distributed. For a product which is supposed to form a permanent coating, it was surprisingly easy to apply with no mixing of parts A & B or any special application techniques. In fact, the Opti-Coat was more like a supercharged version of Opti-Seal.

The Opti-Coat dries to the touch in 30 min and fully cures in 12 hours.

After Opti-Coat:

Can't say that there's much difference but the real test will be to see if the Opti-Coat can act as a 'new' clear coat and how long it can protect the paint.

Got the LED light out for some shots. Untreated:

After Opti-Coat:

More comparison shots:

Should have taped off one line down the middle and it would <i>really</i> have looked like the Porsche Design Cayman...

It will be interesting to see how the Opti-Coat performs over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more updates...

 

[EclecTech]

Thanks for posting your test! I look forward to follow ups!:clap:

Jack

 

[seech]

Thanks for posting your test! I look forward to follow ups!:clap:

Jack

I'm also looking forward to see how the Opti-Coat does and if its able to 'replace' failed clear coats.

 

[Todd@RUPES]

Cool test! Consider me subscribed for the results!

 

[imported_Jokeman]

Very cool, should have polished one of those oxidized sections and just left it polished, that way you would have had, polished(not protected), opti-coated, and unpolished. Still will be very cool.

 

[bmw5541]

Thanks for sharing this with us seech.ancing Dot:

 

[seech]

Cool test! Consider me subscribed for the results!

Thanks Todd. Should be very interesting to find out the results. Will update in a couple of weeks or so.

Very cool, should have polished one of those oxidized sections and just left it polished, that way you would have had, polished(not protected), opti-coated, and unpolished. Still will be very cool.

That's very true. Did not think about doing that. Then we would be able to see the polished section reverting to its original state.... :banghead:

Ah well, maybe for the next test.

Thanks for sharing this with us seech.ancing Dot:

Thanks. Am wondering how long the Opti-Coat will lasts.

 

[seech]

It has been two weeks since my attempt at replacing the clear coat on a clear coat failure situation with Opti-Coat. Took some pictures to monitor the progress of the Opti-Coat.
The condition of the test section after the Opti-Coat application two weeks ago.

2 weeks later, after spraying the area with ONR before wiping off.

The area treated with Opti-Coat is still beading quite well.

Untreated.

Opti-Coat.

After wiping down with ONR.

The Opti-Coat seems to be holding up well with some nice water beading and the test area still looking nice and glossy. But, there is a slight issue with a section of the test area.

Although the entire section is still glossy and the Opti-Coat seems to be sealing in the entire test area, the paint below the Opti-Coat at the edge of the test area seems to be fading.

However, the Opti-Coat seems to be working well on the top section.

Bottom.

Top.

Observations so far, with the exception of that one section, the Opti-Coat seems to be holding up well and preventing the clear-coat failure from reappearing. As for the section which is fading again, perhaps the compounding and polishing wasn't sufficient or the Opti-Coat was not applied thick enough in that area.

It will be interesting to see if the fading continues to spread and how long the rest of the test area will lasts.

Stay tuned for further updates...

 

[seech]

The Optimum Opti-Coat trial was started about a month ago on a car with clear coat failure to evaluate if the Opti-Coat would act as a 'new' clear coat and a follow up update was done two weeks later.

The initial results were simply astounding.

This was the state of the boot before anything was done.

This was what it looked like after compounding, polishing and an application of Optimum Opti-Coat.

After two weeks, there were some issues with the paint fading at the edge of the test area.

It has now been another two weeks....

I was very keen to find out how the Opti-Coat was holding up as there was some issue of fading in the edge of the test area. As reported in the update two weeks ago, I suspect that this was due to the surface preparation as the rest of the test panel looked great. The only way to confirm this was to evaluate if the fading continue across the rest of the panel.

The Opti-Coat still looks great!!!

I was very anxious to view the results after another two weeks and after a quick ONR wipedown this was the results...

[i,g]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_KgHZeGuxwBw/TAmzRO6rwwI/AAAAAAAABcA/uQP4Blp-0WQ/s800/2010_06050047.JPG[/img]

If you compare this with two weeks ago, the faded areas still look the same.

How about the rest of the panel?

<

Still looking pretty good...

Conclusion:
The Optimum Opti-Coat really does work. Although this was never meant to be its intended purpose, I could think of no better way to test what is supposed to be a second-layer of coating on a car which had clear coat failure.

There was a slight issue with the paint fading in one section of the test area but as the fading was confined to that area, I suspect that this is probably due to issues with the surface preparation.

This will be the final update as the rest of the boot lid will be corrected and sealed with Opti-Coat.

Thank you for your interest in this review.

 

[seech]

Just uploaded a video showing the water beading of Opti-Coat after 5 months. No special maintenance carried out other than washing with ONR on a regular basis.

The original post on the Opti-Coat can be found here:
ProDetailing: Optimum Opti-Coat Review

The results are quite impressive considering it has been 5 months without anything being applied to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWM4WAEtjl8

 

[imported_jaredpointer]

Quite impressive, indeed.

 

[muttgrunt]

Thank for the update! Results are looking outstanding. We've had Opti-coat for WAY too longer before we started our own testing, and so far; so good. We've been pleased with the use so far though we didn't use it on so dramatic like you have.
Look forward to the next update

 

[seech]

How long does the Optimum Opti-Coat lasts? Does it really work?
- Optimum Opti-Coat is supposed to form a PERMANENT protective layer on top of your existing paint and is designed to be harder, more scratch resistant and has better water beading characteristics than the original paint.
- Optimum Opti-Coat is supposed to last and protect for as long as the coating is taken care of properly.
- Another advantage of getting your car coated is that should there be any issue with with scratches or watermarks which requires polishing or compounding, only the Optimum Opti-Coat will be affected as the original paint below the Optimum Opti-Coat will not be touched.

Does it really work? How long does it last?

The only way to tell is to try it out...

The surface of this test vehicle suffered from clearcoat failure. IF the Optimum Opti-Coat really works and forms an additional permanent protective layer on top of the paint, the coated area should remain the same and the paint should not oxidize and revert back to the original condition over time.

Early-May 2010: A section of the test area was taped off and corrected before the Optimum Opti-Coat was applied.

After correction. Nice and shiny with the gloss restored.

Time to try out the coating...

The surface really looks great!!!

Mid-May 2010: Great water beading!!!

June 2010: Still the same reflection...

May 2011: Water sheeting ONE YEAR LATER!!!

August 2011: After 15 MONTHS!!!

Does Optimum Opti-Coat work?

They say a picture tells a thousand words..... at least this saves me from typing another 738 words.

Original post from my blog:
ProDetailing: Optimum Opti-Coat Review - Update after 15 Months

 

[GoFast908Z]

Very cool!

 

[Tru_Shine]

Wow! I totally forgot about this thread! AMAZING!!!!