Silica spray showdown: McKee`s v. Gyeon v. CarPro

Looks like there is some protection left, but I`m with you about applying something new at this point. I have to say I am surprised at the weak results from all three. This would be another product category where it would be best to buy the cheapest per ounce. Again, thank you for doing this test!

Agreed. That`s one reason I like the concentrate on this type of product. I am believing the RTU is anywhere from probably 4-7:1

These all could be from the same maker in Korea with a different tint and fragrance to them




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Agreed. That`s one reason I like the concentrate on this type of product. I am believing the RTU is anywhere from probably 4-7:1

These all could be from the same maker in Korea with a different tint and fragrance to them




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I have to believe that this is the case for this type of product as well as the various coatings. They are probably made by one or two chemical companies with slightly different formulas. I can`t imagine that the market is large enough to warrant numerous companies performing the R&D and manufacturing required for individual products.
 
Agreed. That`s one reason I like the concentrate on this type of product. I am believing the RTU is anywhere from probably 4-7:1

These all could be from the same maker in Korea with a different tint and fragrance to them




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Or different strengths and inert ingred.
 
There may only be so many ways to make a product like this work. Probably just adding color and smell to differentiate between companies. They still are very good products that add a nice shine and protection with minimal (no) work. Next someone needs to do a longetivity test on wheels. I figured I was getting around a month of protection on wheels, but after this test I may need to look at exactly how much protection my wheels are getting.
 
I like them. I dry my cars using a Master Blaster blower and have noticed that immediately after applying HydrO2, water just vanishes.


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There may only be so many ways to make a product like this work. Probably just adding color and smell to differentiate between companies. They still are very good products that add a nice shine and protection with minimal (no) work. Next someone needs to do a longetivity test on wheels. I figured I was getting around a month of protection on wheels, but after this test I may need to look at exactly how much protection my wheels are getting.
I would bet even less time. I suspect that the heat, the grime, the brake dust and oils all deteriorate the silica coating even faster.

Still, I think the best use of silica sprays may be on wheels given the difficulty in applying LSP to them.

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Today.

Cleaned the hood with N914. Light misting of distilled water.

A
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B
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C
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B looks the best today.




Had to add some ECH2O near the cowl. Water spots were getting out of hand there.

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From what Ive gathered, sio2 sprays like to stick to sio2 products. Stand alone without a sio2 primer at least, they are degraded easily, relatively.
 
That is more like the beading I was getting after 8 weeks. I always washed Hydro2 with Reset. I wonder if that helps? I normally had to refresh Hydro2 after 12 weeks. I never tried to "revive" Hydro2 after 12 weeks. I just assumed it was gone and it was time.
 
Reset might help HydrO2; I don`t know. I don`t have it, but I`d be willing to try it.

My rationale for using things like N914 and Rupes m101 would be that they leave nothing behind. Perhaps the silica sprays need a good maintenance product that layers.

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Reset is also supposed to leave nothing behind, but maybe the foaming action gets into the "pores" of the coating. I really don`t know. We could go with "synergy" as in CarPro products work better with CarPro products. I`m sure every manufacturer would like us to only use their products. In some cases I am learning to listen to manufacturers, especially on coatings.
 
Routine week. Entire car washed with DP Xtreme Foam and then hood wiped down with N914 in the waterless dilution.

Sheeting is non-existent across the board. Still getting "beads."

A
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B
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C
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Heading into week 8; it`s basically been 2 months since application. Lots of water spots on the hood now. Bird bomb (Panel C/Product C) was harder to clean with N914 and wet MF towel. Some very minor etching from the bird bomb present. Here are the shots and video.

Panel A/Product A
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Panel B/Product B

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Panel C/Product C
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Video


Comments
I find the beading to be variable after rain and after spraying it with distilled water (on a cleaned hood). The sheeting with high volume water is miserable to watch. Low volume sheeting is easier to take, but it is obviously slower on all three panels. I`m still going to conclude that there is some protection still there given the nature of the beading. Neither the beading nor the low volume sheeting are terrible at this point, so these products just may make it to 3 months. I suspect, however, that the level of protection will be far less than what we would all consider acceptable at that point. I may be judging.

I haven`t used any Gyeon spot remover or CarPro spotless for fear of degrading the coating somewhat. I`ll see how far it goes up to the three month mark.

At three months I`ll do the reveal, polish and coat with Wolfgang Uber.
 
The results are in!

It`s been a little over two months since the application of my blinded silica sprays. Initially they exhibited some strong hydrophobic characteristics: tight beads and rapid sheeting. If you haven`t followed my thread, basically by 1 month, the coatings lost that super tight beading and rapid sheeting. Rapid sheeting precipitously worsened between months 1 and 2, and while beading took a hit, the fact that there were some tight beads here and there made me conclude there was still some protection.

However, between months 1 and 2, I started noticing water spots. There were a lot of them this weekend when I washed my wife`s car.

Water was just sitting on the hood. Here are the shots at 5 minutes. Not ideal.

Product A
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Product B (look more in the center)
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Product C
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I decided that it was time to do something about it. Good thing I did. I used Gyeon spot remover and it got rid of some. I polished the car with HD Polish and it got rid of all of the spots except one, and that required some Menz FF3000. After prepping with Panel Wipe and then with Wofgang prep (uh, synergy maybe?), I applied Uber Ceramic to the hood.

So, here`s the reveal.

First, here`s how you voted:

1. Which one looked the best: 14% Product A, 86% can`t tell.

2. Which product beaded the best: 29% Product A, 71% can`t tell.

3. Which product sheeted the best: 29% Product A, 14% Product C, 57% can`t tell.

4. Which offered the best protection: 100% can`t tell.


The products used...

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Final thoughts:

First, let me reiterate that I had no idea which product was which during the test. If my wife randomized them or even if she simply labeled them as I placed them, I had no idea and no biases throughout the test.

I felt that Product A (Wet Coat) started strong, but I`m my opinion, it ended up like the other three. I think the sheeting universally fails around 6 weeks and that the beading around 2 months. The protection is pretty good for about 1 month, and then stasis causes water spotting to form. In terms of durability, I did not get 3 months of protection out of these products. I did get more than 2 months of "beading," but not ideal beading. Certainly not the "protection" that I wanted. Some will say that even a good coating can display water spotting, but I generally have not experienced this with any traditional coating so soon.

I think these products do have a place - topping traditional coatings and using as a quick spray on wheels to help them maintain their shine and cleanliness.

Nevertheless, I think that if you`re going to ask the question of which you should buy, I think any one of these three will suffice for your application. But, if you are hoping to get at least three months of durable protection, you may want to think about boosting the silica spray coating every month.

Just my thoughts, as always...

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I always thought all three had pretty much the same formula. I can now put these in the same category as iron removers, buy the cheapest available. Thanks for following through with the test!
 
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