That was a big difference between kamikaze and Syncro judgeing by the pictures in self cleaning ability!
What do you think is that does this awesome self cleaning ability?
While I do believe that the majority of the self-cleaning comes from the Overcoat in normal usage, some of the longer-term, less maintained vehicles I’ve done with a variety of the Kamikaze stuff *can’t* have any Overcoat left on them at this point. Specifically, I did a co-workers, black 2007 Ford Focus, Kamikaze Miyabi + ISM + Overcoat applied 10/2017. I see this car every day when I come to work and while it is washed *very* infrequently, it still looks great (relatively, anyway, as a black 2007 Ford Focus that is used as a ‘baby transport’ can only look so good). It’s self cleaning ability is still one of the best in the parking lot, which also has cars done in Gyeon Mohs + Booster, 22ple HPC, Gyeon One, Gyeon Prime as well as the work vans done with about 10 other coating products. The Escort still sheets nicely and remains nice looking even though the Overcoat I used immediately after coating application must have worn off by now.
Although I have absolutely no scientific evidence to back it up, I think perhaps the lower water contact angle of ISM (and lower water contact angle in general of a given product) lends itself better to self cleaning aspects of a given product…just my completely amateurish and quite possibly flawed opinion. Perhaps higher water contact angles (as noted with Syncro) make for more visually stimulating beading and movement of those beads across a surface but perhaps at the expense of self cleaning? Heck I dunno.
Water Contact angle of different coatings:
Gyeon Prime:
CONTACT ANGLE: >110`
Gyeon CanCoat:
CONTACT ANGLE: 100`
Gyeon Mohs:
CONTACT ANGLE: >105`
Gyeon Syncro:
CONTACT ANGLE: >120`
Kamikaze Miyabi
Water contact angle: 95 degrees
Kamikaze ISM
Water contact angle: 105 degrees
Kamikaze Infinity Wax
Water contact angle: 110-120 degrees
Kamikaze Overcoat:
Water contact angle: 110 degrees
Did you do this truck with the miyabi + ISM + Infinity + Overcoat?
Yep, that’s what is on this truck; looking back thru notes, this was:
Van 1: Kamikaze Miyabi x 2, ISM x 1, Infinity Wax x 1, Overcoat applied 02/08/2018.
It was then left to sit in warehouse untouched until the end of March when most of our Techs came back and the Van began being used…so it did have the benefit of an extensive curing time before being released into the wild.
I think that you wrote you are doing this combo most because of the look it gets you on your personal cars. But when it comes down to the self cleaning ability do you think it`s the Overcoat that is the magic? Cause using this as a stand alone protection with the claimed longevity of 3-6 months. And maybe around 2 months with real world and don`t let it degrade. This would be an awesome stand alone product and it seems to be that you get alot coats out of a bottle too. Or do you think that you would have to have Infinity hybrid wax as a base protection so the Overcoat excels in the self cleaning ability?
While I combine the products to get a specific look (in my mind anyway), the foundation of my affinity for Kamikaze has always been its performance with regards to the self-cleaning aspect. I don’t really care much about crazy beading and such, more of a sheeting guy, and one aspect of Kamikaze that seems to compliment this desire is its tendency to produce somewhat small beads that kinda shrink up and dry in the sun, leaving very little trace on the surface. Mostly I think it’s the Overcoat but I think the underlying coatings (Miyabi and ISM) contribute to this as well, given the long term excellent self-cleaning on cars where the Overcoat musta worn off long ago.
Overcoat certainly extends and enhances that, though, as when I first used it back in Summer 2016 on our then Wolfgang Uber Ceramic coated Corvette; immediately following Overcoat application the black car started staying much, much cleaner…and hence I was sucked into the world of Kamikaze due to its propensity to keep cars cleaner with less maintenance. Although I’ve never tried the Infinity Wax/Overcoat combo, I’d guess it would be a pretty solid combo, albeit not as strong as putting one of the coatings under Overcoat.
Once thing that I did notice with the Infinity Wax was that self-cleaning aspects decreased a bit until I got it buried under Overcoat, perhaps due to its hybrid carnauba content? Dunno, it just kinda adds a look I like to the paint as well as giving me something to do that remains within the theory of ‘product synergy’. Sometimes it’s just fun to wax a car…
I have read if you apply Overcoat with a DA and a soft pad you get a good filling ability from it. That claim get me thinking of testing it out as you do with Carpro Essence Plus. With a carpro glosspad and go over a lightly marred coating and see what happens.
While I did do that once, if you’re looking for a glaze-type filling ability I don’t think that Overcoat will provide that level of ‘enhancement’. Don’t know what’s actually in Overcoat besides the vendor description of “The special formulation of hard resin and Siloxane…” but its primary function for me is protection and self-cleaning and, in the end, however it does that is OK with me.
It would be interesting to find the specs on 22ple HPC as it is another one of my favorites, again, mostly because of its ability to keep itself clean with little outside intervention, even over the long haul. 22ple is a really weird company though, almost reluctant to step out into public view so I’d guess I’ll never really know the details of their products. It’s really great stuff and I enjoy using it on occasions where color or vehicle might be complimented by its ‘molten glass’ look…just wish the company was a little more ‘open and available’ but I do seem to like smaller, more niche-like products/mfg’s so it comes with the territory I guess.
As an aside, I did find something on Instagram that I found interesting just from a ‘How It’s Made’ perspective. No big factories here, just a table some bottles and a funnel:
Kamikaze Production:
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17922172825136397/
I do quite like Syncro…it’s a really great product and many might prefer it in ‘normal’ situations, where a car is regularly maintained. The slickness is still apparent after 5500 miles and it seems to have no staining/spotting while the bead behavior is the best I have seen anywhere. For folks who dig slickness, I’m not sure it can be beat as a coating alone. Some toppers *might* be able to match its slickness but I’m not even sure any of those (that I have tried) come close.
In the end, everyone is different, everyone likes different aspects of given products...it`s nice to know that I have 3 distinct options for varying situations and needs. I am under no illusion that what I like is the best thing in the world, but I really do believe it is the best thing for me. At this point I`ve seen it through low mileage, high-exposure situations (car sits outside 85% of the time), low mileage, low exposure situations (summer hobby car), high exposure, high mileage situations (17k miles, 6 months, freeway commute thru winter), decent maintenance situations (washed somewhat regularly), low mileage, no maintenance situations (5k miles, no washing) and at the end of summer I`ll have evidence of how it works on high mileage, no maintenance situations (20k miles, no washing). From a `looks good` with minimal effort standpoint, Kamikaze and 22ple fit the bill. The ability to tailor the look of Kamikaze thru the combination of several products within the same `Collection` is a hoot for a hobbyist as well.
