What's with the beading?

[doc-rice]

I guess beading is one of those indicators of how well the protection on your car is working. However, I'd like to understand why that is (scientifically speaking). I've always though that was odd as my philosophy is "if it's super slick, the water will slide right off!" (assuming that there's at least some angle towards the ground).



It sprinkled a little today and here's a couple of shots. One was just sealed last weekend, the other is somewhat untreated. Maybe it's obvious, but care to guess which is which?

 

[WRXedUSA]

#2 untreated.

 

[imported_DieselMDX]

2 untreated

 

[stiffdogg06]

2 is the untreated because the beads are a lot less uniformed than the first ones.:woohoo:

 

[sneek]

I am going with #2 as well.

 

[CalgaryDetail]

well i can argue with the previous posts, #2

 

[doc-rice]

Kind of obvious, eh? I hadn't intended for this post to turn into a quiz. I'm more interested in why beading is generally considered a good indicator of protection. Can anyone explain?

 

[stiffdogg06]

Is water beading proof of surface protection? - Detail University - Auto Detailing Forum



Read away sir. Perfect article for this thread.

 

[doc-rice]

Fantastic article. Thanks for the reference. Plus I've found a new site to read through.

 

[imported_DieselMDX]

the guy who wrote that is writing a book, it should be good

 

[stiffdogg06]

Yeah He is an amazing source of info on Detail University - Auto Detailing Forum



He has a lot of very very good write ups on everything. Def. worth checking out.:woot:

 

[Setec Astronomy]

TOGWT is writing a book? He got kicked off here for plagarism.

 

[RCBuddha]

TOGWT is writing a book? He got kicked off here for plagarism.

Not only here, but Meguiars Online as well...See this post: The good and the bad types of silicon. - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online Archive