CQuartz---Do you recommend 2 coats?

1-3 hours is fine. 2 coats will ensure even coverage.

The Guz said:

1-3 hours is fine. 2 coats will ensure even coverage.

Click to expand...

Agree, but I take that as a "no." Most of the coatings I've looked at indicate you can use a 2nd coat. Some say it's only to ensure coverage. Coatings are designed to bond to paint, not themselves. There are people on the sister site layering coatings, particularly one that isn't sold here. Sounds like a good way to sell a lot more coating.

I honestly think it added more gloss after the second coating.
First


Second



Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline

^^^ I stand corrected.

RippyD said:

Agree, but I take that as a "no." Most of the coatings I've looked at indicate you can use a 2nd coat. Some say it's only to ensure coverage. Coatings are designed to bond to paint, not themselves. There are people on the sister site layering coatings, particularly one that isn't sold here. Sounds like a good way to sell a lot more coating.

Click to expand...

Some have even noticed more gloss on the second coat of a coating. Heck I've done coats of gloss coat. Seems to add a little bit more gloss.

One can layer any coating. Look at the new Sonax CC36 coating which is a 2 part coating. Base Coat and Gloss Coat. I will get my review on it soon.

Corey at cquartz even mentioned using UK as a base and classic as a topper. UK will form a harder base while classic gives a more stain resistant topcoat.

More layers of coatings is basically for gloss unless it's different coatings. I like the UK as a base and Classic as a topper, it works well. Three layers is basically the ultimate gloss I found. Anymore and you don't notice it. If you use any coating, I'd recommend 2 coats no matter what.

It would be nice to see some side-by-side comparisons. Of course if you spend the time and money to add a second coat you're going to think it's got more gloss (placebo effect). I'm going to coat 2 cars this summer - maybe 3. At least one will get Cquartz UK. If nobody does it sooner I'll do some side-by-side comparisons.

I don't see a lot of differentiation between the science of coatings, marketing, and the beliefs and perceptions. Hard to know what's real and what isn't. And assuming a 2nd coating does add more gloss, the following questions come to mind:

1. Would a 3rd coat add more gloss? If not, why not?
2. Does a 2nd coat add more protection? If so, then n coats adds n times more protection than 1?
3. Does a 2nd coat last as long as the first coat, or is adhesion not as good? If not, why not a sealant rather than a 2nd layer of coating?
4. What is the limit to how many layers can be applied, and what is the limiting factor?

It seems if somebody understands how/why layered coatings work they would be able to answer at least some of these questions.

I consider layering wax, sealants and particularly coatings a waste of time and money. Applying coatings should be a very methodical process, working in a small area and completing one panel at a time. If the reason for the second coat is missing areas then it is your application method that is the issue, not the product.

Also ask yourself is the coating designed to be layered? Most are not. A lot of the hydrophobic spray coatings made to supplement coatings may last months on clear coat but with coatings you would be lucky to see a few weeks of durability. Coatings are designed to stop things sticking to it. So the way I see it, anything left behind on a coating will disappear pretty quickly

Spend the extra time being careful. You will not only same time and money but get far better coverage

faulksy said:

If the reason for the second coat is missing areas then it is your application method that is the issue, not the product.

Click to expand...

Whoops that should be first coat

I have worked with CQuartz(not Finest, yet) and Ceramic Pro, and have noticed more gloss with added layers(more so with CP). But, more gloss is always down to who's eyes and opinion you're asking. For our basic coating package customers get 1 coat of CQuartz UK, topped with Reload 1 hour later. I find that the topping with Reload within the hour adds just as much gloss as a second coat of UK, minus 30 minutes of time, so I just do that anymore.

PouncingPanzer said:

I have worked with CQuartz(not Finest, yet) and Ceramic Pro, and have noticed more gloss with added layers(more so with CP). But, more gloss is always down to who's eyes and opinion you're asking.

Click to expand...

Unless you do a side-by-side and get an objective opinion, how can you know? If somebody who didn't work on it can't see any difference it's either not there or so minimal it's not noticeable by them.

Added layers = more gloss? How many? Is 5 more glossy than 2? (Rhetorical - just making a point.)

RippyD said:

Unless you do a side-by-side and get an objective opinion, how can you know? If somebody who didn't work on it can't see any difference it's either not there or so minimal it's not noticeable by them.

Added layers = more gloss? How many? Is 5 more glossy than 2? (Rhetorical - just making a point.)

Click to expand...

Well, we have done side-by-side, granted it was different colors and different brands of vehicle. My GTI is white, with 3 layers of CP 9H + 2 layers of Lite, my friend whom I detail with has a blue Scion and he has 2 layers of CQuartz UK + Reload. Mine is 6 months fresh, his is only a a few weeks, and short of variations in the CC thickness out of the box, mine is glossier. We both agree the layered CP has more depth then the layered CQuartz. But, the CP is more layers and had far more time involved, unprofitable time at that. We don't layer customers cars usually because of that, we experiment with our own often though.

To answer your second question, I notice a difference in layered Ceramic Pro, but so far have not with CQuartz. I have seen a vehicle in person with 8 coats of 9H on it, and it had far more gloss then it did prior to install. But I doubt the difference between coat #5 and coat #8 would jump out and hit you.

^^^I'm talking about true side-by-side: same car with same prep. Maybe two coats on part of one panel, and 1 coat on the rest. Or two coats on one panel and one coat on the adjacent panel. Two coats on one car vs. one coat on another doesn't really mean much. What was the paint condition and age? What was the prep for both? Too many variables for it to be a valid comparison.

When all else is equal other than the number of layers and somebody objective (who didn't work on it and doesn't know) can see a difference, then there's a difference. Otherwise it's not very clear there's a visible difference (imo). Humans are tremendously unreliable, especially when we're involved in the thing we're evaluating.

Not trying to be overly critical. Just not seeing a lot of evidence to support that layering coatings does anything besides use more coating product.

If you're convinced multiple layers look better, that's great. Until I seen an objective comparison I'll remain skeptical.

RippyD said:

Humans are tremendously unreliable, especially when we're involved in the thing we're evaluating.

Click to expand...

I agree with this.^
That's why it's better to have the gf's or wives come out and do the evaluation... Or even better a well trained dog. [you don't want to use a cat because they're somewhat color blind as they can only see in shades of red and green] lol.

Multiple coats of CQuartz (or any other layerable coating) absolutely adds more gloss and depth as well as provides a thicker ceramic film for better durability and protection from environmental damage. The way these coatings work is by filling the pores of the paintwork with nano-scale ceramic particles cross-linked by a resin that hardens when it cures. That's why prep and correction is vital. If there are millions of peaks and valleys due to deep scratches and swirl marks the coating will not be able to create a uniform protective barrier across the surface. Assuming a fully corrected vehicle, the first layer will mostly fill in the pores of the paint film and subsequent layers are actually building a ceramic film ABOVE the painted surface.

All coatings, regardless of marketing claims, will begin to wear away from abrasion with each wash. This is why proper aftercare is so important. Once the top layer of the coating wears away is when you'll notice a drop in hydrophobic performance yet you'll still get easy dirt release and gloss because there is still ceramic within the pores of the paintwork. This is also why boosters such as Reload (or similar) are recommended to always top up the outermost layer of protection which creates the most desirable and noticeable effects such as increased gloss, slickness, and beading.

The more coats you use the longer you'll have until you eventually wear away the coating down to the actual painted surface. The other thing to consider is that with a thicker ceramic film you'll have even more protection against scratches and swirl marks since the ceramic protection will absorb most of the damage. That's not to say that you won't get any scratches with a coated vehicle, only that they will be confined to the ceramic layer (depending on how thick the coating is) and won't penetrate to the painted surface. In many cases swirl marks are roughly 1-3 microns deep, so if you layer a coating to a film thickness of roughly 3 microns you are basically creating a shield above the paintwork that will absorb all potential "normal" wash induced damage. The properties of the coating will also reduce the potential for marring to occur due to increased surface hardness and slickness.

This became way longer than I intended but I just really wanted to convey that multiple coats of ceramic protection is recommended, not just for "even coverage, but because you'll get significantly better results with a thicker ceramic film protecting the vehicle. With all that being said there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. Everything depends on your goals for the vehicle. What is important to you? Do you just want "set it and forget it" protection? Do 1 or 2 layers. Do you want insane gloss and the absolute best protection possible? Do 3 or 4 layers and top up with a booster after every wash. Do you want to waste a ton of time and money for no gains in performance or gloss? Do 10 layers. Make sense?

RippyD said:

Unless you do a side-by-side and get an objective opinion, how can you know? If somebody who didn't work on it can't see any difference it's either not there or so minimal it's not noticeable by them.

Added layers = more gloss? How many? Is 5 more glossy than 2? (Rhetorical - just making a point.)

Click to expand...

In my experience with CQuartz, CQuartz Professional, and CQuartz FINEST Reserve, 4 layers provides the most gloss and depth. Anything beyond 4 layers I can't notice a difference in gloss or depth which is why I don't offer anything beyond 4 layers. 99% of my coating installs are 2 layers.

One of my favorite combinations at the moment is full correction, one layer of Essence (IR cured or left to cure overnight), 2 layers of CQ, and one layer of Reload. The gloss is out of this world.

spewking said:

Is the Essence reference to Essence Plus?

Click to expand...

Just CarPro Essence. It's an SiO2 resin primer polish that preps the surface for CQuartz coatings.

Nicholas@Autowerx said:

In my experience with CQuartz, CQuartz Professional, and CQuartz FINEST Reserve, 4 layers provides the most gloss and depth. Anything beyond 4 layers I can't notice a difference in gloss or depth which is why I don't offer anything beyond 4 layers. 99% of my coating installs are 2 layers.

One of my favorite combinations at the moment is full correction, one layer of Essence (IR cured or left to cure overnight), 2 layers of CQ, and one layer of Reload. The gloss is out of this world.

Click to expand...

^^ exactly this.

I have multiple layers of coatings on my Audi and top with my combo of ECH20/Reload and the gloss is insane. I use it as my show peice for coatings all the time. I've been keeping quite busy with details every weekend but upon my next free weekend, I'm Stripping it with Essence and re coating it with CQuartz Finest that is awaiting my efforts as it sits on my shelf.