After reading through this entire thread here's the only comments I have to add...
First, the OP asked me for some input and here you go. As much as anyone and probably more than most I've weighed in on public forums since 2002 on the topic of water beading. If your read through enough of my posts on any forum you'll get my take on this subject.
Here's the nutshell version...
Water beading is BAD for paint. There are too many destructive/corrosive elements that get into the air and are mixed with rain or in the forum of airborne pollution that lands on your cars paint and then mixes with rain or is in your "water sources" whatever that might be when you wash your car that IF the standing water is not removed but instead left to dry on it's own it will leave one of three types of water spots.
- Type I
- Type II <-- The worst kind to get in your car's paint
- Type III
And I have articles on all of the above in my
article list. I also cover the problem with water beading in my book and the above types of water spots with Type II being the worst.
So water beading isn't a good thing because it brings with it the POTENTIAL for Type II crater etchings that can only be removed by compounding or polishing the paint.
And of course the problem with this is paint is thin.... I wrote an article yesterday that addresses this issue here,
Clearcoats are Scratch-Sensitive
Now here's the dealio....
Perception is reality
Doesn't matter if you agree or like this fact it is what it is. Perception is reality.
PEOPLE like to see water beading and the masses believe it
PROVES two things,
Now we can all sit around at our computers and type on this forum all day long about how great it would be to have a wax that sheets water but here's what I've seen in my career.
Waxes that sheet water get dissed on discussion forums and
- Not protecting
- Not lasting
Once a
forum consensus is formed it travels all through the Internet and if Brand XYZ is deemed to not bead water very well or for very long it is put down, dissed slammed to no end and once it gets this type of reputation it's hard to change it.
And people won't buy it.
I worked for Meguiar's when the decision was made to reformulate NXT to bead water better and longer. It had a reputation of not lasting for very long because it didn't bead water for very long.
Heck I was there when the chemists held a demonstration to show how well a beta version worked compared to Zaino Z2 and after the demo it was time to go back to the drawing board.
Seriously... I've been in this world all my life. I know the entire topic inside and out and upside and upright and the masses want products that bead water and any product that doesn't bead water very well and for a long time gets beat up really bad.
The Zaino Case Study I wrote in 2003 address this issue in detail.
I think "protection products" for paint that sheet water are
safer for preciously thin clear coats...
The factory sprayed clear layer of paint on most new cars averages around 2 mils. That's thinner than the average post-it note.
Water sheeting is a great idea... Meguiar's tried to educate the masses for years that water sheeting was better than water beading and they finally gave up and gave in. What's that say? If they can't change perception no one can.
People like to see water bead up in small, tall tight little beads on the hood of their car. I think it looks cool to even though my brain tells me that this could lead to water spots.
Perception is reality though and the masses want product that bead water and anyone that brings out a product that sheets water instead of beads water is going to have a tough time convincing a sometimes very rough crowd here in the forum world to buy their product.
Hey... if it doesn't bead water very well and for a long time, (that's two things by the way), then people will say it's not protecting well or protecting for a long time and people want to "think" the product they buy and apply protect well and last a long time and the masses judge this by water beading.
Don't know if that helps but there you go...
