Need some help with applying PBL Diamond coating

[emmjay]

Hello all,

With my package on the way to Dubai, I would like a few tips on applying the PBL diamond paint coating. This is the first time I will be applying any type of coating to my car.

1. I will be applying this is a NON-sealed garage. There is wind and dust around, but the car is the shade (semi sealed garage).
2. I will use m205 on a black finishing hybrid pad followed by PBL surface cleansing polish also on black hybrid pad.
3. There is a high chance of dust landing on the paint as I work around the car.

QUESTIONs:- 1. Can I apply the coating in sections / panels? When I polish - I typically polish a panel or 2 max - clean it, IPA it and wax it. Then I contniue the polishing the paint and go around the car. This way there is no chance of dust to settle which will require an unnecessary swirl inducing wipe....


This does however mean that I go over a panel that was just waxed - near the edges with a polish again. I then wax the panel just worked on and go back on the previous panel edges for good measure. Example a door. I finish one door, wax it. Work on the other door and when done, I wax the second door, while going over the edges of the first door with wax. Takes a maximum of 2 seconds more.

2. Is it okay that my garage is not sealed completely....most coating videos ive seen require a clean room sort of environment.

3. How quick do you buff off in a semi warm environment?

Thank you!

 

[emmjay]

++ What do you do with your towels that were used to wipe off the coating.

I do know a lot of people use this coating....so please reply. This forum is for helping us all out afterall

 

[GSKR]

Dust can be a real promblem when polishing and all in all just as bad when working on paint.I would take one panel at a time,pre wipe with a damp micro when polishing on every panel.maybe wet the floor down as well.for the coating its relatively fast flash type coating,again use a damp micro in one hand and coat with the other.you can only make the best of it.I throw my micros in the garbage after coating jobs and will waste 10 off them easy working on jets.I don't invest in high quality micros.Did a small beech craft yesterday and threw out like 15 micros,you don't want to mess around with jet fuel and oil sludge by putting that in your household washing machine.

 

[The Guz]

Sure you can work panel by panel. PBL is very forgiving. Just touch up those areas that you may overlap. It flashes pretty quick and can be buffed off right away. Follow the directions on the bottle and you will be fine.

With your towels just wash them. They do not need to be thrown out.

There are quite a few threads regarding PBL.

 

[Huot25]

Sure you can work panel by panel. PBL is very forgiving. Just touch up those areas that you may overlap. It flashes pretty quick and can be buffed off right away. Follow the directions on the bottle and you will be fine.

With your towels just wash them. They do not need to be thrown out.

There are quite a few threads regarding PBL.

I recently applied PBL to my car. I had a bucket with an APC solution ready to toss my use mf towels in. I just let them sit in the solution until I was able to was them.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

PBL does not harden on your towels like some other coatings. I have no idea why not, but I just wash my towels normally. Light dust should not be a problem, PBL flashes quickly so dust should not get stuck in your coating. For me, it is easier than applying a sealant, less buffing!

 

[emmjay]

Sure you can work panel by panel. PBL is very forgiving. Just touch up those areas that you may overlap. It flashes pretty quick and can be buffed off right away. Follow the directions on the bottle and you will be fine.

With your towels just wash them. They do not need to be thrown out.

There are quite a few threads regarding PBL.

Thanks Guz, Once washed can I use them for the same purpose again, buffing of wax on other family cars? Or is it better to demote them to junk use. It just hurts a little because I will be using my Gold Plush Juniors - and they are not cheap (especially shipping them all the way here).

I also have about 20 Meguiars supreme shine towels, these are much cheaper and would hurt less lol. Would these be okay or would a deep pile like the gold plush serve better?

TIA

I recently applied PBL to my car. I had a bucket with an APC solution ready to toss my use mf towels in. I just let them sit in the solution until I was able to was them.

Wouldnt APC affect the towels? Sorry this is the first time I heard of it, and would not want to ruin my towels. IF not then, that sounds like a good idea. What dilution is this APC solution (i only have megs APC).

TIA

PBL does not harden on your towels like some other coatings. I have no idea why not, but I just wash my towels normally. Light dust should not be a problem, PBL flashes quickly so dust should not get stuck in your coating. For me, it is easier than applying a sealant, less buffing!

Thats good to hear. I had a talk with one of the AG (Pinnaccle) representatives on the phone and he was like even if there is dust dont worry about it - it wont get stuck under the coating. That actually made me cringe tbh. I would want a bare panel with minimal dusk specks :/ He said the coating will just push the dust away while applying. I do not want to risk that at all, especially on honda paint

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hello all,

I would like a few tips on applying the PBL diamond paint coating. This is the first time I will be applying any type of coating to my car.

Here's a 2-door Chevy that I detailed and outlined the complete process STEP-by-STEP for a new car with paint in excellent condtion.


How to detail a 2014 Corvette Stingray


Actually, how to coat a new Corvette Stingray. Most people outside the forum world don't know what a paint coating is. They do understand what a car wax or synthetic paint sealant is but not a paint coating.

See my article here for the differences between car waxes, synthetic paint sealants and paint coatings.


3-Categories: Waxes, Paint Sealants and Coatings



Process

Step 1: Wash and dry car or wipe car clean
The owner washed his Corvette the night before and then next morning drove it to Autogeek. During the 3 hour trip to Stuart, Florida he hit a few showers and wet areas of the highway so after moving the Stingray into the garage we wiped it down using Detailer's Waterless Autowash.


Step 2: Inspect paint for swirls
For this we used the new Flex Swirl Finder Light. This Corvette is brand new and has been carefully hand washed by the owner using products purchased at Autogeek. There were no visible swirls or scratches in the finish.


Step 3: Inspect for above surface bonded contaminants
For this we first inspect using our clean, bare hand and felt no contamination. Next we used the Baggie Test and even with the baggie test we only felt nominal and sporadic contaminants. Not enough to justify claying or some other mechanical means of decontaminating.


Step 4: Chemically clean and polish paint to prep it for a coating
I used the Black Label Surface Cleansing Lotion on all the paint, hard smooth plastic and glass. Product was applied to the entire car at one time using a 5.5" Lake Country Black Flat Pad on the 5 speed setting of a Porter Cable 7424XP.


Step 5: Hand apply Black Label Diamond Paint Coating
For this step we wore black nitrile gloves and applied the coating using Lake Country Coating Applicators. We applied to all body panels at one time.


Step 6: Hand apply Black Label Diamond Glass Coating
For this I used round foam applicator pad.


Step 7: Hand applied Black Label Diamond Wheel Coating
For this we used the Gold Wax Finger Pockets.


Step 8: Removed coatings
After applying the last coating, (wheel coating), we carefully and methodically wiped the coatings off following our path of travel used to apply the coatings. That is start wiping off first where we applied first.



Here's a few pictures from this project...


Taping off Trim
There's some coarse or rough textured plastic trim pieces on the car as well as a few rubber gaskets that I would recommend covering with painter's tape to prevent staining them with any type of compound or polish.

Prep paint for coating
Here you can see the residue covering the car everywhere the Surface Cleansing Lotion was applied by machine. For a few of the tight ares like the fresh air intake louvers on the hood, around the tail lights in the back and the vent areas on the sides of the car.

Smoothing over a rock chip
The was a recent rock chip in the front clip. The edges were jagged and sharp. The owner asked if I could wetsand the chip out and I said "no" as the chip had penetrated past the clearcoat and the basecoat. He asked if I could sand the area to smooth over the jagged feel to the edges and I said "yes".

I then proceeded to lightly sand the area with a 3 inch 3M Trizact #5000 Sanding Disc and then removed the sanding marks using Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover, (Medium Cut Polish), and then re-polished to maximize gloss and clarity using the Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish, (Fine Cut Polish).

Polishing work to remove the sanding marks was done using the Griot's 3" Mini Polisher and some small, thin 3.5" foam polishing pads. I found the paint on this new Corvette to be very easy to polish.

I recommended to the owner to get some factory touch-up paint and dab a tiny amount into the now cleaned out and smoothed over rock chip.

After pictures...

Wheels & Tires
Wheels are coated with Black Label Diamond Wheel Coating. Tires have three applications of TUF Shine Tire Clearcoat.

The owner like my truck so before leaving we took a few pictures of his very cool Corvette in front of my daily driver...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hello all,

With my package on the way to Dubai, I would like a few tips on applying the PBL diamond paint coating. This is the first time I will be applying any type of coating to my car.

1. I will be applying this is a NON-sealed garage. There is wind and dust around, but the car is the shade (semi sealed garage).
2. I will use m205 on a black finishing hybrid pad followed by PBL surface cleansing polish also on black hybrid pad.
3. There is a high chance of dust landing on the paint as I work around the car.

QUESTIONs:-

1. Can I apply the coating in sections / panels? When I polish - I typically polish a panel or 2 max - clean it, IPA it and wax it. Then I contniue the polishing the paint and go around the car. This way there is no chance of dust to settle which will require an unnecessary swirl inducing wipe....

Since you pointed out your dust problem, then the best approach for you if you want to be uber careful would be to do one panel at a time. That is after the car is washed, dried and mechanically decontaminated,

Step 1: Polish or correct paint to your satisifaction.

Step 2: Chemically strip paint. I don't use or recommend IPA but if that's your plan be sure to use a dillution of 25% and wipe carefuully as IPA is a horrible lubricant and clearcoat paints scratch easily. (I have articles on this topic)

Step 3: Apply the PBL Diamond Paint Coating to the panel and after about one minute give the panel a soft wipe using a clean, soft microfiber towel to remove any high spots or excess coating.

Step 4: Move onto the next panel and repeat this process.

This does however mean that I go over a panel that was just waxed - near the edges with a polish again. I then wax the panel just worked on and go back on the previous panel edges for good measure. Example a door. I finish one door, wax it. Work on the other door and when done, I wax the second door, while going over the edges of the first door with wax. Takes a maximum of 2 seconds more.

2. Is it okay that my garage is not sealed completely....most coating videos ive seen require a clean room sort of environment.

What you've seen is perfect condtions. If you don't have perfect condtions then all you can do is all you can do. Go for it.

3. How quick do you buff off in a semi warm environment?

The same way you wipe the paint in any enviroment. Carfully, using your best technique with a clean, soft microfiber towel.

How to correctly fold and use a Microfiber Towel


People Watching
Most of my life and even just recently while working on an expensive car with a nice finish, I observe people and the techniques they use for any and all aspects of detailing cars. The goal is to help them tweak their technique if anything they're doing could use some improvement. Most pros would agree, when it comes to taking a car's finish to it's maximum potential, that even more important than pad, product and tool selection is technique.


Technique is everything...


Basic Technique but Vitally Important
One common procedure that is as basic as you can get is also one of the most important procedures involved with creating a true show car shine and that's correctly folding and using a microfiber towel to remove a coating of polish, wax, paint sealant, spray-on-wax or spray detailer.

• Good Technique - Used correctly, your hand and a microfiber towel will create and eye-dazzling finish that that will hold up under intense scrutiny under bright light conditions like full overhead sunlight or while on display at an indoor car show.

• Wrong Technique - Used in-correctly and you can easily instill swirls and scratches into the paint not only ruining the finish but requiring machine polishing to remove them and then you're back to wiping the polish off without instilling swirls all over again... catch 22

How To Fold and Use a Microfiber Towel
Here's the basics on how to correctly use a microfiber towel.

Start with a clean, microfiber towel. If the towel has been washed and dried, I will usually inspect each side to make sure there are no contaminants on the towel. Microfiber acts like a magnet and can easily attract and hold all kinds of things to itself that you don't want to rub against your car's paint... so take a moment to visually inspect your polishing towels.

If you're working on a show car finish, even if the show car finish is on your daily driver, make it a "Best Practice" to visually inspect the face of each towel before folding and using.

Clean, laundered Cobra Indigo Microfiber Towel

Fold the microfiber towel in half...

Then in half again...

Continued...

Control over the towel
By folding your microfiber towels into quarters, you will now have 8, dedicated sides to wipe with and you have control over all 8 sides of the entire microfiber towel. When you simply lay a microfiber towel flat or scrunch it up into a wad, you don't have any control over the towel because it's too hard to gauge and remember how much of the towel has already been used.


Cushion to spread out the pressure from your hand
Folding your microfiber towel like shown above provides cushion to spread out the pressure from your hand, this provide two benefits,

1) Helps reduce the potential for fingermarks caused by excess pressure from your fingertips.​

2) Helps to maintain even contact between the working face of the folded microfiber towel and the surface of the paint. This is important at all time but especially whenever you're working on any panel that is not flat.​

Folding your microfiber towel provides cushion to spread out the pressure of your hand plus gives you 8 dedicated sides to wipe with.

Not folding means less cushion and only two sides to wipe with...

Correct Technique
Folded towels provide cushion, cushion enables you to work more carefully on your pride and joy plus even contact of a folded, flat microfiber towel against the paint helps you to remove product residues more effectively...

Incorrect Technique - Unfolded Microfiber Towel
Simply laying the towel flat against the paint increases the potential for swirls and scratches due to pressure points against the towel. Using a towel flat and unfolded offers little to no cushion and reduces even pressure between the cloth and the paint. I cringe when I see someone wiping a nice finish by simply placing the towel down flat on the paint and then placing their hand flat on the towel.

Incorrect Techniques - Scrunched-up Microfiber Towel
Here's another common method, or actually lack of method, for wiping product residue off paint and that's to simply scrunch up a microfiber towel into a wad of cloth and wipe using this wadded up towel. Not only do you have zero control over the surface of the towel but you now are introducing folds and edges of towel directly to the finish... under pressure!

Argh!
There's nothing gentle about wiping paint with a wadded up towel...

Inspect and Fold
Make it a "Best Practice" to inspect the working face of your wiping cloths before using and adopt another "Best Practice" and that is to fold your microfiber towels 4-ways to give you 8 dedicated sides to wipe with and plenty of cushion to spread out the pressure from you hand while being gentle to your car's finish.

It should look like this...

Further Resources
The Final Wipe – Tips for creating a streak-free, show car finish

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's an article on how to take care of your coated car...

Black Label Coating Detailer & Booster - Synergistic Chemical Compatibility



Back when the Black Label line was introduced I was one of the first people to actually use the Surface Cleansing Polish followed by the Diamond Paint Coating and the Diamond Surface Coating.

After using these products on a few cars, both mine and customers, the first thoughts that went through my mind were,

Now how do I take care of the coating finish?

Now how do I tell my customers to take care of the finish results on their car?
​

The answer was a spray detailer and a spray booster was needed in the line. I passed this on to Nick and a few months later the problem has been solved.

Black Label Diamond Coating Booster & Black Label Diamond Coating Detailer

But it wasn't till yesterday, Tuesday January 28th, two days after my January Detailing Boot Camp Class did I have the opportunity to use both products in a real world situation.

On Saturday, my class buffed out my buddy Earl's 1970 El Camino using the Rupes Polishers, pads and polishes. The paint went from a swirled-out mess to a flawless finish.

After we buffed out the paint we applied the Black Label Surface Cleansing Polish and followed this with the Black Label Diamond Paint Coating.

The paint looked perfect.


Then... time when by...

On Saturday after we finished the El Camino it sat outside gleaming in the sun. On Sunday, again, the El Camino sat outside gleaming in the sun. On Monday, while I cleaned up the garage and re-organized it from the torture we put it through on Saturday and Sunday, Earl's El Camino sat outside.

After sitting outside for at least a portion of three days, the paint had a light dust build-up. Perfect to test out the new Diamond Coating Detailing and Diamond Coating Booster.

Plus... Tuesday would be the day Earl picks up his El Camino and that night he would be showing it off at the local Tuesday Night car show in Stuart.



Spray detailers are for light dust

I can't count how many times I've answered the question,

How dirty is too dirty to safely use a spray detailer?​

But a lot. And the answer is,

Spray detailers are for light dust. Not 4-wheel drive, been in the mud all weekend covered with dried mud dirty cars.

So I asked Nick to lend a hand and he hung around long enough to wipe down the front clip with the detailer and then I wiped down the bed. After wiping the entire El Camino down with the detailer I followed this using the Diamond Coating Booster.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

This is light dust...

Diamond Coating Booster

Funny thing, when I'm working... there's never anyone around to take pictures. Suffice to say, I wiped the entire El Camino down using the new Diamond Coating Booster and it maximized the gloss and slickness of the finish.

Now this is how a hotrod 1970 El Camino should look...

:dblthumb2:​

 

[JeffM]

A technique I like to use, not sure if anyone else does this, is say im polishing 1/4 of the hood, I wont wipe off all of the polish on the outside edges. I like to leave a perimeter of polish so I know where I was.

In your case if you polish a fender, simply polish part of the door 1 polishing pad wide, then when you apply the coating you wont need to bring the polisher close to the fender.

 

[emmjay]

Thank you so much Mike. These definitely help a lot.

I do appreciate your reply though and I will read over that thread over and over

Thank you!

 

[emmjay]

Also Mike, I will definitely pick up the booster and detailer on my next order (when funds allow). I do need to be careful with shipping weights and costs when I place an order as it travels thousands of miles to Dubai.

In the mean time - If I used D156 as my final wipe during maintenance after washes, would that pose too much a problem? The paint on my accord tends to marr quite a bit. I have been using D156 every wash ever since I got it and this is minimized the marring issues significantly. Just not sure about the coating - At least until I pick up the PBL detailer.

I typically blow off all the water, and whatever remains I use a Purple Plush towel with D156 to eliminate even the tiniest chance of marring.

I plan to use the gold plush junior towels for wipe off of the coating. However, these are very pricey to sacrifice on the coating rendering them useless after. Are the meguiars supreme shines a good alternative? (I have 20 of those compared to 5-6 of the gold plush juniors).

Thank you again!

 

[emmjay]

A technique I like to use, not sure if anyone else does this, is say im polishing 1/4 of the hood, I wont wipe off all of the polish on the outside edges. I like to leave a perimeter of polish so I know where I was.

In your case if you polish a fender, simply polish part of the door 1 polishing pad wide, then when you apply the coating you wont need to bring the polisher close to the fender.

That is actually a really good idea! I might try this. Thank you!

 

[emmjay]

.

 

[emmjay]

:bump:

 

[emmjay]

Lets try this again:
"Also Mike, I will definitely pick up the booster and detailer on my next order (when funds allow). I do need to be careful with shipping weights and costs when I place an order as it travels thousands of miles to Dubai.

In the mean time - If I used D156 as my final wipe during maintenance after washes, would that pose too much a problem? The paint on my accord tends to marr quite a bit. I have been using D156 every wash ever since I got it and this is minimized the marring issues significantly. Just not sure about the coating - At least until I pick up the PBL detailer.

I typically blow off all the water, and whatever remains I use a Purple Plush towel with D156 to eliminate even the tiniest chance of marring.

I plan to use the gold plush junior towels for wipe off of the coating. However, these are very pricey to sacrifice on the coating rendering them useless after. Are the meguiars supreme shines a good alternative? (I have 20 of those compared to 5-6 of the gold plush juniors).

Thank you again!"