Elixir streaking

[rover137]

Does anyone have any tips for using Elixir as a drying aid without it streaking on a black car?

Coated with CarPro lite. 2 sprays into the drying towel at the start, 2 sprays per panel, drying towel first, then a rag company eagle edgeless 500 to buff out remaining residue. Appearing as streaks in places and little spray dots in other places. Thanks!


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[glen e]

Try 1 spray per panel....a little goes a long way.....Also a slightly moist towel with water to finish it off usually smooths everything out

 

[rover137]

Thanks, will definitely try one spray next time.

You mean to wet the second final buff towel? The second towel ended up being a bit damp in the end as it was also drying the remainder of what the drying towel missed.


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[Desertnate]

I've experienced a lot of streaking with it as well. It's not an easy product to apply, and I'm going to stick with Capro ECH2O as my coating QD of choice one my bottle of Elixr is gone.

Like others have said, a little goes a long way. I also found applying the product to your towel and then spreading it around was easier and more effective than spraying the product right directly onto the surface of the vehicle.

Overspray is a problem depending on the weather and if you happen to not see it right away, it becomes very hard to remove later.

 

[Bruno Soares]

Definitely use very little product and if you have air moving and find overspray, then only spray the towel (cupped in your hand) to avoid that.
Since your car is black, you might also have better luck diluting Elixir a bit with distilled water. CarPro recommends that on the Reload bottle and I'm sure the same can be done to Elixir to avoid streaking.
I haven't had issues with it but I do use very little product as I had read about it before, maybe not even a full spray per panel.

 

[The Guz]

Sounds like your towel became saturated with product. How many towels were you using besides the two you mentioned? I am not a fan of the edgless 500's for drying or buffing. They seem to just push product around more so than absorb.

The spray dots are from overspray of spraying on to the panel.

 

[rover137]

I've experienced a lot of streaking with it as well. It's not an easy product to apply, and I'm going to stick with Capro ECH2O as my coating QD of choice one my bottle of Elixr is gone.

Like others have said, a little goes a long way. I also found applying the product to your towel and then spreading it around was easier and more effective than spraying the product right directly onto the surface of the vehicle.

Overspray is a problem depending on the weather and if you happen to not see it right away, it becomes very hard to remove later.

Yeah I didn’t have a great time with it. I must admit though it is probably just about the slickest product I have used. I have 1 L left to use so will see if I can figure it out. I’ll definitely try spraying directly into the towel! Thanks


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[rover137]

Definitely use very little product and if you have air moving and find overspray, then only spray the towel (cupped in your hand) to avoid that.
Since your car is black, you might also have better luck diluting Elixir a bit with distilled water. CarPro recommends that on the Reload bottle and I'm sure the same can be done to Elixir to avoid streaking.
I haven't had issues with it but I do use very little product as I had read about it before, maybe not even a full spray per panel.

Yeah wow that is very little product. Yeah I think overspray is a problem as the triggers we are getting at the moment are horrible. Apparently the normal triggers are out of stock due to the pandemic here in Aus. These trigger just seem to mist. Will also try 1/2 - 1 spray per panel and also diluting it. Thanks


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[rover137]

Sounds like your towel became saturated with product. How many towels were you using besides the two you mentioned? I am not a fan of the edgless 500's for drying or buffing. They seem to just push product around more so than absorb.

The spray dots are from overspray of spraying on to the panel.

Just the two towels. It was streaking on the first panel I used it on (hood). Yeah, I haven’t decided on the 500s yet but they are super plush. Just used 2 towels - are more recommended? I’ve used 2 before with many other products and not had any issues? Yeah, overspray is a real issue with the triggers we are getting with a lot of products atm. Thanks


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[The Guz]

Just the two towels. It was streaking on the first panel I used it on (hood). Yeah, I haven’t decided on the 500s yet but they are super plush. Just used 2 towels - are more recommended? I’ve used 2 before with many other products and not had any issues? Yeah, overspray is a real issue with the triggers we are getting with a lot of products atm. Thanks


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How do you wash your car? I mean do you sheet rinse it? Are you using a pressure washer and going into the drying phase? Are you using any kind of blower?

I sheet rinse, use the McKee's 37 dryer and then touch up any remaining water with the drying aid of my choice. The TRC gauntlet, Griot's PFM, Autofiber Royal Plush are better towels to use for a drying aid. They pick up water better. Because I sheet rinse and blow dry I don't use that many towels to touch certain areas that still have water.

If I don't use the blower then I am using multiple towels.

What first drying towel are you using?

 

[rover137]

I snow foam, pressure rinse off then 2 bucket wash (grit guards) using 1-2 extra mitts for the bottoms of panels depending on how dirty the car is. Will sometimes double snow as well depending on the level of grime and length of time since the last wash and how excited I am to wash.

In terms of drying - I don’t have a blower (debating myself on if should get one) and am trialling both sheeting before drying and just drying with no sheet. When I sheet, due to the coating the panel is basically dry so I kinda feel a little more uncomfortable with this method I guess as it’s basically rubbing a drying towel over dry paint. I also find that when sheeting, by the time I get to the end of the car what little water is left is already dry. I have tried sheeting panel by panel to negate this then drying but it is a bit too annoying for me to navigate the towel and pressure washer per panel and prefer to just go around the car in one go with some towels.

I have a few drying towels in rotation but these are the main two I use:

The Big Green Sucker - Luxurious and plush drying towel.

TEMPEST Hi-Tech Drying Towel

– Waxit Car Care

Both are Aussie brands and I’ve been happy with both so far. Have tried a few others that have been relegated to other cars as they lint or I’m just not happy with them for whatever reason.

The second towel is the TRC 500 as mentioned. I can’t seem to get any of those that you mentioned here. I can get almost all TRC towels though from various places.

TRC gauntlet for first or second towel? Might grab one. Have you tried the platinum pluffle or double twistress?

Have used these combos with maybe 5-6 other products as drying aids and didn’t seem to have an issue. The two variables that have changed are the drying aid and have a coating maybe too much product contributing as well as others have said? As you say I think the EE probably isn’t the best choice as it pushes product around.


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[Loach]

CarPro Elixir is definitely on the heavier end of the spectrum for toppers. Especially working on darker paints, I notice it can take more thorough wiping, and requiring you to be more conscious of just how much you're using. On lighter paints you can really be more relaxed with it as you're less likely to notice the heaviness. I always consider it now sort of the Seal N Shine before SNS came to be, great short-term chemical resistance as well.

I'm also a bit curious as to whether or not a fully cured layer of CQuartz Lite would want to naturally reject some of the mix in Elixir as you're trying to level it out on top, leading to streaking during the wipeoff attempts. But there's just too many variables at play to be certain, I think there's a lot of guys that have no issues using it over Lite, but everyone is using it on different paint types, colors, environments, and towels as noted can also be a huge determinant in wipeability.

On any streaking, try the separate damp microfiber (distilled water damp) towel wipe on them, then dry up with a different towel to help level everything out. Then try a dilution of Elixir or switch over to a dilution of EcH2o as your drying assist instead. Keep us posted on what ends up working for you, would love the feedback.

 

[rover137]

It certainly feels a lot heavier than anything I’ve used in that manner (including some spray waxes) and that makes perfect sense. I actually just had a look at the car outside under the clouds and it is potentially the worst streaking I’ve seen in any product I’ve ever used. It looked really bad. I’ve applied ‘wax as you rinse’ products as ‘dry’ applications perfectly and some of those have been quite ‘thick’.

This is an interesting point you’ve raised. Do you think that CarPro Lite could be rejecting the Elixir? I’ve had someone else tell me that they have heard mixed reviews on Lite + Elixir in terms of the two working together. I would have thought they’d naturally align as Lite is a derivative of UK 3 and Elixir pairs perfectly with it?

I will try the various tips people have mentioned here and see how I go. I’ve got some different drying towels on order now, will play with the amount of product, diluting it and wetting theapplication towels and report back. Any suggestions for a ratio to cut it at? I was initially thinking 1:1?

Thank!


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[CleanIT]

I applied Elixir last week after a wash. Today I decided to do another wash with the weather being so nice. I was surprised how much Elixir changed the water behavior of Can Coat Evo. It came back but I had to wash it 2x with Reset. And it's still not 100% as good as it was with just Can Coat.

I've been curious about toppers and whether they actually bond to the underlying coating and offer any protection. I think I found my answer. However, the tradeoff is worse hydrophobics which impacts how I airdry the car. On the flip side, maybe adding a topper like Elixir would extend the life of Can Coat Evo, which is the base layer.

I'm going to stick with Ech20 1:20 going forward. It's less substantial and shouldn't alter the water behavior. If it does, it will be short lived at least.

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

I applied Elixir last week after a wash. Today I decided to do another wash with the weather being so nice. I was surprised how much Elixir changed the water behavior of Can Coat Evo. It came back but I had to wash it 2x with Reset. And it's still not 100% as good as it was with just Can Coat.

I've been curious about toppers and whether they actually bond to the underlying coating and offer any protection. I think I found my answer. However, the tradeoff is worse hydrophobics which impacts how I airdry the car. On the flip side, maybe adding a topper like Elixir would extend the life of Can Coat Evo, which is the base layer.

I'm going to stick with Ech20 1:20 going forward. It's less substantial and shouldn't alter the water behavior. If it does, it will be short lived at least.

Never had an issue with anything changing coating behavior.

But used mainly Cosmic Spritz or Kami OverCoat and as a stand-alone the both offered coating like behavior


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[Desertnate]

I never had it worsen the water behavior either when I used it on CQUK 3.0, but that shouldn't make any difference. In fact, I never noticed any change in water behavior at all before/after application.

 

[CleanIT]

I never had it worsen the water behavior either when I used it on CQUK 3.0, but that shouldn't make any difference. In fact, I never noticed any change in water behavior at all before/after application.

Interesting. I always thought if you use a less hydrophobic topper, the water behavior will change.

 

[Desertnate]

Interesting. I always thought if you use a less hydrophobic topper, the water behavior will change.

It is true. The wording of my response probably wasn't the best. I just didn't find Elixr to be less hydrophobic than CQUK; it seemed to be equal.

The only non-coating ceramic products I've used so far that didn't behave like a coating are Griots 3 in 1 and Turtle Wax's Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Wax Spray. When used on a coating, those two absolutely did change the water behavior...and not for the better. However others I've used like ECH2O, Elixr, Cure, Gyeon Ceramic Detailer, and Armour Detail Amplify, seemed to make no change to the water behavior on a "healthy" coating. I've only used ECH20 and Elixr on coatings near the end of their life spans and did notice a slight, but short lived improvement.

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

Interesting. I always thought if you use a less hydrophobic topper, the water behavior will change.

So in the old days I remembered reading that a coating would ahead the toppers and any ceramic in the topper would bond and protect but wear faster.

Some say that it all sheds off. When even I used cheaper toppers (Friots 3-1 for instance) I would still get CqUk3 beading.

I personally think there something there though as I can feel difference in slickness and some were more slick than others.

I personal also see a difference in gloss but I’ll leave that alone.


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[Desertnate]

I personal also see a difference in gloss but I’ll leave that alone.

I *think* I do too, but I'm never quite sure if it actually looks different or my brain is coming up with something to make me feel better about the money spent on a product and the time/effort to apply it.

I've also wrapped up a wash, stood back to admire the car, and simply put away the topper without using it because everything looks really good just as it is.