First time CQUK

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kodakdave

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Hello everyone :)

So after a long time i've finally found a finishing polish that worked on my paint (SF3500). Thank you mike :)

After 2 long days of Dialing in my paint i wanted to try out a ceramic coating since my sealants stopped beading after 2-3 months, so i went ahead and bought the 30ML CQUK Kit.

So i applied a line of CQUK on my applicator pad and started applying in a criss cross pattern untill it felt dry, i waited for like 20 seconds after that and it started flashing so i wiped it off with the suede that was included in the kit, followed by a low pile microfiber. now at this point i noticed at some spots it smeared (with my iphone LED) and that i couldn't remove the CQUK fully, it "smeared' the way i wiped no matter what.

So i went to the detailer where i bought the CQUK from and he told me that i shouldn't worry about this as long as it didn't get worse. so i continued doing my car and when i was finished i let the coating cure for over 30 hours indoors and took it out for a water wash so i could use reload (dilluted 1:1) as a drying aid.

At this point i put my car in the sun and i see these 'oily' streaks. and i wanted to know if it is Reload smear or CQUK smear.

I have watched dozens of guides on YouTube on how to apply this so i don't think anything was wrong with my technique.

Now i would like to know what i did wrong for future applications and how i can verify if the streaking/smear is from CQUK or Reload.

Items used:
3 Applicator pads
half bottle of CQUK.
1 16x16 suede for buffing off
1 CG Fluffer towel for final buffing because the 16x16 suede was getting soaked.


Thank you for your time everybody and have a nice day!
 
First of all, did you do an IPA or Eraser wipe down after polishing with SF3500(a lot of oils)?
Using just one suede towel is not enough, as you indicated that it was getting soaked. I'm surprised that you only used 15 ml.

Try using Essence Plus to get rid of the smears.
 
Rsurfer said:
First of all, did you do an IPA or Eraser wipe down after polishing with SF3500(a lot of oils)?
Using just one suede towel is not enough, as you indicated that it was getting soaked. I'm surprised that you only used 15 ml.

Try using Essence Plus to get rid of the smears.
Click to expand...

Yes i eraser wiped the whole car down twice (even reinduced some towel marring on my hood with removing the polish dust :( )

and yeah i used like 18ml it was a little below half. my car is a mk7 golf, so its just a little hatchback.

Essence plus is a "coating fixer" right and not an abrasive polish? Does it remove the whole coating or just smooth it out? since the stores are open in 2 days are there different things i can try out to see if it is smearing from UK or Reload?

Thank you!
 
kodakdave said:
Yes i eraser wiped the whole car down twice (even reinduced some towel marring on my hood with removing the polish dust :( )

and yeah i used like 18ml it was a little below half. my car is a mk7 golf, so its just a little hatchback.

Essence plus is a "coating fixer" right and not an abrasive polish? Does it remove the whole coating or just smooth it out? since the stores are open in 2 days are there different things i can try out to see if it is smearing from UK or Reload?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
Essence Plus may level out and fill without removing your CQuartz UK.
Or you can try buffing Reload with a white pad and see if that helps with the smears.
 
Rsurfer said:
Essence Plus may level out and fill without removing your CQuartz UK.
Or you can try buffing Reload with a white pad and see if that helps with the smears.
Click to expand...

Thanks i'll definitly get me a bottle of Essence Plus.

Do you mean buffing reload in with a White Hexlogic pad on a DA? sounds a little weird to me haha.

Also, do you think the timing was off when wiping down the UK? or was my initial buff with the suede following up with a short pile mf not enough?
 
kodakdave said:
Thanks i'll definitly get me a bottle of Essence Plus.

Do you mean buffing reload in with a White Hexlogic pad on a DA? sounds a little weird to me haha.

Also, do you think the timing was off when wiping down the UK? or was my initial buff with the suede following up with a short pile mf not enough?
Click to expand...

I go through 2-3 suede towels when removing CQuartz. I use a sharpie pen so I know what side (8 sides) is used and which is clean.
 
Rsurfer said:
I go through 2-3 suede towels when removing CQuartz. I use a sharpie pen so I know what side (8 sides) is used and which is clean.
Click to expand...


Kinda misleading that they only give you one with the kit :(
 
The Guz said:
I posted this over on the CarPro forum. Video 6 has some real nice information on CQUK from Corey and it's application process.

https://carproforum.com/showthread.php?4688-Obsessed-Garage-and-CarPro-Video-Series
Click to expand...


Thank you!

i've watched this video and i heard him say at one point that you need to switch applicators alot because overtime it cures onto the applicator itself and then it leaves smears and all this mess. If the sun shines again i will have a look onto my hood. Its where i started and see if theres any streaking going on there.
 
Use lots of towels, keep a bucket of water with snappy clean to soak your expended towels and grab new ones frequently. It's nothing for me to go through 6 to 8 towels on a customers vehicle.

Also, what is your temp and humidity? CQUK is for colder climates. You may want to try CQ Classic.

I commend you for using CQUK on your first time at coating. In the future you may want to give McKee's a try.

And you are correct, the essence plus has no abrasives.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
 
LSNAutoDetailing said:
Use lots of towels, keep a bucket of water with snappy clean to soak your expended towels and grab new ones frequently. It's nothing for me to go through 6 to 8 towels on a customers vehicle.

Also, what is your temp and humidity? CQUK is for colder climates. You may want to try CQ Classic.

I commend you for using CQUK on your first time at coating. In the future you may want to give McKee's a try.

And you are correct, the essence plus has no abrasives.
Click to expand...

^^ Great advice and I x2 these points.

As a side note, x3 on McKee's new SiO2 Coating. I can't wait to try this new version on my wife's van here soon, perhaps even today. I enjoyed V1 for the past year and did tons of cars with it without issues including both of mine. I moved my Audi to CQFinest to compare the two but now I'm really excited to see how the newest version of McKee's compares.
 
LSNAutoDetailing said:
Use lots of towels, keep a bucket of water with snappy clean to soak your expended towels and grab new ones frequently. It's nothing for me to go through 6 to 8 towels on a customers vehicle.

Also, what is your temp and humidity? CQUK is for colder climates. You may want to try CQ Classic.

I commend you for using CQUK on your first time at coating. In the future you may want to give McKee's a try.

And you are correct, the essence plus has no abrasives.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
Click to expand...

Hey,

Thank you for this information! by towels u mean the CarPro Sloggers? or just low pile MF's? The outside temperature that day was 64F and humidity was 55% but i was working indoors in my basement garage.

But the coating was rainbowing rather quickly like within 1-2 minutes after spreading it dry. If it starts rainbowing does that mean its time to take it off? because thats what i did.

And unfortunatly the market here in my country does not sell McKee's, i can only find Gyeon, CarPro CQ, C9 carbon flex. but i would like to learn CQUK :).

Thank you.
 
kodakdave said:
Hey,

Thank you for this information! by towels u mean the CarPro Sloggers? or just low pile MF's? The outside temperature that day was 64F and humidity was 55% but i was working indoors in my basement garage.

But the coating was rainbowing rather quickly like within 1-2 minutes after spreading it dry. If it starts rainbowing does that mean its time to take it off? because thats what i did.

And unfortunatly the market here in my country does not sell McKee's, i can only find Gyeon, CarPro CQ, C9 carbon flex. but i would like to learn CQUK :).

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Cquartz UK is fast reacting , specially if room temp is above 20 deg C. you must work panel by panels , or with 60cm2 , flash time is about 1 min, no more, its almost apply and cover all area and start wiping, dont wait till surface is dry! , it will be very hard to wipe . even if surface feel sticky or hard to wipe off, prime more your applicator and apply more liquid on the area , and wipe off right after. it will help removing the haze and stickiness.
 
Avi@CarPro said:
Cquartz UK is fast reacting , specially if room temp is above 20 deg C. you must work panel by panels , or with 60cm2 , flash time is about 1 min, no more, its almost apply and cover all area and start wiping, dont wait till surface is dry! , it will be very hard to wipe . even if surface feel sticky or hard to wipe off, prime more your applicator and apply more liquid on the area , and wipe off right after. it will help removing the haze and stickiness.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this information! i will definitly try this out on my next application. I did it this way: i divided most panels in half, and buffed the cquk in cross hatch patterns untill it felt dry, then i waited untill it started rainbowing (1-2mins later) and then i wiped it off.

So if i understand you correctly i need to apply and almost instantly wipe off so it should come off like a wax?

Again thank you for help!
 
My first time experience with a coating and it was CQUK was very similar. I applied it in my garage during the middle of July here in AZ, so temperatures were about 110 degrees easily. The rainbow effect or flash occurred almost immediately after application. My first section was half the hood which I waited a minute and buffed off using a low pile microfiber versus the suede cloth provided. Worked better and removed it without much effort. I wasn't sure if the minute cure time was sufficient so on the other half of the hood I waited almost 5 minutes and I wished I didn't. It streaked like crazy with high spots and could not come out after attempting to remove with the microfiber. Feeling frustrated I moved onto the driver side front fender and applied it to the entire panel, this time after application, with criss cross pattern, I wiped immediately and it came off effortlessly. Moving onto the driver side door, I applied to half the panel with the same original suede cloth on the applicator and although I wiped off immediately, it still streaked. That's when I was getting even more frustrated. I switched to a new suede cloth and had a perfect application on the next panel. So I got my rhythm down after trial and error, I learned that I would work in smaller sections, example hood was 4 sections and after applying the coating, to wipe immediately! And with the suede cloth, I would switch out after every 4 sections to avoid potential streaking. Same with the microfiber towels used to remove the coating. I hope that helps along with all the other good tips so far.
 
Also on the panels that had streaking, I used a fine polish to remove the coating and reapplied to those panels. I believe Essence Plus would have worked too but I didn't have any on me at the time.
 
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