OctaneGuy
New member
- Feb 14, 2008
- 64
- 0
Full Disclosure--this is being written by the inventor of BlackWow.
As a full time fixed location detailer that also manufactures some innovative car care products, I am always trying to learn as much as possible about the way things work. Since I launched the BlackWow products in 2007, I have coined a number of phrases that apply specifically to my products.
Graceful Degradation is a term used in the IT industry to describe what sort of fail safes and built-in backups a system has at the point of failure. In the detailing world, this relates specifically to what happens at the end of the life of a product. It's easy to apply a product and say "Look how good it looks" and believe that a manufacturer says "It will last for XXX amount of time" yet there are many variables that can affect this that include the composition or nature of the material as well as environmental factors.
At Detail Fest in 2010, I applied some BlackWow to a Ferrari and the owner told me in 2011 at the next Detail Fest, that it was still there and looked great! That nothing else worked except for my product. A year durability on a car that isn't exposed to UV and is a show car isn't all that surprising. Fast forward to Detail Fest 2014. The same owner came to my booth and told me...BlackWow has been on his car since 2010 and he only applied it once more before a show and it didn't change much. He was blown away.
Just the same, there are cars that BlackWow may not have lasted more than a few weeks or few months due to excessive rain or less than optimal application methods. One of the most important things with trim restoration products is prep and technique. But assuming those are spot on, what does the trim look like as the product wears off? There is no such thing as a "life time" product otherwise we wouldn't have such things as clear coat failure or hazy and yellowed head lights. Everything has a life.
Here is a Jeep Wrangler with a coating that the dealership applied and within a few years, it looked horrible and needs to be redone. However, applying BlackWow Pro looks fantastic except on the coated areas that haven't flaked off. There is no uniformity.
BEFORE
AFTER
50/50's are great for documenting. This is after 171 days on an area never before treated with any products. It has faded slightly in that time for this car that lives outside 24x7 but it is still uniform.
In this example you can see what a treated area looks like after 335 days. It has faded but is still uniform.
This leads us to the idea of "Material Saturation" and "Long Term Soaking". BlackWow products have always lasted a long time once the material was saturated with product. Our products are designed to absorb. BlackWow Pro absorbs in minutes instead of days like Classic. Once the material won't absorb anymore, you have reached the optimal point of application. Traditionally, you apply a product once and if you see it fade, the natural response is to think it has failed. With BlackWow products because so little is needed per application, a second or third application is sometimes needed to reach saturation.
Once a material is saturated, how long does it stay this way? It depends on a number of factors of course, but there is documented proof of cumulative improvement on successive applications. With BlackWow Classic I showed on a truck cowling back in 2010 how 3 applications spread out over a 10 hour day looked twice as dark as trying to apply 3 applications in 1 hour.
With BlackWow Pro we have found that the first application often lasts 4 to 6 months here in SoCal, but a repeat application after 3 to 4 months can extend that another 8 to 14 months because you have a base application that has been soaking for months, it provides an even better foundation. However like I said before, there are materials that just won't absorb well and durability is greatly reduced. This can happen on previously treated materials or even just hard plastics.
A quick test to determine how successful the material absorbed is to apply BlackWow Pro and let it soak for 20 minutes. Take a microfiber towel with some 70% alcohol and swipe it a few times. If it looks dry, the BWP can't absorb and durability will be similar to that of a normal dressing. If there is no change, you can pretty much bet that durability will be for a very long time.
I haven't talked about all the terms mentioned above...to be continued.
As a full time fixed location detailer that also manufactures some innovative car care products, I am always trying to learn as much as possible about the way things work. Since I launched the BlackWow products in 2007, I have coined a number of phrases that apply specifically to my products.
- Graceful Degradation
- Material Saturation
- Long Term Soaking
- Rehydrating
- Cumulative Effect
- Maintaining Uniformity
Graceful Degradation is a term used in the IT industry to describe what sort of fail safes and built-in backups a system has at the point of failure. In the detailing world, this relates specifically to what happens at the end of the life of a product. It's easy to apply a product and say "Look how good it looks" and believe that a manufacturer says "It will last for XXX amount of time" yet there are many variables that can affect this that include the composition or nature of the material as well as environmental factors.
At Detail Fest in 2010, I applied some BlackWow to a Ferrari and the owner told me in 2011 at the next Detail Fest, that it was still there and looked great! That nothing else worked except for my product. A year durability on a car that isn't exposed to UV and is a show car isn't all that surprising. Fast forward to Detail Fest 2014. The same owner came to my booth and told me...BlackWow has been on his car since 2010 and he only applied it once more before a show and it didn't change much. He was blown away.
Just the same, there are cars that BlackWow may not have lasted more than a few weeks or few months due to excessive rain or less than optimal application methods. One of the most important things with trim restoration products is prep and technique. But assuming those are spot on, what does the trim look like as the product wears off? There is no such thing as a "life time" product otherwise we wouldn't have such things as clear coat failure or hazy and yellowed head lights. Everything has a life.
Here is a Jeep Wrangler with a coating that the dealership applied and within a few years, it looked horrible and needs to be redone. However, applying BlackWow Pro looks fantastic except on the coated areas that haven't flaked off. There is no uniformity.
BEFORE
AFTER
50/50's are great for documenting. This is after 171 days on an area never before treated with any products. It has faded slightly in that time for this car that lives outside 24x7 but it is still uniform.
In this example you can see what a treated area looks like after 335 days. It has faded but is still uniform.
This leads us to the idea of "Material Saturation" and "Long Term Soaking". BlackWow products have always lasted a long time once the material was saturated with product. Our products are designed to absorb. BlackWow Pro absorbs in minutes instead of days like Classic. Once the material won't absorb anymore, you have reached the optimal point of application. Traditionally, you apply a product once and if you see it fade, the natural response is to think it has failed. With BlackWow products because so little is needed per application, a second or third application is sometimes needed to reach saturation.
Once a material is saturated, how long does it stay this way? It depends on a number of factors of course, but there is documented proof of cumulative improvement on successive applications. With BlackWow Classic I showed on a truck cowling back in 2010 how 3 applications spread out over a 10 hour day looked twice as dark as trying to apply 3 applications in 1 hour.
With BlackWow Pro we have found that the first application often lasts 4 to 6 months here in SoCal, but a repeat application after 3 to 4 months can extend that another 8 to 14 months because you have a base application that has been soaking for months, it provides an even better foundation. However like I said before, there are materials that just won't absorb well and durability is greatly reduced. This can happen on previously treated materials or even just hard plastics.
A quick test to determine how successful the material absorbed is to apply BlackWow Pro and let it soak for 20 minutes. Take a microfiber towel with some 70% alcohol and swipe it a few times. If it looks dry, the BWP can't absorb and durability will be similar to that of a normal dressing. If there is no change, you can pretty much bet that durability will be for a very long time.
I haven't talked about all the terms mentioned above...to be continued.