Review: IGL Poly Ceramic Coating & IGL Compounds and Polishes - GREAT ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Review: IGL Poly Ceramic Coating & IGL Compounds and Polishes - GREAT ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY



FIRST - How's this look?

Here's the after shots....

And here's what I used,


IGL Poly Coating

Poly Coating Review

This is a really nice ceramic coating. It has a 4-5 minute flash time and this is perfect for anyone that's new to ceramic coatings but it's also convenient for seasoned professionals too as you have plenty of time to wipe the just-coated panel to remove any high spots.

The gloss? Freaking amazing. Did you see the pictures above? Nuff said.



IGL F1 Compounds - F2 Polish - F3 Finish

I only used the F1 Compound and the F3 Finish for the paint correction process on this streetrod. I did use the F2 Polish when I did the section on the hood to show and reveal the layer of dirt that has impacted onto the paint.

These IGL products are TOP SHELF products. They perform as advertised. The compound offers excellent cutting and finishing with ZERO dusting and the buffing cycle is as long as you want to buff. The polishes act the same way, excellent cutting (for their category), zero dusting and forever buffing cycle. And just as important - all products wipe off easy.



Abrasive Technology

I talk a LOT about abrasive technology on this forum, on Facebook, YouTube and in my car and boat detailing classes and the reason why is because in my opinion and experience is the NUMBER ONE most important factor when it comes to polishing car paint.

Why?

Because it is the abrasive technology that touches the paint FIRST. Then the pad, behind the pad is the tool and behind the tool is the person.

I've now spent over 10 years on the Autogeek forum helping others to undo the damage substandard abrasive technology has inflicted into their car's paint simply because the product they used did not use great abrasive technology. After using these three products I can testify that the IGL compound and their 2 polishes use great abrasive technology.

After compounding the paint I inspected it with the new Speed Master Swirl Finder Light AND I almost didn't do the follow-up step of polishing with a softer pad and a less aggressive polish BECAUSE the compound finished out so perfect. Yes - I said perfect. Because I was doing what I call "Show Car Detailing, I did re-polish using the IGL F3 Finish with the RUPES 7" white foam polishing pad on the CBEAST.

I shared pictures of how many foam cutting pads I used on this car... a lot. And that's because wet foam doesn't cut. This is something else I have invested a lot of time sharing with people because I find most people use too few pads when doing the correction step, be it with a compound, a polish or an all-in-one cleaner/wax. These are the Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid Orange foam pads, one of my favorite pads when using the BEAST.

I also used the PiXiE and the Nano for tight areas and of course lots of the Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Towels.






On Autogeek.com

IGL Ecocoat Poly

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued.....


This is the product I teased about in this thread,

New Mystery Product Testing - Review on Monday June 8th 2020 - HAMMERED 1937 Ford Roadster Streetrod

Here's some videos I took as I worked through this project.





Mike Phillips - New Product Reveal on this HAMMERED 1937...


Mike Phillips - Carson Top removed before paint correction.


Mike Phillips - Same old story - cool car - messed-up paint.




BEFORE Pictures



Here's the before condition.


Note all swirl shots were taking using the new Speed Master Swirl Finder Light.

Dirt staining

The paint on this car has dirt staining that has impacted ONTO and INTO the paint.

This picture taken after a waterless wash and after claying the paint.

Dirt staining

The paint on this car has dirt staining that has impacted ONTO and INTO the paint.

This picture taken after a waterless wash and after claying the paint.

Dirt staining

The paint on this car has dirt staining that has impacted ONTO and INTO the paint.

This picture taken after a waterless wash and after claying the paint.

Dirt staining

The paint on this car has dirt staining that has impacted ONTO and INTO the paint.

This picture taken after a waterless wash and after claying the paint.

Dirt staining

The paint on this car has dirt staining that has impacted ONTO and INTO the paint.

This picture taken after a waterless wash and after claying the paint.

Dirt staining

The paint on this car has dirt staining that has impacted ONTO and INTO the paint.

This picture taken after a waterless wash and after claying the paint.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued.....


Here's some shots showing just how dirty this paint was - as in dirt stained paint.

This is the IGL F2 Polish on a 5.5" CCS white foam polishing pad.

Here I found out this car is painted with single stage paint. You can see the yellow pigment on the pad AND you can see a brownish/grayish color. This is dirt staining on the paint over time.

See it? See the line between dirty paint and clean paint?

The paint is like this all around the car. Check out this before and after on the hood.

This car will literally change colors after the compounding step.

The new Speed Master Swirl Finder Light works really well and having the ability to change the Kelvin and Lumen settings works really well.

NOTE: The results you see below are AFTER heavy compounding.

What do I think? Looks LSP ready to me.

What do you think?

Here's what I used for this project.

Some of my favorite tools....

Here's how many pads I went through.

Note the 7" RUPES white foam finishing pads that I used on the FLEX CBEAST.

Lots of towels

I actually used more towels than this but this should give everyone the BIG PICTURE and that is you need a lot of nice towels when doing paint correction and ceramic coatings.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....


Before pictures of the canvas cloth convertible top


These live online classes are the real-deal. I don't do mock-up. Interestingly, I'm pretty confident I share MORE technique and meaty detailing information in these live classes than we ever shared on either of our 2 TV shows.


Here's the canvas top we'll be using to teach correct cleaning and protecting techniques.

When a canvas cloth top is in good condition - when it rains - water should BEAD-UP just like water beads-up on car paint.



Now follow me,

Do you see good water beading on the paint on this old 2-door Ford?

The answer of course is "no".


Now let's go deep.

If the paint has been neglected to the point that it no longer beads-up water....

Do you think the top was ever taken care of?

The answer is "no".

There is ZERO protection on this top. If there were any type of protection the surface tension would cause the water to bead-up.

Instead, the rain water is simply SOAKING into the canvas.

Real-world dirt or in this case, probably bird poo

This is what an UN-protected canvas convertible top looks like when it gets wet.

More pictures after the top dried...


From this point of view, the top looks normal or clean.

From this point of view, the top is dull and lifeless looking. It should be crisp and vibrant dark blue.

Dirt deep down into the weave of the cloth

This is the telling picture. In the same way you can see dirt has built up in the ledge at the bottom of the glass back window, dirt has also built-up over and inside of the weave of the entire cloth top.

Then there's a few places with some kind of spills or contaminants....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....


Quick and easy tire detailing

I didn't get any great before pictures of the tires but just like the paint was dirty (dirt stained), and the top is dirty, see convertible top pictures above), the tires were dirty and ugly too.



Here's a couple from the before shots of the paint that shows the tires.

Here's how they look after machine scrubbing with a rubber/vinyl all-in-one.

It took me about 3-4 MINUTES for each tires. Process is as simple as 3-steps...

1. Spray rubber/vinyl cleaner onto tire sidewall.
2. Machine scrub tire with cordless rotary with brush attached.
3. Wipe and scrub tire sidewall with scrap rag to remove loosened grime and excess product.

Done.


A little bit of work and a huge improvement.



Here's something else to consider when cleaning and dressing your own tires.

Instead of looking for a LONG LASTING tire dressing, consider an all-in-one rubber and vinyl cleaner.

Why?

Generally speaking, long lasting tire dressings are DEDICATED dressings. This means they have no cleaning ability in and of themselves so the tires must first be pre-cleaned. No big deal, that's normal and you can do the dedicated cleaning step when washing the car. The thing about long lasting tire dressings is they tend to be solvent or oil-based, as in a silicone oil. These types of dressing last longer because they don't break-down easy with water. For example if you drive your car in the rain, or when you wash your car, the dressing will not simply mix with the water and run off the tires.

The problem with this type of dressing is because it's more difficult to remove - you cannot remove it. At least not easily.


Now follow me as I go deep....

If your car, or your customer's car is a DAILY DRIVER - the tires ARE going to get dirty. They're going to get road film on them, brake-dust and normal grime build-up. So a long lasting tire dressing doesn't stop them from getting ugly BUT a long lasting tire dressing is going to be harder to remove to REFRESH the look of your tires. This is what you want, a way to remove and then replace the tire dressing so it's fast and easy and you can quickly refresh the look of your tires.

So instead of getting a long lasting tire dressing and dealing with the mess that goes with them, get a water-based rubber/vinyl CLEANER & CONDITIONER. Because it has a cleaner, you can use IT to remove itself off your tires and at the same time it's conditioning and protecting the tire or in other words refreshing the look.


I learned this approach from Mike Pennington years ago when I was at Meguiar's. He always used Meguiar's M40 on his tires and company vehicle tires because.... it didn't last a long time. It was easy to remove an replace or refresh and thus quick and easy to always have your vehicles tires looking great.

A real out-of-the box way of thinking but it works.


The product I shared above is called Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner. It's 100% water based. Safe for use on all your interior rubber and vinyl include door gaskets, engine compartment gaskets, hatchback gaskets, and it also makes a great one-step tire cleaner and conditioner and protectant.

Heck most the time I don't even wash the tires I just machine apply this product, wipe off the excess with a scrap rag and I'm done. The next time I do this to the same tires it works even better. The more you do it, the faster and easier it gets.

This is what you want when it comes to detailing cars, fast and easy. And also consistency in results over time.


Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner





Machine scrubbing vs Hand scrubbing


You can do the same type of cleaning, conditioning and protecting by hand it's just a LOT more effective to work by machine. The human hand gets tired. The machine never gets tires.


Once you use a cordless rotary polisher to machine scrub tires you'll never look back -Mike Phillips





Machine Scrubbing


FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Long Bristles

Rotary 4 ¾ inch Flexible Backing Plate




Hand scrubbing

A short bristle length brush works best to hand scrub tires.

Low Profile Tire Brush

 

[Justin at Final Inspection]

Welcome to the IGL family. F1 is an absolute gem to work with.

 

[axel06]

fantastic job Mike !! :dblthumb2: :dblthumb2:

 

[Bruno Soares]

Wow, great before and after. Really saved that car.

 

[acuRAS82]

Amazing.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Welcome to the IGL family. F1 is an absolute gem to work with.

I used the IGL abrasive products and their Poly Ceramic Coating in our demo booth at Mobile Tech Expo. At this booth I always have a BLACK demo hood.

The paint my painter uses I beleive is Standox, it's in the medium range consistently and this allows me to consistently test compounds, poishes and cleaner/waxes to know whether the products are any good or not.

I was impressed at MTE and just as impressed when I did the paint correction work to this 1937 Ford Streerod.

Good stuff. :dblthumb2:

fantastic job Mike !! :dblthumb2: :dblthumb2:

Thanks Axel.

Wow, great before and after. Really saved that car.

Thanks Bruce. As predicted, the car completely changed colors.

Richness of color is maxed out and paint is super glossy.

Amazing.

It's all about what touches the paint. Anyone using these products and pads could have done the same thing.

 

[The Guz]

Nice write up as usual Mike. Smart move by IGL to capitalize on the consumer market. It seems to have ruffled a few feathers in the IGL professional community from what I have heard.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

More....


Normally I use smaller pads on the CBEAST but due to the curved fenders and a few tight areas, like where the fenders meet the running boards, I used OVERSIZE pads on a smaller backing plate and this enabled me to shove the pad into these areas and because the CBEAST is gear-driven there was no pad stalling.

Some of my favorite tools....

Here's how many pads I went through.

Note the 7" RUPES white foam finishing pads that I used on the FLEX CBEAST.

Also note the one 7" RUPES green foam pad amongst a see of Lake Country pads.


I've also been using the 7" RUPES pads on the BEAST and the Supa Beast and really liking them and using the 6" RUPES pads on both the CBEAST and the Porter Cable and also like them.

RUPES makes really nice foam pads.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Nice write up as usual Mike.

Thank you. I put a lot of work into saving the paint job on this car. I still have the nose on the hood to correct. It actually still looks like this,

Smart move by IGL to capitalize on the consumer market.

The consumer or the "enthusiast" market is HUGE while the pro detailer market in comparison is tiny.

I know of a couple other companies that have figured this out and changed course accordingly.

It seems to have ruffled a few feathers in the IGL professional community from what I have heard.

I have not heard or seen anything myself but I don't cyber-run in those circles.

I don't blame professionals for wanting to earn a living and in the same context I don't blame IGL for wanting to earn a living for themselves and their employees.


Thanks for chiming in buddy.

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Re: Review: IGL Poly Ceramic Coating & IGL Compounds and Polishes - GREAT ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY

It seems to have ruffled a few feathers in the IGL professional community from what I have heard.

Interesting...wonder if Quartz might go consumer at some point.

 

[Desertnate]

Great review of the polishing products. I love to see the side-by-sides where the yellow looks almost to be two different colors after all the defects and ground in dirt is removed.

What are your thoughts on the IGL coating, Mike? You don't really say much about it. Any thoughts on how it compares to the new Wolfgang coating you reviewed a couple weeks ago?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Great review of the polishing products.

As you know, I'm keen on educating others that the MOST important factor when polishing car paint is the abrasive technology. I always feel bad for people that buy junk products and then if they're fate brings them to this forum we help them to undo the damage - usually micro-marring - caused by the crappy abrasive technology used in the products. Paint is thin and besides taking off perfectly good paint with crap for abrasive technology is a waste of good (thin) paint, it's also a huge waste of time and resources. I've never met anyone that says,

Yes - I'd like to buff out my car twice

(this is where I normally insert my articles on how thin clearcoats are thin)

I love to see the side-by-sides where the yellow looks almost to be two different colors after all the defects and ground in dirt is removed.

The before and after pictures for severely neglected paint like I photo-documented for this car and product review are powerful. That's why I do this stuff. Would have made an even better YouTube video but I didn't have that option.

What are your thoughts on the IGL coating, Mike?

You don't really say much about it.

Good observation. Here's why,

Besides what I wrote, it's really hard to say a lot about a good coating EXCEPT what I wrote.

Poly Coating Review

This is a really nice ceramic coating. It has a 4-5 minute flash time and this is perfect for anyone that's new to ceramic coatings but it's also convenient for seasoned professionals too as you have plenty of time to wipe the just-coated panel to remove any high spots.

The gloss? Freaking amazing. Did you see the pictures above? Nuff said.

The thing about a conventional coating, (tiny bottle of liquid applied with a suede patch of cloth wrapped around a foam block), is it either works or it doesn't. By the word WORK I mean, the liquid either wipes over the surface or it doesn't and all coatings I've ever used, just like water (a liquid), they wipe over the surface. There's really not much more to say about the physical characteristics of the coating except for scent or odor and then the flash or EVAPORATION RATE of the product and I touched on both of these aspects in the small amount of text I typed out.

I didn't touch on the scent or odor but I will say it does have a strong solvent smell. This is not a negative it's just is what it is. I've noticed this about other brand name coatings too.

Any thoughts on how it compares to the new Wolfgang coating you reviewed a couple weeks ago?

Here's how I started my review for the Wolfgang PROFI coating - NOTE HOW WHAT I SAY is similar to the explanation I just typed about about describing how coatings work, as in they are a liquid you wipe over the paint.

Review

This is a super easy coating to apply. It spreads over the paint super easy and wipes off super easy too. There's really nothing more I can add to the application and removal of this coating.

Here's one thing the PROFI and the POLY have in common.

1: Within a short time - if you discover a high spot - you can use the coating to re-liquefy the high spot and then wipe it off instead of polishing it off. I shared that I had to do this with the PROFI due to shooting a video and vidoe work interferes with real-world work or in other words, where normally I would have wiped the treated surface, due to shooting a video more time when by and thus I had a high spot to remove and of course I removed it but used the coating to dissolve itself because this is my preferred method when and if it works.

What I didn't share in my POLY review, for no reason but in hindsight I should have, Andre came out and inspected my work and I missed some coating on the passenger side body. Andre was fooling around inspecting my work and discovered it. I'm glad he did because I was able to simply re-apply some of the POLY coating and then wipe everything off.


The one thing they don't have in common is the PROFI has a shorter window-of-time before it flashes and thus starts to cure or harden while the POLY has a longer flash time before it cures or hardens. This makes the POLY more Bubba-Proof but remember, it's marketed as a consumer level coating while the PROFI is a PRO GRADE coating and thus the differences in formulas.


Wow.... going so deep and I haven't even finished my coffee.


Great questions Nate - thanks for asking, I hope my answers help on the education aspect of coating application in general.

 

[Desertnate]

Thanks, Mike. I appreciate the answers.

Things like flash time and the ability of both to fix high spots by hitting the spot a second time is a really nice feature. Actually, drama-free application is really good to know and your original review makes sense now.

Thanks again.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Actually, drama-free application is really good to know and your original review makes sense now.

Making sense is what I'm all about.... at least in the car detailing world.



:dig:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

:bump:


For those reading this into the future. This first car I detailed using IGL Poly was when the product was first introduced. The car is actually a streetrod with a custom paint job that happened to be single stage urethane. In the same family of paint resin as modern clearcoats.

And - the IGL Poly Ceramic Paint Coating created an incredible glassy look to the single stage paint.

FIRST - How's this look?

This last weekend I had the opportunity to use the new IGL Poly Ceramic Paint Coating on a brand new Pcar with the factory basecoat/clearcoat paint system. So now you can see and learn how to use this product on clearcoats.


Review: IGL Poly Ceramic Coating - 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S


This is IGL Poly Ceramic Coating or as we say in the industry.... the glassy look!