Sealant comparison

It's been too long without an update. I'll try to get caught up with this one. Currently have 7 products going on the Rover.

Some quick news: I won't be testing on the Boxster going forward. Too curvy and too small to see good water movement. The Sentra is gone. Our daughter took it. Collinite 915 went for a solid 9.5 months, outside 24x7 and washed with CarPro Reset repeatedly. No question this is an excellent product. It's still working, but has slowed down the point that I have to call it done. I applied Rupes 808 again - it only went 2 weeks. This was my 6th test. I've been more than fair with it.

I have Bead-It going in 3 different areas. Trying to see if I get different results applying multiple places at the same time.

Jescar Bead-It, Stoner Bead Max, and 303 Graphene are all doing well after 3 months. I'm surprised to see Bead Max holding up so well.

Current Rover status (video from today):
  • Bead-It (passenger side rear door, front 1/2): 1 second to clear (applied 4/21)
  • Bead Max (passenger side rear door, rear 1/2): 1 second to clear (applied 4/21)
  • 303 Graphene (driver side rear door, front 1/2): 1 second (applied 4/21)
  • Bead-It (driver side rear door, back 1/2): 2 seconds to clear (applied 4/21)
  • Spray+Seal (passenger side rear panel): 2 seconds (applied 6/26/21)
  • Bead-It (passenger side front door, rear): 1 second (applied 6/26)
  • Power Lock+ (passenger side front door, front): 1 second (applied 6/26)
  • Rupes 808 (passenger side front door, middle): Done as of July 10 - only lasted 2 weeks
Video from July 10: this shows Rupes 808 and Collinite 915 are done

The sealant spreadsheet is up to date if you want to check results.

Depending on how the current products hold up I'm hoping to add 6-8 long term products in late September to see how they do over the winter.
 
Check the products today. Washed the care with Carpro Reset first. Everything is doing well. Good for the products. Not good for me in terms of adding more products this summer. I added 3 products to the driver side door: Megs #20, McKee's High Def Sealant, and McKee's Jewling Wax. I get that it doesn't make much sense to test the longevity of a jewling wax, but I had it so I applied it. The first two went on with an applicator sponge. The jewling wax was applied with with GG6 and a white LO pad. I also used a white pad and and DG Squeaky Clean on the door before applying them.

View attachment 74047

Current Rover status (video from today):
  • Bead-It (passenger side rear door, front 1/2): 1 second to clear
  • Bead Max (passenger side rear door, rear 1/2): 1 second to clear
  • 303 Graphene (driver side rear door, front 1/2): 1 second
  • Bead-It (driver side rear door, back 1/2): 4 seconds to clear
  • Spray+Seal (passenger side rear panel): 2 seconds (applied 6/26/21)
  • Bead-It (passenger side front door, rear): 1 second (applied 6/26)
  • Power Lock+ (passenger side front door, front): 1 second (applied 6/26)
  • Meg's #20 (driver side front door, front): TBD
  • McKee's High Def Sealant (driver side front door, mid): TBD
  • McKee's Jewling Wax (driver side front door, rear): TBD
The driver side rear panel is available. I'll get something applied this weekend. I could also get something applied to the passenger side door where 808 was applied.
 
Washed the car with Carpro Reset and a Big Red Sponge. After testing I applied Carpro Reload to the driver side rear panel. Most products are doing well.

Bead-It on the driver side rear door is still at 4 seconds. Spray + Seal has slowed to 3 seconds. Everything else is clearing almost immediately. The end of the video is showing that the driver side rear panel has no product and is slow to clear before I applied Reload.

Rover status (video):
  • Bead-It (passenger side rear door, front 1/2): 1 second to clear
  • Bead Max (passenger side rear door, rear 1/2): 1 second to clear
  • 303 Graphene (driver side rear door, front 1/2): 2 seconds
  • Bead-It (driver side rear door, back 1/2): 4 seconds to clear
  • Spray+Seal (passenger side rear panel): 3 seconds
  • Bead-It (passenger side front door, rear): 1 second
  • Power Lock+ (passenger side front door, front): 1 second
  • Meg's #20 (driver side front door, front): 1 second
  • McKee's High Def Sealant (driver side front door, mid): 1 second
  • McKee's Jewling Wax (driver side front door, rear): 1 second
  • Carpro Reload (driver side rear panel): TBD
 
Washed the Rover during the weekend with Carpro Reset. The loud background noise is my generator. I had it going to give is some use and keep gas moving through the carb. That's the loud background noise. Next time I'm getting something quieter. (I always run it dry and use gas extender but have still had issues with varnishing in the carb. Now using E0 gas to see if that helps and will run it at least every 2-3 months for 15-20 mins.)

Rover status (video):
  • Bead-It (passenger side rear door, front 1/2): 1 second to clear
  • Bead Max (passenger side rear door, rear 1/2): 1 second to clear
  • 303 Graphene (driver side rear door, front 1/2): 2 seconds
  • Bead-It (driver side rear door, back 1/2): 4 seconds to clear
  • Spray+Seal (passenger side rear panel): 3 seconds
  • Bead-It (passenger side front door, rear): 1 second
  • Power Lock+ (passenger side front door, front): 2 second
  • Meg's #20 (driver side front door, front): 3 seconds
  • McKee's High Def Sealant (driver side front door, mid): 1 second
  • McKee's Jewlelng Wax (driver side front door, rear): 2 seconds
  • Carpro Reload (driver side rear panel): TBD

Megs #20, McKee's Jeweling wax, Power Lock+ have slowed just a little. Everything is doing about the same as last time.
 
Have washed and tested these products a few times. Everything is still holding up. Bead-It, Bead Max, and 303 Graphene have been on for 5 months and are still performing well. Spray+Seal and Power Lock+ are at 3 months. McKee's Jewling Wax, McKee's High Def Sealant, Megs #20, and Reload have been on for less than 2 months.

Bead-it, Bead Max, and 303 Graphene are all impressive. I have not done an application test to check cost vs. performance yet. I don't recall that any of them are very expensive, and based on results so far they all seem to be a good choice for an affordable, long lasting sealant.

Rover status (Sept 26th, Sept 9th, Aug 29th):
  • Bead-It (passenger side rear door, front 1/2): 2 seconds to clear
  • Bead Max (passenger side rear door, rear 1/2): 1 seconds to clear
  • 303 Graphene (driver side rear door, front 1/2): 2 seconds
  • Bead-It (driver side rear door, back 1/2): 3 seconds to clear
  • Spray+Seal (passenger side rear panel): 3 seconds
  • Bead-It (passenger side front door, rear): 1 second
  • Power Lock+ (passenger side front door, front): 2 seconds
  • Meg's #20 (driver side front door, front): 4 seconds
  • McKee's High Def Sealant (driver side front door, mid): 2 seconds
  • McKee's Jewlelng Wax (driver side front door, rear): 2 seconds
  • Carpro Reload (driver side rear panel): 2 seconds
 
Hard to believe it's been a month. Crappy weather and being gone 2 of the last 3 weekends have kept me from testing. It's been wet here and I've driven at least 500 miles in the rain, which is hard on sealants. Not surprisingly they've all slowed down. Plus it's been another extra month. Nice weather expected next week so I'll try to get another test in and get some products applied before winter hits. I washed the car with CarPro Reset using a Big Red Sponge.

Megs #20, McKee's High Def Sealant, McKee's Jewling Wax are all done. These all lasted about 2 months during the summer. I may reapply one of them to see how they hold up in the Winter. Note that McKee's High Def and Jewling Wax are both clearing in ~5 seconds at the top of the door. They are slower at the bottom half where road grime gets slung and accumulates. So on the upper areas of a car they would not doubt still be working.

Spray+Seal seems close to done. It's been on almost 4 months.

Rover status (video- background noise is my generator):
  • Bead-It (passenger side rear door, front 1/2): 4 seconds to clear
  • Bead Max (passenger side rear door, rear 1/2): 3 seconds to clear
  • 303 Graphene (driver side rear door, front 1/2): 8 seconds
  • Bead-It (driver side rear door, back 1/2): 10 seconds to clear
  • Spray+Seal (passenger side rear panel): 13 seconds to clear (close to done)
  • Bead-It (passenger side front door, rear): 7 seconds
  • Power Lock+ (passenger side front door, front): 8 seconds
  • Meg's #20 (driver side front door, front): 17 seconds - calling it done
  • McKee's High Def Sealant (driver side front door, mid): 17 seconds - calling it done
  • McKee's Jewlelng Wax (driver side front door, rear): 17 seconds - calling it done
  • Carpro Reload (driver side rear panel): 6 seconds
 
FYI, I fixed a couple of minor issues with the spreadsheet charts. Some items without cost data were showing and the lowest cost per use, because their cost was $0. Fixed that.

Two things I need to add to make it more useful:
- Usage data for all the products I've tested. I've done enough that I could probably estimate the ones I haven't measured yet. This would show the true cost per year for each product I've tested.
- Another chart showing cost per year without labor costs. Some amateurs probably don't care how much time it takes. More longevity or lower cost per product may be more important. I'll get this added as well.​

I'll try to get these done in the next few days.

Here's a summary based on longevity:

36 to 49 weeks:​
DG 104, Collinite 845, Collinite 915, FK1000P.
Note that these all take more effort to apply​

20 to 28 weeks:​
Sonax PNS, DG 111, Track Claw, 303 Graphine (still going), Glass Molecule, Bead-It (still going), Sonus SF-X, Bead Max (still going).

Of these, Bead-it, Bead Max, and 303 Graphine are the easiest to apply. Sonax PNS is almost as fast - it has to be applied with a sponge rather than sprayed on. You can finish a medium sized vehicle with any of these in 10-15 minutes if you're continually moving.​

15 to 19 weeks:​
4 Star Spray Wax, BF Carnuba, Megs Ceramic, Power Lock+, Dodo Red Mist, Griots Finishing, and Scholls Barracuda, and Spray+Seal.

For these I would stick with the spray on and wipe off vs. wax on wax off products. Why take the time to apply, let cure, and remove when there are spray products that do just as well? Spray+Seal didn't last this long with one application, but I'll assume user error on that one. It's also easy to apply. These are all good products.​

10 to 14 weeks:​
Polish Angel Cosmic, Ultima Waterless, Dodo Acrylic Spritz, CarPro, RejeX, OptiSeal, IGL Premier, Polish Angel Viking, 303 Spray Wax, Dodo Future Armour, 10 Minute Sealant, Hydro Seal, and Reload.

Several of these had one application that didn't last as long so the average duration is lower. Many of these did last more than 14 weeks with one application, so the could in next group above.

For these I would also go with the easiest to apply, which is probably OptiSeal (wipe on, walk away) or any of the spray sealants. Ultima Waterless is a waterless wash that protects like sealant. The Polish Angel products are outrageously expensive relative to the others. Some people think they look better.​

All the others are under 10 weeks. Of that long list, the ones I like and would use are DG Aquawax (cheap and an excellent drying aid, sheets water for ~8 weeks), Ech2o+Reload as a QD (sheets water for ~8 weeks), DG 931 as a QD (sheets water for ~9 weeks).
 
@RippyD - did you mean Duragloss 104 (paste wax) or 105? Thanks for doing that and sharing.
 
dgage said:
@RippyD - did you mean Duragloss 104 (paste wax) or 105? Thanks for doing that and sharing.
Click to expand...
104 paste sealant. 105 doesn't last nearly that long. 104 will hang with other good paste waxes/sealants.
 
Tested today. Washed with CarPro Reset. A few more items are done this week, and the others are slowing down. Bead Max is still hanging on and clearing on 3 seconds.

303 Graphene, Bead-It (one of 3), Spray+Seal, and Power Lock+ are done.

Bead-it (2/3) , Bead Max, and Reload are still going.

Megs #20, McKee's High Def Sealant, McKee's Jewling Wax are all done. These all lasted about 2 months during the summer. I may reapply one of them to see how they hold up in the Winter. Note that McKee's High Def and Jewling Wax are both clearing in ~5 seconds at the top of the door. They are slower at the bottom half where road grime gets slung and accumulates. So on the upper areas of a car they would not doubt still be working.

Rover status (video- turn down your volume, background noise is my generator, and it's loud):
  • Bead-It (passenger side rear door, front 1/2): 11 seconds to clear
  • Bead Max (passenger side rear door, rear 1/2): 3 seconds to clear
  • 303 Graphene (driver side rear door, front 1/2): 20 seconds - done
  • Bead-It (driver side rear door, back 1/2): 20 seconds to clear - done
  • Spray+Seal (passenger side rear panel): 17 seconds to clear - done
  • Bead-It (passenger side front door, rear): 8 seconds
  • Power Lock+ (passenger side front door, front): 20 seconds - done
  • Carpro Reload (driver side rear panel): 10 seconds
 
RippyD, outstanding job.

Thank you for all the work you're putting into this. It's much appreciated. :xyxthumbs:
 
Added 9 products to the Rover. These have all been tested before, but I like to see at least 2 tests per product. More than 2 if I see high variability.

I washed it as usual. Then polished it with DG 652 (Pre-cleaner #2). This seem to be a paint cleaner. Not sure if it has any cut. I used it because it was sitting there and I don't recall using it before. I did 4 panels with 1 LC white pad. Should have used 2 - the pad was filthy. Other have said it dusts badly. I got 0 dust. Maybe it gets dusty if you overwork it or let it dry too long? I used it inside, did 2 passes, and removed it quickly. It comes off easily.

Just to be safe I think went over the DG 652 with DG squeaky clean and washed the car with Reset again. I applied these products in the garage with a heater going. It's about 55 degrees in there, but will be warmer under the tarp I threw over the car. No rain expected for the next few days so I can get it back in the garage to finish baking for another night or two.

View attachment 74567 View attachment 74565

I accidentally removed an application of Bead-It on the passenger side front door that wasn't done. I'll removed that test from the spreadsheet. The sealants that needed to cure before being removed got at least 30 minutes and I gave them all the finger wipe test to ensure they were dry.

I added:
Duragloss 111
Stoner Bead Max
303 Graphene
Opt OptiSeal
Jescar Power Lock+
Dodo Red Mist
Sonus SFX-4 (NOTE: This looked bad. It separated and no amount of shaking would make it look homogenous).
CarPro Reload
Scholl Concepts Barracuda Speed Wax
​

View attachment 74566

Optiseal wins for ease of application. Wipe on and walk away is very nice. The ones that need to cure are not my favorite. Not a lot more effort, but you have to wait and there's the risk of removing too early: DG 111, Bead Max, 303 Graphene, Power Lock+, SFX-4. The others are wipe-on-wipe-off: Red Mist, Reload, Barracuda. If I'm going to wait for something to cure, it may as well be something that lasts a long time.

Passenger side:
  • SFX-4: passenger side, front door, front
  • DG 111: passenger side, front door, middle
  • Power Lock+: passenger side, front door, rear
  • Bead-It: passenger side rear door, front
  • Bead Max: passenger side rear door, rear
  • Bead Max: passenger side, rear panel
Driver side:
  • OptiSeal: driver side, front door, front
  • Red Mist: driver side, front door, middle
  • 303 Graphene: driver side, front door, rear
  • Barracuda: driver side, rear door, front
  • Reload: driver side, rear door, rear
  • Reload: driver side, rear panel
 
Optiseal plays nice with every sealant or wax I've used. I've tried it underneath and on top, no issues. And a bottle lasts near forever.
 
Washed with CarPro Reset and a Big Red Sponge, as usual.

There is some issue with most of the newly applied sealants taking longer than expected to sheet water. I suspect that these didn't cure fully due to the temperature. I had them in the garage with a heat going, but they were at ~55+ degrees for 10 hours, then outside in colder temps, then rained on 2 days later. It could be this is not enough heat to get these to cure. I'll see how they do, but these tests may have to be discarded. For example, newly applied Bead-It is taking 8 seconds to sheet water. This can't be right. I'll work on getting the garage warmer. The bigger issue is keeping the car in there long enough to ensure good curing. Need think about this.

Video
Passenger side:
  • SFX-4: passenger side, front door, front - 4 seconds
  • DG 111: passenger side, front door, middle - 3 seconds
  • Power Lock+: passenger side, front door, rear - 4 seconds
  • Bead-It: passenger side rear door, front - 8 seconds
  • Bead Max: passenger side rear door, rear - 2 seconds
  • Bead Max: passenger side, rear panel - 1 second
Driver side:
  • OptiSeal: driver side, front door, front - 5 seconds
  • Red Mist: driver side, front door, middle - 2 seconds
  • 303 Graphene: driver side, front door, rear - 2 seconds
  • Barracuda: driver side, rear door, front - 7 seconds
  • Reload: driver side, rear door, rear - 7 seconds
  • Reload: driver side, rear panel - 8 seconds
 
These results are from last Saturday, 11/20. I washed the car with CarPro Reset and a Big Red Sponge. The newly applied sealants are all done. They should all be performing well, so I have to assume they didn't get enough heat and/or time to cure. (Assuming this is a chemical reaction taking place when they cure, they will cure faster with more heat and more slowly with less heat. Below some temp they likely cure so slowly that they essentially won't cure. Not an expect - just recollecting from my college chem 100 years ago.)

I'll throw out the tests for the sealants I applied Oct 29th. Everything else is done. Bead-It and Bead Max both went over 6 months. Reload went about 3 months.

Video
Passenger side:
  • SFX-4: passenger side, front door, front - 20 seconds
  • DG 111: passenger side, front door, middle - 15 seconds
  • Power Lock+: passenger side, front door, rear - 17 seconds
  • Bead-It: passenger side rear door, front - 16 seconds
  • Bead Max: passenger side rear door, rear - 15 seconds
  • Bead Max: passenger side, rear panel - 6 seconds

Driver side:
  • OptiSeal: driver side, front door, front - 14 seconds
  • Red Mist: driver side, front door, middle - 13 seconds
  • 303 Graphene: driver side, front door, rear - 13 seconds
  • Barracuda: driver side, rear door, front - 14 seconds
  • Reload: driver side, rear door, rear - 14 seconds
  • Reload: driver side, rear panel - 20 seconds

As of now there are no products working on the Rover. I need to do a better job of getting heat to help cure these sealants, or wait for March or April to re-apply.

Correction edit: at 6 seconds, Bead Max on the passenger side rear panel is still working, but 6 seconds is far too slow given how recently I applied it. So it's not working well. Everything else is working at about the sheeting duration with no product.

Spreadsheet is updated and the tests for sealants applied a few weeks ago have been removed.
 
Trying this again. I didn't tent the car with a heater last time. With the tarp used to tent the heater I'm seeing temps where I applied product between 64 and 74 degrees F. That may get warmer during the night, or that may be as much heat as it can trap. Not sure yet.

Edit: Checked after a couple of hours and the coolest temp under the tarp is 74, the warmest is 78. I think it's going to work just fine giving those 8 more hours under there.

Edit2: Check a couple of hours after the last check. Coolest temp was 72k the warmest near the heater was 92. Maybe next time I'll used a small fan to move the air around.

The passenger side doors now have 303 graphene, Optiseal, Dodo Red Mist, Scholl's Baracuda, and Tec Ceramic Detail Spray. Griots 3-in-1 Ceramic is on the way and I need to test CarPro EliXir again. I'll try to get those and a few others added next week.

Passenger side:
  • 303 Graphene: passsenger side, front door, front
  • OptiSeal: passenger side, front door, middle
  • Red Mist: passenger side, front door, rear
  • EliXir: passenger side rear door, front
  • Tec CDS: passenger side rear door, rear

I washed those panels with CarPro Reset right before applying product. I let the products and the panels warm up to at least 60 degrees before applying. I did not use DG Squeaky Clean or any other product to remove the previous sealants like I usually do. I wanted to get them heating up ASAP. Based on how those panels performed I don't think there is much product left. It's a small risk but I think it should be fine.

These will get ~11 hours at 64-74 degrees. I think (or hope) that will be adequate. It's going to rain tomorrow, so they will get wet as soon as they go outside tomorrow morning.

View attachment 74687 View attachment 74681
View attachment 74682 View attachment 74688
 
Tested this 5 products applied. Washed with CarPro Reset as usual.

It did not go well. Even with heat these products did not cure well. I suspect the issue is them getting wet ~11 hours after being applied. The 303 Graphene bottle says it can get we immediately after being applied. Perhaps they mean a little water, rather than getting rained on. This suggest to me that these sealants (maybe most sealants?) need a day in warm weather without rain to cure correctly.

Passenger side (video):
  • 303 Graphene: 13 seconds
  • OptiSeal: Passenger side: 18 seconds
  • Red Mist: 20 seconds
  • EliXir: 11 seconds
  • Tec CDS: 3 seconds

Unfortunately, I guess this means I'm done until Spring unless I can get the Rover indoors for 24 hours+ with some heat.
 
Short update: still around. I moved and am trying to get the old house ready to sell. No free time for car stuff. Hoping to get some products applied by mid-June to start testing. Unlikely before then.

We have a had a few days warm and dry enough to apply product, but not may. It's been a wet May here.
 
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