Sealant comparison

NoMoreBlackCars said:
Thanks Rippy for the clarification. It's suprising to me that in your test FK1000P didn't do as well as 845 and that 915 was so far back from them, since the majority opinion (rarely, it seems, based on back-to-back testing) is that FK1000P, Collinite 476, and DG 111 are the most durable, with 915 a step back and 845 even more. I could see how the difference could be due to wet vs. hot & dry climate, or due to just lack of controlled testing aside from yours.

PaulMys, thanks for the tip. I prefer the 476 application process as you describe it so I'll opt for that over 845.

So I'm gearing up for a 4-way test of 476, 1000P, 111, and PNS on the hood. Will be testing for durability through the rainy NW fall/winter, but also, in order of priority, for water spotting, contaminant resistance, dirt and dust shedding, and water behavior. On the adjacent fenders I have Gtechniq CSL topped with Can Coat, applied only 3 weeks ago, so that will be fascinating to compare alongside the sealants.

A big part of what I'm testing for is how pristine these protectants will keep the finish on my soft jet black paint. Coatings are great in a few ways, including a little bit of marring resistance and preventing contaminants from etching into the clear coat, but in my limited experience they are themselves fragile in terms of susceptibility to etching from water spots, and even, in some cases, bug guts and bird bombs, which makes them like a thin fragile clear coat that must be protected as much if not more than the clear coat itself.
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I've seen the same thing you're seeing with coatings in our environment. A while back I posted pros/cons for coatings in a wet environment - I'll try to find it. There were far more cons than pros. Water spotting is one of the biggest downsides. I know people will suggest topping the coating to prevent spotting. This leads to the question I've asked many times: if I have to top a coating what's the point of using one? At that point it's like a less manageable clear coat because you can't polish out water spots or scratches.

Your sealant testing sounds great. Looking forward to seeing your results. No question I need to re-test Collinite 476. My 476 results seem questionable based on anecdotal feedback and need to validated.

My plan is to get ~5-8 long lasting sealants on the Rover before it gets cold out so I can test them over Fall/Winter/Spring. Likely DG 111, Collinite 845 and 915, DG 104, Mystery Sealant #5, FK 1000P, and PNS. I may also add I may get Collinite 476 as well.

The downside is that I won't get any othre testing done for ~9-10 months. The Sentra is going away to college with my daughter and the Boxster is mostly garaged November-April. I need more cars!
 
RippyD said:
A while back I posted pros/cons for coatings in a wet environment - I'll try to find it. There were far more cons than pros. Water spotting is one of the biggest downsides. I know people will suggest topping the coating to prevent spotting. This leads to the question I've asked many times: if I have to top a coating what's the point of using one? At that point it's like a less manageable clear coat because you can't polish out water spots or scratches.
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I'd love to see that pro/con post. I can agree I see more cons now, but I probably haven't thought of or experienced everything. As far as water spots, I would think that many dryer but hotter climates would make it as much if not more of an issue. But I imagine the mineral and contaminant content of water is a huge factor, maybe the biggest factor. Perhaps unique aspect of the PNW is how road grime and tree sap mix constantly with rain onto the paint, so there's constantly a lot besides just minerals in the water that dries on the paint.

RippyD said:
My plan is to get ~5-8 long lasting sealants on the Rover before it gets cold out so I can test them over Fall/Winter/Spring. Likely DG 111, Collinite 845 and 915, DG 104, Mystery Sealant #5, FK 1000P, and PNS. I may also add I may get Collinite 476 as well.

The downside is that I won't get any othre testing done for ~9-10 months. The Sentra is going away to college with my daughter and the Boxster is mostly garaged November-April. I need more cars!
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It would be amazing to have two concurrent tests of the top sealants in essentially the climate. And there's always more to test, so yeah, more vehicles would be nice. My main car is tiny and my beater vehicle has primer and rust showing through everywere. But perhaps I could polish the petrified mold off my partner's car roof and make it a test panel. I don't even wash it because it gets absolutely neglected and abused, like so many PNW vehicles... She has never washed it in 5 years, it is always parked under our huge old fir trees that shed needles and spit sap and aphid juice, it gets driven on forest roads and scraped up against bushes etc., and its got it's fair share of dents and RIDS. I refuse to take on the whole exterior. But a panel, now I could do that for the sake of experimenting.
 
NoMoreBlackCars said:
It would be amazing to have two concurrent tests of the top sealants in essentially the climate. And there's always more to test, so yeah, more vehicles would be nice. My main car is tiny and my beater vehicle has primer and rust showing through everywere. But perhaps I could polish the petrified mold off my partner's car roof and make it a test panel. I don't even wash it because it gets absolutely neglected and abused, like so many PNW vehicles... She has never washed it in 5 years, it is always parked under our huge old fir trees that shed needles and spit sap and aphid juice, it gets driven on forest roads and scraped up against bushes etc., and its got it's fair share of dents and RIDS. I refuse to take on the whole exterior. But a panel, now I could do that for the sake of experimenting.
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Agree - this will be awesome.

Found my old post on coating pros/cons here. Pasted in below. Added some comments in bold. Note that my typical daily commute is ~10 miles on the freeway with rain, 5 days/week. It's rains for ~8 months of the year. That's a lot of road grime.

Coating pros
  • More durable (edit: sheets water longer)
  • Many claim they are more self-cleaning (I haven't seen this)
  • Some claim they look better than sealants (I haven't seen this)
Coating cons
  • Cost
  • Generally takes more time and care to apply (some exceptions)
  • Harder to maintain (for cars in weather)
  • Can be more prone to spotting, spots often can't be removed (edit: without damaging or removing the coating)
  • Can't be easily touched up
  • May collect road grime faster (edit: others disagree - I noticed this with a baggie test)
  • Most have a short shelf life - leftover product is generally not usable after a few weeks
Sealant pros
  • Generally easier to apply
  • Less expensive
  • Easier to maintain and remove
  • Can easily be reapplied when needed
  • Long shelf life
Sealant cons
  • Not as durable
 
Washed the Rover and Sentra with CarPro Reset and a Big Red Sponge. Washed the Boxster with N-914 as rinseless ratio using Everest 800 MF towels. (The Everest 800 is a very different towel from 550. I should do a review of them.)

The Rover video below shows a vertical section of door with no product clearing on ~11 seconds (2:05 - 2:14). Any product clearing water this slowly are really no better than nothing. For this reason I'm calling Can Coat and DG coating done on the Rover. Note that most of the new products on the driver side doors are sheeting water fairly slowly after less than a week. Only MS#1 is sheeting water in 1 second. Other products sheet water faster for several weeks or months after being applied.

DG coating, CanCoat, and BeadMaker are done.

Rover (video)
  • CanCoat - clearing in ~12 seconds - calling it done
  • MS #6 - 5 seconds
  • Red Mist - 3 seconds
  • Showstopper - 5 seconds
  • DP Spray Sealant - 4 seconds
  • Hydro Max - 3 seconds
  • Sonus Glanz - 4 seconds
  • Rupes P808 - 4 seconds
  • Mothers Speed Wax - 5 seconds
  • MS #1 - 1 second
  • CGV07 - 4 seconds
  • DG coating - ~11 seconds - calling it done

Sentra (video)
  • Bead Maker - 14 seconds - calling it done
  • CarPro EliXir (QD) - 2 seconds
  • Scholl Concepts Barracuda - 2 seconds
  • BF synthetic spray wax - 3 seconds
  • DG 931 as a QD - 2 second
Boxster (video)
  • Hydro2 - 3 seconds
  • Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic - 3 seconds
  • McKee's Hydro Blue - 3 seconds
  • Sonax Spray and Seal - 1 second
  • Reload + Ech20 - 2 seconds
 
Results from last weekend and earlier this week. Washed the Rover and Sentra with CarPro Reset and a Big Red Sponge. Washed the Boxster with N-914 as rinseless ratio using Everest 800 MF towels.

I somehow didn't get video of the passenger side of the Rover so I don't have results. Will get those this weekend.

BF Synthetic wax on the Sentra is done. I also polished the driver side doors of the Sentra to apply new product. Not sure what to apply since this car is going away to college in a few weeks. I may test waterless washes. Video of that side with no product shows it clearing in 10-12 seconds.

Rover (video)
  • MS #6 - no video
  • Red Mist - no video
  • Showstopper - no video
  • DP Spray Sealant - no video
  • Hydro Max - 7 seconds
  • Sonus Glanz - 5 seconds
  • Rupes P808 - 6 seconds
  • Mothers Speed Wax - 6 seconds
  • MS #1 - 3 seconds
  • CGV07 - 6 seconds
Sentra (video)
  • CarPro EliXir (QD) - 2 seconds
  • Scholl Concepts Barracuda - 3 seconds
  • BF synthetic spray wax - 15 seconds - calling it done
  • DG 931 as a QD - 3 seconds
Boxster (video)
  • Hydro2 - 5 seconds
  • Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic - 4 seconds
  • McKee's Hydro Blue - 3 seconds
  • Sonax Spray and Seal - 1 second
  • Reload + Ech20 - 4 seconds
 
Washed the Rover and Sentra with CarPro Reset and a Big Red Sponge. Boxster is at work with the wife until tomorrow. CGV07 on the Rover is done.

Added 4 waterless wash products to the Sentra driver side doors. They were previously polished with a black pad and DG Squeaky Clean then washed twice with CarPro Reset.

View attachment 70794

Rover (video)
  • MS #6 - 3 seconds
  • Red Mist - 3 seconds
  • Showstopper - 8 seconds
  • DP Spray Sealant - 3 seconds
  • Hydro Max - 4 seconds
  • Sonus Glanz - 6 seconds
  • Rupes P808 - 5 seconds
  • Mothers Speed Wax - 7 seconds
  • MS #1 - 2 seconds
  • CGV07 - 10 seconds (calling it done)
Sentra (video)
  • CarPro EliXir (QD) - 3 seconds
  • Scholl Concepts Barracuda - 5 seconds
  • DG 931 as a QD - 4 seconds
  • Ultima Waterless - TBD
  • ONR - TBD
  • Mystery #7 - TBD
  • Uber - TBD
 
Thanks for keeping us updated.

What are you evaluating about the WW products?

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
 
I'm going to evaluate water sheeting longevity. This occurred to me when I was looking for short-term products to test before the Sentra goes away to college next month. Since I'm getting weeks of longevity from DG 931 as a waterless I wanted to see how the others will compare. I already had them in sprayers so it seemed like an easy choice. This won't work if any of them last more than 3 weeks.

I have one door free on the Rover and I'm hoping two others will be done soon. I want to get some long term products applied before it gets too cold for them to cure well. Planning to apply:

DG 104
Collinite 845
FK 1000P
Collinite 915
DG 111
Sonax PNS
Mystery #5
Sonus SFX-4 (maybe)
​

It would be good to leave some space so I can test other products. If I cover the Rover with products that last ~10 months I won't be able to try any other products until June.
 
Testing the Boxster today and the new products on the Sentra.

Washed the Sentra and Boxster with N-914 rinseless using MF towels. Waterless products on the Sentra aren't doing a great job of sheeting water except for Ultima. Sonax Spray and Seal on the Boxster is still impressive, clearing the panel almost immediately after 13 weeks. This needs another test on the Rover to see how it does outside.

Hydro2 and Reload + Ech2o on the Boxster are done.

Sentra (video)
  • Ultima Waterless - 1 second
  • ONR - 6 seconds
  • Mystery #7 - 4 seconds
  • Uber - 7 seconds
Boxster (video)
  • Hydro2 - 12 seconds - calling it done
  • Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic - 6 seconds
  • McKee's Hydro Blue - 3 seconds
  • Sonax Spray and Seal - 1 second
  • Reload + Ech20 - 15 seconds - calling it done
 
As you're thinking of doing this group again, what buff-off times would you recommend for the tin waxes?

Double coats of anything, either last time or next?
 
Do you mean the list of long-lasting sealants? Absolutely going to them over the winter. If I'm smart I'll start applying soon. By buff-time I assume you mean time to cure before buffing? I use the finger test and let them cure until they're dry. Most of these will take at least 20 mins. I've waited 40. The warmer it is out the faster they will cure, of course.

I don't recall doing double coats. I could try that - doesn't take much effort. I'd want to wait a day between them with good weather and temps over 70 degrees just to be sure. I generally like to apply per the instructions. I want people to see results they would likely get.
 
RippyD said:
... I want to get some long term products applied before it gets too cold for them to cure well. Planning to apply:


DG 111
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Are you going to use 111 alone or with the 601 bonding agent ?
 
RippyD said:
By buff-time I assume you mean time to cure before buffing? I use the finger test and let them cure until they're dry. Most of these will take at least 20 mins. I've waited 40. The warmer it is out the faster they will cure, of course.

I don't recall doing double coats. I could try that - doesn't take much effort.
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I asked about the cure time because some of these products don't tell you how long and recommendations on forums vary quite a bit. Also because I've got a lot of dust and pollen so letting cure for +5 minutes will mean covering up and waiting for one section at a time. Guess that's what I'll be doing, and using the finger swipe test to check curing.

My hood will get sections of FK 1000P, Collinite 476S, Collinite 915, DG 104, DG 111, and Sonax PNS. I'll also apply most of those to other whole panels so I've got them on both horizontal and vertical surfaces.
 
57Rambler said:
Are you going to use 111 alone or with the 601 bonding agent ?
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Thought I had replied this. Not planning to use 601. Will go with a level playing field. Can't say what it does with 111, but with the other products I tested with it does not add durability. It lowered durability for some non-DG products and didn't hurt with DG 104, but also did not extend it.
 
Washed the Rover and Sentra with CarPro Reset and a Big Red Sponge. Washed the Boxster with N-914 at rinseless concentration with MF towels.

Showstopper, Sonus Glanz, Rupes P808, and ONR are all done.

Rover (video)
  • MS #6 - 4 seconds
  • Red Mist - 2 seconds
  • Showstopper - 11 seconds (calling it done)
  • DP Spray Sealant - 6 seconds
  • Hydro Max - 3 seconds
  • Sonus Glanz - 10 seconds (calling it done)
  • Rupes P808 - 11 seconds (calling it done)
  • Mothers Speed Wax - 8 seconds (almost done)
  • MS #1 - 2 seconds
Sentra (video)
  • CarPro EliXir (QD) - 3 seconds
  • Scholl Concepts Barracuda - 4 seconds
  • DG 931 as a QD - 3 seconds
  • Ultima Waterless - 2 seconds
  • ONR - 10 seconds (calling it done)
  • Mystery #7 - 6 seconds
  • Uber - 6 seconds
Boxster (video)
  • Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic - 5 seconds
  • McKee's Hydro Blue - 3 seconds
  • Sonax Spray and Seal - 1 second
 
I'm impressed again by DG 931 and also by Sonax S+S and Dodo Red Mist. It'll be interesting to see how 931 and Red Mist hold up when the rain comes.

I would expect S+S will do well in the wet season but I'd love to see it up against BSD. From what I've seen in reviews, they are pretty comparable in durability and hydrophobics but quite opposite otherwise, with S+S scoring very well with ease of application, slickness, and gloss. I will be testing BSD but still not sure what wet-applied product(s) to test...possibly S+S, Wet Coat, or 303 Touchless.
 
Agreed. DG 931 is kind of hard to believe. In order to eliminate any bias I tend to call it early rather than late. If you look at the last Boxster video you can see that it's still working. Sonas S&S is awesome so far. I like all the spray-on-hose-off products. None of them are as hydrophobic as Sonax. 14 weeks in and water is still flying off. I need to test it on a non-garaged vehicle and see how it does. Agree on Red Mist - need to see how it does over Winter. I'd never tried any Dodo products before I started these tests. So far they're all very good.

I somehow forgot to test 303 Touchless when I did the other wet-applied products on the Boxster. My bad. Will likely have to wait until next Summer for me to get to it.
 
Well then I'll have to add Sonax S+S to my testing. I'm going to leave the rocker panels bare for toppers only. Will probably start with what I have--BSD, IGL Premier, Kamikaze Over Coat--and then S+S can take on the winner. Or maybe I'll put it against another SOSO product if I can convince myself to buy yet another product.
 
Ive used Jet Seal then found out from my customers and my experience, never held up. a month but no more than two months of protection. Wolfgangs looked better and lasted at least a year and that is from a daily driver who doesn't take care of his car.
 
Not doing any testing this weekend. Terrible air quality due to fires here and I'd rather not be outside that much. I did get a couple of winter products added to the Rover. I did the polishing last weekend so all I had to do was apply the waxes. They both cured for ~30 mins @ 78 degrees before I removed them.

Here's a video of the Rover door sheeting after I polished it. It got a fine polish with a white pad and 3 passes and followed by DG Squeaky Clean on a black pad then washed twice with CarPro Reset.

DG 104 and Collinite 845 were applied. I left a big area between them. I may add something else later or may just leave it. It's easier to see when these are no longer performing when there's an area with no product adjacent.

Collinite 845 is a pleasure to use. Provided you warm it up it goes on incredibly easily and comes off easily if you apply it light. I try to apply the thinnest possible layer. DG 104 is fine to apply. It takes little more effort to remove. I may have over applied it.


View attachment 70908
 
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