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Opti-Coat still a vaild option?

4K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  peugeot106 
#1 ·
I have been toying with the idea of getting a coating for quite a while and there seems to be a huge choice these days. I am openly biased with my liking of a lot of the Optimum range but how does Opti-Coat still stand up to the more recent alternatives. My health is not as good as it used to be and many of the simple tasks (washing, drying etc) are becoming increasing hard and so a coating my help me keep everything looking good for less effort

Aside from my bias towards Optimum, I own many of the products which I know would work well but if there is a significantly better product which is happy with ONR, OCW etc I will give it some serious consideration. Budget, as always is close to zero so cannot afford to buy complete system
 
#3 ·
Hi,

I had my car coated with opti coat 12 months ago. It does look nice on the car but that's only for the first 6months. Sheeting is no longer like it was before....so bad that I resolved myself to using gtechniq smart carnauba spray wax to refresh the sleek and sheeting abilities.

I don't know if it's down to the weather but where I live it's been in the mid 30s for a very long time now.

Opticoat might suit you as it did for me back in the days where I could simply snowfoam the car and wash away leaving a sparkling car but these days am left with a film of dirt which however is not too apparent as my car is a brownish grey colour
 
#4 ·
Hi,

I had my car coated with opti coat 12 months ago. It does look nice on the car but that's only for the first 6months. Sheeting is no longer like it was before....so bad that I resolved myself to using gtechniq smart carnauba spray wax to refresh the sleek and sheeting abilities.

I don't know if it's down to the weather but where I live it's been in the mid 30s for a very long time now.

Opticoat might suit you as it did for me back in the days where I could simply snowfoam the car and wash away leaving a sparkling car but these days am left with a film of dirt which however is not too apparent as my car is a brownish grey colour
One quick suggestion I have seen on other forums is to try claying the paint, using a paint cleaner or finishing polish to clean up the Opti-Coat
 
#5 ·
Which snow foam have you been using
Have you tried going over the car with Iron X or alternative product.

I have videos of Opti-Coat working after 2 years with the right maintenance.

Its the most chemical resistant product I have found so far out of all the ones I have tried with the right application of course.

I am going to redo the chemical side again in august with better videos then i have put up on you tube for last lot I did as newer products out now.

Then ill just leave the bonnet outside with a wash every so often.

All these products will last well with the right after care non are full proof yet and proper application is the key to making them last and work well uses error is often to blame for poor performance of products.

some darken more some add more gloss some resist bird poo slightly better and some water etch/waterspot more then others.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
There is the videos on my you tube page of lots of testing I did pm me if you want the page address I will be re running them all as lot of new ones out new version of CQUK UNCR impressed on bmw before I sold it you have the gyeon ones ADS etc etc

I start a new job in couple of weeks working for a sports car hire firm and I will be restarting my own business up again now my mums cancer has halted a long side it doing New car protections only as well I love using coatings and i used to do so many new car protections I can fit these in round my my other job so will mean a lot more chance to see how these coatings do on the daily sports cars that will be hired.

As far as Opti-coat goes I still believe if applied right its one of the best.

This post is perfect in my eyes protection of car with OC then coated with BSD perfect upright beads and bsd helping to stop any water etching problems.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=4500117&postcount=1431

Its strange I have a thing about size shape and height of beading even from a wax as well if they are not even in shape size and height it puts me off.

I think some people think that these coatings are full prof and don't need any after care they do.

its like the talk of 9h I don't think a lot really understand the context of this

This was a interesting post maybe help others

There is a massive misconception with the hardness rating of products on the market and even more so in how this rating is represented in the market. There is far too much market focus on the said hardness rating of a product and not enough focus on what real world attributes these products really offer.

People are confusing the MOHS scale of hardness with a pencil hardness test.

Pencil Hardness Test
Method to measure coating hardness based on the scratching of the film with pencil leads of known hardness. The result is reported as the hardest lead which will not scratch or cut through the film to the substrate.

The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is based on the ability of one natural sample of matter to scratch another mineral. The samples of matter used by Mohs are all different minerals. Minerals are pure substances found in nature. Rocks are made up of one or more minerals. As the hardest known naturally occurring substance when the scale was designed, diamonds are at the top of the scale. The hardness of a material is measured against the scale by finding the hardest material that the given material can scratch, and/or the softest material that can scratch the given material. For example, if some material is scratched by apatite (5 on the MOHS scale) but not by fluorite (4 on the MOHS scale), its hardness on the Mohs scale would fall between 4 and 5

A 9H pencil rated product does not equate to a 9H on the MOHS scale.

On the Mohs scale, graphite (a principal constituent of pencil "lead") has a hardness of 1.5; a fingernail, 2.2-2.5; a copper penny, 3.2-3.5; a pocketknife 5.1; a knife blade, 5.5; window glass plate, 5.5; and a steel nail, 5.5. A streak plate (unglazed porcelain) has a hardness of 7.0. Using these ordinary materials of known hardness can be a simple way to approximate the position of a mineral on the scale.

So in other words I suggest people stop focusing on the said H rating of a product and make a more educated decision based more on chemical resistance, ability to self clean, ability to resist fall out / contaminants bird poo as well as the desired look you want to achieve and or water behaviour desired along with all and or any attributes the product offer.

Now what I have seen the more chemical resistant a product is the longer it lasts on a car

We all get fall out and tar on our car so we use stronger products to get them off its no good if these new type of products wont resist these.

And the word scratch resistance i don't think should be used mar resistance yes.
 
#9 ·
Cheers next ones will be be better easier to see what's going on i think when i did it last time it was more about my interest.

Did you want me to send you some of that Optimum Glass cleaner

My mum is still terminal but the herceptin she has ever 3 weeks seems to be keeping it contained she has done so much better then the original 9 months they gave her.

though I think she has lost the plot she is doing a parachute jump in few weeks time for a charity 63 and terminal madness.
 
#10 ·
Sonax Coating is the first coating i have ever used about a week ago & topped with PNS and BSD, it is looking fantastic & staying cleaner for longer.

I am also curious about whether Opti Coat is the best out there in terms of scratch/mar resistance. As far as water behavior, dust behavior/self cleaning is concerned; I guess that will come from the top up product - be it BSD, Opti Seal, OCW, reload, NGPS or something else.
 
#11 ·
I know Opti-Coat are one of the only ones to try and prove there scratch resistance in tests I think carpro might of as well.

This has been talked about before though the test is flawed in way but wont go in to that or Raven will be explaining in big detail :thumb:

Opti-coat is the most durable product does it give the best looks I have seen no not in my eyes so many coatings about now and the new phps ones from likes of Gyeon ADS.

Contact angle has high part in what I look for in a coating as this is where self cleaning helps.

the trouble with these type of coatings is they can water etch quite bad some of them its why I say to top with BSD.

Application is important and why some people don't think a coating is as good as it is they rub to hard or don't apply enough surface is not as clean as needs to be.

Do i honestly think there is a best no each have there own plus and minus points I still think a good polish and reapply a coating every 12-16 months keeps your car looking its best but with these types of coatings hopefully you would never need to use more then a finishing polish so removing little paint.

I think my best investment was a water filter no drying the car so even less chance of swirls be put in.
 
#12 ·
Instead of using BSD, don't Optimum products like OCW or Opti Seal work better on Opti-Coat? Thought I read somewhere Dr. G was explaining how it migrates beneath the coating. Of course, part of the fun in detailing is experimenting with different products but I would assume that all Optimum products work well with each other.
 
#13 ·
I pick BSD as it gives a good contact angle and it seems to solves any water etching problems you get with coatings. though i am sure the new reload Avi is working on will be good.

Opti-poli seal might be very useful after 12 months or so with light finishing pad to clean the upper surface.

I tend to pick a range of products from different manufactures as to what i think is best for the job everyone is different and we all have our favourite products.
 
#15 ·
Opti Coat is still one of the best coatings out there. The only disadvantages of Opti Coat I see is that it will not add/alter the looks to the polished surface when applied unlike many traditional LSPs, or even like Cquartz/Gtechniq C1. Hence I dont prefer recommending/using Opti Coat on light colour cars.

Another disadvantage is the beading performance is not as good as Cquartz or Gtechniq C1+Exo V2. However this can be cured with Sonax BSD/PNS applied after a month.

I recently checked a car I had opti coated 3 months back and I'm happy to report no swirls! Not even washing marrs! Same car had come to me 3 weeks after Opti Coat application and the front doors were covered in tar. All it took to remove the tar was Megs Hyperwash and a MF mitt :D it wouldnt even stick to the surface!
 
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