seech Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 Car Coatings? Hype or reality? The internet has been abuzz lately with all of the various types of car coatings available on the market. Some 'coatings' cost only a few hundred ringgit to apply while others cost thousands. What is the difference? Aside from the varying amount of work and effort put in to correcting the paint before the coating is applied, the main differentiating factor about coatings compared with traditional car protection products such as waxes and sealants, is that coatings offer longer term protection without the need to reapply the product. All of these products promise amazing durability and there have been some amazing claims about coating products in the market but how true are these claims and more importantly, how long does the coating last? Optimum OptiCoat is manufactured in the USA and is claimed to form a PERMANENT protective layer on top of the existing factory paint. Is Optimum OptiCoat really permanent or is it just another unsubstantiated manufacturers claim? The only way to find out is to put it to the test. To date, I have not seen any other coating being put through a similar test. I received one of the first bottles of Optimum OptiCoat from Dr. G of Optimum Polymer Technologies as a sample to test out. Obviously the best way to test anything out is to use it in the worst-case-scenario to see where the limits of the products are. I had posted my review of the Optimum OptiCoat sometime in May 2010 where it was being tested out on a car with clear coat failure to see if the coating would prevent the paint from becoming oxidized again after some time. If the Optimum OptiCoat does indeed form a permanent barrier then even paint with clear coat failure should still be protected by the Optimum OptiCoat. My previous post on Optimum OptiCoat can be found here: http://prodetailing....oat-review.html http://prodetailing....iew-update.html http://prodetailing....nal-update.html http://prodetailing....date-after.html I had planned to stop updating the status of the Optimum OptiCoat as even after 15 months there was still no sign of any oxidization or the symptoms of clear coat failure returning to the portion which had been OptiCoated. However, the car which I carried out the coating test was being sold to a new owner so I thought that a Final Update was in order. How long does Optimum OptiCoat last? This is the oldest and most extreme test of the coating. Is it permanent? I can say with certainty that it most certainly still appears to be permanent after 2 years! The coating was applied on around May 2010 and it is now nearly 2 years since the coating was first applied. This was the condition of the paint with definite symptoms of clear coat failure. After correction and application of Optimum OptiCoat. Fast forward 2 years later... The side without Optimum OptiCoat is definitely suffering from clear coat failure! The OptiCoated side is still in good condition without any signs of oxidization or clear coat failure returning but there are now swirls in the coating from improper washing. One of the other benefits of coating is that if there is a need to correct the surface in the future, only the coating will be affected leaving the original paint untouched and as the coating is harder than the original factory clear coat, paint defects are more easily removed. In this case a simple light polish with Optimum Hyper Polish on a polishing pad with the Flex 3401 was more than sufficient to correct the defects on the coating. All done! Testing the reflection with a bottle of detailien alien wax! I think this picture says it all.... Test of water beading. How about some full sun shots? Lovely color and definition to the area protected by Optimum OptiCoat. Do coatings work? I haven't seen similar post about other coatings but.... OPTIMUM OPTICOAT CERTAINLY DOES! Original post on my blog: http://prodetailing....er-2-years.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabs Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thank you, great review! Good to know it can be machine polished (nothing agressive of course) without being removed. I would only hit it with a very soft pad and a very fine polish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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