Optimum Opti-Coat Review

UPDATED: Video of Opti-Coat water beading after 5 months:

http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/2010/10/optimum-opti-coat-review-water-beading.html

I received a sample of Optimum Opti-Coat with a shipment of Optimum products from the US.

Opti-Coat is one of the latest products to be released by Optimum Polymer Technologies. According to Optimum, Opti-Coat forms a permanent coating that acts as a second layer of clear coat that bonds to all surfaces. As the Opti-Coat will seal in any paint defects or contamination on the surface, it is only sold to professional detailers who have to sign a release form before they can purchase the Opti-Coat.

Naturally, after signing a release form and reading about how Opti-Coat forms a permanent coating that acts as a second layer of clear coat, I had to try it out for myself.

Although the Opti-Coat is supposed to provide an additional layer of protection on top of the regular clear coat, what better way to try out a product that is supposed to act as an additional layer of clear coat than on a car with clear coat failure?

I had carried out a trial in 2009 on a Mazda 626 which suffered from clear coat failure on the trunk of the car. At that time I was evaluating the correction potential of a few Meguiar's products.

Some pictures from that trial. Before:

After:

The full details of the trial can be found here:

http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/2009/08/wetsandingm105-vs-m105-vs-m86-vs-m83-vs.html

Note that despite the clear coat failure as evident in the first picture, the paint defects were removed by compounding. However, this was only temporary as the paint would fade back to its original condition due to a lack of a clear coat.

While not designed for this purpose, would the Opti-Coat be able to act as a 'new' clear coat? Only one way to find out.....

Click below to find out more about the Opti-Coat trial:

Honda Accord Optimized by KC and seech

Was invited by my detailing buddy KC to assist with a detail on a black Honda Accord..... hmm.... he must think I'm some kind of black Accord expert of something.

By the time I arrived, KC had already washed and clayed the Accord with Optimum No Rinse (ONR).

The owner has been really careful about washing and waxing his car but unfortunately was not equipped with the right products and this was the result...

After many, many, many hours of compounding, polishing and finishing, we managed to get it to this condition.

Needless to say the owner bought some ONR and some quality microfiber towels to care for his car after seeing the results of our efforts.

To read more about the details of this detail, click the link below:

ONR- Optimum No Rinse Guide

Step by step guide to using ONR.

Before:

ONR:

Wipe the dirt of with ONR + MicroFiber and wipe dry with MicroFiber:

50/50 after ONR:

Water beading after ONR:

After ONR + Optimum Polish II + Opti-Seal + Optimum Car Wax:

For a more detailed step-by-step guide click the link below:

Porsche Cayman Special Edition - Optimum Detail

Woke up early one Saturday morning to detail one of the first and possibly only one of its kind in Malaysia with my buddy KC.

Which one could it be? Supercharged Porsche 993?

Ferrari F355?

Could it be the Porsche Cayman?

Not just any Cayman but... a Porsche Design Edition 1 Cayman.

From this...

To this...

Click on the link for the details of the detail.

Optimum Compound II, Polish II, Finish and Poli-Seal Comparison

I tested out some of the Optimum Products in an earlier detail on a white car:

http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/2010/04/optimum-exora.html

The results were very encouraging but to really evaluate the products, another test would be required on black paint. Not just black paint but soft black paint.

So.... what was the softest black paint which I have yet encountered? For whatever reason, the Honda's in Malaysia have pretty soft paint and the black Honda Accord which I detailed a number of times was the hardest to finish:

http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/2009/09/accord-revisited-m80-vs-d151-on-soft.html

Even putting too much pressure on a microfiber towel while wiping off polish would scratch the paint.... perfect for this comparison!

I contacted the owner and 'borrowed' the car for this comparison.

Started off with an Optimum No-Rinse (ONR) wash. (I will be doing a more detailed write up on ONR in a separate post.)

50/50 after ONR.

Taped up for the comparison test:

One section of the test.

Finishing off the test with Optimum Polish II & Optimum Finish.

After:

For a more in-depth review of the individual compound and polishes, click below:

Clay...

Clay... Where can I buy some?

I have been asked these questions on numerous occasions.

Obviously Meguiar's and other popular detailing brands also sell clay but after the process of bringing it halfway around the world and subject to tax, obviously it carries a 'premium' price. During my crazier (and less knowledgeable) days I bought the Meg's clay kit with QD and a MF towel as well and I do like the Meg's clay but its not exactly the cheapest thing to buy regularly. In fact, I still have an unopened piece of Meg's clay which I'm saving for that special car..... hahahahahah...... now where's that Veyron that's been sent to the petrol station car wash?

So how like that?

I stumbled across PermaGlass clay quite some time ago and due to the fact that I'm still saving my Meg's clay  for my Veyron I decided to try it out.

(Disclaimer: I do not work for PG or are in any way affiliated with them. Just trying to help out those looking for clay. :-) )

There are three types for sale:

No. 1 for black and dark colored cars. (What I can gather from this is that No.1 is the least aggressive PG clay.)

No. 2 for light colored cars. (Medium aggressiveness.)

No. 3 for dull and badly weathered cars. (Most aggressive.)

I haven't tried all three different types of clay so I cannot comment on the differences between No. 1, 2 and 3 but I figured the medium clay should work well in all situations so that's what I got.

So far it has worked well enough and I have no issues with the PG No. 2 clay.

For those that are wondering where to buy it, I was at Carrefour Subang Jaya yesterday and they had all three for sale at RM29.90.

Good luck and happy claying...

Optimum Exora

Just got a shipment of ONR and some samples of other OPT products directly in from the US. Thanks Dr. G for the assistance.

I have been using ONR for some time and thought it was fantastic. Couldn't wait to try out all of the other products. Tried out the Optimum Polish II, Optimum Finish, Opti-Seal, Optimum Car Wax and Optimum Instant Detailer.

Managed to get this:

To this:

The results from using the other OPT products were fantastic but what really blew me away was how EASY it was to achieve those results. I'll also be giving my opinions about the products themselves.

Read more for a detailed step-by-step of this Optimum detail...