Third Test of SiO2 Toppers

[rlmccarty2000]

I’m continuing to work my way through the new wave of coating SiO2 based toppers. Some say they can be used as stand alone last step products (LSP), that is up for discussion.

Here are today’s victims

This is the test hood. It has been rinseless washed with McKees N-914, clayed with Primo Slick clay lube and Nanoskin fine clay substitute. The same as all my previous tests.

The hood was broken down into thirds. Each product was applied by spraying a microfiber towel and applying to the hood as recommended by the manufacturer. Left to right in alphabetical order was GTechnique, Hydrosilex, and IGL. Nice and shiny!

Here is the mandatory beading shot using distilled water.

Thoughts: All three products went on nice and easy, wiped off clean/easy with no streaks. The IGL Premier surprised me by being noticeably rougher (not slick) than the other two or any of the other SiO2 topper products I have used in any of my tests.

Budgetplan1 has generously said he would send me some Kamikaze Overcoat to test, so I will do one final test with it versus two Polish Angel toppers I have then I will write up my final observations of all the SiO2 topper type products I have tested.

If anyone has a product I have missed and would like it included pm me and I will see what can be done.


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[trashmanssd]

Thank you, I love a good head to head test.

 

[donbeezy]

i was just about to do a similar test! i have reload. gyeon cure. tac quartz max and bead maker lined up so far. seeing which other spray products i should add


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[BadgerRivFan]

...clayed with Primo Slick clay lube and Nanoskin fine clay substitute.

Just to clarify... you are using Prima "Glide" as your clay lubricant, right? In your other thread you mentioned Prima Amigo lube and in this one Primo Slick clay lube. Prima Slick is Prima`s quick detailer (which could be used as a clay lube if one wanted). Slick has polymers in it however which could in fact have an impact on the SiO2 sprays you are testing. Just wondering... I`m assuming you mean Prima Glide is what you`re using for your clay lube - correct?

 

[acuRAS82]

Looking forward to the final test and write up!

 

[rlmccarty2000]

Just to clarify... you are using Prima "Glide" as your clay lubricant, right? In your other thread you mentioned Prima Amigo lube and in this one Primo Slick clay lube. Prima Slick is Prima`s quick detailer (which could be used as a clay lube if one wanted). Slick has polymers in it however which could in fact have an impact on the SiO2 sprays you are testing. Just wondering... I`m assuming you mean Prima Glide is what you`re using for your clay lube - correct?

Thanks for correcting me. I’m definitely using Prima Glide. I picked up several bottles of it when AG dropped it a few years ago. It’s my favorite clay lube. It will be a sad day when it’s gone.


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[BadgerRivFan]

Thanks for correcting me. I’m definitely using Prima Glide. I picked up several bottles of it when AG dropped it a few years ago. It’s my favorite clay lube. It will be a sad day when it’s gone.


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The good news is it’s still available directly from Prima and it’s reasonably priced! I’ve always used Griots Speed Shine as my clay lube, but may pick up some Glide to try when I run out of the Griots.

Thanks for the ceramic spray sealant threads!

 

[rlmccarty2000]

The good news is it’s still available directly from Prima and it’s reasonably priced! I’ve always used Griots Speed Shine as my clay lube, but may pick up some Glide to try when I run out of the Griots.

Thanks for the ceramic spray sealant threads!

That is good news. It’s a great lube as it wipes clean and has tons of lubrication. I hear some people experience marring when they clay and I always wonder if it was from bad clay lube. Some people use soap but I’m sticking with what works for me and hasn’t caused any marring yet.


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[acuRAS82]

rlm, do u have BF Coating Booster to test? I’d be curious how it compares with all other SiO2 toppers, especially PBL Booster and BF SiO2

 

[rlmccarty2000]

rlm, do u have BF Coating Booster to test? I’d be curious how it compares with all other SiO2 toppers, especially PBL Booster and BF SiO2

Nope that’s one I decided to leave out. I don’t want to hate on PBMG (but I will), their PBL line was/is confusing as far as paint coatings and all surface coatings. I read some of the reasoning behind having two but it did not make sense to me. Now here comes BF SiO2 which looks similar to PBL Coating Booster, and now coming soon is Wolfgang Uber SiO2 Spray. I can’t say they are relabeling, but they are watering down their house brands, imho. If they want to claim product synergy or some other claim it would be nice to back up the claims with science. The reason I didn’t include it is I consider the BF SiO2 Spray to be a Coating Booster and if they aren’t the same they should be or is one just a watered down version of the other one? Rant over. Lol.

 

[Justins00ss]

Almost willing to bet that after a couple hours the Premier felt nice and slick/glass like.

I use it all the time and it definitely is a performer.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

Almost willing to bet that after a couple hours the Premier felt nice and slick/glass like.

I use it all the time and it definitely is a performer.

Again, it surprised me. I did not check after the initial application. All the other toppers I tried were slick after application. I will check today to see if the IGL Ecocoat Premier is slick and report back. The lack of slickness did not impead beading just as Sonax PNS does not impead beading. I was thinking IGL engineered it that way.

 

[glfnaz]

I`m definitely subscribed to this. Thanks for doing it!

 

[acuRAS82]

Nope that’s one I decided to leave out. I don’t want to hate on PBMG (but I will), their PBL line was/is confusing as far as paint coatings and all surface coatings. I read some of the reasoning behind having two but it did not make sense to me. Now here comes BF SiO2 which looks similar to PBL Coating Booster, and now coming soon is Wolfgang Uber SiO2 Spray. I can’t say they are relabeling, but they are watering down their house brands, imho. If they want to claim product synergy or some other claim it would be nice to back up the claims with science. The reason I didn’t include it is I consider the BF SiO2 Spray to be a Coating Booster and if they aren’t the same they should be or is one just a watered down version of the other one? Rant over. Lol.

I hear ya, and that’s why I was wondering about BF Booster. Not a good enough reason for you to buy it or me to send you some for test purposes, but me just wondering where it stands compared to BF SiO2 (which I do have but am not re-using until spring) and PBL (which I don’t have).

once spring roles around and I do a coating-lite to my vehicles, I’ll be able to compare the two BFs.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

Again, it surprised me. I did not check after the initial application. All the other toppers I tried were slick after application. I will check today to see if the IGL Ecocoat Premier is slick and report back. The lack of slickness did not impead beading just as Sonax PNS does not impead beading. I was thinking IGL engineered it that way.

Following up on IGL Ecocoat Premier slickness. Today I performed a very unscientific test of topper slickness on the panel. First I touched the paint with my finger tips and all three products felt the same (I never before touched paint with my bare hand to test slickness). So I decided to try dragging a microfiber towel across the panel and I couldn’t detect much of a drag on the microfiber. Then I decided to toss a folded microfiber towel (Rag Co Pluffle) on the car panel to see if it would slide off and on this test the only side where the towel did not slide off the panel was on the IGL Ecocoat Premier side. Again totally unscientific and if you have a bottle of IGL Ecocoat Premier try to replicate my “test” and report your results back here. I’m not saying IGL Ecocoat Premier is a bad product, just in this test it was not the slickest of the three toppers tested.

 

[Justins00ss]

Following up on IGL Ecocoat Premier slickness. Today I performed a very unscientific test of topper slickness on the panel. First I touched the paint with my finger tips and all three products felt the same (I never before touched paint with my bare hand to test slickness). So I decided to try dragging a microfiber towel across the panel and I couldn’t detect much of a drag on the microfiber. Then I decided to toss a folded microfiber towel (Rag Co Pluffle) on the car panel to see if it would slide off and on this test the only side where the towel did not slide off the panel was on the IGL Ecocoat Premier side. Again totally unscientific and if you have a bottle of IGL Ecocoat Premier try to replicate my “test” and report your results back here. I’m not saying IGL Ecocoat Premier is a bad product, just in this test it was not the slickest of the three toppers tested.

That`s odd it`s not slick for you. Just used it today as a stand alone sealant on a HHR I polished. Felt slick and glass like.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

That`s odd it`s not slick for you. Just used it today as a stand alone sealant on a HHR I polished. Felt slick and glass like.

Grab a bottle of any other brand SiO2 spray and do a side by side and let us know how they feel. IGL is slick, just not as slick as others. I don’t know if that is a bad thing or not. It may last longer. I may contact IGL to get their take on it. I’ve contacted them before and they were quick to reply.

 

[nickfire20]

Just wanted to throw in 2 that i have. Adam’s Ceramic Boost and Dinowax Serum Boost. Adam’s is $30, Dinowax is $15. Both are spray on wipe off and easy to work with. They both feel and last about the same(3-4 months) I feel the Adam’s is a bit glossier.


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[Desertnate]

rlm, do u have BF Coating Booster to test? I’d be curious how it compares with all other SiO2 toppers, especially PBL Booster and BF SiO2

I`m using a sample on one of my vehicles which is coated with McKee`s 37 Paint Coating v.1. So far it`s been pretty underwhelming. I`ve not noticed any improvement in gloss, beading, or surface feel. Compared to Kenotek Showroom Shine (I know it`s a QD) and Gyeon Cure, I might as well be misting the car with water. Those other products have a noticable difference after use. You`d probably be better off with their SiO2 spray than the Coating Booster.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

Just wanted to throw in 2 that i have. Adam’s Ceramic Boost and Dinowax Serum Boost. Adam’s is $30, Dinowax is $15. Both are spray on wipe off and easy to work with. They both feel and last about the same(3-4 months) I feel the Adam’s is a bit glossier.


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Thanks for posting. I’m not sure what you mean by lasting 3-4 months. Is that garaged?