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Spray Detailers & Ceramic Sprays

3K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  Junkman2008 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone

I've always used spray detailers on my cars & I remember I used to use an Armorall product that was labeled a spray polish.
My question is all these products are now labeled as "Spray Detailers" as opposed to polish - are they actually a polish? Or are they just chemically engineered detailers that provide shine, beading, etc.?

Is there any harm in using them every time I wash my car (every 2 weeks)? - because I have always doen that.

I see some new products like "NextGen" labeled as a ceramic spray - anyone every use these? any good?

Thanks for your input.

Cedarg
 
#2 · (Edited)
Basically, what you are doing is DESTROYING YOUR PAINT.

A polish is a light abrasive that is used to remove minor damage from your paint. A compound is used to remove major damage from your paint. If you use both, you start with a compound and end with a polish. The stuff that you are using is as much a polish as a Subaru with a fart can exhaust is a Viper. Those of us who know look at products like that and laugh, just as you would laugh at that guy in the Subaru trying to convince you that his hack job is a Viper.

Second, that regiment you are doing after washing your car has NO benefit to the appearance of your paint. It may LOOK like it is beneficial but I could achieve the same look if I smeared hot Crisco on your paint. Of course, you can see how ridiculous that would be as I understand how ridiculous your regiment is.

Quick detailers have their uses but the way you are using it is NOT one of those uses. Add to that, all that wiping you are doing on your paint is scratching the hell out of it, especially if the towels you are using are made in China. I am willing to bet good money that you get your towels from a auto or big box store and they have a tag sewn into the edge that says MADE IN CHINA. Now how do I know this? Because you told me with the questions you just posted. I have read that question a million times and the mindset of the folks that ask it is always the same. They want to take good care of their paint so they spend a little extra buying stuff that they don't realize is garbage. They also don't realize the damage that they are doing to their paint. So now, your question is, "What should I be doing?"

I'm glad you asked.

Take a look at these videos. Pop some popcorn and kick up your feet because they are not short but once you finish, you will have a completely different understanding as to what a polish is. You are also going to learn a LOT about making your paint look perfect. It's a lot of information so get a pen and paper and TAKE NOTES. You are never going to remember everything that I cover in these videos. It is a college course in "paint correction" and I am going to dispel a LOT of what you thought you knew about paint. The first being that you DON'T USE WAX TO MAKE PAINT SHINE.

These 3 pictures will make sense once you finish watching these videos.









.






Have at it my friend. You are about to be unplugged from the Paint Matrix. Call me "Junkmorpheus"


:)
 
#8 ·
Bro', is that desk bad or what!?!?! :D
It's got your name written all over it. You might not have a wife after you buy it but you'll be BALLIN'! Lol!

One word... marketing.{/QUOTE}

BINGO. (y)
There is a ton of crap being pushed onto the market using nothing but that


This is the problem with many vehicle pain products these days. Someone is always coming out with the latest greatest thing and as such, most are trying to push their products by making them sound like the best.

I don't know if any spray on product that will actually "polish" paint. That is, remove any kind of defect in the paint. There are some that use fillers, to fill in micromaring.
Two for two. (y).


There are sprays that are detailers and these mainly just provide some lubrication so light dust can be wiped off. Some use them in the drying process for the same reason. These typically won't leave much behind on the surface, but some do. You can use these on clean paint, such as after you wash, in order to complete the drying process. Many people do.

There are then sprays that contain sealants. Latest and "greatest" are "ceramic" sealants. Or course, they are marketing themselves to appear the same as expensive ceramic coatings but of course they are different. These can be used as a quick way to apply a sealant to paint. Do they work, sure. But in my experience they do not have the same shine and durability as traditional sealants wand waxes.
They definitely don't have anywhere near the durability, not even remotely and if you use anything on your paint and it makes the paint shine more, then you were not done polishing the paint. There is no product that I can put on my paint and make it shine anymore than it does after I finish polishing it. The shine comes from polishing and wax is nothing more than a protectant. Here's is paint polished to perfection without one drop of wax, detail spray of anything else to enhance the shine. This is just straight polishing to perfection:

294189

:
You would think that a Corvette would have a decent paint job on it. No, it sucked. Orange peel out the wazoo so I fixed it. I did the exact same thing to this Toyota Camry. Yea, this is a Toyota...


..

As far as sealants and waxes providing shine. They do.
I think a better way of saying that is that THEY CAN, but ONLY if they contain some type of abrasive like the product, "Midnight Express". So basically it's a sealant AND a polish mixed together.That will produce some level of shine, although I would never use it to do that.

What Junkman is pointing out is that paint correction leads to the ultimate shine. You cannot start with crappy paint and expects a sealant to cover that up and look good. They can help, but they are just temporarily covering up. But certainly a good sealant/wax on good paint is going to add shine/gloss.
ONLY if the paint has not been polished to perfection. If it has, no product out there is going to add more shine to what can be detected by the human eye.

If I don't say it, JM will... so... this is why he took the time to link to all of his videos. because this is just a quick post and he goes into more depth in the videos explaining what he is talking about. I've watched those videos a hundred times as they contain very good information.
Thank you sir. Good input. (y)

Hi Guys, Thanks for the input from everyone so far.

- I enjoyed watching your viideos, great explanations and perfect sense & thank you for the feedback you provided (Though could do without the generalization).
Guilty as charged. 😶

.
I'm not the novice you may think. For instance, I only use 100% cotton hand made towels made in the US, big spa like bath towels with zero stitching on the sides & no polyester anywhere on the towels. Not purchased at big box retailers. No Chamois, water blades or any of that stuff other
As someone else said, no go. You should be using MICROFIBER. Not just any microfiber mind you, it needs to be Korean made microfiber. America use to put out the cream of the crop but America cannot compete with the cost of labor to create what they are putting out in South Korea. Thus, what you though was a good towel is nothing compared to what you should be using. I even made a video about it. Here it is:



.
I also do not use wax for the purposes of shining my car, because I know that is not the purpose of wax - nor do I use spray waxes.
Good to hear that. 🙂

Let me clarify the question a bit - I'm not looking for a polish or wax or trying to remove any defects. The paint is in great condition. The reason I asked about the spray detailers was because - I wanted to make sure they were NOT polishes, beacuse I don't need or want the polish. Especially that often, that's crazy.
EXACTLY, because there are no clear coat fairies that add more clear to your car in the middle of the night. 😳

The reason I use these spray detailers is yes to enhance shine & gloss/smooth slippery surface.
Again, that's what POLISHING is for. You don't have to get mid-evil with your paint, just a very light polishing here and there will keep your paint popping.

I do NOT wipe down my car in between washes, I don't like to do that.
THAT'S good to hear!

So these detailers also provide a barrier of sorts if it rains (beading) or dust for the 2 week period between washes.
Uuuuhhh NO. That's what waxes and sealants do. That quick detailer is doing nothing in that arena but emptying your wallet.

In the northeast where I am, I also have to worry about road salt & other stuff. With the detailer, all this stuff literally slides off the car & makes the next wash easier. And I only use it right after I wash the car, not in between washes to remove dust or dirt
And this video will show you what a sealant, topped of with a carnuba paste wax will do:



IJnkman mentions that - it's whats best for you, not what the best product is, and the less steps needed the better - which is exactly what I have to consider (time), so I tend to use something that doesn't require much in terms of applications or wiping. I have tested a variety of products, and some work better than others.

I welcome any more feedback.

Cedarg
One last thing.Don't chase the shine. TECHNIQUE TRUMPS PRODUCT 24/7/365. You can try products until your eyes bleed. What I would do if I were you is find a product that works and then master it. Chasing the shine is a waste of time and money, especially when someone shows you a product that works. My favorite spray detailer? Zaino, Z5. And it smells great too. 😉
 
#5 ·
One word... marketing.

This is the problem with many vehicle pain products these days. Someone is always coming out with the latest greatest thing and as such, most are trying to push their products by making them sound like the best.

I don't know if any spray on product that will actually "polish" paint. That is, remove any kind of defect in the paint. There are some that use fillers, to fill in micromaring.

There are sprays that are detailers and these mainly just provide some lubrication so light dust can be wiped off. Some use them in the drying process for the same reason. These typically won't leave much behind on the surface, but some do. You can use these on clean paint, such as after you wash, in order to complete the drying process. Many people do.

There are then sprays that contain sealants. Latest and "greatest" are "ceramic" sealants. Or course, they are marketing themselves to appear the same as expensive ceramic coatings but of course they are different. These can be used as a quick way to apply a sealant to paint. Do they work, sure. But in my experience they do not have the same shine and durability as traditional sealants wand waxes.

As far as sealants and waxes providing shine. They do. What Junkman is pointing out is that paint correction leads to the ultimate shine. You cannot start with crappy paint and expects a sealant to cover that up and look good. They can help, but they are just temporarily covering up. But certainly a good sealant/wax on good paint is going to add shine/gloss. If I don't say it, JM will... so... this is why he took the time to link to all of his videos. because this is just a quick post and he goes into more depth in the videos explaining what he is talking about. I've watched those videos a hundred times as they contain very good information.
 
#6 ·
Hi Guys, Thanks for the input from everyone so far.

@JunkMan - I enjoyed watching your viideos, great explanations and perfect sense & thank you for the feedback you provided (Though could do without the generalization). I'm not the novice you may think. For instance, I only use 100% cotton hand made towels made in the US, big spa like bath towels with zero stitching on the sides & no polyester anywhere on the towels. Not purchased at big box retailers. No Chamois, water blades or any of that stuff other . I also do not use wax for the purposes of shining my car, because I know that is not the purpose of wax - nor do I use spray waxes.

Let me clarify the question a bit - I'm not looking for a polish or wax or trying to remove any defects. The paint is in great condition.
The reason I asked about the spray detailers was because - I wanted to make sure they were NOT polishes, beacuse I don't need or want the polish. Especially that often, that's crazy. The reason I use these spray detailers is yes to enhance shine & gloss/smooth slippery surface. I do NOT wipe down my car in between washes, I don't like to do that. So these detailers also provide a barrier of sorts if it rains (beading) or dust for the 2 week period between washes. In the northeast where I am, I also have to worry about road salt & other stuff. With the detailer, all this stuff literally slides off the car & makes the next wash easier. And I only use it right after I wash the car, not in between washes to remove dust or dirt.

Jnkman mentions that - it's whats best for you, not what the best product is, and the less steps needed the better - which is exactly what I have to consider (time), so I tend to use something that doesn't require much in terms of applications or wiping. I have tested a variety of products, and some work better than others.

I welcome any more feedback.

Cedarg
 
#9 ·
Thanks tcope

For the spray detailing I use microfiber - I use the cotton for drying. The cotton ones I use don't shed. It's really high quality stuff.
But I just took a look at the rag company, I like some of the choices there - I think I may order something.

Cedarg
 
#15 ·
There is nothing wrong with using a Spray Detailer for your paint as a drying agent or as a in between coatings or waxes.
The trick is to start out with a Fresh Compound polish and protectant of some sort, Ceramic , Sealant , wax or whatever you like.
Then after each wash before you dry, you can mist on a small amount on your car to lube the drying process and also give you that fresh Waxed look.
I have done with with a Plumb Crazy Purple for over a year and it looks brand new. I have done it for 3 and 1/2 years with a 17 Durango in White and that looked brand new when I traded it in. The dealership said it was the best condition lease or trade they have ever seen. I do it on a 2010 Audi S4 with Gray Paint and that looks damn near brand new. And now I do it with my Pitch Black Scat pack 2020 and it is brand new so no fair LOL. But I had to do some light paint correction when I got it, I coated it with a Spray Ceramic and I maintain it with Detailers during a wash or a freshin up between washes if I feel I need to dust it.
I discovered Turtle wax ICE line I have been testing our for sever months on all of our cars and that stuff is simply amazing.
But listen , I'm a retired Detailer from the 90's and I have been detailing cars since the 80's Professionally and as a hobbyist. If you do your maintenance washes correctly, use high quality Shampoos ( car wash PH balanced Soaps ) , use Micro Fiber wash mitts, use a Foam Cannon and do everything you can to keep your baby looking sweet , I see no reason in the world no to use a Spray Detailer or Waterless wash or Spray Wax or any of these modern chemicals that are excellent today and so much better then the stuff I used decades ago.
Junkman2008 has many good opinions and as a professional this is what works for him. I resect that and him. But I'm also a Detailer who has been testing all the products for years and years and found a very good method to keep all 3 of my cars looking as close to brand new as possible.
Once you have a freshly Professionally detailed car, it's pretty easy to maintain. My Wheels I wash with a dedicated Tire bucket that has only Car wash Shampoo and Micro fiber towel in it. I can clean my wheels and tires with just soap and water. My wheels are coated and the high quality water based dressing I use on my tires makes it a breeze to clean and freshen up. I also messed around with Adam's Polishes Tire Armor and that stuff is crazy good but lasts a bit to long for me as I like testing dressings as the Armor is a coating an stays on there for months and months. It's great if you don't like dressing your tires but what that dressed look.
 
#16 ·
There is nothing wrong with using a Spray Detailer for your paint as a drying agent or as a in between coatings or waxes.
The trick is to start out with a Fresh Compound polish and protectant of some sort, Ceramic , Sealant , wax or whatever you like.
Then after each wash before you dry, you can mist on a small amount on your car to lube the drying process and also give you that fresh Waxed look.
OR...
You could dry your car with air and not waste detail spray doing something that requires you to touch your paint because the LESS you touch your paint,, the LESS opportunity there is for you to DAMAGE your paint. 😉

Paint damage IS ONLY POSSIBLE when you drive your car or TOUCH IT. Driving damage is going to eventually happen so you can't avoid that but the damage you do from wiping on your paint CAN BE AVOIDED. Using detail spray to dry your car is a waste of detail spray. People who sell detail spray want you to do this because it sells more detail spray. Also, some people tell you to do this because it helps with water spots. If you do a combination of the pooling rinse and you don't dry your car in direct sunlight, water spots will not be an issue.

The Pooling Rinse


People who are constantly wiping on their paint (especially outdoors), are the ones who will always be battling paint damage. You have all manner of dust blowing around and landing on your paint and you're scooting that crap all around on your finish. I don't care what type of protection you are using, the accumulation of that practice is going to result in paint damage. If your paint is truly perfect, it shows up immediately. If not, it will take you a while to notice it because you have an untrained eye Case in point:

I saw this guy rubbing on his paint at a car show. As soon as I got close to his car, I could see all the damage in his paint. Not only was he wiping dust off the car but the microfiber towels that he was using came straight out of Costco or Auto Zone. This is I saw:

296330


296331


When I spoke with him and brought the damage to his attention, I then fixed it for him and told him what NOT to do from now on. Here's what those stripes looked like after I finished.

296332


Now keep in mind that his entire car had this damage all over it but he didn't realize that. I wasn't going to fix the entire car, just enough of it to help him realize how brutal his paint maintenance was. The wiping on the paint is when 95% of all paint damage happens. Eliminate that practice and it will do your paint a world of good. The pooling rinse and using air to dry your paint is the best practice that you can do for your paint. Also, never wash your car outdoors. I always wash my car INSIDE my garage.

296333


But then, that's why my paint looks like glass and it doesn't have 1-drop of wax or any kind of coating on it.

296334


296335
 
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