School me on 22PLE/Infinity Nano Paint Sealant/Opti-Coat/Cquartz

[M0nk3y]

Hey guys,

 

Up to this point, I've only involved myself with waxes and sealant. Currently I'm using Wolfgang 3.0 topped with Dodo Juice HC and RB.

 

Now with my new (to me) car, I want to get a longer term sealant for the winter months. With only 7k miles on the car currently, it is in flawless shape. I do have access to a heated garage and access to wash equipment, but maintaining a relatively "weaker" sealant isn't on my to-do list.

 

So, I've been carefully studying the products above and clearly I'm lost with which to go with.

 

Opinions wanted on:

 

Ease of Use

Durability

Overall Looks After Application (Does it enhance/inhibit gloss/depth)?

Initial Cost

Can it be applied on clear bra?

Anything that should be mentioned.

 

As well, I need to know general size recommendations. The car is a 1 series, so relatively small. I may/may not consider doing the Z4M as well as it will be in storage. Can I get away with a 20mL kit?

 

 

Thanks in advance,

[AudiOn19s]

I've used a good bit of both Opti-coat and 22PLE.

 

I've got over 24 months of data points and observations with Opti-coat and around 14 months worth of the same for 22ple. This is all my personal observations.

 

Ease of use: Well neither is "easy" to use each has it's quirks. Both need to be in a very well lit environment so that you can see what's going on with them. Optimum need to go on and flash on the surface. No buffing it off per say HOWEVER you do need to go back and knock down high spots that you'll see because they aren't flashing as quickly as the rest and could cause a variance in color. 22PLE wipes on and needs to set there for 2-3 minutes and then removed. 2 brand new towels are needed for removal and those towels need to be thrown away after application. First towel will remove a good bit of residue but the 2nd is needed to really get the surface clean. As the towels soil it really starts to smear around quite a bit before it comes off the surface clean. I usually end up using more like 3-4 towels for the process. I give the nod here to Opti-Coat by just a smidge.

 

Durability - I don't have enough time on 22ple to be the expert in this right now. Based on industry reports Opti-coat gets the nod here. I can tell you after 24 months on my daily driver that lives outside 24/7 the horizontal surfaces were finally to a point where I wasn't happy with the level of protection from Opti-coat any longer so I broke down and re-applied. All things considered that's pretty darn strong. I think 22PLE is a little more realistic in their marketing claims of durability stating 18-24 months with their product. So far 12 months in with it on one of my other cars I have no reason to believe it won't make that 18-24 month mark easily. That car is garaged part of the time though. So either will make it 12 months easy, if you believe the industry though Opti-coat wins for durability.

 

Overall Looks after application - 22PLE wins hands down. Warmer, deeper, looks good even on dark vehicles. None of it is going to look quite as good as your go-to combo however the 22PLE will be very close with proper prep under it which I'm sure isn't an issue for you.

 

Cost...Meh product for product it's about the same. $70 min buy-in for Opti-coat though you can find it on sale every now and then. Looks like 22ple comes in 20, 30 and 50ml sizes now which is nice for flexibility. Pretty much a wash though.

 

applied on clear bra - Yes I did with both.

 

Mentions - I'm still not sure there's a clear cut winner though my personal opinion is this: I'll probably never test if any of them are capable of going past 24 months. Heck if I can get a solid 12 months out of either I'm good with it. Given that and the looks edge going to 22PLE it's been my favorite as of late. They are both great, you won't be disappointed with either as the root goal is ultimate protection for a daily driver and they will both be up to the task.

 

My gripe with 22PLE is the fact they have a different product for paint and plastic and trim and what not, optimum you put it on everything. Optimum backed off on the recommendation for applying it to glass but it's fine on glass too. I have half a mind to think the 22PLE for metal and plastic is all the same crap just in a different bottle with different label. I personally applied mine to paint and plastic and glass with no ill effects.

 

How much? 20ml will absolutely do your 1 series...probably do the whole car plus windows plus wheels as a matter of fact if you're using it sparingly. You'll probably do the paint with around 10-12 ml of product to be perfectly honest. work slow, use very little product and you'll be fine with that amount. If you are only doing paint I'd venture to say you could probably even do the Z and the 1 series both with 20ml paint only...otherwise go for a bigger size for that safety barrier.

[M0nk3y]

I've used a good bit of both Opti-coat and 22PLE.

 

I've got over 24 months of data points and observations with Opti-coat and around 14 months worth of the same for 22ple. This is all my personal observations.

 

Ease of use: Well neither is "easy" to use each has it's quirks. Both need to be in a very well lit environment so that you can see what's going on with them. Optimum need to go on and flash on the surface. No buffing it off per say HOWEVER you do need to go back and knock down high spots that you'll see because they aren't flashing as quickly as the rest and could cause a variance in color. 22PLE wipes on and needs to set there for 2-3 minutes and then removed. 2 brand new towels are needed for removal and those towels need to be thrown away after application. First towel will remove a good bit of residue but the 2nd is needed to really get the surface clean. As the towels soil it really starts to smear around quite a bit before it comes off the surface clean. I usually end up using more like 3-4 towels for the process. I give the nod here to Opti-Coat by just a smidge.

 

Durability - I don't have enough time on 22ple to be the expert in this right now. Based on industry reports Opti-coat gets the nod here. I can tell you after 24 months on my daily driver that lives outside 24/7 the horizontal surfaces were finally to a point where I wasn't happy with the level of protection from Opti-coat any longer so I broke down and re-applied. All things considered that's pretty darn strong. I think 22PLE is a little more realistic in their marketing claims of durability stating 18-24 months with their product. So far 12 months in with it on one of my other cars I have no reason to believe it won't make that 18-24 month mark easily. That car is garaged part of the time though. So either will make it 12 months easy, if you believe the industry though Opti-coat wins for durability.

 

Overall Looks after application - 22PLE wins hands down. Warmer, deeper, looks good even on dark vehicles. None of it is going to look quite as good as your go-to combo however the 22PLE will be very close with proper prep under it which I'm sure isn't an issue for you.

 

Cost...Meh product for product it's about the same. $70 min buy-in for Opti-coat though you can find it on sale every now and then. Looks like 22ple comes in 20, 30 and 50ml sizes now which is nice for flexibility. Pretty much a wash though.

 

applied on clear bra - Yes I did with both.

 

Mentions - I'm still not sure there's a clear cut winner though my personal opinion is this: I'll probably never test if any of them are capable of going past 24 months. Heck if I can get a solid 12 months out of either I'm good with it. Given that and the looks edge going to 22PLE it's been my favorite as of late. They are both great, you won't be disappointed with either as the root goal is ultimate protection for a daily driver and they will both be up to the task.

 

My gripe with 22PLE is the fact they have a different product for paint and plastic and trim and what not, optimum you put it on everything. Optimum backed off on the recommendation for applying it to glass but it's fine on glass too. I have half a mind to think the 22PLE for metal and plastic is all the same crap just in a different bottle with different label. I personally applied mine to paint and plastic and glass with no ill effects.

 

How much? 20ml will absolutely do your 1 series...probably do the whole car plus windows plus wheels as a matter of fact if you're using it sparingly. You'll probably do the paint with around 10-12 ml of product to be perfectly honest. work slow, use very little product and you'll be fine with that amount. If you are only doing paint I'd venture to say you could probably even do the Z and the 1 series both with 20ml paint only...otherwise go for a bigger size for that safety barrier.

 

Thanks for the time Andy.

 

The garage has some T8s (2 over each bay) along with 2-500 Watt Halogen Lights, would you assume this to be enough?

 

So let me get this straight, the Opti-Coat needs to flash over, similar to a wax hazing over? Then simply just wipe off? Knocking the high spots down just involves wiping more off in that area?

 

Would you rank ease of removal to say..Wolfgang or Jetseal Sealant where it falls off like butter, or Klasse High Gloss Sealant where it is a PITA if you don't time it right?

 

Do you need to use lint-free towels?

 

Lastly, you can still apply sealant and wax on top of 22PLE or Opti-Coat correct? Essentially it is a "false" clear coat and treat it as such?

 

 

Good idea on the glass, trim, and wheels. Never knew you could do that

[AudiOn19s]

That lighting will be good.

 

Opti-coat flashes and disappears...in general it does not need buffed to remove residue you only have to remove residue from the high spots...they'll still appear wet / dark / whatever after the surrounding areas have already flashed off clear.

 

The high spots are like Klasse. They'll still look darker / wet / whatever but they won't easily buff off if they sit too long. First 3-5 minutes yes, miss something and find it later and it'll be a bitch. The trick to getting it is re-applying to that area to basically soften things up with fresh product. With 22PLE you have to remove it like a wax / sealant and it comes off very easily the issue is it smears around sometimes.

 

I use good microfiber for removal.

 

you *can* apply stuff over the top...but the theory is that durability will suffer because it won't bond. Everytime I've tried to top opti-coat with anything it turned into a streaky mess and I wasn't happy with the looks so I just stopped. The weird part is fully cured paint with opti-coat on it feels like absolutely bare paint. It's not slick to the touch, it's almost grabby. You'd think with that texture when cured you could layer stuff on top if you want but I've not had much success. Even my favorite spray wax for cleaning up after washes tends to streak.

[Doc1647545523]

Andy really knows his stuff. We're lucky to have him on CR.

 

Here are some additional thoughts and photos:

 

http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112030&highlight=22ple

 

http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110112&highlight=22ple

 

http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111521&highlight=22ple

 

http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111041&highlight=22ple

[SpaceGhost]

Andy did my 22ple on my car and the place I love it the most is on the wheels. 95% of the brake dust can be hosed off. Also I don't hand wash the car ever, I run it through the captain car wash on N Hamilton Rd. (touchless) car comes out seriously clean and usually just needs the rear bumper wiped down to soak up some water. Never had a car let alone an almost black car so easy to clean and keep clean.

 

Cliff- 22ple worth every penny.

[SpaceGhost]

Car was pretty dirty this morning, I work close to the 71/670 project. It rained Monday like a light sprinkle, so it left dots of dirt all over the car.

 

Today we had a nice downpour around noon, and at 4pm I came out to see my cleaned car.

 

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/12/esata3uq.jpg

 

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/12/a2aje8ah.jpg

 

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/12/re6uqu3u.jpg

 

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/12/3ygu7yhy.jpg

 

Here where the trunk collects a little water because of the curve in the trunk to can see where some of the dirt collected.

 

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/12/u8uha3e2.jpg

 

 

Love 22PLE

 

Forgive the orange peel, Subaru can't paint a car for shit.

[cruizin01]

Applied 22PLE on the BRZ about 2 months ago. Impressed so far. Im just an amateur but it applied easily imo and looks great. Super easy to clean the car up. Far better than a few of the normal sealers Ive tried in the past. I bought the wheel sealer and it does a great job also.

[M0nk3y]

That lighting will be good.

 

Opti-coat flashes and disappears...in general it does not need buffed to remove residue you only have to remove residue from the high spots...they'll still appear wet / dark / whatever after the surrounding areas have already flashed off clear.

 

The high spots are like Klasse. They'll still look darker / wet / whatever but they won't easily buff off if they sit too long. First 3-5 minutes yes, miss something and find it later and it'll be a bitch. The trick to getting it is re-applying to that area to basically soften things up with fresh product. With 22PLE you have to remove it like a wax / sealant and it comes off very easily the issue is it smears around sometimes.

 

I use good microfiber for removal.

 

you *can* apply stuff over the top...but the theory is that durability will suffer because it won't bond. Everytime I've tried to top opti-coat with anything it turned into a streaky mess and I wasn't happy with the looks so I just stopped. The weird part is fully cured paint with opti-coat on it feels like absolutely bare paint. It's not slick to the touch, it's almost grabby. You'd think with that texture when cured you could layer stuff on top if you want but I've not had much success. Even my favorite spray wax for cleaning up after washes tends to streak.

 

Thanks again Andy, looks like I might pull the trigger on 22PLE. When you encounter smearing or streaking? Is that a function of over-applying? Is correction simply by just keep on wiping that excess off or do you use some QD to help assist?

 

As well, do you apply with a foam pad, MF...?

 

 

Very odd that even wax just doesn't look right. Sealant not bonding makes sense.

 

 

I might be adventurous and try the Dodo Juice Sealant that just came out.

 

Love 22PLE

 

Forgive the orange peel, Subaru can't paint a car for shit.

 

Don't worry, BMW can't paint either.