Safe on Opti-Coat?

Discussion in 'Pre Wash, Wash, Decon, Claying, Engine, Wheels, an' started by TheRustySuper, Mar 6, 2012.

  1. TheRustySuper

    TheRustySuper Obsessive Detailer

    Right, well as a freshman at college I have to say my car has been severely neglected. Though I only live an hour from home I don't go home very often, and I don't have time to maintain my car like I used to. But my spring break is coming up next week, and I'm determined to bring my GTI back to its former glory. I was fairly confident my car would be neglected while at college, so I took the precaution of Opti-Coating the entire car in August--wheels, trim, paint, glass and all. However, the only wash this car has seen since August was the time I took it through a touchless wash in January, so there is a great deal of road grime built up on the car and even though I use ceramic brake pads, a fair amount of brake dust built up too. I feel like I need to use more than my standard wash medium (Megs Gold Class soap, I'm cheap I know) to properly clean my car...and I was wondering what would be best to use to wash my car and clean the wheels, that will have no effect on the Opti-Coat. I know that the only way it can be removed is via abrasion but still I wonder. I have a limited collection but here goes.

    I have Optimum Power Clean, Zep Citrus, Megs APC (probably won't be using this on the paint), and of course Dawn. Whatever I use I'll probably mix with my standard wash medium, as well as foaming the car through a cheap fertilizer sprayer. For wheel cleaning I have all the cleaners I listed previously as well as CG Diablo (not the best but smells amazing and I wanna use it up before I buy something else) and Megs Wheel Brightener...but I feel like the acid in the WB might do something to the Opti-Coat.

    I know this doesn't strictly pertain to washing the car, but I believe I read that if desired, a LSP can be applied to the Opti-Coated surface. I imagine that this would enhance the look of the car more than the Opti-Coat alone, and I would be interested in doing so if it's worth the time. If I do apply a LSP, is it necessary to clay the car, or would clay diminish the longevity of the Opti-Coat? Or should I just leave the Opti-Coat alone?

    Also I'll be doing a write-up of my car at some point, maybe I'll enter it in a competition...here's a teaser, as part of the detail was carried out over Christmas break and I got some photos then:

    [​IMG]

    That would be my passenger floorboard ;)
     
  2. irontree

    irontree Two Bucket System Washer

    I am using ONR on both my cars that have Opti-coat and Optimum detail spray to give it that pop. I also use OCW every couple of weeks to keep the surface slick.
     
  3. RaskyR1

    RaskyR1 Jedi Nuba

    With the car having only seen touch-less wash since August you will most likely have some amount of bonded surface contaminants. The coating will be impervious to chemical cleaners so you are fine using them on the paint, just use common sense and don't let the dry on the surface.

    If it were me I would just give the car a good wash, maybe some OPC sprayed on the lowers or heavily soiled areas. Then after it is dry I would utilize some IronX and TarX (or Tarminator) to remove as much bonded surface contaminants as possible. Check for water spots too as thought touch-less washes always seem to leave some behind. You should be able to remove any water spots with a chemical spot remover like Chemical Guys Water Spot Remover. After this you can clay if needed, it shouldn't remove the coating, but I would definitely check in a small area first to see if it's marring the finish. You should also be able to go over the paint lightly with a mild cleaner like Poli-Seal without compromising the coating. You can top it with any LSP, but durability may be reduced.
     

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