Will this prematurely strip sealant?

In between washes, I will often go to the local self service car wash bay and use the "rinse" setting to hose off the dirt and grime on the car. I do this a lot when the weather is bad and it is hard to wash the car and for it to stay clean. Normally, I do this 2 times per week. Rinse only, no soap, no brush... just rinse.

Well, I used Opti Seal on my car (well prepped) about a month ago and there is now absolutely NO beading. I have also applied Duragloss AW twice over the past month when I actually washed the car. Either the durability of Opti Seal is VERY poor or the rinse at the self serve wash is stripping the protection.

Any thoughts?

P.S. I have Collinite to use when I get around to my spring detail (thanks Ken ) and am hoping to get better durability.

 

Many of the Coin Ops in my area use fresh water, some keep in mind will reclaim and reuse water. If there are harsh chemicals in the reclaimed water, that can and will affect the Optiseal.

That said, keep in mind that there is still dirt on the car that would require a little mechanical action(shampoo and mitt) to really remove it.

That is more than likely why you don't see beading. The dirt is preventing it by killing the surface tension.

 

Excellent point! Maybe there is still protection on the car and the dirt film that the rinse doesn't remove is causing the lack of beading. I don't spray it to get it "clean" but rather to just get the nasty stuff off until I can do it right.

It will be interesting to note whether I get proper beading after my next true wash. I might wash, dry and then spray the car with water to test it this weekend. Either way, Optiseal was just a short term measure to get me through until my full Spring detail with a polish and then Collinite 845 as a LSP.

 

It's one thing if the weather is cold and there's salt on the roads and you want to rinse it off before cleaning it in your garage. I would suggest you pick up some ONR and use it to wash your car. If it is filty, wash it normally. The less you use those coin op places, the better. ONR is a safe, effective way to wash your car quickly and without damage.

 

I actually use ONR in the winter and really like it. I normally use the spray rinse in weeks like this past one. It would rain every second day so washing the car after a rain was less than practical. Also, I took two long trips that resulted in mud on the rear end of the car. I used the rinse a couple of times to get rid of the significant dirt. Yesterday, for example, I rinsed off the car from a 2 hour road trip in the rain. It was sunny today but forecast to rain again tomorrow. I just hate driving with a really dirty car in the nice weather but that same weather doesn't last long enough even for a simple ONR wash. I do avoid these services if possible but sometimes our weather makes that tough.

If this reduces sealant durability, I will either have to use it even less or just suffer from the lower durability.

 

If you want max durability, put a coat of DG 601 followed by 105. (don't remove the 601, the 105 goes into it). Follow that up (you can right away having used the 601) with Collinite. Best protection you can have!

 

gthal, if the car is too dirty you're not going to see any beading coming from your sealant or wax. The beading will return once the vehicle is clean again.

 

Don't worry, nicer weather is on the way soon........ you won't have to put up with all this rain in July and August

BTW you can use something like Einszett spray wax in between washes to rezuvinate the protection a bit. I use so much of it I bought a 10 L container of it. it is just great..... easy on and off and provides a nice boost to your sealant.

 

I kept saying I was gonna try this in the Winter & never did:
What if you mixed shampoo & water in a spray bottle sprayed the car all over with that & then rinsed it off ? The soapy water might help loosen the dirt a little.