Sherif Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hi Everyone, New member and first post here, first wanna say Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to All I'm excited about my order on the way now:Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 Optimum Opti-Glass 8 oz. Optimum Finish Polish Optimum Opti-Eraser – Fine Grade Optimum Opti Dual Pro Applicator I've never done any type of polishing, waxing, coating.. but I'm planning to do this myself.. I'm reading alot in many forums to learn but I prefer to get some advice from Optimum Experts My 2014 Jeep GC is still new (been using it for less than 3 months but DD) and it has been professionally detailed 2 months ago using Zaino polishes and sealant, and well taken care of by manually washing it myself (rinse + foam + sheepskin mitt + 2 Buckets + water sheeting + leaf blower + MF drying towels) using Zaino soap & following up with Zaino QD or having it washed the same way at the detailer garage.So my paint is currently in good condition and I've inspected it many times in sunlight and with flash light and found no swirls/marring, just a few minor scratches that I can live withcoz I'm not planning to do a machine polishing at all, maximum work I can do on it will be a good wash then claying or should I say erasing with Opti-Eraser then polish with Finish Polish by hand then 15% IPA wipedown and finally apply the Opti-Coat by hand... Any other steps required to prep the paint or stripp the Zaino coats? My main concern is I'll have to work in open parking area, it's kinda clean and shaded so no direct sunlight but I'm worried about light dust during the coating process.. So I was thinking to do the IPA wipedown panel by panel just before applying the coating, is that ok? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherif Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 2 weeks, 27 views and not a single reply!! am I on the wrong forum?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setec Astronomy Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Normally I would say that "claying", Finish polish and IPA wipedown would be fine to remove the Zaino, but recent discussions on another forum have cast some doubt on how easy it is to really remove sealants. You might want to do a beading check after your IPA wipe to make sure the water is flat. That's presuming you don't have a more aggressive polish or an APC like Optimum Power Clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherif Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Normally I would say that "claying", Finish polish and IPA wipedown would be fine to remove the Zaino, but recent discussions on another forum have cast some doubt on how easy it is to really remove sealants. You might want to do a beading check after your IPA wipe to make sure the water is flat. That's presuming you don't have a more aggressive polish or an APC like Optimum Power Clean.Thanks Setec, I have OPC but never tried it.. Can I mix it with my car wash soap in the first step? Or better dillute it and spray it on all panels as a presoak before the wash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setec Astronomy Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Someone else may chime in on this, but I think you can dilute OPC 3:1 and use that as a pre-spray before the wash. In theory the Optimum Finish should cut through your Zaino, but since you are using it by hand a little extra insurance (OPC) can't hurt. Zaino is a great beader, so I would still do a quick check after the IPA wipe that you have no beading to be sure the Zaino is gone. The reason I say after the IPA wipe is someone on another forum demonstrated that in some cases cleaning products can bond to the sealant and kill the beading, while the sealant is actually still there. An IPA wipe will remove the cleaning product in that case and restore the beading. I'm still pretty sure your original method will remove everything, I just haven't done it that way, so I don't want to guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherif Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Someone else may chime in on this, but I think you can dilute OPC 3:1 and use that as a pre-spray before the wash. In theory the Optimum Finish should cut through your Zaino, but since you are using it by hand a little extra insurance (OPC) can't hurt. Zaino is a great beader, so I would still do a quick check after the IPA wipe that you have no beading to be sure the Zaino is gone. The reason I say after the IPA wipe is someone on another forum demonstrated that in some cases cleaning products can bond to the sealant and kill the beading, while the sealant is actually still there. An IPA wipe will remove the cleaning product in that case and restore the beading. I'm still pretty sure your original method will remove everything, I just haven't done it that way, so I don't want to guess. Will do that beading test as well.Thanks again, appreciate your reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Sorry must have missed the original post. Here are a few suggestions to add to the great ones already. If you have a random orbital sander used in wood working(or are not adverse to spending $30 more) it can be used for polishing. Here is a very quick video showing one in use http://youtu.be/6oO-xc2i3VE, it will make your polishing faster, and it will further insure a good surface for your Opti Coat. For the Opti Eraser block, make sure to use it on all your glass first to " break it in". This will wear off teh film on teh block and help reduce marring, also you want to keep your surface well lubricated and use no pressure with the block. For your Opti Glass a good polish and IPA wipedown will give you truly clean glass for it to bond too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherif Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Sorry must have missed the original post. Here are a few suggestions to add to the great ones already. If you have a random orbital sander used in wood working(or are not adverse to spending $30 more) it can be used for polishing. Here is a very quick video showing one in use , it will make your polishing faster, and it will further insure a good surface for your Opti Coat. For the Opti Eraser block, make sure to use it on all your glass first to " break it in". This will wear off teh film on teh block and help reduce marring, also you want to keep your surface well lubricated and use no pressure with the block. For your Opti Glass a good polish and IPA wipedown will give you truly clean glass for it to bond too. Thanks Yvan for the great tips, so I should prep everything first (glass, paint & chrome) but do I really need to polish the glass? Cleaning & decontaminating it wouldn't be enough? It's a 3 months old SUV and I don't think the detailer applied Zaino to the glass. And if so, can I use the same optimum finish or will need special glass polish?Then when applying the coatings (Opti-Coat & Opti-Glass), which one to do first? Gonna start off with the roof which has a big panoramic glass sunroof so have to finish both coatings (Opti-Coat & Opti-Glass) while on the step ladder then continue with other panels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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