Polishing Black Cars - a slightly "left field" approach

[Toobad]

Having been plied with a gourmet meal and copious amounts of alcohol, it appears I "volunteered" to detail my next door neighbour's new-to-him 8-month old Kia Sportage or should that be "Sportard"

The Phantom Black metallic paint was in surprisingly good condition with evidence of only light swirls and scratches. I thought it was a good opportunity to try some of the new school nanotechnology-based polish that is now emerging and a boat detailing company called Nanotech SST caught my attention with their Super Gloss polish which is especially formulated for black-hulled boats.

I ordered a bottle to use with my DAS6 Pro+ dual action polisher and have to say I am hugely impressed. I hardly had to use any polish as it just went on for ages. Since the white Hexlogic Quantum is a closed cell foam intended for light polishing, the product didn't soak in to the pad as much thus leaving it where it needed to be to do its job. The lubrication was off the scale and because, after priming, I was only loading the pad with 3 miniscule blobs of polish, there was absolutely zero splatter. An occasional spritz with de-ionised water extended the product life even further and guaranteed no clumping from excessive accumulation. As my neighbour is not an enthusiast like all of us here, I didn't bother doing a jewelling pass for that final crisping. I will reserve that process for my Mercedes GLC when I strip its winter coat next Spring.

All that, was left was to apply some of Soft99's Fusso Coat Dark and the job was done. I must say, in terms of beading, Fusso Coat is a sheeting demon so that will go a long way to minimising the dreaded salt circles which are so noticeable on darker coloured cars. Soft99 claim 12 months real world protection but I would be extremely happy if it can survive just the winter months.

My neighbour was actually quite emotional when he first saw the finished car so perhaps he may even be sufficiently motivated to do his wheels and trim. Maybe I have even ignited a latent OCD in him, who knows. He didn't have a name for the car so I suggested "Phanny". He thought it was a good choice because of the Phantom Black paint so I didn't tell him my inspiration came from the fact that when I see a Sportard on the road, I think, "there goes another c**t"

Anyway, here are the photos:














You can buy the black boat polish here:
Nanotech SST Super Gloss Black
and the Japanese PTFE-based sealant here:Soft99 Fusso Coat Dark

Thanks for looking,
Trev.

 

[alzieboy]

Hope your neighbour doesn't see your comments
Looks a good job done though, ,

 

[richardgr88]

Looking good despite the car. Will have to try some.

 

[zoros]

Since the white Hexlogic Quantum is a closed cell foam intended for light polishing

.

there was absolutely zero splatter. An occasional spritz with de-ionised water extended the product life even further and guaranteed no clumping from excessive accumulation

.

doing a jewelling pass for that final crisping.

.

Jesus - you just polished a car not stem cell genetic mutation!

 

[Toobad]

I've got to admit I do find car polishing both therapeutic and relaxing when I'm away from the microbiology lab.

 

[jml3p]

Great information, as I have a black car.
Thank you.
Regards,
Joathan

 

[Toobad]

Here's just one more gratuitous reflection shot of the "Sportard", this time showing my red Mercedes GLC looking less SUV and more sporty estate car.



It is worth noting Nanotech SST only the label the polish as "Black" to indicate a higher abrasive content intended for black-hulled boats which show off swirls and scratches better and it is therefor not colour specific. I was keen to see how my now favourite finishing polish performed on another colour. Enter the KA-tastrophe, a silver/grey 7-year old silver grey Ford KA. It was both a curse and a bonus at the same time! It had spent its days doing a commute through the endless roadworks of the M6 and its nights parked up under a pine tree. I don't think it had more than an annual hand-wash which explained why the paintwork was fairly swirl-free. Perhaps the copious covering of tar spots and tree sap acted as a paint protector After the decontamination from Hell, I set about it with the NanotechSST Black and topped off again with the Fusso Coat Dark just to see how it performed on a lighter-coloured car. Again the result was hugely impressive and I find it hard to see how Fusso Coat Light would have performed any better. I suspect the differentiation could be driven by the marketing department to generate increased consumer confidence by offering a colour specific sealant. Here's the KA-tastophe after the 5 hours of effort required to prove the premise it is indeed entirely possible to polish a turd.

 

[jr2007]

Great results! Is the nanotech product filler heavy?

Soft99 have produced some awesome products, I have the Fusso F7 liquid sealant on my alloys. 6 weeks on they are still beading like mad and brake dust just flies off with the pressure washer.

 

[Toobad]

NanotechSST is a final finishing water-based polish. It contains no fillers but has a very high concentration of non-diminishing abrasive nanoparticles so the amount of cut achieved is determined wholly by the choice of polishing pad. Its glossing capabilities are off the scale but the paintwork must already be in very good condition with only the lightest of scratches, swirling or marring still visible. Both the Sportard and the KA-tastrophe were already pretty much defect-free by the time the NanotechSST was applied. The goal was to turn the gloss level up to 11 and it has definitely delivered in spades.

 

[Tuono-AMG]

This worked really well to hide the inevitable swirls on our previous black BMW

Black Hole - Poorboys World