mikez

When my car gets wet, water forms into beads or droplets on my car... however they dont drop off, they seem to be clinging on for dear life, even on my door where its near vertical you can see water beads hanging out like spiderman.

On my family's older cars, newest of which is almost 9 years old, when they get wet the water just slides over it like a sheet and slides off, leaving a little streak or two but they dont stick the car.

Does my car need to be waxed/clayed or something? I thought the new Lexus comes with those protective films that allows the water to bead off or something, same thing with my window, the water just sticks to it

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

The protective film everyone seems to be referring to is the clear coat I believe. Its supposed to be there and it offers some protection against the elements. It isn't recommended that it works by itself, however, because clear coat can fade and die.

Clay bar, polish it, then wax it correctly and you'll have that beading/sheeting action when it rains. Properly maintain a car and it will stay dry in the rain due to the lowered surface tension of the paint and the water. The water will literally roll off

mikez

Why is my parents 99 ES and my old 01 Teg like that when my 07 IS have billions of droplets hanging on it And the other 2 car dont get washed. At all. lol

radicalrev

iTrader: (2)

few of the sealant makes the car beads like crazy....take for example NXT 2.0 and UQD....they have the Hydrophobic Polymer Technology...which makes the water beads....some people just like the look of water beading....some people don't..as you know that it can cause water spots if under the sun....My 2IS don't have the type of beading like NXT since I use P21S...

i would say clay the car again if you haven't do so, and try a different type of wax...

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Not washing the car and neglecting it does have a huge effect in the beading properties of a car. Take for example my dads 1994 Dodge Caravan. He never waxed, sealed, or washed the car correctly all these years and the car looks like crap. The paint is falling off and it never beads water anymore. When it rains, water is actually absorbed into the paint and makes the car look bone dry

Washing your car is good for it. Applying sealants and waxes is even better for you. If you don't want the beading action, google some of them that do not have those properties. I know that Zymol is very oily based from putting it on by hand so I would stay away from that if you aren't into beading. However, if in the future you are, you will get crazy beading action with it . Like Eric said, P21S is a good and not too expensive for some good protection and the qualities you are looking for

My favorite Zymol pic

YoshRX300

I use ZAINO and here is my beading action.

mikez

YES!

That is roughly what my car looks like just a tad bit less extreme, I have washed it often, but I have never wax or polish or even clayed it yet. I figured its something from the OEM paint job.. or dealer.

So wait lemme ask, is the beading desired? Since from your pic and my car, just because the water beads, it doesnt mean it will roll off the car... or is that because the car is not waxed or polished.

So is beading the desired effect after you wax + polished?

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Since your car is still in good condition, then there could be some protection still on there. Depending on what you wash the car with really makes a difference on how long the protection lasts on a car. You may be using one of those car washes that have built in waxing capabilities which could be helping you protect your car further. I doubt the dealer has any influence on your car's beading ability. My guess is the car wash you are using...

I like the beading on the car so I'm biased on the desired effect part . In a way, its 50/50 beading and sheeting at the same time. The reason why the beads are so pronounced on my car is because I'm on a sloped driveway. My hood is technically parallel to my garage floor which is level so nothing rolls off at first. When it rains harder it starts to sheet a lot, but with the beading capabilities of my wax they just keep building up until gravity and the weight of the water drop takes effect. My trunk however, it sheets like no other

I always try to wax my car when I wash it. My process is usually the same, light polish to rid myself of any new swirls, glaze with #7, NXT 2.0 as "sealant", then Zymol Creme to bring the pop out of the flakes and to enhance the depth of my paint. Waxing will definitely help prolong the life of your paint. You don't have to go to the extreme as I did of course haha

When you spend as much time as I did restoring the finish of a car, you'd want it to look its best. If you want to see what happens to neglected paint, you can see my restoration project. The befores are quite horrible

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...5+month+detail

radicalrev

iTrader: (2)

wew....look at that extreme beading...lol...I am not a fan of extreme beading...but sometimes it is just cool to see the water beads....hehe...

what color is your 2IS??

Kaydee

I Freaking Love Beading!!!

mikez

My IS is black sapphire pearl.

Hrm.. I do all the car washing myself by hand with water.

Lately the it got dirtier so I used some of those lemon scent dish liquid dish soaps... is that bad?

Couldnt really find any car soap at Autozone

Ive seen your pictures before eyezack87, very impressive I like that hamster with the pancake on its head lol

radicalrev

iTrader: (2)

Its not bad if used once a while..but it strips off wax/sealant from the car...might want to buy a REAL car wash soap....Pepboys should have many...

My car is BSP too...is the car clayed or waxed ever before?

mikez

Hrm, what brands of car soap does people recommend?

My car is a pre-owned, it has never been waxed or clayed once the whole time in my hands, just washed with normal towels and water.

But when I got it from the dealer it was waxed.. to hide all the swirls lol

I keep it pretty darn clean without the wax though

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Like Eric said, I wouldn't use it all the time. It really does strip everything and eventually dries the clear coat up and speed up the CC failure process

For car soap, they sell them everywhere. Walmart and Target are great places to look. I tend to stick to the Meguiar's NXT Tech Wash or Meguiar's Gold Class Wash since they do a pretty decent job for OTC stuff

Haha, thanks for the comments, but its a bunny, not a hamster

Damn...I hate you for having a BSP IS. I'm considering getting a repaint in that color too. Freakin amazing. Its the best of both blue and black worlds *drools*

I do have to say this though, if the swirling is bad enough, it hides the true colors. Get it professionally done and you might see a shade of the paint you've never seen before

radicalrev

iTrader: (2)

especially BSP...combine Red Moose Glaze and P21S 100%...Yummy!!! all the flakes pops out so great in dark colored cars....

+1 for NXT tech wash...use it all the time and no complaint...