I couldn't possibly comment about which particular brands are being
counterfiet on a large scale. Although I can say that sometimes these
products are rebranded for different countries, and I have heard that
there has been some large scale organized crime type counterfieting of
one particular brand going on in the far east... however as that brand
is sold under a different name here, it's not worth mentioning anyway.
But it is only a matter of time before it arrives here, and this is one
of the many reasons that the sealant companies are moving to stamp this
out.
In all likelyhood, the stuff you bought was the real deal. Some
contract valeters get many cars to do, and in each kit is enough
product to do more than one car, so although a dealership gives them
one kit per car, if they don't open a new kit until they run out, they
can end up with several kits left over, which they often take as a perk
of the job. This is actually a very bad thing as obviously, the more
sparingly they apply the kits, the bigger the perks! This has always
happened and contract valeters would apply the kits to their mates
cars. But eBay has made it easier for this stuff to be sold.
So anyway, you have managed to get a kit, and as you are still alive,
you have obviously managed to pass the first hurdle which was applying
the fabric sealant without sealing your lungs. Did you use a resporator
or were you just lucky?
If you inhaled a lot of this stuff without breathing difficulties, then
it is possible that you were actually just sold some soapy water in a
Diamondbrite bottle. This kind of scam happens all the time in the
valeting industry. Many valeters are seasonal workers, and often, so
are the suppliers. So there are people who will turn up and supply free
samples which are very good (probably because they are actually giving
you a sample of a brand name product with their own lable on), and a
week later they turn up with gallons of the stuff which they offer you
for cash... you can bet your life it's not the same stuff. So we only
buy from reputable dealers or manufacturers.
i doubt if it could go wrong!
Car wax is a protective coating, and unless you completely remove it,
it will protect your car from Diamondbrite. If you have a thick coat of
wax on your car and you apply the Diamondbrite over the top, then the
diamondbrite is unable to bond with the paintwork. As the wax breaks
down and evaporates over the course of a few months, the polymer
sealant will fall off too. This is actually a good thing as the
alternative is very nasty!
Diamondbrite smells a bit like terpentine... and off the top of my head
I can't remeber exactly what sort of solvent it contains, and what
effect it has on normal car wax. But wax is melted by solvents, this is
how they are able to disolve it so that it can be applied to your car.
...so you have wax on your car, and you apply a sealant on top, and
that sealant contains slovents which melt the wax layer underneath.
What then happens is that the wax resins mix with the polymer resins,
but unless you spend hours rubbing your car down with sealant, they
won't mix evenly. In some places it will be mostly wax, the polymer
chains won't bond together and won't bond with the paintwork. In other
places they will bond. Polymers bond in a sort of 3 dimentional way,
while wax resins bond in a sort of two dimentional way, polymer
resins will bond to wax resins but in a 2 dimentioal way, making them
no stonger than wax resins.
Over time, the waxy areas will break down, peel off, and evaporate as
they usually do, and the polymer patches will remain, leaving your car
with a camoflage effect pattern! I have seen this and it is not a
pretty sight!
There are other problems too, most waxes contain 'fillers', which you
may know as silicone, this fills scratches and lesens the effect of
micro-scratches, swirl marks, holograms, spider webs, or whatever you
want to call them. so if you normally wax your car, you might not know
how bad your paintwork actually is. Sealants don't have the same effect
and are not so good at hiding micro scratches, they aren't supposed
too! They are designed to seal in 'good' paintwork. So you might find
the results of a sealant disapointing. You may find that now you have
sealed your car, all those little imprfections show up in the sunlight,
and the problem is that now you have sealed them in!
In short, Sealants are easy to use if you follow the corect procedure,
but I have seen some horrible things go wrong with sealants, even when
they have been applied by professionals.
Lifeshine is very similar to Diamondbrite, the difference is that
Diamondbrite has the wash addative, while Lifeshine isn't topped up,
instead it has Super Resin Polish applied over the top.
SRP, isn't stricktly speaking a polish, it is a chemical cleaner rather
than an abrasive, in fact, it was told the other day that it isn't
actually a resin either in scientific terms (?). SRP is wonderful stuff
and gives Lifeshine extra depth and gloss. But don't despare if you
bought Diamondbrite, because they have a product which is similar to
SRP, which they don't officially recommend you use over diamondbrite,
but I am told it works a treat. The only problem is, I can't remember
the name of the stuff!
I'll get back to you with the name as soon as my mental block clears!
