2Qs: Opti-coat Pro and fingerprints, and how to get a "spot free rinse"

I use an electric leaf blower after rinsing and the use the towels to finish drying. No problems with streaks or water marks. I too have opti-coat pro. I also have a soft water hose bib outside. Don't know if that makes a difference.
My S is nearly 2 years old and still looks great. BTW I have 6 grandkids that habitually touch the doors while closing. A bottle of detailing spray and a micro fiber cloth works fine.

We have very hard water in AZ so and have a black MS so decided to invest in a spotless water system and have been very happy with the results. We bought ours at Costco On-line (was on sale) but the same thing is sold on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/CR-Spotless-W...&qid=1404848495&sr=1-2&keywords=spotless+wash

Additionally, due to the risk of swirl marks even with high quality microfiber cloths, we bought a dryer that a car detailer we use had and talked to them about it. Here is a link to my post for the dryer that we use:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/19174-Car-Drying-Option

HankLloydRight said:

Has anyone else experienced this? Since I got Opti-coat pro (professionally applied), and the car washed (by hand, at home), the finish now attracts fingerprints like a magnet.  I figured this was just the nature of the car, but I was in a Tesla store, and looking at another blue car, and the finish was perfect and did not attract fingerprints at all! And if it did, they were quite unnoticeable and could be removed with the palm of my hand.  Not so on my car -- if I try to remove the prints with my palm, it just smears all over, and I can't remove them until I wash the car the next time.  Is this a function of the Opti-coat? Or something else? It's really very annoying to have such a beautiful car collecting every tiny fingerprint when people touch it -even just people normally getting in and out there are fingerprints everywhere!

Second question -- whenever I wash the car, I hand dry it with micro-fiber towels, but that still leaves TONS of water streaks everywhere, no matter how I try to wash and dry. I was at a touchless car wash that had a "spot free rinse" which seemed to totally solve this problem, so my question is, how can I get a "spot free rinse" when washing my car to avoid the streaks when drying?


thanks.

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I also use a leaf blower to do the primary dry, and then use microfiber to finish drying. If I have any water spots, I keep a spray bottle with water in it in the garage, and lightly spray the spots and dry them with a microfiber cloth.

The first time I washed the car, I didn't dry inside the doors, frunk or trunk. When I drove the car, the water that collected in these places had a tendency to run and leave watermarks on the car. Since then, I dry inside the doors, trunk and frunk.

I, too, have an an opticoated blue which does show my teenagers' fingerprints. The water spray and microfiber take care of that problem.

FWIW, my car is under three weeks old and I've had the smudging issue since I picked it up. I'm planning to ask Joe@Orinda about this when I get the car Opticoated next week.

I use a waterblade to get the bulk of the water off, then a cotton towel to get the last of the water. Also Opticoat, about 18 months old now, still looks good. I have sticky kids, so there's fingerprints, but since I applied when new I don't really have a frame of reference.

Get the CR Spotless mentioned above. Will solve all of your problems and you won't need a leaf blower etc... Can just let the car air dry with zero spotting. Get the 2 chamber version, I think the DIc-20. Lasts me 5-6 months each refill. Well worth the investment.
And if you message moe @glistening perfection who is in the interior forum, he will get you the best price for the unit.

Your best friend will be the CR Spotless deionization filter. It's a nice portable DI filter that'll solve your water spot problem.

As for opticoat, talk to your installer. He/she should know what remedy is appropriate. I'm not an opticoat installer, I use nano products. IMHO, nano is the most cutting-edge technology for any vehicle out there.

PM me if you'd like more info on the water filter.

MoeMistry said:

Your best friend will be the CR Spotless deionization filter. It's a nice portable DI filter that'll solve your water spot problem.

As for opticoat, talk to your installer. He/she should know what remedy is appropriate. I'm not an opticoat installer, I use nano products. IMHO, nano is the most cutting-edge technology for any vehicle out there.

PM me if you'd like more info on the water filter.

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I'm deciding between Opti-Coat and Modesta (Modesta is going to be about double the cost due to extra labor time). Your thoughts?

HankLloydRight said:

Has anyone else experienced this? Since I got Opti-coat pro (professionally applied), and the car washed (by hand, at home), the finish now attracts fingerprints like a magnet.  I figured this was just the nature of the car, but I was in a Tesla store, and looking at another blue car, and the finish was perfect and did not attract fingerprints at all! And if it did, they were quite unnoticeable and could be removed with the palm of my hand.  Not so on my car -- if I try to remove the prints with my palm, it just smears all over, and I can't remove them until I wash the car the next time.  Is this a function of the Opti-coat? Or something else? It's really very annoying to have such a beautiful car collecting every tiny fingerprint when people touch it -even just people normally getting in and out there are fingerprints everywhere!

Second question -- whenever I wash the car, I hand dry it with micro-fiber towels, but that still leaves TONS of water streaks everywhere, no matter how I try to wash and dry. I was at a touchless car wash that had a "spot free rinse" which seemed to totally solve this problem, so my question is, how can I get a "spot free rinse" when washing my car to avoid the streaks when drying?


thanks.

Click to expand...

I just got my Roadster the Opti-Coat Pro, and I've been noticing a similar dynamic. It seems like the car does an excellent job of grabbing all of the dust out of the air and hanging onto it now Though in fairness, it washes right off with ease. I've also noticed the spotting - that's something I'll be looking at the other advice in this thread about. I've tried the leaf blower to dry the car, but have been thinking about upgrading to some serious horsepower (Metro dryer). I figure if I can make the washing process easy and fast enough, then I'll do it - and I figure the OC is one component of making it easy (we'll see how that works out in practice - it's been done less than a month so far).

iadbound said:

I'm deciding between Opti-Coat and Modesta (Modesta is going to be about double the cost due to extra labor time). Your thoughts?

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Hands down, Modesta. They're 2 completely different technologies and the Modesta, being nano, is in a whole other league than opti coat. Nano cannot be washed off, chemically removed, and can withstand harsh conditions. Excellent durability.

We use Modesta as well, along with CQuartz Finest, and love how client cars stay clean, have an amazing "candy-shell" gloss, and slight scratch-resistance. The gloss and depth is much better with a nano coating. We have a few Tesla clients that have applied opti-coat before coming to us, and I can tell right away how muted the gloss and depth is compared to CQ Finest or Modesta. CQuartz will add about 2-3 microns of material and Modesta is around 3-5 microns depending on which coating you get.

I also think it's a bit misleading of opti-coat to claim their product is permanent and nothing will ever need to be done. We just had a Model S last week get hit with sprinklers and the opti coat that was on it helped, but it did not prevent it. So now, that area will need to be cleaned with a water spot remover, and if that doesn't work, we'll have to polish it off and then we'll put a nano coating like CQ Finest or Modesta on to protect it moving forward.

Hope this helps.

Here's a video of Modesta in action after about 3-4 weeks without a wash...

Porsche Turbo S with Modesta BC-03 Nano Coating on Vimeo

MoeMistry said:

Hands down, Modesta. They're 2 completely different technologies and the Modesta, being nano, is in a whole other league than opti coat. Nano cannot be washed off, chemically removed, and can withstand harsh conditions. Excellent durability.

We use Modesta as well, along with CQuartz Finest, and love how client cars stay clean, have an amazing "candy-shell" gloss, and slight scratch-resistance. The gloss and depth is much better with a nano coating. We have a few Tesla clients that have applied opti-coat before coming to us, and I can tell right away how muted the gloss and depth is compared to CQ Finest or Modesta. CQuartz will add about 2-3 microns of material and Modesta is around 3-5 microns depending on which coating you get.

I also think it's a bit misleading of opti-coat to claim their product is permanent and nothing will ever need to be done. We just had a Model S last week get hit with sprinklers and the opti coat that was on it helped, but it did not prevent it. So now, that area will need to be cleaned with a water spot remover, and if that doesn't work, we'll have to polish it off and then we'll put a nano coating like CQ Finest or Modesta on to protect it moving forward.

Hope this helps.

Here's a video of Modesta in action after about 3-4 weeks without a wash...

Porsche Turbo S with Modesta BC-03 Nano Coating on Vimeo

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Moe -- Thanks for the advice. My detailer has suggested Modesta BC-04 over a Suntek PPF that would cover at the least the full front. He also suggested that I could put BC-05 over the BC-04 if I want even more of a 3D effect. I'm leaning towards just the BC-04, but adding the coating to the wheels. If it's ok, can I PM you a more particular question that I don't think would be of general interest?

iadbound said:

Moe -- Thanks for the advice. My detailer has suggested Modesta BC-04 over a Suntek PPF that would cover at the least the full front. He also suggested that I could put BC-05 over the BC-04 if I want even more of a 3D effect. I'm leaning towards just the BC-04, but adding the coating to the wheels. If it's ok, can I PM you a more particular question that I don't think would be of general interest?

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BC-04 is a new one, but from all the things I've read from respected installers, it's a winner. I'm using our first batch of BC-04 on three cars in the next few weeks. I'll let you know how I like it compared to BC-03.

I applied bc-03 on suntek film, and I had some issues with it slightly hazing up the film. It may have been an error on my part, but I'm giving it another try on some scrap film. Until then, we apply CQuartz Finest on all our ppf installs, and we put Modesta, at client request, on bare paint.

Feel free to PM.

HankLloydRight said:

Has anyone else experienced this? Since I got Opti-coat pro (professionally applied), and the car washed (by hand, at home), the finish now attracts fingerprints like a magnet.  I figured this was just the nature of the car, but I was in a Tesla store, and looking at another blue car, and the finish was perfect and did not attract fingerprints at all! And if it did, they were quite unnoticeable and could be removed with the palm of my hand.  Not so on my car -- if I try to remove the prints with my palm, it just smears all over, and I can't remove them until I wash the car the next time.  Is this a function of the Opti-coat? Or something else? It's really very annoying to have such a beautiful car collecting every tiny fingerprint when people touch it -even just people normally getting in and out there are fingerprints everywhere!

Second question -- whenever I wash the car, I hand dry it with micro-fiber towels, but that still leaves TONS of water streaks everywhere, no matter how I try to wash and dry. I was at a touchless car wash that had a "spot free rinse" which seemed to totally solve this problem, so my question is, how can I get a "spot free rinse" when washing my car to avoid the streaks when drying?


thanks.

Click to expand...

HankLloydRight said:

Has anyone else experienced this? Since I got Opti-coat pro (professionally applied), and the car washed (by hand, at home), the finish now attracts fingerprints like a magnet.  I figured this was just the nature of the car, but I was in a Tesla store, and looking at another blue car, and the finish was perfect and did not attract fingerprints at all! And if it did, they were quite unnoticeable and could be removed with the palm of my hand.  Not so on my car -- if I try to remove the prints with my palm, it just smears all over, and I can't remove them until I wash the car the next time.  Is this a function of the Opti-coat? Or something else? It's really very annoying to have such a beautiful car collecting every tiny fingerprint when people touch it -even just people normally getting in and out there are fingerprints everywhere!

Second question -- whenever I wash the car, I hand dry it with micro-fiber towels, but that still leaves TONS of water streaks everywhere, no matter how I try to wash and dry. I was at a touchless car wash that had a "spot free rinse" which seemed to totally solve this problem, so my question is, how can I get a "spot free rinse" when washing my car to avoid the streaks when drying?


thanks.

Click to expand...

Not sure why OC would cause finger prints to show anymore than a none coated car??? Have you tried parking next to another uncoated car of the same color and touched them both at the same time? Just doesn't make any sense as I've never seen anyone mention this before...

As far as spotting goes, the CR Spotless mentioned above is the best way to ensure no spotting, but this would apply whether the car is uncoated, or wearing any of the various coatings now available. You could also consider using a rinse-less wash, like ONR (Optimum No Rinse) to wash with vs. a traditional wash methods. Blowers like the Master Blaster or even a leaf blower are great for getting water out of all the nooks and crannies, which was also mentioned above. There are also lots of great water-less washes available (Ultma Waterless Wash Plus), which are perfect for when the car only has light dust and they are also great for touching up smudges and cleaning off bugs/bird bombs.

MoeMistry said:

Your best friend will be the CR Spotless deionization filter. It's a nice portable DI filter that'll solve your water spot problem.

As for opticoat, talk to your installer. He/she should know what remedy is appropriate. I'm not an opticoat installer, I use nano products. IMHO, nano is the most cutting-edge technology for any vehicle out there.

PM me if you'd like more info on the water filter.

Click to expand...

"Nano".....if that isn't the most overused marketing buzz word in the detailing industry.....

iadbound said:

I'm deciding between Opti-Coat and Modesta (Modesta is going to be about double the cost due to extra labor time). Your thoughts?

Click to expand...

All coatings each excel in their own way. Some have better gloss, some feel slicker to the touch, some sheet water faster, some bead water like crazy, and some seem to protect against various environmental contaminants better than others. At the end of the day you need to decide what attributes matter most to you and know that regardless of which coating you chose, they all require regular and proper washing to see the claimed 2+ years durability. Also know that the difference in appearance is subtle, and most cannot tell based on look alone when the paint is well prepped.

adiggs said:

I just got my Roadster the Opti-Coat Pro, and I've been noticing a similar dynamic. It seems like the car does an excellent job of grabbing all of the dust out of the air and hanging onto it now Though in fairness, it washes right off with ease. I've also noticed the spotting - that's something I'll be looking at the other advice in this thread about. I've tried the leaf blower to dry the car, but have been thinking about upgrading to some serious horsepower (Metro dryer). I figure if I can make the washing process easy and fast enough, then I'll do it - and I figure the OC is one component of making it easy (we'll see how that works out in practice - it's been done less than a month so far).

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That seems odd. If anything, Opti-Coat, as well as most any coating, should attract far less dust than traditional waxes and sealants.

If you're up to it, try applying a wax or sealant to just half the roof, trunk, or hood. Then let it sit outside for a few days and the difference should be night and day.

Rasky said:

"Nano".....if that isn't the most overused marketing buzz word in the detailing industry.....

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Please do a little googling/reading on Modesta and CQuartz Finest, and the countless examples of how they perform, and let me know if it's still "buzz".

I completely agree how "nano" is being misused by a lot of people/companies...but there are legitimate products out there that truly are the real deal...Modesta and CQuartz are two leading product lines with proven results.

MoeMistry said:

Please do a little googling/reading on Modesta and CQuartz Finest, and the countless examples of how they perform, and let me know if it's still "buzz".

I completely agree how "nano" is being misused by a lot of people/companies...but there are legitimate products out there that truly are the real deal...Modesta and CQuartz are two leading product lines with proven results.

Click to expand...

No need to. I'm an authorized installer of several coatings and have been since 2010 and have done plenty of my own testing. Try Googling it...

As I said, they all excel in their own way, just like waxes and sealants.

A lot of good advice in this thread. The opticoat and coating issue seems to of been covered well, so I'll skip that, but as for the streaking after a wash issue, my personal preference is a spray wax lighty applied on your final dry after using a leaf blower. It works as a great drying agent and gives it a little extra slickness and gloss in the process, which is nice over the opti coat. I love meguiars' Detailer Line synthetic spray wax because you can buy it in the gallon and it works great, but there are many options out there to meet your personal preference.

I too have hard well water, but no problems with finger prints or swirls. Use car wash soap and micro-fiber to dry, with Opti-coat the water beads up very well and then wipe dry in the shade with MF towells. If you let the body of the car get warm in the sun, you will have problems.

jarred767 said:

A lot of good advice in this thread. The opticoat and coating issue seems to of been covered well, so I'll skip that, but as for the streaking after a wash issue, my personal preference is a spray wax lighty applied on your final dry after using a leaf blower. It works as a great drying agent and gives it a little extra slickness and gloss in the process, which is nice over the opti coat. I love meguiars' Detailer Line synthetic spray wax because you can buy it in the gallon and it works great, but there are many options out there to meet your personal preference.

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Great advice. In the end, as long as you properly care for your Tesla, the dividends are priceless.

- - - Updated - - -

Merrill said:

I too have hard well water, but no problems with finger prints or swirls. Use car wash soap and micro-fiber to dry, with Opti-coat the water beads up very well and then wipe dry in the shade with MF towells. If you let the body of the car get warm in the sun, you will have problems.

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Excellent point. Hot paint as a result of washing in the sun, even if you have deionized water, will lead to some issues.

Perhaps, that's what the issue is with OP. Products like opticoat are leaps and bounds better than traditional waxes and sealants as it relates to durability, protection, and ease of use. But as with anything, some pre-cautions need to be taken. Washing in the sun is one of those things to avoid if you can.

A related quetion, will Opticoat bond to itself? i.e. can I apply a second layer? I'm 18 months into my current application, and while it still washed up really well, the water doesn't bead like it used to.