Just brought all of the panels inside and washed them with same car wash, following the same basic steps for each one. They'll be inside overnight and then I'll take and post the next round of measurements tomorrow evening.
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Thanks for the continuing work.
Did you try one panel with paint armor first? With so many of us having much of our car paint armored, it might be interesting to see how the different finishes work on that surface, rather than the raw paint.
The results of the 2nd test, this of gloss durability are in.
Hmm, looks to me like it's starting to not matter what product is used.
At initial application, the gloss range was from 97.8 to 105.54 - almost 8. Yes, I know the panels started out at different gloss levels, but do we know for sure that change in gloss is a uniform delta, and whether finishes that were applied to panels that were glossier to begin with have an advantage (or disadvantage)? For instance, is it coincidence that the apparently worst performing finish is the one that was applied to the panel with the lowest original gloss?
At any rate, after 2 weeks, the gloss range is now compressed to be only from 97.68 to 99.66. So, less than 2. Was 8. How much visual difference is a gloss reading of 2, when overall values range to about 100?
I ran another calculation: (Gloss after 2 weeks)-(Gloss before application). This is akin to the first calculation as to how much gloss the finish provides, except measured after 2 weeks of exposure. By this measure Glare Pro is at the top with an increase of 1.4, followed by Opti-Coat at 0.9, then 22ple at 0.7, then Klasse at 0.52. Interestingly, Meguiars NXT came in with a -0.14, which means after 2 weeks the panel was less glossy than before any finish was applied. You considered Black Diamond the worst of the lot after 2 weeks, but by my calculation Meguiars NXT was the worst. I still need to really think about the data, and what calculations mean the most. Or, perhaps, just go with my first impression, which is that after a couple weeks at least, it doesn't seem to matter what finish you used.
In retrospect, it would have been good to have had a control panel with no finish exposed to the same conditions to see how its gloss would have fared.
This is a very interesting experiment. Thanks again.
As for the differences in gloss across the products tested I would agree that it's minor and by the eye almost imperceptible.
I haven't done any testing with paint armor. That would a whole other separate test. And I have none.
Are ALL the products being evaluated OK for use on the Paint Armor?
The latest test results are in. As indicated in the last test report, this time I've adjusted all of the results for the differences in the initial gloss of the test panels before the finishes were applied.
Specifically for Zaino Z-2 Pro + ZFX... How many layers did you do? And if it is multi-layer, I believe you're supposed to use Z-6 after each layer. Also, are all test panels on the same body panel? In general, vertical panels see much less abuse than horizontal panels.
In every case I followed the manufacturer's directions precisely. So I did what ever Zaino recommended for the first application. I did use ZFX and Z-6. I've been a long time user of Zaino and its results have disappointed me. But that's why I did the test. I had never even heard of Glare before beginning the test, but so far it appears clearly superior to Zaino. Nothing like a controlled test to upset one's biases.
Each panel is a separate 1x2' aluminum sheet, all painted exactly the same.
When the panels are outside they are stood separately on end. In other words, vertical.
Thanks. I'm glad you are testing the claims of so many manufacturers. Could you comment on the number of layers of Zaino? The point of ZFX is to shorten curing time so that you can do up to three layers of Zaino. And gloss and protection is supposedly enhanced with each additional layer.
Can you describe how you adjusted the results, please?
And, thanks again for doing this - it's great to have this information.