CarPro, the producer of CQuartz has many great products ranging from chemicals to coatings. CQuartz is very well known coating line in the detailing community. CQuartz DLUX Plastic & Wheel Protection is more widely known for use on plastic trim, such as demonstrated in Zach McGovern’s previous review of DLUX. However, DLUX is also a great option for wheel protection with a high resistance extreme temperatures (800+ degrees F), while also being safe for use on almost any wheel finish.
Here is the product description as provided be Detailed Image.
Product Description
The CarPro Cquartz DLUX Plastic and Wheel Coating is a semi-permanent coating that will protect and restore your automotive pieces. DLUX contains more than 50% pure silica. This high purity percentage ensures having the most transparent glass coating over the surface, high levels of water repellency and long lasting paint protection from dirt, road salt, ice, snow, and other environmental contamination. DLUX will also coat plastic and rubber while restoring faded pieces and providing a low-gloss, like-new factory finish. CQuartz DLUX forms an incredible bond with the surface it lasts for up to one year! Check out the application instructions below and make sure you clean the surface thoroughly before applying. Protect your wheels and restore your rubber and plastic with the CarPro Cquartz DLUX Plastic and Wheel Coating!
In this example I recently performed a wheels off service on this 2010 Volkswagen GTI. The owner was not happy with how difficult it was to clean his wheels, as they always seemed to look dirty.
After the exterior of car was cleaned it was pulled inside and placed on the lift to remove the wheels for the remainder of the service. You will find it much easier to place the car on either a lift or jack stands when working with wheels, unless you are just going to be coating the faces of the wheels. It will make the process much easier as the wheels will need to be off the car for a while when coating them. You would also only be able to work on the wheels from one of the vehicles at a time, which would take a good amount of time and really slow down the process. When jacking the car up on a lift, you can remove all the wheels and deal with them together!
As you can see in the above picture these wheels were quite dirty. The owner of this vehicle mentioned how these wheels would look like this most of the time and how difficult it was to clean them. Next to enhance protection, ease of cleaning is the greatest benefit of applying a coating on wheels. Dirt release is much greater when a coating is applied.
Another look at the brake dust that is built up on the barrel of the wheels.
The barrels and faces of the wheels were thoroughly cleaned using CarPro IronX. For more information on IronX take a look at my previous review of CarPro Iron X Iron Remover. This is also a good time to clean the back side of the tire while they are off the car. It is very important to have a nice clean surface when applying coatings.
Directions:
- Be sure the polish the surface of the wheel if needed
- Clean the surface to remove any oils and with a product like Eraser or IPA.
- Make sure the surface is cool and dry (do not work on hot surface.)
- Wrap the blue sponge with a suede cloth. Pour a small amount (1-2 drops) of DLUX onto the suede cloth and apply. Let cure 1 – 10 minutes at 30 – 10 degrees C (86 – 50 degrees F), respectively.
- Use a clean auto detailing cloth or suede microfiber to wipe it off gently, in a circle motion, until no streaks are left behind.
Try not to over work the product as you can get streaks if the product begins to set while you are still applying it. It is also important to note that it takes 1-3 hours for DLUX to properly cure, and that the vehicle should not be used during this time. If the surface would get wet within the first 24 hours after application you will want to wipe the surface before it dries, and you will want to avoid washing the wheels for at least three (3) days.
I used an airbrush for the application of the DLUX on the wheels in this example. For more information on applying wheel coatings via airbrush, take a look at my blog post titled “Airbrush Application – Wheel Coatings“.
I also used an Infra Red Curing lamp after applying the coating. This will speed up the curing process, allowing the wheel to be fully cured within typically minutes, rather then days!
CQuartz DLUX is a great option for any vehicle, with the ability to keep your wheels and trim protected for years rather than days or months!