P&S Bead Maker Review: Best Last Step Product Ever?
by Matt CarterOne of my favorite aspects of my passion for detailing is testing new products regularly. I routinely preach technique and practice over leaning on a product to achieve the results you are looking for (see the bottom of article for some of my favorite blog posts to improve technique). Once you are proficient though, who wouldn’t want to find the perfect line of products to produce the same or better results in less time? In the last several months P&S Bead Maker was widely reviewed in the detailing community. There has been a lot of buzz and I was anxious to get my hands on some. We have been using it regularly in our shop for the past several months so let’s get right into how it has been performing for us!
First things first, Bead Maker is a spray-able polymer sealant that can be used to top coat on waxed, sealed, or ceramic coated vehicles. It can also be used as a stand-alone protectant and as a drying aid. It performs its best when applied to a dry, freshly detailed, vehicle. When the panel is perfectly clean and dry, spray a fine mist of product to the panel and also to the first towel then begin to level and remove the product. If you are using Bead Maker as a standalone protectant, the first application should be more liberal and you will want to work the product in a little longer to ensure a solid base layer of product. I prefer to keep a second and third dry microfiber towel handy for removing the excess residue. Click here for my favorite LSP Towels. The product will cure during the next 8 hours, during which time you should not get the vehicle wet. When fully cured the gloss levels and slickness will be enhanced from initial application.
Over the course of the last several months using this product one thing is for certain, this is by far, the easiest to use last step product we have ever tested, bar none. It is that simple. When you level this product, it is simply effortless to perform the final wipe down and watch the remaining product flash to a brilliant, streak-less finish. This is far and away our favorite characteristic of the product. You can work your way around the car quickly and with confidence you are not leaving streaks or residue that will cure to an unsightly blemish. This is the major advantage this product holds over our favorite ceramic based top coats. With those products, they don’t buff away as easily, some are plain difficult and streaky, then if you miss product and don’t catch it in time, it may require a little more work than simply wiping it back up. Bead Maker flashes away so effortlessly we were simply floored. We can get around a car in 5-10 minutes easily adding a huge efficiency gain to our shop.
We all like products that are easy to use but how is the performance. Easy, the best slickness and gloss of any spray sealant we have ever used. It is a very satisfying application process as it begins to flash you start to feel the microfiber slide effortlessly and wipe across to reveal excellent gloss. Just wait for it to cure and you will see the full effect. Get the panel wet for the first time and you will experience very satisfying water behavior. Nice tight beads and great water shedding ability, it lives up to its name! On top of our own ceramic coated vehicles, we were seeing the product produce the same water behavior for several months. Is it going to last as long as some other spray on protectants on the market? My expectation in real world, daily driven, applications is no. However, in my mind, the ease of use means reapplication is not much of an event and can easily be added to the regular detailing routine.
So, I know many of you are asking yourselves, ‘Is he going to answer the real question here?’ and the answer is yes, of course. What does Bead Maker smell like? Well I am happy to report, Bead Maker has a nice subtle peach scent. Not the best smelling product on my list (No really, I have a list, new blog post in the works) but definitely not the worst (cough, Iron-X cough cough). Bead Maker adds a cherry on top with a very affordable price point. I am excited to add this to our go-to line-up and very happy Detailed Image has chosen to carry this and more of the P&S line.
As for the title question, is Bead Maker the best last step product ever? Well, of course, this will change given desired results and each given situation. My take is this, Bead Maker is an extremely easy to use, multi-month polymer sealant, with striking slickness and gloss. There are many other products out there I like very much that have some of these characteristics and some that last longer but at the end of the day, I find myself reaching for Bead Maker more often than not. Best last step product is a hefty title to defend, but I will plant my flag on the fact that Bead Maker is the best last step product for most people.
Must read Ask a Pro Blog Posts regarding technique:
Great article, thanks for sharing! There are lots of great products in this area but I share your sentiment, this product is very compelling!
You are right, there are a plethora of products in this space many of which are excellent and many that I still love to use. The ease of use really gets me here and at the current stage of my detailing career I might have a bias towards that that has come through. Hard not to gush over your favorite 🙂
I have been using Bead Maker on my own vehicles and have just bought my second gallon of product. I have two black cars and one dark grey metallic car. I have experienced streaking on all 3, but mostly on the two straight black cars. I have used it primarily as a final top coat for maintenance but used it yesterday solo after clay bar on my black truck. I also used it again yesterday as a top coat on my freshly washed and dry black car. Both streaked enough that it was really bad!!! I couldn’t get the streaking to go away by using more Bead Maker or by using fresh microfiber towels. I have had better luck, the absolute most luck with Griot’s Best Show Detailer leaving no streaks at all (I mean ZERO) but it’s my understanding that it leaves little or no protection- so I’m off later this morning to get another gallon of Griots as well. Perhaps Griots needs to be my last step for maintenance with once a month or two (only every 4-8 washings) using Bead Maker for ongoing maintenance???
I still like this product enough to keep around but not as much as some other users. I will let you know after I top coat with Griot’s!
Update-I had a little bit of Griot’s left so I used it on half of my still heavily streaked hood from Bead Maker applied yesterday. Problem solved. I also used a fresh microfiber towel on the remaining half of my hood with Bead Maker again which didn’t help one bit. I had to use The Griot’s again to easily remove the streaking.
My questions that remain are – does the Griots on top hinder the Bead Maker underneath it?
And to the professionals are you having any luck with Bead Maker on black paint? If it proves to provide good maintenance like I said every 4-8 washings with the final step of Griot’s Best Show Detailer I can live with that as well, but for drying and touching up water spots I am going to use the Griot’s for weekly washings.
I couldn’t agree more with your comment. I had the same experience on my cars – straight black Mercedes and Camaro. The streaking was awful. However, the slickness and gloss were enough to get me to get some more and do more research. Also, worth mentioning in 80% humidity its impossible to not get streaks. The method I’ve found that works is to only spray it on the rag, making sure to not get any overspray on the car, and do literally half a panel at a time, wiping it with a dry microfiber immediately as it flashes. The results are great, but its a very slow process and not that fun honestly. For what its worth, I haven’t found anything with protection that doesn’t streak – I used a diluted quick wax for many years, but the beadmaker gloss and slickness makes it worth it to me.
I would suggest applying bead maker directly to your microfiber towel when the humidity is that high.
I have been using Bead Maker on my dark-colored car and it has been amazing, and I have owned more than 30 cars in my lifetime. Just make sure you have a good soap when you wash the car and MOST of all wash it in the cool of the morning or evening when the panels are cool to the touch. That’s always worked for me.
I actually enjoy CarPro Elixir over Beadmaker call me crazy! For me it’s the simplest topper although I know it’s technically not a sealent but it does give good slickness and insane gloss!!
I haven’t tried Elixer yet, thanks for your input!
I have to wonder if it flashes and spreads so easily because it’s short on ceramic/si02? Have you tried pinnacle si02 spray? Very impressive, I wonder if its just new technology in all these new sio2 sprays. It seems like everyone has one now.
Beadmaker is not SIO2 based. It is technically a sealant. So it might be a deal breaker if you want a ceramic based spray for your coatings. This could get into a deeper discussion that is probably a good topic for another article.
My observations: Bead Maker is by far the slickest feeling product I have ever used. No really it is that slick. However, gloss properties? Well I have seen zero difference comparing panel to panel. For me it did nothing for gloss levels. What I had initially wanted was an extremely easy wipe on wipe off product that left no streaking and could be applied to ALL surfaces of a vehicle. Would be nice to send off a customer vehicle with all glass done with this and would last them several months of water sheeting off. Application was as described above that easy and left the finish wonderfully slick. Now onto the biggest issue: I applied this product to my RRS that was fully coated with 22ple Mistico Elemento coating. I applied Bead Maker to all surfaces including black trim and glass. Then took a 500mi trip that did have 300mi or so of rain. The next day washed the vehicle and WOW there was no beading left on the glass surfaces. Basically the Bead Maker wore off all the glass surfaces, not just the windshield. So waste of time and money for me. To be fair, all of the advertisements and directions do say this product should be applied regularly and with each wash. Large application for the first time, then supplemental from there on out. If that were done, I am sure the product would have some longevity. But, for me to apply once to a customer car or to my own vehicle its a waste to me. For about $35 a gallon with towels on Amazon, its worth a try for anyone and see if you like it for yourself. Just sharing my experience. Was very very very disappointed.
I have not used Beadmaker on anything but paint. I understand the convenience of a single product to rule them all but it would come with many compromises on different surfaces. Fully coating glass with Gtechniq G1 is nearly effortless though there is some time delay but you can go do something else while it sets up. I think there is still a major benefit to specialized products for paint, glass, trim, and leather.
I have been using bead maker since it’s debut and unless the customer pays for my 6 month protection upgrade (Jescar Powerlock +) or a ceramic coating it is the only LSP I use.
The price point, ease of use, quick application, slickness and gloss it provides makes it a no brainer for any pro detailer, Mobile or fixed.
I’m interested to see what products make your list for best smell. I’ll keep an eye out for that article!
We use it the exact same way! I am weird about the smell of my products, stay tuned for that post!
I agree that it’s a great product but for me it’s not a final LSP but rather as a drying aid. Love it for that. 2 of 3 of my vehicles are wearing GYEON’s Syncro and will likely always wear a coating of some type and even there, BM works well as a drying aid that adds slickness but without seemingly changing water/hydrophobic behavior. The third vehicle is wearing PNS as the LSP and there too BM works great as a drying aid/detail spray when I’m done with cleaning it up.
Love it as a drying aid, Stay Glossy!
Price is great, but I don’t see much difference on glossy level, im using hybrid v7 from cg, and I don’t see anything different from one to the other, well, cg is much more expensive but smells awesome better than beat maker
I think you are right, there are many products that compete at very similar levels in terms of strictly gloss.
Great article. Quick question – Would Bead Maker be a decent replacement for CarPro Reload for topping a fresh application of CQuartz?
I love it for topping my coating. I feel like it adds boost to the characteristics of the coating. The coating I have is known for its slickness and gloss too.
Bead Maker plays well with coatings and other forms of protection. It comes at a great price point, I would say try it out and see how you like it in your situation. It is a polymer sealant that is layered on top of whatever protection you already have or bare paint. It is not like some of the other coating toppers which have a silica component to them.
Matt,
Thanks for the reply. Will Bead Maker prevent the water spots that are typical for car coated with CQuartz (and other coatings)? Reload seemed to do a good job, but looking to try something different after I coat my BMW X2. Thanks again.
Mike
Beadmaker will not prevent water spots. The best thing to do is to try to wash or rinse-less wash the car as soon as you can after water has dried on the vehicle and invest in a nice water spot remover. I have had good success with Car pro Spotless and with Gyeon Water Spot.
Dude Iron and fallout removers are the worst! Fart spray that happens to clean your wheels haha but great article man! I’ve been curious about trying bead maker for a while now and you definitely helped add it to my cart. I look forward to seeing more articles from you!
Thanks Sebastian, I hope you like it!
Really need to try this!
Is Bead Maker safe to use on clear bra paint protectant film?
Hi Scott,
Yes it is.
Pure crap.
Hi Greg,
That has not been my experience with the product. This is a very very easy to use sprayable sealant that can last for a few months. I usually get several months of good water behavior out of the product on my daily driver. It works best on fully decontaminated paint, check out James Melfi’s tips on paint decontamination here: https://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/how-to-clay-and-decontaminate-your-paint-video/
I always say, find something that works best for you and stick with it. If beadmaker doesn’t do it for you, there is a sea of alternative protection options out there. Keep trying until you find something you love.
All the best
I’m considering buying this product but I have a concern. I would like to know what happens when the surface gets wet right after applying Bead Maker? I wash my car at a wash box and have to drive 20 mins home. So is it bad when the car gets a little wet (rain or water that drips from the mirrors or doors if it is not fully cured? Thanks for your help!
For the first application, if this is the only layer of protection I would recommend letting a nice thick application of the product cure over night. If it was me, I would wash at the wash box on a clear day then perform a quick rinse-less wash with ONR when I got home then apply Beadmaker and allow it to cure. For subsequent applications you can use Beadmaker as a drying aid and or, apply maintenance layers every so often and not worry too much about the drive home.
Thank you for your quick reply. Makes sense to do it as you described. But I still would like to know what happens when water gets on the car when Bead Maker is not fully cured. Does it stain or bake into your paint? Or can I go over those areas with spots with a bit of the product when I get home? The washbox is indoors so I would apply it there as I have sufficient space over there. Perhaps I can wiat 30mins before driving home? Cheers
I do wish I knew the answer to that with certainty with this specific product. My professional experience says that if you get water on a freshly sealed paint on a 20 min drive home, you should have no issue removing the water spots when you get home. I have not seen a water spot do so much damage in that short of time that you could not remove them with common maintenance products. That said, the proper way to deal with them when you do get home would be to use a rinse less wash and then a water spot remover if necessary, as the paint is no longer fully clean after the drive. Then you would need to reapply the product in the affected areas. Thus my recommendation to do a full wash at the wash box then head home and do a quicker light rinse less wash and complete your sealant application then for the best results. You can adjust the process as necessary to meet your specific needs. As you deviate from the recommended process, you will somewhat undermine the bonding process and your sealants performance may vary. Beadmaker is so easy to use though, additional applications at future washes will keep the water behavior at top levels.
Hope that helps
I have been using Beadmaker for sometime on my ceramic coated truck…I really like it especially if I use Hydro02 CarPro as water based rinse prior. Recently I have been on a online thread comparing this to Adams new ceramic based waterless wash with 10% SI02. Early reviews seem to indicate very similar results for both products….slight nod maybe to Adams since it can be used as a wash. I’m probably going to get a bottle of Adams ceramic detail spray and mix with Ech02 for a detailer to see what results I have similar to an Elixir.
Very nice, thanks for sharing your experience with the product so far.
Those of you that expect long term durability out of something that works as quick and easy as bead maker does will be disappointed. For a quick glossy topper, it is hard to beat. I end up having to wash my truck every 7-10 days and it is super easy to use beadmaker after every wash. I feel the extra 10-15 minutes it takes to do this is worth it. I got Elixir after the beadmaker and haven’t used it yet. When I use up the P&S product I will give the Elixir it’s chance to impress.
I agree, its not something to expect massive durability out of, though I have been impressed with its performance for this category of protectant. You hit the nail on the head, its ease of use is the true selling point in my head. Thanks for reading!
Update- using Beadmaker again. Just get the majority of water off but do not dry the car completely until wiping down with beadmaker to a full dry. No streaking at all. Problem is gone. Great stuff.
Hey General, did you ever try the Elixir? How does it compare?
Any idea what is the comparison between PS Bead Maker and WoWo’s Show Stopper?
I have used Seal N Shine after a wash then used Bead Maker as a topper. I’m so impressed afterwards with combination of both products.
Oh yeah, happy detailing and thanks for sharing!
It may smell nice but the safety indications from the company suggest you should have general ventilation when applying the product.
Always a good idea
You are part of a company of detailing shops. Correct? Your owners also own a car detailing product company that sells this product?. Correct? Could be construed as a biased review.
There are better products that last longer and that are equally easy to apply. Gyeon Cure is one of them.
Hi Carl,
No, I own my detail shop privately with 1 other business partner. We’ve built it from a hobby business operating out of a garage to a full fledged full time shop with employees. We have done this with years of blood sweat and tears all on the side of full time jobs as an engineer and a financial advisor. We do not sell any products. We have enjoyed testing and using new products over the last decade+ and Beadmaker was no different. We bought the product and tested it on our own before deciding to write the review. Our reviews are published here no matter what we say about products, a thing I have always loved about DI. I genuinely enjoy beadmaker and it is my favorite spray sealant. I have used Gyeon cure and enjoyed it well enough, I just always had streaking issues with it. Beadmaker on the other hand has always been effortless for me. It’s still the only spray sealant we use in the shop.
I’m in the coating business, I like to gauge my longevity in years of protection. Debating getting an extra month or two out of a spray sealant is not interesting to me.
Carl – I recommend reading everything Matt replied with as it answers most of your statement. The only other thing I would like to add here is that DI does not own any of the companies who write for the blog. These detailing businesses are independent and are some of the best detailing businesses across the US. All of the reviews they write are unbiased, but we here at DI do send products for them to test out, review, etc. This is by request of our authors everything these detailers write are their opinions of the products they are using/testing out. We work hard to only offer high quality products at DI and anything that does not sell well, or work well, tends to be removed from the site. This generally causes most reviews to be positive, but we have had reviews that are neutral or even negative. It all depends on the detailer and their opinions of the specific product used.
For the Beadmaker, this product is extremely easy to apply and for a spray on product, it does a great job protecting the surface. There are other options that may be more durable (i.e. Cure), but they are a little more finicky to apply. When talking about the category of spray on protection products, most are similar with small differences that may sway opinions from one to the other, but most of the ones we carry are all high-quality and will offer similar experiences.
If there is anything you would like a review on, please do not hesitate to reach out.
I’ve been using Bead Maker now since 2019 on my C7 Arctic White Coupe. I had previously used Zaino products on all 3 of my Corvettes but a friend of mine who details cars told me about it. As far as streaking and humidity, I live in SW Florida about 7 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and have had not any problem. People ask “How long does it last?” I tell them I don’t know because I do my Vette twice a year and have traveled through Florida downpours, hot sun, dirty city streets and trips of 3000 miles and more from Florida to Pennsylvania and back. The stuff is great and I just did my son’s Ford Focus ST. I recently sold my C7 waiting for a C8 to finally show up, but, I would recommend this as easy to apply and maintain. In fact the guy who bought my car asked what I used and how he would just hose it off. I’d love to send you pictures if I can.
Used the beadmaker for the first time today. Very impressed with the product but ran into a dilemma. I am going through the steps of paint correction and was treating this as a standalone sealant. Well I was planning on waxing my car tomorrow after the beadmaker cures, but I just read that beadmaker is more of a topper. Should I just scrap my plans of waxing? I want to avoid streaking. I’m still new (and learning) to the detailing world.
Use a wax or a sealant or ceramic coating. Unless they are designed to be mixed as in same brand and recommended to do so, don’t do it. Something like Gyeon Cancoat is super easy to apply. Its a verdict coating lite. Good luck.
THIS IS MY SECOND GALLON OF BEAD MAKER. Winter’s coming. Can this be applied at 40 degrees F. Colonite wax lasts very well. Is it practical applying a coat of Colonite a week after applying Bead Maker. A 94-year-old preacher with a 2019 Black Impala.
PS We have a new car wash (Blue Wave) with brushes. I wash by hand but in winter go to a touchless spray wash but it leaves a film. Will this modern was eventually leave me swirl marks?
Robert Surgenor
Touch less wash uses very aggressive chemicals. Why not apply an SiO2 coating like Gyeon Can Coat? Will last longer than Beadmaker. You won’t get swirl marks if you are not physically touching car in circular motions. How do you plan on drying after this thoughtless wash.? I ask because car will be far from clean after this “wash.” Good luck.
I have coated my car with 303 Graphene Nano coating. Looks great. After it cured, I have been using Beadmaker as a topper with good results. My question is how would Beadmaker compare to using the 303 Graphene Detailer over the Graphene Nano coating?
Jeff – Zach McGovern said it perfectly in his article Maintaining Your Paint Coating, “It is important to remember that when you are topping your coating with another product, you are covering or masking some of the properties of the coating. For example, if you apply a wax on top of your coating, you will be observing the properties of the wax until it wears off and the coating is exposed. If you choose to top your coating, you will still have a great base layer of protection beneath your “topper” since the coating will still be present, but the beading, sheeting, dirt/dust attraction, and other properties that you observe will be characteristic of whatever product you have used to top the coating.”
Since Beadmaker is not sio2 based, I generally recommend using it as a topper to a traditional sealant or as a stand alone protection product. If you want to top a Graphene based coating, I would reach for the Graphene Detailer. This way you are using similar formulas on top of each other, yielding similar protection characteristics.