Top 5 Best Selling Coatings & Sealants!
by Reece @ DI
Coatings:
Coatings have been becoming extremely popular for their looks and overall durability when protecting your paint. They are a little more labor intensive to apply compared to sealants or waxes, but the overall look and protection can be well worth the extra effort. We recently spoke to some professionals and looked at some of our best sellers to come up with our top 5 consumer level coatings you should reach for during your next detail:
Honorable Mention: The above coatings are fantastic when you are looking to protect your paint and they can even be applied to hard coated plastics (i.e. headlights & taillights), metal (i.e. rims), glass surfaces, etc. However, if you are looking for the best protection possible on other surfaces and areas, check out Trim Coatings, Wheel Coatings, Glass Coatings, Leather Coatings, and Fabric Coatings. These coatings are specially formulated for these unique areas, allowing you to protect in the best way possible.
Below are also some great articles to help guide you through the process of applying and taking care of a coating:
- The Benefits of a Paint Coating
- Coating Application: How To Reduce Marring
- Maintaining Your Paint Coating
- What Coating Should I Buy?
- The Truth Behind Wild Coating Claims
Sealants:
Sealants for years have been compared directly against waxes. Should I use a sealant or a wax? What one is better for my situation? Etc. Then coatings hit the market. Although waxes certainly still have a place in many detailers arsenals, they seem to have been pushed to the side and now we have the argument of a sealant or a coating. We covered coatings above, so now onto sealants! Generally speaking, we have two different types of sealants, traditional paste and spray on. Traditional paste sealants last for 3-4 months and are applied with a wipe on, let cure/haze, wipe off application. Spray on sealants are generally not as durable as the traditional versions, but they are easier to apply. Just spray on, wipe off. No waiting for them to haze and many can be applied directly to trim, glass, metals, etc. Most are also sio2 based, just like popular coatings, just with a much lower concentration than said coatings. This makes them the perfect topper to protect an existing coating layer! Below are some of the most popular sealants being used right now.
Traditional
Spray On
Honorable Mention: Paste and spray on sealants are both awesome, but what if you want to save even more time? Check out some shmapoo sealants, which are essentially sio2 based shampoos, meaning you can wash and seal in one step! Some popular ones include the CarPro HydrO2 Foam, Hydrosilex Silica Soap, and the Gyeon Bathe+.
Gotta put in a plug for the 22ple line that you offer as well, particularly their HPC offering. THE easiest coating I have used, even hazes a bit when ready for removal. Great self-cleaning, nice molten-glass type of gloss, excellent longevity.
First used on a Fleet van in March 2017, in the last 40k+ miles, washed once at 20k miles (clay with 22ple coating-friendly clay, added a bit of Finitura) but aside from that, just keeps on truckin’, beading well, staying clean…amazing product. Kinda flies under the radar, not much marketing but a very solid offering…a little pricier than some of the other offerings but sometimes that’s warranted…22ple is one of those times.
No love from DI? Haha š
Do u have a website!
This was based on overall sale numbers, so 22ple fell just outside the top 5, 22ple is however comfortably in our top 10 here at DI, especially one of our favorites, HPC!
I’ve done a lot of vehicles Crystal Serum Light and EXO combo. Several vehicles are going on 2 1/2 years which includes harsh Ohio winters and they are still holding up well. I also really like GTechniqs Trim Restorer. It really works better at making vinyl trim look great while lasting like a coating. I do maintain them which I think is a key to longevity and it sure is nice having products like C2 V3 that make it a breeze to do. Car maintaince has sure came a long way. It will be interesting what’s inshore for the future.
I’m a little disappointed that your recommendations are based solely on sale numbers. Most of the public doesn’t even bother to research finer quality car care products or spend the extra $$ on them. I was hoping for a real expert analysis in real use. We who care more are also greatly swayed by the discussions and recommendations of industry professionals here on your site. Sales are some indicator, but not the definitive criteria. Gajillions of people use Windex on their glass, but it’s junk.
Lee – We are very selective of the products we add to DetailedImage.com and each and every product we carry is high quality and works great. All of our Ask-A-Pro Authors are involved in testing and provide us with recommendations on what they like to use personally, what works well, etc. Each one of the sealants and coatings mentioned in this article work great and are some of the leaders in their respective protection categories. Are there other products we carry that also work just as well as these items listed? Sure there are, but this article is based on the sale numbers to show the “Top 5 Best Selling Coatings & Sealants”. We are simply highlighting what our customers have been purchasing and what is popular on the market right now. If you are looking for recommendations on any products that are not listed you can always check our Ask-A-Pro Blog for a review, or contact us directly (https://www.detailedimage.com/Contact/) for help.
I would also respectfully disagree, Lee. The majority of people on this site are car care enthusiasts (at a minimum). Certainly those that would be applying coatings on their own cars would be considered more knowledgeable about car care products than your average Windex user is about glass cleaning products. Iāve also noticed a lot of car care professionals on this site, many of which are more than willing to share the benefit of their experience. It’s the professionals that provide the expert analysis you seem to be looking for, and I canāt think of a better recommendation than knowing what they are using every day. I personally read about coatings, and talked to people for months before I decided to try one on my car. Then got a recommendation from professionals as to which ones lasted, performed the best, and balanced that with how easy they are to apply without screwing it up. I ended up using Crystal Serum Light, and couldnāt be happier with the results after nearly 18 months. Next time Iāll add EXO.
I really donāt consider CarPro Gliss a stand-alone coating as it is mainly used for more gloss over a coating. That can be said of most Sio2 based sprays as well. Most people are using them as toppers over a coated surface and not stand alone sealants.
You may not consider Gliss a stand alone but CarPro certainly states that it can be used as a stand alone coating. I have even had a CarPro rep say it can be sold as a cheaper coating if a customer can not afford the price of a much more durable coating say Cquartz UK, Finest, etc.
Also what really defines a product to be considered a coating?
Read my comments below as to why there needs to be a ācoating liteā category. I consider a truecoating to be more durable, lasting longer than 12 months.
While Gliss may be considered a coating by CarPro it is not marketed the same as Cquartz or UK3.0. It is softer and more hydrophobic. Similar to TacSystems Topcoat 1.0 which is marketed as a topcoat, lol. Neither have serious longetivity. Gyeon also has Skin which works the same.
We as detailers and consumers have to have our own definition of a coating and that is why I propose ācoating liteā.
I have thrown this out on other forums and since this found its way to my inbox today I want to create a new category: Coating Lite. A Coating Lite is, of course, not as strong as a coating, but is stronger than a sealant. A Coating Lite lasts from 6-12 months of normally duty daily driving. Examples of a Coating Lite are Gyeon CanCoat, IGL Ecocoat Premier, TacSystems Moonlight, Kamikaze Overcoat, CarPro Gliss, etc. They bridge the gap between sealants and coatings. They are more forgiving and can easily be used by beginners who might be intimidated by a full coating or someone who doesnāt need two years of protection and likes to switch products often. They can be used as for stand alone protection or to top up existing protection (in some cases). Motherās new CMX and Adams new spray on coating fall into this category. Spray on rinse off coatings DO NOT fall into this category (Gyeon Wetcoat, CarPro Hydro2, McKees HydroBlue, etc). This is a necessary category. When we are discussing or recommending products having a Coating Lite category to talk about clearly delineates what we are discussing. Technology is driving this category and Iām tired of saying something āis better than a sealant, but not as good as a coatingā. These products deserve their own category. Pro detailers, vendors, and manufacturers should start using this terminology to assist buyers in making the correct choice of detailing products. My next article will delve into waxes not containing any wax and the āglazeā category, lol.
I think some clarity as it pertains to anything that differentiates these products is a great benefit to people who enjoy detailing their cars, but don’t do it for a living.
I am a diy enthusiast yet have had pro work done…..both of my jag vanden plas were done by Jason at Chicago auto pros…opticoat pro on 2005….gtechniq on 2007. with regards to the info shared about products i am surprised that no one has used/tried/mentioned the POLISH ANGEL line….ANGELWAX line….a bit more expensive than the meguiars, griots, etc….has anyone tried these products…..i have done my due diligence on the expanse of products available for the detailer and the diy enthusiast and they seem to be well respected. Apparently they are in the “higher up” category. Has anyone eval/tested their product lines
one thing i find discerning is the major players such as menzerna are duplicating product….menzerna makes the following lines
menzerna
sonax
jescar
and either wolfgang or pinnacle products
and who knows what else…
going after the car care $$ by representing basically same products under different brands-i personally do not like the smoke and mirrors
Even though Menzerma may make products for other companies the products are not rebottled copies as each has a different formula as specified by the buying company. For example Jescar Compound and Menzerma 400 are not the same, Jescar Compound cuts a little less and wipes off much easier. You have to try products side by side before you can say that they are copies. Iām not saying some companies relabel their products because there are some that do, you just have to be careful about saying it without being able to back it up.
Polish Angel makes some excellent products. Check out the comments on Autopia Forum. Autopia was one of the first to start selling PA products a few years ago.
sorry…I wasn’t insinuating they are the same product…..just “similar”… tweeked enuf to be different.
autopia and autogeek are the same company…palm beach motoring and may as well throw in pinnacle also under that umbrella…..which is fine.
as far as product comparison and unbiased review….I feel that apex detail is the most fair I have found so far. esoterica is also a good site….when u chat with them they have tested most products and share their eval and why they don’t carry a certain product line…..and why they do carry others. good application guidance also.
would it be safe to say that the general public doesn’t really know what detailing is??? their perception is someone who can wax their vehicle with a buffer.
as far as products for the most part it is a personal decision/choice of which product meets their needs/goals the best.
I guess I felt the need to comment as I was taken by surprise by a few of the selections…..in the coating and sealant areas….and surprised by products not mentioned….high gloss is in the eye of the beholder……lol
Totally agree that the general public does not know what detailing entails. Plus in the detailing business you never stop learning. Step away for a few years and technology will pass you by.
How does Klasse stack up to prevent UV damage . I use it however I know little about detailing . I just put two coats of Klasse on my Honda . I am getting my truck painted soon and going to leave in Garage when I found out how long for paint to cure good. Thanks