# Ceramic/Nano Coatings - Differences?



## hutchingsp (Apr 15, 2006)

Mulling over whether to have a new car prepped/protected from new. 

Obviously part of this would involve sorting out any paint problems, but my interest would be in any sort of coating that would minimize the potential for damage and make washing/maintenance a little simpler.

I've not paid too much attention to detailing developments so I'm a little out of touch with what's hot, what's not, and what's new etc.

Gtechniq and Cquartz seem to keep popping up?


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## definition (Jan 17, 2011)

hi
yes too me,wondering that What is the difference between gtechniq c1 and cquartz ?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of both products?I would like to get an idea of the experience of friends.I am creating order ,,
regard


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## definition (Jan 17, 2011)

...............


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## definition (Jan 17, 2011)

Does anybody can answer


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## definition (Jan 17, 2011)

What is the difference between gtechniq c1 and cquartz ?


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## hutchingsp (Apr 15, 2006)

Don't get my thread locked.


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## definition (Jan 17, 2011)

wondering that What is the difference between gtechniq c1 and cquartz ?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of both products?I would like to get an idea of the experience of friends.I am creating order ,,
regard


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## definition (Jan 17, 2011)

hutchingsp said:


> Don't get my thread locked.


I could not understand


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## definition (Jan 17, 2011)

What is the difference between gtechniq c1 and cquartz ?


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)

well loads of answers flying in here ....... not.


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

C1 and aquartz both are made from a sol-gel base in other words nanocomposites they both create a Nano fibre structure which in turn leads to the lotus effect of course both aquartz and C1 are made a bit different which can be seen by their individual application and removal methods.

The other thing is C1 has a hardness rating of 7 and aquartz is 9 so in turn a better anti scratch resistance but C1 is meant to protect for longer.. either one will lose there Hydrophobic propities after a given time but protection is still there and can be toped with C2 C3 or Reload 

It is very important to have a very clean surface when using these types of products.

Hope that has helped some and i hope i got it about right???

thx to Orion and Gordon on here who got me so interested in the science of it all I’m currently looking at ways to increase they dyne of the paint after orion said about it been haveing a play also invested in some ir lighting sol-gel I’m finding very interesting just wish I had the money to buy my own little lab though i would probably only end up blowing myself up lol


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## hutchingsp (Apr 15, 2006)

Thanks for that. Sounds like in the real world there's not that much between them then then if applied properly?


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

Both have there advantages Aquartz has better anti scratch resistances and rated at 12 months protection but of course its a new product and more testing and long term tests are needed to see how it goes i will be putting it on a new bmw very soon so will get a write up for that along with a strip of nanolex pro and C1 on the roof.

C1 might not quite have the scratch resistance of aquartz but its a proven product and it can last up to 3 years.

so it really does come down to what the customer is after.

either product will need toping up after so long as i have said.


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## hutchingsp (Apr 15, 2006)

When people refer to scratch resistance, I've seen the "Cigarette lighter" type videos and have always taken them with a pinch of salt - are you talking "swirl resistant" i.e. when washing the car badly, or is it truly scratch resistant unless you do something retarded?

I'd likely be looking at the C1 as there's more folks in my area that seem to offer it, plus as you say it's been around a little longer.

3 years sounds pretty mental, hell even half of that sounds good as presumably if it's scratch resistant a "top up" shouldn't require any correction?


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

hutchingsp said:


> When people refer to scratch resistance, I've seen the "Cigarette lighter" type videos and have always taken them with a pinch of salt - are you talking "swirl resistant" i.e. when washing the car badly, or is it truly scratch resistant unless you do something retarded?
> 
> I'd likely be looking at the C1 as there's more folks in my area that seem to offer it, plus as you say it's been around a little longer.
> 
> 3 years sounds pretty mental, hell even half of that sounds good as presumably if it's scratch resistant a "top up" shouldn't require any correction?


No top up won't require a correction unless you really do have a bad wash routine or caught some nice branches down a back lane to be honest in might say 3 years but me personally would prefer to reapply a product every 12-18 months anyway full clay etc

Aquartz is still new to me ask me again in a few weeks as will have had chance to have much more of a play by then as I move in to my new unit soon so make things a lot easier for me for testing. But from what I have seen and spoken to a couple of people it's as good as u seen in the video if the application is spot on but application has got to be spot on.

I'm sure a few of the other people will chip in soon who hopefully had more experience with aquartz long term.

im sure every pro has different opinions on these products i have applied C1 to about 5 cars and nanolex pro to alot more i like this sol-gel based treatments and think its where its all heading as the average person does not want to wash his car like the members do on here so these offer more protection then what most dealers of new car protections offer as they are better then polymer based products supaguard etc in my eyes of course i do like 2 relax and use a nice wax aswell.


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## hutchingsp (Apr 15, 2006)

Thanks, sounds good on the protection (from scratches) side.

Have to admit that for £200-ish for a new car detail it doesn't feel like bad vfm for something like this - deep down I know that whatever the protection applied, wax or sealant, that you're paying a professional for their time, but when you get this sort of potential longevity it seems more of a no brainer.


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

Thanks, sounds good on the protection (from scratches) side (do you mean the aquartz) as C1 will scratch does resits maring better then wax of course but with good wash technique should see you right.

I take it the £200 would just be car cleaned and C1 applied no correction if there are a few marks on the new car. No interior protectant wheels not sealed etc? shop around few people applying C1 and prices vary alot i would want most for my money


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Don't forget Nanolex Professional! 

A very similar coating with excellent self cleaning properties and less finicky to apply than the other 2 products mainly being discussed here.

Alan W

P.S. Sorry to throw a spanner in the works with another recommendation!


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## Jordan (Dec 22, 2008)

your quite a fan of C2 arent you alan?


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Jordan said:


> your quite a fan of C2 arent you alan?


Not used C2 (yet) Jordan. 

My Nanolex Professional comparison was with C1 and AQuartz (now reformulated as CQuartz).

Alan W


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## Jordan (Dec 22, 2008)

Alan W said:


> Not used C2 (yet) Jordan.
> 
> My Nanolex Professional comparison was with C1 and AQuartz (now reformulated as CQuartz).
> 
> Alan W


thought i overheard you talking to Grizzle about it a few weeks back,

was all :lol:

Personally, i'd like to give Cquartz/C1/nanolex a try, but i'd miss waxing the car.

i love it!


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

im all for nanolex pro aswell what i use most and there windscreen coating is very good and easy to apply. must be why i bought liter bottles of there products.

got a question for you alan will pm you now


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## ElGaby (Jul 23, 2010)

Who is the best of the tree?


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

I heard a little rumour that C5 is the same as C1, so just marketing hype?? C5 is half the price of C1 and is a wheel sealant.

I have been using Wolf Body Wrap and the beading and reflection is awsome. Ok may only last a year but at £25 for a bottle 3 times the size of C1 it is a no brainer, customers also rate it. Wolf is a Nano sealant and on several cars recently is getting great feedback from customers.

Personally; I am dissapointed with the C1 on my car. And I have had a few customers also dissapointed with it.

At the end of the day all these products with a professional detailer application will be almost half the price of a dealer applied Auto Glym Life Shine anyway that may last 6 months if you are lucky, like pay £400 for a nice bag in the boot!!!!

I will stick with Wolf Nano Body Wrap for now, as I have met Jesse from Wolf Chemicals, the guy took the time to meet us all the way from Hungary which means a lot to us smaller guys.

He also has a video of trying to remove Body Wrap and apart from machining it off the product stayed put.

I am also going to Texas next Saturday and the detailers over there are raving about the Wolf product. Hopefully will be an interesting week as I will be doing some flying to Denver, Las Vegas and LA to meet and talk to the detailing people over there.


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## Jesse74 (Jul 19, 2008)

Mirror Finish said:


> I heard a little rumour that C5 is the same as C1, so just marketing hype?? C5 is half the price of C1 and is a wheel sealant.
> 
> I have been using Wolf Body Wrap and the beading and reflection is awsome. Ok may only last a year but at £25 for a bottle 3 times the size of C1 it is a no brainer, customers also rate it. Wolf is a Nano sealant and on several cars recently is getting great feedback from customers.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the support buddy  Say hello to all my Yank pals over there for me


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## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

I have been testing the coatings in question .

On staff cars and test panels .

We have 2 cars driving around with half the car in one coating and the other half with different coating .

we even swapped sides from one car to another so both coatings are being tested on near side and offside .

double coated some panels and single coated others , then on single coat and double coat applied top up coats too .

Coatings are C quartz and G techniq C1 , with there top up reload and C2 .

when i say half the car i do mean half the car wheels , windows etc .

One of the cars was fully repainted with wheel refurb , brake caliper repaint , windscreen wet sand etc .
coated even the brake calipers for a test too .

we are month in now both cars are parked on road at night never garaged and used daliy .

so far G techniq has the edge .

there will be very large write up coming i think there are 300 plus pictures and videos with updates weekly .

here is what one car lloks like in the morning

1 week after aplication .





































we washed the car today and took more photos and wrote down the findings for the future thread .

On the subject of C1 someone saying does not last i have photos of a mini that KDS treated with G techniq coatings a year ago give or take a few days its coveres 7k miles its still beading the same as the day we treated the car .

we must coat 1-2 cars per week with such coatings on average , 2 weeks back it was 5 cars , been doing this for over 18 months and not had a bad come back yet .

I do stress that the application technique is very important and also we inform / train the customers how to look after the car once coated .

All to view on yet another long thread for the future

kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Kelly, I'm curious why you would top up any of the sealants?

Reload isn't designed as a cquartz top up. It is a spray sealant you an use on top of cquartz if you like and c2 being the same.

I'd love a straight up sealant test. Afterall when I'm testing waxes I won't QD over the top. The property of c2/reload will take over from the coating underneath surely?

This might just be me though. Food for thought.


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## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

Spoony said:


> Kelly, I'm curious why you would top up any of the sealants?
> 
> Reload isn't designed as a cquartz top up. It is a spray sealant you an use on top of cquartz if you like and c2 being the same.
> 
> ...


you did not read it properly , cars have 1 coat of each sealent , on a couple of panels 2 coats of each to test good and bad effects from 2 layers , may not do anything at all . 
And then the 2 coated and single coated panels have half of each side (bonnet and roof are in 4 sections) so this means C1 1/4 , c1 and c2 1/4 , c quartzs 1/4 and c quartz and reload 1/4 .

given that most people would buy the same make products sold as a top up on the coatings i think its a fair test .

Even the wheels front have 2 coats rear have single coat , then the wheels are split in half with top up coatings added for further testing .

I have noticed differences with all the areas .

Kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


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## gtechrob (Sep 11, 2006)

just to add my 2p. I think Kelly's test will give you some info on real world differences.

there are plenty of siloxane coatings out there - most coming out of japan and south korea. at the time we were planning to start gtechniq, we looked at all of these and for a number of good reasons ended up developing our own proprietry ingredients.

regarding swirl resistance - c1 is quartz based which is 7 on the mohs scale. we've done real world rubbish wash technique tests and the panels tested displayed about 60% less swirls than uncoated or coated with wax/polymer etc.

another 2p to add. gtechniq does not nor ever has given c1 away foc to detailers.


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

Mirror Finish said:


> C5 is half the price of C1 and is a wheel sealant.


They are the same price? 

CQuartz and C1 are miles ahead in terms of their ultimate protection. That said Wolf's BW has it's place and that's why I have 2 bottles of it.


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## gtechrob (Sep 11, 2006)

just to clarify - c5 and c1 are exactly the same price


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## ElGaby (Jul 23, 2010)

Any one probe the optimun opti-coat 2.0?


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Interesting stuffs. Still haven't tried C1 myself.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

Spoony said:


> Interesting stuffs. Still haven't tried C1 myself.


if you do want some to test you know where to go :lol:
me and andy both have excess.. (actually both have about the same amount lol)


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## Spirit Detailing (Mar 29, 2007)

I had my first ever CQuartz-applied car back to me recently and the coating was holding up just fine after almost a year. Because of an injury, the car hadn't been washed in over 4 weeks, but the owner wanted me to tackle some brakedust with Iron X on the bootlid (GTI's always the same!:wall and give it a good wash as well.

He did make the point that any his previous cars, leaving it for so long without washing usually means the car would be "brown" in that time. It only had a light coat of dirt on it though. :thumb:

Apart from the brakedust, the car was a breeze to wash down and have looking brand new again. CQuartz is excellent and none of my clients ever regretted having it applied. :thumb: 

The only caveat for the coatings is proper and thorough prepping to get the best result and finish. ; 

I haven't used C1 so I can't comment on it but I am hugely fussy about what I put on my clients cars and I am very happy using CQuartz as it ticks all the boxes for me. And when I say fussy, I mean that I have banned carnaubas from the workshop, and most amino-functionals as well. 

Cheers

Brian


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