Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

[Lydia]

Morning all,

I've got a detail I've been wanting to schedule for this Saturday, but we've been getting a lot of rain (drought has broken!). I'm wanting to use UFF, but expect it to rain shortly after finishing the detail. Truck is stored outside with no carport or anything so it will get wet, no avoiding it. How much of an adverse effect is expected when UFF doesn't have 24 hours before getting wet?

Thanks!

[amblin83]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

There's a risk when rain mixed with fallout and dust may leave some nasty waterspots and will affect the longevity.

[greg0303]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

I think once it happened to me with NxT 2.0 (liquid), I appplied it about 2 hours before rain.
Telling the truth I didn't really caught any major shortness of protection period.

However, to form a strong bond/full cross-link, 12-24 hours are always recommended for modern polymer based products.

If a vehicle gets exposed to rain/moisture, shortly after application, adding a second coat may be needed pretty quickly.

[roushstage2]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

I don't know if it applies to an aerosol like UFF, but I asked a long time ago about the car getting wet from rain and how it would affect the wax I had just applied. In short, it could have an effect on it, but there's also a big difference between having some rain fall on it vs. blasting it with a hose and washing it.

[adadkins]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

I applied UFF to a friend's Subaru after washing and claying...then it rained shortly thereafter. I haven't noticed any negative impacts regarding water spots, fallout, etc. being sealed in. However, I do feel that the performance of the product is not optimal when applied shortly before rain. I'd also recommend 12 - 24 hours before a rain event to see the product perform optimally.

[Lydia]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

Thanks for the information, all! I've always heard the 24 hour wait time recommended, but was curious about what sort of differences would be present if it wasn't given 24 hours. Thanks for the answers. Good point also, Roushstage2, about the difference between rain and blasting with a house.

[HCAD]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

I've run across the same dilemma Lydia. I'm still in the "testing phase" with Ultimate Fast Finish. Applying only to customers cars I know from previous business and know I will have as a repeat customer. Presented as a premium product that isn't being charged for at this time, hoping to get a little feedback from them as to how they like it. With that being said, there have been several occasions where its use was planned, but the weather report caused me to change my mind. I'd still like to know what Meguiar's reasoning is, what adverse effects were found, that caused them to add the "no rain" warning on the bottle.

[Old Bear]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

Lydia
I can't speak to UFF. However I can share this experience with UQW.

In 2015, I had a car show on a May Saturday,
It was May and we had some monsoonal moisture coming up from Mexico.
On Friday, I cleaned the car with Ultimate Quick Detailer (UQD).
Late in the day, I had the car outside and started putting ULW onto the paint.
My path includes starting with the roof and end up with the hood.
Before I started the hood, I had to wipe weather condensation from the cool roof. I was loosing daylight because this kept recurring.
I had to do the same to the hood before applying ULW.
Then into the garage to finish the bumpers and chrome.

Saturday morning at 5 AM I start it up and woke the neighbors. They previously named it Blue Thunder.
Then 30 miles at 65 MPH adjacent to the Pacific with it's low marine layer.
Then inland just below the low clouds.

Escondido, CA at the American Heritage Car Show 2015. It sprinkled at 7:30, 8:00 and 8:45 at the car show. We needed water so bad, no one complained.

Sunday I backed the car out to use UQD to clean up water spots.
I noticed that there were "wind tracks" going up the hood.

I met Nick Winn about a year later and shared that story.
Nick speculated that ULW might not be able to set up in that high humidity, and with only 9 hours to cure in a high humidity garage.

It took about 90 days and several passes of UQD to diminish the wind tracks. Blue Thunder now gets D115, or Ultimate Wash and Wax Anywhere earlier in the day before to prep for a car show. If the air is going to be moist, it is done a couple days earlier.

I don't have an image of the wind tracks. Think of what putting a thin layer of clear coat on and then driving would make the hood look like, that is the best I can describe it. Multiple water bead size tracks going from the nose toward the windshield.

I don't have experience with UFF in high humidity conditions, yet the wind tracks might be something to look for if you use it shortly before a rain.

[Old Bear]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

Lydia
I should qualify this a little more.
I did not see tracks from what I thought was water beading up and flowing down on a stationary vehicle.
I saw tracks that were like moisture collecting on the front of a moving hood and being pushed back from the aerodynamic push while car was driving. I could see the water form and move up the hood as I drove at 65 MPH.

[amblin83]

Re: Ultimate Fast Finish Right Before Rain?

Normally, if the paint is polished to optimal smoothness and treated with good sealant/wax, the beading and moving effect should appear at around 35- 40mph, higher speed should blow the beads into larger puddles and fall off.

An easier way to observe this effect would be to park the car in rain, a rather interesting 'scallop' effect should appear on the hood due to larger beads rolling off to the front and the remaining looks just like the ridges of a scallop.