Essence Before Cquartz DLUX?

[buffoff]

Spring is coming, and I got a bottle of DLUX to help with brake dust battle this summer.

Can clearcoated wheels be polished/prepped with Essence before CQ DLUX?

How about glossy plastic surfaces (e.g. window trim), can we polish + prep with Essence before DLUX?

 

[Corey]

Spring is coming, and I got a bottle of DLUX to help with brake dust battle this summer.

Can clearcoated wheels be polished/prepped with Essence before CQ DLUX?

How about glossy plastic surfaces (e.g. window trim), can we polish + prep with Essence before DLUX?

Yes sir, you can. Be sure to work the product down completely or else go ahead with an Eraser wipedown after you are completely done polishing and let it cure before you apply the Dlux.

 

[buffoff]

Thought I'd post an update in case anybody else is thinking about doing Essence + DLUX combo to their wheels.

Summary: Way too many hours needed if your wheels have many spokes like mine, but the gloss is insane. Working Essence into entire wheel guarantees a clean wheel for DLUX.


Wash + Decontamination of Daily Driven (Summer) Wheels

I'm including the steps I took to decontaminate each wheel to highlight a point during the Essence stage. (Dirt was still found).

Before Cleaning:

After Cleaning:

1. Sprayed Iron X liberally on entire wheel
2. Rinsed after roughly 5 minutes
3. Sprayed TRIX on entire wheel (couldn't bother using TarX)
4. Rinsed again
5. Washed with Reset shampoo. Agitated with Wheel woolies + finger mitt
6. Rinsed yet again
7. Applied Iron X Paste to entire wheel with sponge (used my gloved fingers for tight areas near spokes)
8. Waited 10 minutes
9. Clayed the wheel (still with paste on it) with medium grade claybar. Skipped on PolyShave: didn't want to ruin the towel.
10. Rinse one last time
11. Dried with MF towel.

Essence: Use Disposable Cotton Pads on Wheel Spokes

I highly recommend disposable cotton pads.

• Most painted wheel finishes should not be marred by cotton pads (do a test spot)
• Suede cloths more expensive.
• MF towels are clumsy to use around tight areas, and I did not wish to be stuck with more towels forever classified as "used on wheel"
• Throw the pad away without thinking twice if it picks up contaminant
• Less worries about washing Essence off your applicators

Essence: Hand Application Experience

• A dot amount of Essence went a long way.
• Rubbed the product in until it turned near invisible.
• No problems with circular nor straight line motion (assuming applicator can't mar finish).
• Didn't bother wait for product to flash/cure, indoor ambient temps were around 23ºC / 74ºF.
• If Essence was not worked in enough, it left a rough texture to touch. Fix: rub more product into problem area.
• Sprayed Eraser + wipedown with MF as suggested by Corey.

Machine Polish Wheel Face with Essence

• Went with Rupes Mini. Rotary seemed like suicide given all those edges.
• Primed 3" Meguiars MF cutting pad evenly.
• 2 passes enough to make product disappear.
• Additional set of 2 passes polished/filled the light scratches and swirls.
• Product wiped off easily without Eraser (there wasn't much to wipe).

Machine Compounded + Essence Polish Wheel Barrel for Better DLUX Adhesion(?)

• Pre-Essence prepped with Rupes compound + blue foam pad. 3 Passes.
• MF pad bogged down DA polisher too much due to the concave shape of wheel barrel.
• Applied Essence with Rupes yellow polish pad (did not have any 3.5" Gloss pads). 3 passes to work product in.
• Product again wiped off easily without help of Eraser.

DLUX Experience

• Buy more suede towels: I used at least 2 per wheel: One for applying, one for cleaning. 5 clothes in box not enough for 4 wheels.
• DLUX did not flash/haze on silver paint. I wiped it off after 7 mins on a guess.
• A few drops of DLUX went a long way.

Final Product:

The lighting was terrible here (not enough points of light), in person the wheel is noticeably glossier than the post-wash shot.


Time Needed: 1-1.5 hours per wheel (not including wash/decontaminate)

Closing Thoughts:

As tedious as working Essence into each spoke and little crevice may be, such an approach allows cleaning off whatever stubborn dirt left after many stages of wash/decontamination prep work.

Given how little product is needed per area, and how DLUX is even more versatile than regular CQ/CQUK (plastic trim/wheels/and potentially headlights?) I feel CarPro should include more suede applicators in the box.

The DLUX'ed wheels will be left indoors and alone for a few days. I'll have to decide whether to Reload or HydrO2 after full cure. Reload is tougher and more durable, but HydrO2 is easier to get into nooks/crevices and fast application. Decisions, decisions...


Corey: Is it a waste or overkill to DLUX -> Reload -> HydrO2?

 

[DARK HORSE]

^^ Very, very nice!! Thanks for the post!

 

[KB in MD]

if you were to throw the suede cloths into some APC could they be reused for the same purpose at a later date?

 

[fdresq4]

Great post BuffOff! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Steve

 

[buffoff]

if you were to throw the suede cloths into some APC could they be reused for the same purpose at a later date?

For me, DLUX hardened the applicator suede cloths slightly worse than CQUK. The buffing suede cloths can be re-used a second time for me if soaked immediately in undiluted APC and later rinsed thoroughly. Applicator cloths could not avoid the crispy effect even with APC treatment.

Cleaning Essence off used pads was easy. Regular pad cleaner made both my foam and MF pads like-new again.

 

[KB in MD]

Sorry to bump such an old thread but you mentioned DLux use on headlights. Is the DLUX formula thick enough to fill in fine marring/scratches on head & tail light assemblies?

Thanks