I just installed the Union Jack graphic on the roof of my mini, and was wondering if Epic is the right product to help seal it down and give it a good shine?

I was planning on using Epic then start a routine of using Hydro on a weekly basis.

thanks, rockridge

 

I'm not DP staff or even a professional detailer so take this answer for what it's worth but I do have an answer And that answer is yes. It would be fine. Be sure to start (by hand or PC) from the graphic and move out. What you want to avoid is going from the paint to the graphic and lifting up the edge of the vinyl.

 

let the vinyl dry for minimum 24hrs before you apply the wax.

and no, im not a DP staff either.

 

you sure about that? Mr. Hydrosalesman

 

 

I guess they are on vacation...

 

no, we already answered your question so they decided to let the
locals handle it.

 

Thanks Hydroman.

 

Yeah right! Small business owners don't get vacation!

Sorry... we are just extremely swamped right now, not to mention very short-handed.


To answer your question though, yes, Epic (and Hydro) would be a great way to protect your graphic and to help it shine.

I agree with Kenchan though... you should wait 24 hours before doing anything to the graphic.


Thanks to the "locals" who answered more quickly. Many of you guys out there can answer Prima questions as well as we can!

-Heather

 

Where there's Heather--there's usually Richard not too far behind..., lol...Oh wait I'm not staff. But I am a retailer for Prima.

I agree, using Epic should be fine. My only concern would be not to let it cake on the edges of the vinyl. That is, if the edges are black, then white wax residue will be very easy to see and thus will require extra effort with a toothbrush or other tool to remove.

I would probably use Hydro instead of Epic for this...and not over do it.

Richard

 

tooth brush??!! noooo~~~! that would swirl the finish.

i use a thin Griot's virgin cloth towel and a hard squeegee from the back
and slide it down the decal with QD to remove excess wax caught on the
edges..

 

This should be interesting.

 

It would swirl the finish only if you used the toothbrush against the paint. I was talking about using it against the edge of the vinyl, and it depends on whether the residue is already dried and hard which is often the case once someone realizes they got wax along the edges.

I like to use a QD on the brush itself to soften and loosen the residue. An extra soft toothbrush can be used, but I normally prefer the Meguiar's Triple Duty Detail Brush--which is discontinued. And brush very lightly. Often times wrapping the brush inside of a cheap microfiber towel (cheap because they are thinner and often rougher) works well too.

Of course, the best recommendation to avoid having to use any tool in the first place is too mask the edges with painters tape in the first place.

 

huh.... you have seriously better control over the tooth brush cause
i dont think i can line it up the bristle to the thickness of the vinyl edge.
like the 0.3mm or watever a vinyl is... or am i reading this incorrectly?

 

Sure it's not that hard--best to lay off the caffeine. Try some Ginseng.

Lubricate the bristles with a quick detailer first and gently massage the edges to loosen any residue.




These bristles are stiff and you definitely need to be gentle.


I prefer them inside of a thin cloth. The Prima MF glass towels work well here.

 

NostraBlimey strikes again - my powers of prediction are STUNNING.

 

no but he stayed at a holiday inn express last night.

 

OG- ahhhh~! i get it now. huh, that's a nice brush.
btw, is that ML's car? that stripe looks like hers.


blimey- LOL! yah, i wasn't expecting that kinda brush. i was thinking
more like a OralB or something.


who me? you make is sound like i got kicked out of my house.

 

Cool! Yep, that's ML's car. She didn't actually have any wax/residue there--so I mocked it up as that was the only car with stripes in the shop. Her car is scheduled to be worked on tomorrow.

FWIW, I had my PDR guy look at it to see if the dent could be worked out but he said the location of the gouge was bad with the cross bracing in the door, and even if they could fix it, because there wasn't paint left to gauge where "smooth" was--truly leveling it for painting would be difficult and secondly, that pushing on the area using PDR techniques could compromise the quality of work the body guys could do to smooth the panel out.

I'm excited to see him do his magic tomorrow.

Richard

 

Now that's what I call Service. Heather, OctaneGuy, and Kenchan "Hydroman". Thanks all for you feedback.

 

umm.... wat was your question again? jk jk.

 

yah, that crash (man she did a number on her car. ) was under
the side mirror, right? there is a brace under there and very limited space.
he will have to use one of his thinner tools to push it out getting leverage
from the brace itself. i know cause ive worked on a dent (much
smaller than ML's) and the first thing i noticed was that brace. i was able
to work mine out, but i too think it would be easier just to work ML's from
the outside with a filler.

yep, we wouldn't think she would have wax caked on her stripe!

 

You're like an idiot savant, Blimey !!

Or just a savant.

Or just a.... Good All Around Guy !!

 

nea just quoting those commercials on tv

 

Sticks and Stones....

heh, heh...