As we enter the festive fall and winter seasons, below what temp is it no longer advisable to apply Hydro and or Epic?

 

Epic is best applied over 65F ambient temp. If you are below 65F, place your
car in the sun and apply when it is warm to the touch. otherwise it will not
apply evenly and thin. if you are like in 40F or lower, best to find a warm
garage.

for Hydro, i could use it as long as it didn't freeze.

 

You wax your car in the sun?

 

Why not?

There's nothing inherently wrong with waxing in direct sunlight - you only run into problems when the paint gets hot enough that the solvents/carrier in whatever product you're using flash off too quickly.

If it's cool out, it's okay to use the sun to warm the paint up to a more-suitable temperature in order to make the product easier to work with.

 

^^ +1

 

Epic is very hard to remove when it is below 45 to 50 deg F. It gets very tacky and sticky. So heated garage or sun.
I've used Hydro even when it is below freezing. It actually helps give you more time before the water turns to ice.

 

imho Epic is user friendly only above 65F or paint warm to the touch.

once it gets into the cooler temps it just does not spread well nor
come off as it supposedly should...

if someone missed their opportunity to wax due to temp, just use Hydro
for the time being until temps warm up again.

I found griot's BestofShow is easy to handle even down at 50F, panels
pretty cold to the touch. it's just softer and easier to spread and
comes off easily with some SpeedShine. lasts just as long as Epic
from my real world experiment.

 

oh that royally sux *****

Damn. I asked that and no one would give me a straight answer. I have to reapply during the winter and it surely isnt above 55 degrees in a garage ever with heaters in there.

thinking I should have gone and done klasse twins for longevity.

 

If you use Epic now El Jefe, you won't need to use it again until spring. And by adding Hydro to your washing routine, your MINI will keep looking better all winter! So no worries then?

 

for longetivity, i think Griot's sealants out last both Epic and Best of Show...

www.outmotoring.com check it out.

 

according to jwardell, epic has low durability in bad weather.

I do feel as if DP lies a bit about it. I think it is more than "feel".

I would have to reapply it during Christmastime for it to last through february, with boosts of hydro applications whenever it can be washed. This year it will most likely not be as warm as last.

 

the first thing that i noticed with Epic is that unlike Hydro the
beading power is temporarily lost during a wash. this could
mistakenly be interpreted as 'wax worn out.'

unless you do an alcohol squeak test i doubt one can really tell
when Epic wore out. i questioned this about a year ago cause
it almost seemed like Epic washed off after one wash...although
it was still there for months.

 

Yes, I'm new to the Epic world and this is how I felt.

How can you tell when you need to Epic again?
My car is stored in the garage most of the time, is washed lots(a good car soap) and I feel like Epic only lasted 2 months max..

 

Based on my use now for over a year. Epic went on first part of October (10/13/06) and I did not need to reapply it even when I finally did (03/03/07). I do not garage my MINI and it is a daily driver. We had a very harsh and wet (read snow) winter and weeks of mag chloride on the streets. I took three 800 mile road trips through Utah & Wyoming during this period as well.
I really don't think DP lied to me about Epic's durability (maybe just to you).

 

Yeah I agree...I applied Epic in...I think November last year, and didn't reapply until May. Now granted, my winters are not harsh, but there is rain almost daily from December - March or April. I felt like it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

 

i watch how the initial beading is during the wet-down before
the soap. if the beading is very weak or doesn't sheet water
off, then it's a sign that Epic's power has degraded.

if you want to be **** (or doing a test like i was) you can spray the
paint with some water, wipe it down, and then take some rubbing
alcohol on a clean towel, do a quick swipe on your bonnet or
whereever and see if the paint feels (or squeaks) the same between
the area that you just swiped and the area untouched.

if you can feel a difference there's something on there. if not, then
you're just feeling the clearcoat... Epic has pretty much worn off.

a full spectro analysis would be the true way to figure out wat's on
the panel, but i don't care to go that far.

in chicago on a 24/7 outdoor commuter, it lasted about 4 months.

 

Great info, thats what I was looking for.
No matter the results of the alcohol test, I'm guessing you need to rewax that area?

Thanks

 

yah, if you do the test you should wax or Hydro that area
after you're done.

 

Kenchan is correct. Using beading alone in one instance to test for a wax's protection isn't always accurate. Epic is odd in that sometimes the beading doesn't appear right after a wash. Just spray it again with water and the beading will be back in full force. This oddity about Epic's beading can throw some people off when they are testing for durability.

Epic holds up wonderfully in both mild and harsh environments. We have done numerous durability tests in all sorts of weather, as well as have our testers in other parts of the country (including upstate New York, incidentally).

When properly prepped (paint cleanser, clay, or whatever), Epic provides an average of 5-6 months of full protection. It's a true fact, tested in both controlled and random environments. We don't lie- no matter what the specific subject matter. We constantly test and consult the chemistry & paint experts to make sure we are accurate in everything we say. (for example, why would I keep telling people to use LESS Hydro instead of more?)

If you are not getting 5-6 months of durability from Epic, please contact me and we can figure out what is going wrong. It may just be a slight tweak in the way you apply it or something like that. But even with varied application techniques I can't see why you are not getting 5-6 months like everyone else.

Either way, I'm happy to help you figure it out.

-Heather

 

this is a hard one to relate....

I do think that, if this is indicative of sythetics in general, I understand people's concerns with Treesap, road gunk, and bird crap.

Griot's paste wax resisted all of that. Does it make sense? Well, it doesnt if you believe that man made protection is more effective. I noticed griot's paste wax lasting in the middle of the winter but it needed a spraywax booster to keep it past the snow months. It did last though.

Where it died was in the summer. Died off FAST. 1 1/2 months, gone, poof. maybe 2 months it lasted. when it gets warm out, wax sux I guess.

I do have to say that griot's wax did resist bird crap really well. It looks like the recent bird crap on the Epic has gooed up/smeared the epic. THis is scientific as not all birds poop the same, so one never knows how griot's paste would have lasted. the paste wax also resisted droppings from trees, the Epic has not and seems to bind with it. IT does PROTECT it though as the surface of the epic/hydro coating was not removed, just marred. shrugs.

 

are you referring to carnauba wax when you say paste wax? if so, carnauba
does wear out quickly when touched while warm. this is one of the reasons
why i stopped using carnauba on my commuters. i dont use carnauba
on my wheels either.

from what i saw, carnauba tends to shift around and easily get disturbed
while you're washing on a warm day...especially during the drying process.
even leaves your car with white dried wax in the parting lines which is
additional work to buff off. no, i do not need additional work on my
commuter...

BCE wise, Hydro has done a tremendous job protecting my finish...even
bird crap that was dropped 15hrs+ prior. yes, depends on wat the bird
ate too.

 

Your observation is definitely supported by the chemistry. Natural carnauba paste waxes are most susceptible to heat. Carnauba begins to "burn off" and evaporate at not much more than 100 degrees F (130-160, on average). If you think about it, most cars can reach this temperature range fairly quickly and easily in the summer. This is probably why you found it to be more durable in the winter than the summer.

-Heather