Protection vs Durability...different?

[ebpcivicsi]

Hi Mike, would love to pick your brain about this.

Is durability and protection different? Can a product protect really well, but not be very durable? Can a product be really durable, but not protect as well.

In other words, on a scale of 1-10 could product A be a 10 for protection, but only a 5 for durability, while product B is a 9 for protection and a 10 for durability.

Did that even make sense?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Protection vs Durability...different?

Originally posted by ebpcivicsi
Hi Mike, would love to pick your brain about this.

Is durability and protection different? Can a product protect really well, but not be very durable? Can a product be really durable, but not protect as well.

In other words, on a scale of 1-10 could product A be a 10 for protection, but only a 5 for durability, while product B is a 9 for protection and a 10 for durability.

Did that even make sense?

Yes, your questions makes sense.

First of all, I'm not a chemist, like you and many other detailing enthusiasts, I'm interested in the chemistry of car care products and if I could live my life over knowing what I know now I would study chemistry in order to be a chemist as I think it would be fun to work for R&D at Meguiar's. But we can't go back in time, and... I'm not a chemist.

That said, sometimes we have to stand back and look at the bigger picture, that's what I'll try to do with my answer. I will also see if I can get any information that I can use as an example that would answer your question.



Off the cuff....


First and foremost, your car's paint is a protective coating for the panel underneath, be it metal or some type of composite. The paint protects the underlying panel from deterioration and at the same time, hopefully adds beauty to the car.

Our goal as Meguiar's the car polish manufacturing company, is to manufacture paint protections products that you can apply to the surface of the paint to do two basic things,

• 1) Protect the paint
  2) Add beauty

We understand that all cars are treated differently, some cars are covered with a car cover and stored inside a temperature controlled room, while others are driven every day and run through automatic car washes that use mechanical brush with strong cleaning chemicals and somewhere between these two extremes everything else fall into place.

This is one reason we never make any claims as to how long a coat of wax will last as there are two many factors that we as the manufacture cannot control.

Okay, now that the basics are established and out of the way. Here at Meguiar's we have always recommend for most people and for most situation, to wax your car 2-4 times a year to keep it maintained. Now if your passionate about your car, then like me and many others, you don't do the minimum, but instead go overboard and wax often. There's nothing wrong with this and if you are waxing often you are doing most everything you can to insure your car's paint is protected and looks good.

At the same time, wax, whether made with natural ingredients or man-made ingredients are sacrificial barriers. They are intended to take the brunt of an attack so your car's paint doesn't have to. When under attack, the protective coating gives itself up so your paint doesn't have to. It is this gives itself up process that means in order to maintain the maximum level of protection possible, as the wax wears away you must replenish it by applying another coating.

In essence, Meguiar's teaches preventative maintenance by recommending at a minimum to apply a quality wax 2-4 times a year. More if you like the appearance results and it helps you to sleep at night.

The Big Picture
The point being is the big picture, and that is replenish the wax on your car's finish often to insure that it is well protected and looking it's best all of the time.

Just like many people change their oil at 3000 miles, they know that if they don't get it changed until 3005 miles the engine won't fall apart or blow up, but they will be performing preventative maintenance that will insure their car's engine will have the best potential for operating normal over the stated service life of the car.

Wax your car often, or as often as you think you need to so as to maintain a protective coating of wax over the entire surface factoring in the way you treat the car and the environmental conditions the car is exposed to.

The big picture is to put your trust in a name you count on to include the best ingredients in the bottle to both protect the paint and add beauty to the car.

I've been told that the some of the best protecting ingredients don't bead water very well, that is they don't create high surface tension on the surface which will act to repel water thus causing it to form small, tall, tight water beads. I know everyone wants a visual indicator like water beading to quickly and easily tell if they still have protection on the surface, plus it looks cool.

My own personal opinion from what I've seen over the years is that just because a product remains on the surface over the course of normal wear & tear as a daily driver, (durability), sometimes indicated by water beading on the surface, this does not automatically mean this same product will provide a barrier of protection if a detrimental substance comes into direct contact with it.

YMMV

To gauge whether a wax or paint protectant is still on the surface, instead of using the visual indicator of water beading, Meguiar's teaches using the The Squeak Test - How to test for the presence of wax

If I receive any further information on this topic, I will be sure to post it.

[RamAirV1]

Yes, I could see where a product can protect by doing a great job of preventing bird droppings and tree sap from sticking to the paint and etching it, but not do it for as long as another product that lasts longer but doesn't prevent etching or tree sap adhesion as well.

That is at least a partial definition of protection. Maybe other MOL members define protection differently or would add other things to the definition.

After all, a wax or sealant is supposed to be a sacrificial barrier.

That's my theory, now we'll have to see what the chemists have to say.

RamAirV1

[Murr1525]

Interesting.. It would be interesting to know what properties help durability, and which help protection.