Ultimate Protectant issues

[fordf150]

I posted this in the New products section also but thought I might get more traffic here.

Question?

What would cause UP to look blotchy or streaky looking after application?

It would seem some over at another Forum are having these issues even after claims that the trim surface was cleaned prior to app and applied sparingly. They also claim that the product is completely gone after one car wash or rainstorm.

I have use this product many times and have not experienced any of these issues.

[Murr1525]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

Some plastics just do not like dressings.

My car has 4 or 5 different kinds. Some like dressing, some dont.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

How even did you apply it? Did you wipe off the excess?

[fordf150]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

How even did you apply it? Did you wipe off the excess?

I personally have not had any issues. I was only posting some of the comments made on another forum regarding UP. It would seem no matter how evenly applied or how well the surface was prepped, some continue to see unsatisfactory results.

[fordf150]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

Some plastics just do not like dressings.

My car has 4 or 5 different kinds. Some like dressing, some dont.

That's kind of what I was thinking also.

[Andrew C.]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

What type of plastic is this? Sometimes if it is a smooth hard plastic it won't absorb dressings of any sort and rather just smear them around.

Sometimes this type of plastic is on mirrors or B pillars and it works better to take a little bit of UC to it in order to remove the oxidation and then wax it after. Here is an example of what I am talking about.

[davey g-force]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

How were they applying the UP? The technique for its application is a bit different to other dressings. See this thread:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40559&highlight=apply+ultimate+protectant

[Bill Davidson]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

How were they applying the UP? The technique for its application is a bit different to other dressings. See this thread:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...ate+protectant

Great thread... amazing how far a quarter sized amount of product went.

[cnfowler]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

How were they applying the UP? The technique for its application is a bit different to other dressings. See this thread:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...ate+protectant

I would point the people on the other forum having problems to the above link. This should help with the problems they are experiencing.

I have found that even though people 'claim' they are doing everything right, often times they are not. A little guidance on the correct application technique is probably all they need.

Colin

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

I personally have not had any issues. I was only posting some of the comments made on another forum regarding UP. It would seem no matter how evenly applied or how well the surface was prepped, some continue to see unsatisfactory results.

Gotcha, 9 times out of ten it usually is something the person using the product is doing wrong. Most people expect instant gratification. Throw it on. How come it doesn't look good.

[BobbyG]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

It took me a few trys to get the hang of using Meguiar's Ultimate Protectant. Initially I was seeing the same results but instead of throwing money down the drain I persevered and did some experimenting.

Meguiar's Ultimate Protectant "may" be a water based product. It's a milky, creamy product and goes on a bit differently that other plastic protectants. Another thing I found is it doesn't play with porous or older plastics very well but the key here is to wipe on the coats and "evenly" as possible and apply several, don't overload the foam applicator otherwise it may run.

I've been using Poorboy's World Trim Restorer and even on the most porous plastics like outside rear view mirrors it covers evenly without some of the watch-outs I mentioned above. This doesn't mean that Meguiar's Ultimate Protectant isn't any good, quite the opposite, there's just a little learning curve when using it.

Bottom line is it does work well and seems to last for a couple of weeks even through washings.....Good stuff in my opinion.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

Ultimate Protectant is indeed a water based product, but it does contain some pretty specialized polymers that allow it to bond to a textured vinyl surface much the same way wax bonds to your paint. But that also means it wants to bond to the vinyl, not another dressing on top of it. Usually when we see run off issues with this product it's because it was used on top of another dressing that is blocking it from bonding properly. That's partly why we often see UP working better on older, somewhat neglected trim than on very well taken care of trim.

If you've ever used UQW and gotten a fair amount onto the trim (which is fine because it doesn't stain trim at all) and then tried to apply UP over it, you could have run off issues. The polymers in UQW are very durable and UP may not behave as expected on top of it.

Bottom line - not all products are perfect for all applications. But if someone is getting a blotchy or uneven appearance out of the product, that tells us that they are indeed applying it too heavy and/or not working it in properly. We are all so used to applying a vinyl dressing, letting it soak in, and wiping off the excess. But with UP there shouldn't be any excess to wipe off if you apply it properly.

Look at the horrible state of the bumper on this Jeep and how dramatically UP transforms it. This is exactly what we're seeing on one of our employee's cars, a Nissan Xterra with similarly faded and neglected bumpers, and they still look nice and dark and rich - and it's only gotten 3 applications in the past year!

On this Jeep we used a very small amount of product, worked it in very thoroughly (almost like using a paint cleaner on paint) and it was totally dry to the touch in a couple of minutes. And the product is being applied by a customer at a Thursday Night Open Garage, not by a Meguiar's employee in a controlled situation.

[Poki]

Re: Ultimate Protectant issues

Yup, it's a fantastic product! Hey, what the heck is laying on the hood of that Jeep? That does not look good?