[fishbonez]

As per title, how does one achieve those tall and almost round water beads.
1/2 circle is relatively easy to achieve but 3/4 circle is difficult for me.

Here are some examples.

Forummer badly_dubbed on detailing world showing 2 layers of Collinite 915.



Forummer caledonia on detailing world as well, not sure what was used.



Another pic from caledonia,



Pictures from this thread: http://www.detailing...ight=water bead


As you can see, the first picture shows a taller beading and has a shape closer to a full sphere whereas the water beads in the second picture are more dome-like shapes.

My best attempt at creating tall beads were with:
SwirlX + 2 layers of Collinite 476s 12 hours apart.

Even with that, I only managed dome or 1/2 circle water beads.

Are the shapes of water beads affected by:

Paintwork?
(e.g. heavy orange peel vs. light orange peel)
(heavily swirled vs. perfectly polished)
(hard vs soft clearcoat);

Contamination?
(rough surface vs. smooth surface);

Last-Step Product(LSP) type?
(Pure carnauba paste vs synthetic sealants vs hybrid waxes);

I know that beading is definitely affected by curing time, as proved in this thread.

http://www.detailing...light=collinite

Pictures are dead but it basically showed that 2 layers of Collinite 476s applied 24 hours apart had a much greater beading effect compared to 2 layers applied immediately.

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome. Feel free to post your own beading shots as well.

[g88]

fishbonez, no pic of your own achievement ?

[vx55]

Hmmm, I think a smooth and clean surface will help improve beading. LSPs seems to be the main factor on how water will bead, and yes even how they are cured so they can be 'layered' to a certain extend.
No prizes for guessing which LSP I used in this pictures . Oh pictures are taken after a wash.

[fishbonez]

g88,
mine are those that are already on my blog part of the wax/sealant tests, so nothing new. Will add mine when I wash the car next round.

vx55,
omaigad! Those are the type of beads I'm trying to get!
Lemme guess, either Colli 915 or some uber expensive wax. Vintage? Destiny? Concorso?

[silgt]

Per my (personal) defination, water beading is a characteristic of tight surface tension (i.e the coated surface having a pore size much smaller than the water droplet itself), hence the water beads instead of just sheets away. A good water beading is measured by how evenly and rounded the water droplets are on a surface. A freshly waxed paintwork will give you good water beading effect but as the oil layer is slowly worn off, the beading weakens, when it happens it is an indication of weaken protection as pollutants, dirt, acid, oil, tree sap, bird poo etc can slowly crep into the pores of the paintwork resulting in deep etching marks and difficulties in cleaning the paint surface. Of course that's just my layman understanding so afaic good water beading = good protection until proven otherwise!

Water beading on my car after a rain shower 8.5 mths after application of G'Zox Glass Coating...cleaning my car is now a simple 15mins affair

[spirit36]

Which is the preferred beading in simplest observation without actual measurement and by visual?
1. Beading evenly....almost the same size? Pic 2 from FB
2. A lots of large beading and lots of small beading? Like Sifu VX pic
3. As long as there are rounded irrelevant to the size and far apart? Like Sifu VX and FB 3rd pic

Aren't beading actually attract contaminant and particles and hence may etch the surface if prolong?
Rgds.

[jackson]

i agree with spirit36 here.

what's the deal about beading anyway? i prefer water sheeting away. to me beading=water spots mark more. because it may breakdown into many small drops but sun,dust here will make water evaporate faster and leaving loads of ugly water spots.

i may be wrong here. please correct me if i am. maybe i wrong 'mind-set' here.

[fishbonez]

Per my (personal) defination, water beading is a characteristic of tight surface tension (i.e the coated surface having a pore size much smaller than the water droplet itself), hence the water beads instead of just sheets away. A good water beading is measured by how evenly and rounded the water droplets are on a surface. A freshly waxed paintwork will give you good water beading effect but as the oil layer is slowly worn off, the beading weakens, when it happens it is an indication of weaken protection as pollutants, dirt, acid, oil, tree sap, bird poo etc can slowly crep into the pores of the paintwork resulting in deep etching marks and difficulties in cleaning the paint surface. Of course that's just my layman understanding so afaic good water beading = good protection until proven otherwise!

Water beading on my car after a rain shower 8.5 mths after application of G'Zox Glass Coating...cleaning my car is now a simple 15mins affair

silgt,
wow 8.5 months and still beading like that?!
How does the paint feel? No dirt-in-paint or contaminants that have to be clayed/polished away?

i agree with spirit36 here.

what's the deal about beading anyway? i prefer water sheeting away. to me beading=water spots mark more. because it may breakdown into many small drops but sun,dust here will make water evaporate faster and leaving loads of ugly water spots.

i may be wrong here. please correct me if i am. maybe i wrong 'mind-set' here.

That's true. Since my wee little test here (M21 Synthetic Sealant VS Soft99 Fusso Coat), I've belonged to the camp of good beading does not always mean good protection, will be glad to be proven wrong. So for me, contradicting to sifu silgt, good beading does not always indicate good protection. But hey I'm only a hobbyist, 'A man with experience is not at the mercy of a man with an opinion'(quote from an Autopian).

I admit I like to see nice beads because it looks cool! haha

spirit36,
I'm not a pro on water beading but I'm guessing taller beads will be preferred. If we look at an angle parallel to the car's paint, beads will usually have a shape of a semi-circle but paint with a higher surface tension will form taller water beads where it takes the form of a 3/4 circle, as shown in the photos by vx55 and silgt.

[vx55]

Hi fishbonez,
It is FK Pink Wax, 2 weeks after application and after 2 washes weekly. I layer too since I was testing the product . It is the sample you gave me

Hi silgt,
What you mentioned is true, regarding high surface tension and how beading is affected when contaminants 'attack' the LSP. I do agree with fishbonez also that water beading does not directly translate into good protection, and it only shows that the product can still be on the surface (good durability).
Either way, as long the coating that you have shown in the picture provides good protection against contaminants and the environment, no reason to doubt its protection

Hi spirit36 and jackson,
Hmm, which type of beading to you prefer?
When it rains, the beading tends to be even and spaced evenly on a relatively flat panel. The beading shown in my pictures are after a wash->rinse, and without using a soft stream of water to help sheet most of the water away. Therefore the beads are irregular and spaced randomly. Oh and the engine bonnet is not flat, it is angled.

To me, beading is a fun thing to observe
There's some fun in watching how a stream of water from the hose turns into beads upon contact with the panel, giving the 'tough protection' look and workings. Of course, this is all very 'visual and subjective', and what's more important is that these beads easily 'fly' away once the car in on the move, so it actually does sheet the water away. Again, this is dependent on what LSP was used.
In my experience with 1000P and Pink Wax, they bead water well and may leave little water spots behind when it is dried, but most of these spots are easy to rinse off without the need to wash.

[spirit36]

Bro VX, FB & Jackson,
Its always a pleasure to read your write up. Valuable points indeed....
Beading is a way of detailing preferred but leaving long on the panels is something I wish not to have...

I remembered Bro Whoopee once said, if it rains he prefers to drive faster to dischrage the beading and sumone also said his kids love to see the drop lets fyling away....hmmm