The facts about Liquid repellency
Liquid repellency or what's known as a hydrophobic effect or water fearing is what all coatings exhibit as part of their abilities
But did you know that a coating that repels water and other liquids the most does not mean that it is providing the best protection on your vehicle?
The facts are that a coating that has the strongest water sheeting effect ( water running off the paint leaving a few beads of water) can offer the least protection than one that shows hydrophobic nature but not as much as others.
All that it is providing is surface tension. We have tested coatings that have this and found them to lack alot of actual protection. There is always a trade off or a compromise when formulating coatings. It's almost impossible to have maximum slickness, maximum water sheeting and maximum protection. The hydrophobic effect falls off a cliff real quickly with some coatings but their protection still remains.
Our coating does provide good water sheeting but it isn't spectacular however the protection is solidly on there and doing it's job for your vehicle and your peace of mind.
What also effects how hydrophobic a coating can be over time is road film. The clear film that builds up from your vehicle being driven and going through the air and picking up airborne contaminants plus whatever the wheels pick up and splatter on the body of the car.
Most car washes do not remove this and this buildup significantly reduces the hydrophobic effect
However give the car a wash with a mixture of our Enigma cleaner and car shampo or Enigma on its own at 3:1 up to 8:1 and it will remove the road film and restore the hydrophobic effect
The coatings we sell are also oleophobic and that is they resist oil from bonding and curing to any coated surface and thus beads of oil or grease come straight off with ease of just a high pressure rinse or that and a gentle hand wash
Both the superhydrophobic effect and oleophobic act in the same way as the water beading effect of the Lotus tree