3D BEAD IT UP

3D BEAD IT UP is the ultimate spray-on paint and multi-surface protectant that actually does what similar products claim. There are hundreds of spray-on protectants that all claim to make water bead while protecting the paint. Most will do this initially but not only do they not last very long the also leave the paint feeling tacky or rubbery. Many also turn the surface into a dust magnet defeating at least one of the reasons we all detail our cars.

3D BEAD IT UP is a costly formula, not a cheap me-too product. It uses the best chemistry created in 3D’s own laboratory.  Some of the ingredients 3D BEAD IT UP are unique in the world. They use proprietary chemistry invented by 3D.

So good it can stand on its own as a dedicated sealant. While we market this as a spray-on coating booster and topper for other waxes and sealants, the bonding of this product to a surface is so strong plus the hydrophobic surface it creates as well as the gloss, shine and most important – slickness – you can actually use this as a booster, a topper, or a stand-alone sealant. It simple leaves other products in this category in their own dust. 

What is it? - A fast, easy to use spray on synthetic surface sealant.

What does it do? - Seals and protects virtually any type of smooth surface with a proprietary formula that creates a high gloss shine with a layer of water-beading protection.

When do you use it? - Any time you want to add gloss, shine, and slickness while at the same time adding a layer of hydrophobic protection.

Why use 3D BEAD IT UP over other options? - 3D is the world’s best direct manufacturer of car care products available on the market today. This is a pretty bold claim but the performance of our products back it up. And so do we. If you’re not happy with this product or any 3D product, return it for 110% of the purchase price. We put our money where out mouth is because before we ship any product, we make sure product on the inside of the bottle is best-in-class for any car care product category. When you see 3D on the outside of the label, you know what’s inside the bottle will perform as advertised.

• Fast and easy to use – Spray-on, wipe-off.
• Creates a super hydrophobic surface that protects the paint and beads water like crazy!
• Makes your car’s paint feel super slick and slippery.
• Cross-linking polymer technology creates a strong bond to any smooth surface.
• Universal Ceramic Coating Booster.
• Topper for waxes and sealants.
• Use on dry car or as a drying agent after washing.
• Protects against water spots, bird droppings, bug splatter, airborne pollution, industrial chemical fallout, traffic film and pollen.
• Use on paint, glass, chrome, polished aluminum, all types of trim, all types of wheels, exterior and interior plastic surfaces as well as gelcoat boats, motorhomes, trailers, and all types of aircraft.

IMPORTANT: Always work on a cool, clean surface in the shade and shake liquid waxes well before and during use.

Step 1: Spray a light mist of product to a section of a body panel.

Step 2: Using a clean, soft microfiber towel, spread the product over the surface to create at thin, uniform layer of product on the surface.

Step 3: Using a separate, clean, soft microfiber towel, remove any excess product and buff this section to a dry, high gloss shine. Repeat this process to the rest of the car. For best results, use plenty of clean, dry soft microfiber towels.

Additional Information

Real-world Example – 1964 Chevy Impala SS

Recently Mike Phillips detailed a 1964 Chevy Impala SS. This is a restored car with a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint job. For his LSP or Last Step Product, he topped the results created with 3D SPEED with an application of 3D BEAD IT UP. 

Boosters and Toppers

In the detailing world, there’s a certain amount of detailing lingo used in both the real-world and the online world of car detailing. Two commonly used words are booster and topper. This are similar products, the idea being to choose and use a product in this category to,

1. Extend the life of the previously applied wax, sealant, or pant coating.

2. To refresh or boost the water beading and protection.

3. To extend the time between a normal wash job and full-on detail job.

4. To top the just applied protection product to gain even more protection and longevity.

3D SPEED is a great one-step AIO

Anyone that’s ever-used 3D SPEED knows first-hand that excels at removing defects like swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation. But like all AIOs, because these are complex products doing the work or steps of 3 individual products, one of the downsides is you typically don’t get the longevity out of ANY brand of AIO that you would if you were to use a dedicated paint protection product. A dedicated paint protection product would be the opposite of an AIO.

Whereas an AIO works like a compound, a polish and a sealant all mixed together, also referred to as a cleaner/wax, because it cleans or removes defects as you use it, a dedicated paint protection product would be a NON-cleaning product. For example, a non-cleaning or pure Carnauba Wax like the 3D Carnauba Paste Wax. All this product is formulated to do is protect the paint while adding gloss, slickness, and shine. It’s not designed to remove paint defects therefore you either only use it on paint in new or like-new condition or you do the necessary paint correction steps BEFORE you use this type of product.

An example of a non-cleaning synthetic paint sealant would be the 3D POXY. It’s formulated to add protection plus gloss, shine, water beading etc. And an example of a non-cleaning paint coating would be the 3D Ceramic Paint Coating. As we all know, before anyone can install a ceramic paint coating, the paint must first be perfected via a thorough paint correction process.

Circling back to a booster or topper - One of the techniques professional detailers use to quickly add more protection to any detail job where an AIO was use is to apply a booster or a topper. This is what I did for this 1964 Impala. I machine applied the 3D SPEED, which remove the majority of all the paint defects while created a dazzling show car finish.

Then to add even more gloss, more protection and maximize the water-beading I topped the paint with 3D BEAD IT UP. It only took me a few extra minutes and a little product, but the customer-pleasing results are worth it. Plus, I know the paint will now be protected even longer than it would have been if I had simply stopped after the 3D SPEED.

The Multi-Towel Technique with 3D BEAD IT UP by Mike Phillips

The Secret Technique Tip

Spray-on, wipe-off products work best when you use multiple towels for the wipe-off. The technique is simple but makes all the difference in the world when it comes to getting the best bang for your hard-earned money while staying true to the claim that applying this product is fast and easy.

What’s the secret? - It’s as simple as dampening a single side of a folded microfiber towel and then using this same side of this folded towel to apply and spread 3D BEAD IT UP over the entire car.

Why? - Because the natural characteristic of a dry microfiber towel is to absorb, remove and dry-off a surface. 

If you spray a liquid onto a surface, for example the hood of your car, and next try to spread the product out with a clean, dry microfiber towel. At the same time you’re trying to spread the product out the DRY towel will be trying to absorb, remove and dry-off the surface you’re trying to treat.

In simple words – you’re fighting yourself. And if you don’t figure this out, you’ll become frustrated and, in all likelihood, blame the product. It’s not the product’s fault – you simply need to tweak your technique.

Here’s the correct way an experienced professional applies a spray-on product to a clean, dry car.

Step 1: Start by DAMPENING one side of a folded microfiber towel with the product you're applying. By using this one simple technique, the side you're going to apply the sealant with is already dampened with the product.

Step 2: Spray a LIGHT mist of product onto a section of a body panel.

Step 3: Using the damped side of the folded microfiber towel, gently spread the mist of product over the panel doing your best to lay down a thin, uniform layer of product. Because 3D BEAD IT UP spreads easy and because the towel you’re applying the product with is already pre-dampened with the product, you’ll find a LIGHT mist of product will go a long way. And practice makes perfect. 

Pay attention to the task at hand and be looking at the surface as you move the application towel over the paint. After a thin film is present either continue working on this panel, applying light mists of product as needed or move to a new body panel.

Wipe-off Techniques

Wiping any product off a surface is also very easy IF you use multiple towels. The way a microfiber towel works is the microscopic filaments grab onto and hold onto the product you’re wanting go remove. At some point, there will be enough product that has transferred from a treated body panel onto a section of your microfiber towel that it will simply be full or filled-up. Kind of like a glass of water, once you fill it to the brim, you cannot add any more water. Microfiber towels work kind of like this. 

What makes removal of any product faster, easier and SAFER to the paint, (clearcoat paints scratch really easy), is to simply use plenty of towels. For an average size 2 or 4 door passenger car, this is around 5-6 towels.

Most Important - Inspect your towels

I have a saying, it goes like this, “It takes hours to buff out a car and only seconds to put scratches into the paint.”

When you look at a swirled-out finish on a car in bright overhead sunlight, ask yourself this questions, “How did the paint become filled with so many swirls and scratches?” The answer is really simple. The way paint or any surface gets scratched comes down to how it’s touched. Microfiber towels are grabby. This is why we like them, they excel at grabbing compound, polish, wax, dressings, conditioners, etc., whatever it is you want to remove – off the surface. 

In the same way they excel at grabbing and removing the substances we apply to our cars, they also excel at grabbing all the things we DON’T want them to grab and then hold onto and this includes things like, dirt, sticks, leaves, dead bugs, rocks, etc. If the garage floor, or driveway or wherever you’re working, is dirty, and you drop a microfiber towel, it will tend to pick-up and hold onto whatever was on the ground. If you don’t surgically remove any of this debris and then wash this dropped towel with the rest of your collection of microfiber towels – you just contaminated all your towels.

Be sure to have some simple tools and best practices in place that will enable you to keep your microfiber towels clean when stored, when you’re using them, while they’re in queue for washing and drying and back to storing after they come out of the drier.

How to inspect your microfiber towels

If you do a great job of keeping your towels clean and have a process similar to what I outline above to help you keep them clean, then it’s possible (because you’re the exception to the rule), that you can simply reach into your storage cabinet or storage container, grab a clean towel, and proceed to rub it over your car’s paint.

But if you’re like the rest of us then here’s what to do…

Visually and tactically inspect your towels

Have a clean place to layout a single towel to inspect it. Be sure to wipe this area, be it a table or a workbench in the garage with a glass cleaner, spray detailer, all-purpose cleaner, etc. to make 100% sure it’s surgically clean and free from any dirt, abrasive particles and even dust.

Grab a stack of clean towels from wherever you store your clean towels and place them on your clan table/workbench.

Lay a single towel out flat and then using your eyes – look at the towel and inspect it for any foreign particles – if discovered – using your fingers or even a set of tweezers – pick out the contaminants.

Next – using your clean hands and rub them over the entire surface of this towel. Sometimes your sense of touch can detect things your eyes cannot see. If you feel anything sharp, hard, or pokey, then pick it out of the fibers of the towel.

If you cannot pick out the offending particulate – then consider cutting the fibers off the towel in this area. It’s an option. It may leave your towel looking funky, but your car’s paint doesn’t care how a towel looks. Worst case scenario – stop using this towel. If you do not feel you are able to decontaminate a towel – then re-purpose this “paint care” towel for a different job of lesser importance. Perhaps wiping excess tire dressing off of tire sidewalls or cleaning up oil-drippings off the garage floor.

All you have to do is discover you have put scratches back into your car after you know it was scratch-free ONE TIME – and it will turn you into a believer. No matter how many extra minutes it takes – you’re going to always inspect your towels before wiping your car’s paint. Because… It takes hours to buff out a car and only seconds to put scratches into the paint.