ClearFX

Besting global standards for testing and authenticating automotive chemical compounds, ClearFX has been rated to perform exceedingly well under overtly extreme conditions a vehicle faces when used in the harshest of environments. Coupled with more and more cars worldwide attesting to its resilience, strength and durability, ClearFX Attogenetic Surface Engineering protection gives peace of mind when and where it matters most.

Due to how competitive the landscape of protection products in the automotive industry has become through the years—with many such products (i.e. solutions, waxes and coatings) quickly coming and going, the question of how long any surface protective product can last has unfortunately become an inadequately instant indicator of performance rating. Incorrectly used as a product differentiator, it is often misrepresented as a capable measure of how good a surface protection product is—leading to misconceptions on longevity metrics, confusion for consumers, intangible value attached to products and downright false claims made on protective abilities.

Because there really is no way to guarantee an exact duration of protective abilities for surface protection products, a good way to contextualize this question before answering it is by looking at what a protective product can do in the long term, and to be fully transparent with what can be expected from it.

For ClearFX, we believe that the benefits of a protective solution have less to do with how long, and more with how well it protects. ClearFX as both a product and a service are tightly developed together to provide real-world value, comprehensively engineering not just the tangible aspect of a product, but the entire experience of the service it is provided with.

First, ClearFX generates a hardened and chemically inert crystalline layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2) atop an automotive paint finish, just like other ceramic and glass-style coatings. It seals and closes off the entirety of the original paint finish (e.g. paint and clear coat) from the outside world. Like a thin sheet of glass that is initially malleable to form, it then hardens to contour at 10H and sits extremely hydrophobic.

Because silica is highly affined—reacting only with itself, this top layer does not chemically mix, correspond or participate with elements that an automotive surface is typically exposed to. It therefore renders the covered surface highly inert to contaminants and debris, enhancing its final finish and provides more definition, clarity, gloss and luster.

Second, ClearFX goes beyond being a top covering and continues its crystalline structure within the underlying paint finish itself, unlike the other coatings that just adhere on top of the surface. ClearFX seeps into the porous structure of a paint finish and forms a chemical infusion into and mechanical impregnation with it, to create not just a strong adhesion but a permanent cohesion with the vehicle surface. Thus, ClearFX is a permanent addition to the finish and one with the original substrate, treated as a single, whole unit upon cure; and the only way to remove a cured ClearFX treatment is through mechanical/physical abrasion (e.g. grinding, sanding and others). In other words, how the original surface would be normally dealt with is a good way of understanding how to deal with the final, infused amalgamation with ClearFX after it has cured.

These two things are what ClearFX does and does well, which makes it the best protective solution and professional service currently available for an automotive surface. How it protects is what sets it apart—more than just a topical application, it is an attogenetic cohesion that equilibrates into intense protection.

Being permanently bonded onto the finish, ClearFX is one with the surface and therefore subject to the same conditions that would cause normal wear-and-tear on the original paint finish. No matter how well it performs, its intense characteristics will still realistically fade in time with repeated exposure to abrasive elements and naturally degrading actions (e.g. washing, scrubbing and others) that eventually deplete, scour and ultimately alter the refined properties of a freshly-treated/unscathed surface on a microscopic scale.

Coming from such context now allows for properly answering the question of how long ClearFX lasts.

Because of how ClearFX functions, if the treated surface is never exposed to normal wear and tear, ClearFX will last infinitely. It is ultimately the type and length of various exposures that determine how the treated material will wear out over time. This behavior applies to all coatings no matter the manufacturer or product claims. The only real way for a surface to receive ongoing protection is to maintain its protective coating. This upkeep ensures the membrane stays tight, its surface tension is maintained and it performs as intended with continuous protective properties.

As such, though ClearFX lasts for many years, varying degrees of unknown exposure will slowly diminish its protective properties. This is why all ClearFX treatments are eligible for a yearly ClearFX Refine application. A topcoat to the original exterior ClearFX application, ClearFX Refine is specifically developed to replenish protective properties such as hydrophobicity and scratch resistance to a membrane slowly degraded by the elements over time.

The science behind protective products is proof that any claim to years and years' worth of protection from an initial application is simply not true. The real answer to the expectation of longevity over time is a proactive system that continuously ensures long-term protection

ClearFX is an extremely durable protective solution with chemistry similar to nano-coating products, which are often referred to as ceramic or glass coatings. Though these nano-coatings are called "ceramic" or "glass" and the terms are used interchangeably in the industry, it is important to note that nano-coatings do not use and are not even based on ceramic technology. ClearFX is not, either.

The word "ceramic" has become an industry buzzword to describe the characteristics of nano-coatings being hard and durable, similar to a ceramic finish, and that is all there is to the term. Instead, the accurate way to describe nano-coating products is "nanotechnologies," because they use nano-chemistry to achieve their intended results of hardness and durability.

So what is ClearFX and how is it different from nano-coatings? ClearFX may be similar to nano-coatings in that they are both based on the same foundational chemistry of crystallization and hardness, but the difference is that ClearFX enhances and supersedes traditional chemical composition by using attogenetic technology to advance both resistance and longevity.

The prefix "atto" signifies the depth of scale at which the protective solution interacts with and operates on the refined substrate it is introduced to—an automotive surface in this context. Atto- denotes a factor of 10−18, or 0.000000000000000001. In contrast to nano-, which denotes only a factor of 10−9, or 0.000000001, atto-scale operates at a much tinier level than nano-scale—twice the power, to be exact, which means atto-scale is exponentially smaller by definition. This vast dive in scale is how ClearFX refines the silica oxide chemistry by using a denser raw material and formulaic base.

The ClearFX formula can penetrate deeper into a substrate and interact on an exponentially smaller, denser scale than traditional nano-style coatings. This deep-scale action is also why ClearFX has the ability to engage beyond just the top surface of an automotive finish, in contrast to coatings that operate only superficially at the nano-level. This difference in action is because automotive paint, when atomized and sprayed onto a vehicle, creates a framework/structure on a nano-molecular scale; thus, any nano-based technology is unable to penetrate below the surface because their particles are simply too large or equally dense to go down at all and do any kind of work within the underlying substrate.

The depth of scale at which ClearFX operates gives it the ability to penetrate the top surface to add and imbue chemical strength, durability and integrity to the original substrate; while still providing hard and resistant top surface coverage. This dual action increases the durability and resistance of the automotive finish permanently, because ClearFX cannot be removed once applied and saturated into the original surface structure without mechanically abrading it altogether with the paint finish itself.

Another difference that attogenetic technology brings is its denser structure, still by nature of its smaller component chemistry than nano-coatings. This property, by default, lets it produce more durability and a harder surface even with just a single application. Density brings about hardness, just as a dense brick wall is much more difficult to penetrate and damage than a soft, wooden wall, which is less dense and therefore easier to damage. ClearFX works in the exact same way—by adding a denser foundational chemistry to the vehicle, it achieves by default a more durable finish resulting in better protection and more longevity with fewer applications than traditional nano-coatings.

ClearFX further advances this attogenetic paint protection technology with the strength and lightness of graphene. Infused with a particular atomic-scale carbon lattice, the ClearFX® attogenetic formula modified with partially reduced graphene oxide takes on great stability and flexibility with a very high tensile strength, allowing it to embody properties of the material known to be harder than diamond, more elastic than rubber, tougher than steel and lighter than aluminum.

Compared with traditional ceramic coatings, ClearFX with graphene:

• Bonds better: its chemical structure exposes greater surface area to adhere to thanks to its higher resin loading;
• Is less prone to water spots: its heat-diffusive structure reduces the rate of evaporation so minerals can wash off with water instead of getting left behind to form deposits;
• Slides water off easier: its lower sliding angle evacuates water effortlessly giving the surface highly dynamic hydrophobicity, unlike the static hydrophobicity of traditional coatings;
• Beads easier and self-cleans: its higher contact angle lets water roll off better like marbles, picking up and carrying away contaminants as they get moving;
• Repels stains better: its atom-tight framework means virtually no penetration of contaminants like bugs, sap, droppings, dust, fallout and others;
• Resists scratches better: its remarkable elasticity while stiffly holding its shape boosts both hardness and flexibility for greater scratch/mar resistance;
• Is slicker and glossier: its atom-sized honeycomb structure brings unmatched smoothness and even finish;
• Is universally applicable: its high level of adhesion and pan-substrate affinity allows its use on multiple surfaces beyond paint such as trim, glass, and wheels.

Multiple applications of ClearFX will still install a physically measurable, thicker layer on top of the automotive finish, just like nano-coatings. As such, ClearFX does everything a nano-coating does, but it just does them all better and then some—providing the best characteristics that nano-coatings can bring, then effortlessly delivers so much more through its superior engineering.