Undrdog Pro Coating: Undrdog Surface Products
Ceramic coatings have been all the rage for a while now, but they aren’t the only protective coating that you can apply to your vehicle. Personally, I’ve applied waxes, paint sealants, and ceramic coatings. But I haven’t installed some of the other types of coatings out there such as a PTFE (a.k.a. Teflon) coating. So when Undrdog supplied me with their Pro Coating to test out, I knew I had to give it a try.
What is Undrdog Pro Coating?
So what is Undrdog Pro? According to Undrdog, Unrdog Pro is a pro-grade, single layer coating based on Polytetrafluoroethylene – (C2F4)n, Silicon, and Paraffin. Essentially putting this into the category of a PTFE, or a Teflon coating.
Fluoropolymer coatings have been around for a long time with many applications with many industries. These coatings fuse to the surface they are applied to and offer a slick coating that can be resistant to friction, chemicals, and abrasion to a certain degree.
Undrdog’s Pro Coating is their professional grade Teflon coating that will last you a long time. With this product applied to your vehicle, it will protect your paint from UV damage from the sun and make it easier to wash your car in the future.
Products Used for Applying Undrdog’s Pro Coating
I used this 60mL bottle of Undrdog Pro and it was more than enough for my Honda Odyssey. I had about 25% of product left after I was finished. The product comes in a glass bottle as shown below and is similarly packaged as other ceramic coatings are.
To apply the product, you will need an applicator pad. Undrdog also sells these 3.5″ x 5″ applicator pads, which is a short-pile microfiber pad that is plastic-lined on the inside. If you’ve used other ceramic coating applicator pads before, you may find this one a bit less conventional looking compared to the traditional rigid foam applicator pad.
For me, Undrdog’s applicator pad feels a bit larger than it should be and the plastic inner liner makes the pad feel a bit ‘sloshy’ when you’re moving it back and forth across a panel. It still works and I was still able to apply the Pro Coating using this pad. If you prefer a more precise feel, you can always try applying Undrdog Pro Coating with a rigid foam applicator pad instead.
Finally, to wipe away Undrdog Pro, Undrdog has these plush microfiber towels to buff it all away. Typically with a ceramic coating, the ideal towel to use to level and wipe away the product is a low-pile microfiber towel. This plush towel isn’t a low-pile type of towel, but it can still remove/buff away the coating after you’re applied it. Also, it is incredibly soft and feels so nice in the hand.
I did notice that there were small fibers that would shed from the towel, but it would go away after dusting it off for a minute or so. Therefore, I recommend that you dust it off or wash/dry it prior to first use.
Prior to Applying Undrdog Pro Coating
Before you apply Undrdog Pro, you should wash your car thoroughly at the very least. I also recommend doing a decontamination both chemically (iron remover) and mechanically (clay bar). After that, many folks swear by doing a minimum of a polish prior to applying any kind of coating but in my opinion it is not necessary for a couple of reasons. This car is our daily driver and I don’t need it to look pristine, nor do I want to wear down any of the clear coat on the car that would occur from polishing the paint.
On this vehicle, I went through the process of washing the car, using Undrdog ‘The Purps’ Iron & Fallout Remover, and clay bar the entire vehicle. Afterwards, I did another light wash of the vehicle and completely dried it. With the vehicle completely dry, it is now time to apply the coating.
First, it’s always good to wear eye protection, a respirator, and gloves when you’re working with any coating. Undrdog recommends working in a well-ventilated space and applying this product in temperatures between 45 degrees and 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
The application for Undrdog is super easy. Simply let the product drip out onto your applicator pad and then wipe onto a panel of the car. If this is the first panel you’re working on and your applicator pad is dry, you’ll want to more thoroughly wet the pad the first time (also called priming the pad.) Wipe the panel thoroughly, ideally in a cross-hatch pattern making sure to overlap your passes. This will ensure even and complete coverage when applying the product. Work on one panel at a time so you can keep track of your progress.
Now, on Undrdog’s website, it is stated that Undrdog Pro is designed so that it can be applied over the entire vehicle before being wiped away. It also says in more detail that you should be wiping away the product after it has been on the car for about 7-10 minutes, which is the time it takes to flash. This is different from the way ceramic coatings are applied, as you would only wait around a couple minutes depending on your weather conditions before wiping away the coating.
I don’t believe that you can apply the coating over the entire vehicle in 7-10 minutes (at least properly and thoroughly), so I don’t recommend trying to apply the entire car before buffing it off. You really want to take your time and apply it carefully in a cross-hatch pattern as much as possible. If you apply the coating panel-by-panel and then buffed the earliest applied panel when 7-10 minutes has elapsed, it might get confusing to keep track of which panels you’ve done and which has yet to be buffed off.
I would recommend doing about 2-3 panels, and wiping off the panels in the order you applied. Then once these 2-3 panels are complete, you can then move onto the next 2-3 panels to apply, buff off, and continue on. This helps you keep track of your progress and doesn’t make things confusing.
Continue working panel-by-panel until you’ve coated and buffed all paint surfaces. You can even apply this product on trim pieces and rubber/plastic parts as well. If your applicator pad appears clogged up or has gotten dirty somehow, turn it over and use the other side instead. The nice thing about Undrdog’s applicator pad is that it is two-toned, so you can distinguish what side you’re using based on the color side you’re using.
Undrdog Pro is certainly an easy product to apply. You don’t have the same kind of finicky flashing issues that you might experience with a ceramic coating, especially when applying this outdoors in the sunlight. Still, you should apply the product within the temperature range Undrdog specifies.
After applying and wiping off this product over the entire vehicle, you need to wait 3 hours for it to completely dry. Then you need another 24 hours for it to cure, so try to keep the vehicle from getting wet. Since cars left outdoors collect condensation at night and early morning, it’s best to apply the product earlier in the day to allow for that curing time. As for washing the car, wait at least a week before you wash the vehicle.
About a week after applying Undrdog Pro, the water beading action is already pretty incredible as you can see below.
One of the best things about having a car that has had a protective coating applied to it, is that you can easily dry off the vehicle with a leaf blower after you’ve washed it. The water just runs off the car with the blower without much need for a drying towel.
And with another month passing, I washed the vehicle (again, super easy and enjoyable to wash with the car coated.) The water runs off easily as the paint still exhibits incredible hydrophobic properties. I plan to continue checking the longevity of the Undrdog Pro Coating over time and updating any findings here in the future.
There’s one major thing I love about Undrdog Pro Coating and that is how easy it is to apply, even when you doing it outside. Since I don’t have a sheltered parking spot, nor a large enough of a garage to park a car, applying a ceramic coating (with its inherent finicky flash times) outdoors can be tricky. But with Undrdog Pro, I never felt the product dry up or flash too quickly; it just went on and buffed off effortlessly. So for now, I’m incredibly happy with this product, but the real test is how long this product lasts.
Try Undrdog Pro Coating: Undrdog Surface Products
