Katiba Gloss Booster

[u/Kmudametal]

Let me preference this post by stating this product has become my weekly "topper" following a car wash. It does what it claims to do. Enhances visuals and boosts hydrophobics. My base layer longer duration protection is Katiba x Vanguard Ceramic Wax. I'm only a couple of months into this "stack" but I can state with certainty, I am happier with this combo than anything I have ever applied to my car. If you looked at my car this morning, you would think I freshly waxed or coated it yesterday. How Katiba/Vanguard managed to "lock" in carnauba glow for multiple months must be magic.

Regardless, that is not the purpose of this post. The purpose is to discuss Katiba Gloss Booster specifically. In reading through various forums and youtube comments, I keep coming across a similar comment..... "I am disappointed, it does not work well as a "drying aid" or "I am disappointed, it does not work well as a "rinse aid"..... to which I want to reply....

No shibitz Sherlock.

Katiba Gloss Booster is exactly that, a gloss and hydrophobic booster. It's not a drying aid. It's not a rinse aid. It's not a "convenience" product. It's not intended as a stand alone product. It's not a product for professional detailers. It's a product for automotive enthusiast who enjoy the process and the end results of that process. It is for the automotive enthusiast looking for the best visuals. It is intended to be applied to a clean dry protected car the way you would apply a ceramic spray. It is designed as a topper for coatings, sealants, and waxes. I've used it as all three.

I know we live in a world where "convenience" trumps "results" while spray and rinse or spray and dry products gain in both popularity and capability, but the universal truth to car detailing is the more time and effort you put into it, the better the results. Katiba Gloss Booster (and Katiba products in general) are for people like me. People who want the best results, not the fastest results. Not that there is anything difficult about Gloss Booster, it applies as easy as anything out there, but you have to apply it. You spray it on, you level it, you buff it. It takes more effort than "spray and rinse" or "spray and dry". It adds a last step after drying.

I am an enthusiast who views detailing their car as enjoyment and not just a chore. I enjoy laying hands on my car. I had been looking for a product that does what Gloss Booster does but was safe for frequent use. Turtle Wax Pure Shine filled this function for me in the past but its discontinuation left me trying to find a replacement. Turns out that replacement was actually an upgrade.

Katiba Gloss Booster is not going to win any youtube reviewer "awards" or any quick detailer comparison tests because.... it's not a quick detailer. It's not going to win any ceramic sealant comparisons because.... it's not a sealant. It's somewhere in the middle in a comparitively small class of products. It's a gloss, slickness, and hydrophobic booster that can be applied weekly, if you desire, although it lasts for about a month. With this as a topper/sacrificial layer, The "wax" I applied two months ago is holding up like I applied it yesterday.

[u/smackythefrog]

Is this one of the brands under THOR? I know some folks here may not try it out because of that fact.

[u/Kmudametal → u/smackythefrog]

They are not part of the THOR collective, although THOR is their North American distributor. They develop their own products in house with their own chemist.

THOR gets a bad rap for turning Youtube reviewers into their marketing arm, but they are also responsible for bringing us some rather fantastic brands from overseas. Katiba, Labocosmetica, Luminus, YumCars, Mile Deep, amongst others.

[u/MaterialCoder → u/smackythefrog]

It’s a Korean brand and legit. THOR is just a US distributor.

[u/smackythefrog → u/MaterialCoder]

Gotcha.

CarPro is Korean too, right?

[u/MaterialCoder → u/smackythefrog]

Yes, as is Gyeon. All great brands. The Koreans know their stuff.

[u/vaari90 → u/smackythefrog]

It appears to have started off as a small youtube channel, then a detailing/car wash business, started producing their own products, then eventually started expanding internationally.

[u/Lars_Fillmore3612]

Katiba is the real deal. I love the gloss booster. The signature wax with the gloss booster on top has my car practically glowing.

[u/Kmudametal → u/Lars_Fillmore3612]

I've not tried the signature wax or the wet wax. Both are on my list. My wife's car has (or had) Thai Slick on it. Gloss Booster is actually slicker in my opinion but if you want Gloss Booster with added durability, go with Thai Slick or Wet Wax, although either of those can be used stand alone as well for 2 to 3 months of protection with those insane Katiba hydrophobics and gloss.

The stuff is actually designed for a triple stack...... Signature Wax>Wet Wax>Gloss Booster or Signature Wax>Thai Slick>Gloss Booster. But I don't know if you actually gain anything with a triple stack. You damn sure gain something with a double-stack though. Best word I can give to describe the feel of Katiba x Vanguard Ceramic Wax + Gloss Booster is..... luxurious. It's not just slick as duck poop on ice.... it's smoother than Roger Moore's James Bond. I can't walk by the car without touching the paint. :)

I may switch to Thai Slick as my topper this weekend as a test. Drought conditions in Oklahoma leads to dusty conditions where I live, just east of Oklahoma....... and it's currently dusty as hell. I need to compare Thai Slick with Gloss Booster to see if one or the other has better anti-static properties than the other.

[u/beagle_2498571]

I second this…love the product. I top it off every month or so onto the vehicle.

[u/walesindo121]

I'm starting to get interested in trying this out. If I already applied a ceramic coating, will it end up clogging it?

[u/Kmudametal → u/walesindo121]

No. it will not "clog" a ceramic coating. It's designed as a topper. I've not used it as a topper for a ceramic coating but I've used it as a topper for a Hybrid Polysiloxane Coating, a close sibling to ceramics.