LionelHutz
07-04-2010, 12:22 AM
After being highly impressed with Optimum`s car wash, I picked up a lot of their other products on a whim. Pending results on durability, most of these are now my "go to" products. I`m really impressed by how user-friendly and effective their products are.
I followed this process: Optimum Power Clean (wheels), Optimum car wash, clay bar, Optimum Hyper Polish, Optimum Poli-Seal, Optimum Car Wax, Optimum Tire Shine. Polish with PC and Lake Country medium green pad, Poli-Seal with finishing pad. On a side note, one of my Lake Country pads separated from the backing during the detail, on maybe the third time I`ve used it--disappointing.
The paint was in fairly good shape to start out with. Some pollen residue, light swirls and a few RIDS installed by the dealer. But I was still amazed by how dirty the pads got even after a clay bar. Thumbs up for the cleaning agents.
The hyper polish is my new favorite polish, hands down. It dusts a bit until the pad is properly primed but is otherwise very easy to use. It has a surprisingly long working time. I would estimate you could work a panel for as long as 5-10 minutes with one application. In my experience, the polish didn`t visibly break down and dust off like some other brands. Still, it wipes off cleanly. With the medium pad, it doesn`t look like there was enough cut to take out all of the RIDS but swirls are totally gone.
Poli-seal is also easy to work with. I didn`t notice any night and day differences in the paint, but it was already in good shape. My one criticism is that even on dark paint, it is tough to tell whether the pad is laying down enough product. It creates a thin film and breaks down almost immediately.
OCW is simply great stuff. I hope there is some durability beyond a few weeks, because it looks great, smells great and is easy to work with.
The two products I didn`t care for were Power Clean and Tire Shine. Power clean wasn`t tough enough to cut German brake dust, even with agitation from a boar`s hair brush. It took two applications and, even then, didn`t remove everything. Tire Shine doesn`t darken the tire enough for my taste. Zaino`s tire shine does a better job as a water-based shine.
Gratuitous pics:
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4131/922406682_uT7yf-L.jpg
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4142/922406771_mWx6v-L.jpg
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4146/922406704_JQtX9-L.jpg
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4136/922189472_mKRmV-L.jpg
I followed this process: Optimum Power Clean (wheels), Optimum car wash, clay bar, Optimum Hyper Polish, Optimum Poli-Seal, Optimum Car Wax, Optimum Tire Shine. Polish with PC and Lake Country medium green pad, Poli-Seal with finishing pad. On a side note, one of my Lake Country pads separated from the backing during the detail, on maybe the third time I`ve used it--disappointing.
The paint was in fairly good shape to start out with. Some pollen residue, light swirls and a few RIDS installed by the dealer. But I was still amazed by how dirty the pads got even after a clay bar. Thumbs up for the cleaning agents.
The hyper polish is my new favorite polish, hands down. It dusts a bit until the pad is properly primed but is otherwise very easy to use. It has a surprisingly long working time. I would estimate you could work a panel for as long as 5-10 minutes with one application. In my experience, the polish didn`t visibly break down and dust off like some other brands. Still, it wipes off cleanly. With the medium pad, it doesn`t look like there was enough cut to take out all of the RIDS but swirls are totally gone.
Poli-seal is also easy to work with. I didn`t notice any night and day differences in the paint, but it was already in good shape. My one criticism is that even on dark paint, it is tough to tell whether the pad is laying down enough product. It creates a thin film and breaks down almost immediately.
OCW is simply great stuff. I hope there is some durability beyond a few weeks, because it looks great, smells great and is easy to work with.
The two products I didn`t care for were Power Clean and Tire Shine. Power clean wasn`t tough enough to cut German brake dust, even with agitation from a boar`s hair brush. It took two applications and, even then, didn`t remove everything. Tire Shine doesn`t darken the tire enough for my taste. Zaino`s tire shine does a better job as a water-based shine.
Gratuitous pics:
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4131/922406682_uT7yf-L.jpg
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4142/922406771_mWx6v-L.jpg
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4146/922406704_JQtX9-L.jpg
http://girasole.smugmug.com/Cars/Audi-S4/DSC4136/922189472_mKRmV-L.jpg