Optimum Compound and Polish Comparison

[seech]

After my initial detail with ONR and the Optimum Polish II here:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...ton-exora.html



I decided to do another comparison between Optimum Compound II, Optimum Polish II, Optimum Polish and Poli-Seal. Only this time I tried it out on a black car with the softest paint which I have yet to come across, a Honda Accord. (For whatever reason, the Honda paint over here is very soft.)



Started off with an Optimum No-Rinse (ONR) wash.



50/50 after ONR.





Taped up for the comparison:





Condition of the paint before:



















Plenty of swirls all over and fairly consistent over all of the test panels.



First up, Optimum Compound II (OCII) with a Meguiar`s Soft Buff 2.0 Cutting Pad.







The OCII had a long work time for a compound and very little dusting. The compound and cutting pad left a fine consistent haze from the cutting.







Next up was the Optimum Polish II (OPII) with a Meguiar`s Soft Buff 2.0 Polishing Pad.







I used the OPII on the previous detail and found it to have a very long work time with very minimal dust.







The OPII was also used to remove the haze from the OCII.







The OPII finished off quite well on white paint. How will it do on the soft black paint?











The cutting marks from the OCII and the swirls were completely removed and the finish looked good enough. But..... on the soft Honda paint, some very mild hologramming was visible on both panels.











Time for Optimum Finish (OF). As the cutting and finishing ability of a product is also dependent on the pads used, I decided to try out OF with a Meguiar`s Soft Buff 2.0 Polishing Pad and a Finishing Pad.







OF is supposed to have very minimal cut and is meant as a final finishing product so it would be interesting to see what sort of correction could be achieved with OF and a polishing pad.







Most of the finer swirls/scratches were removed with the OF/polishing pad combo but some of the deeper swirls which were easily removed with OPII were still present. This combo could be used to correct paint with minor defects and it left a very nice finish.



The OF/finishing pad combo not surprisingly had the lowest cutting power and did not achieve much correction with plenty of swirls still left on the paint.







OF was also used on the first two panels with a finishing pad to remove the mild hollowgramming from the OPII.







Finally, Poli-Seal (PS). Optimum`s All-In-One (AIO) product which is supposed to polish, finish and protect the paint in one step. I have read a lot about PS on the international detailing forums and was very keen to try it out.







PS was supposed to be easy to work with and a long work time but I found that in this application with the polishing pad it tended to dry up and cake on the pad. Applying more product did not seem to help and it left an uneven finish behind.











Some more testing will be required to see which pad combo will be required for the PS.



Before and after:











The entire hood was treated to one more pass of OPII followed by OF/Finishing Pad.







After OPII & OF.











After the trials on the hood, the entire car was waxed with Optimum Car Wax (OCW) which gave the black paint a deep glossy glow. Very impressive for a spray on wipe off product.











How about some full sun shots you say?











The front fenders were not corrected and the swirls are still very visible.











My favorite shot. Capturing the full sun and some awesome reflections off the paint.







Thanks for looking. Comments and feedback are most welcome.

[wannafbody]

Did you do an IPA wipedown after polishing? In my experience Optimum compound leaves something on the paint.

[seech]

Did you do an IPA wipedown after polishing? In my experience Optimum compound leaves something on the paint.

No, didn`t do an IPA wipedown but you are probably right as the product seems to stick to the pads and requires some APC to remove. Will be monitoring how it looks to see if any swirls and hollowgrams are present after a couple of weeks.

[Kean]

Did you do an IPA wipedown after polishing? In my experience Optimum compound leaves something on the paint.

....that was my experience as well. I was using Optimum polish before the "II`s" came out. I later bought OC2, OP2 and OF since I had a good experience with the original OP (loved how little the product would dust and the work time). I use them on the relatively soft paint of both my Subarus. Considering that I`m usually only dealing with light to moderate correction when it comes time to polish, they`ve been a decent solution.

[imported_Bence]

Wow, you used A LOT of polish! I`m using far less than that; in fact IME Optimum polishes lose their efficiency when overapplied. Their lubes are so stable that if you use too much the result will be just skating on their own juices and less correction than physically possible, because the abrasive particles can`t strike through the lube film properly. After the priming of the pad, I`m using just 2-4 pea sized drops of polish.



HOWEVER that was with the 1st gen of OP & OC. I haven`t tried the 2nd gen stuff, so the dosage is maybe right with these - especially when the amounts were used for pad priming too.



Poli Seal is a different story. Your reaction is typical and understandable - but you have to understand the OPS too. First, it`s a product that is designed to work invisibly, so don`t expect the typical trace of polish behind the pad. If the pad pulls a trace, you`re using too much. OPS disappears immediately "into the paint" as you working it in. You have to go by feel rather than optical feedback. If it glides smoothly, there is enough on the pad. When it starts to get grabbier, it is time to add a bit more. You have to use slightly more OPS than OP, so go with 3-5 pea sized drops on a primed pad.

OPS can pick up the slight residue OP leaves, so you don`t have to remove OP separately, you can simply go over the residue directly with OPS. And because OPS won`t leave its own residue, you don`t have to clean up anything. Slap on a coat of OCW or OOS, and you`re done!

[seech]

Wow, you used A LOT of polish! I`m using far less than that; in fact IME Optimum polishes lose their efficiency when overapplied. Their lubes are so stable that if you use too much the result will be just skating on their own juices and less correction than physically possible, because the abrasive particles can`t strike through the lube film properly. After the priming of the pad, I`m using just 2-4 pea sized drops of polish.



HOWEVER that was with the 1st gen of OP & OC. I haven`t tried the 2nd gen stuff, so the dosage is maybe right with these - especially when the amounts were used for pad priming too.



Poli Seal is a different story. Your reaction is typical and understandable - but you have to understand the OPS too. First, it`s a product that is designed to work invisibly, so don`t expect the typical trace of polish behind the pad. If the pad pulls a trace, you`re using too much. OPS disappears immediately "into the paint" as you working it in. You have to go by feel rather than optical feedback. If it glides smoothly, there is enough on the pad. When it starts to get grabbier, it is time to add a bit more. You have to use slightly more OPS than OP, so go with 3-5 pea sized drops on a primed pad.

OPS can pick up the slight residue OP leaves, so you don`t have to remove OP separately, you can simply go over the residue directly with OPS. And because OPS won`t leave its own residue, you don`t have to clean up anything. Slap on a coat of OCW or OOS, and you`re done!

Thanks for the feedback. I actually tried using less but I find that with the temperature and humidity we have over here, even applying more pressure or bumping up the rpms on the rotary would have the products drying up and the pads squealing from being too dry. This is also true of Meg`s M205. It seems to have a very long work time in cooler climates but once you use it here it seems to dry up quickly requiring more product to maintain the lubrication. Using the KBM with a quick squirt of water does help things and I typically use that with M105 before.



I`ll try out your recommendation on the OPS and see how it goes. Thanks for the info.



Cheers.

[Alfisti]

Nice write-up seech!

[vx55]

Hi seech,



It`s good to see a fellow Optimum user in this region

Bence is correct, Optimum products works best when you use a little amount.

For example, for one of your square test panel, I would use only one 2-inch thin strip of product on the pad itself. I know it sounds crazy, but I have been using their products for almost 2 years

As for Poli-Seal, it won`t have a long working time compared to its brethren but it works quickly and effectively. When used correctly, there won`t be any residue to wipe off. If you are not sure if there`s enough Poli-Seal being used, just check the panel for slickness

[seech]

Nice write-up seech!

Thanks.

Hi seech,



It`s good to see a fellow Optimum user in this region

Bence is correct, Optimum products works best when you use a little amount.

For example, for one of your square test panel, I would use only one 2-inch thin strip of product on the pad itself. I know it sounds crazy, but I have been using their products for almost 2 years

As for Poli-Seal, it won`t have a long working time compared to its brethren but it works quickly and effectively. When used correctly, there won`t be any residue to wipe off. If you are not sure if there`s enough Poli-Seal being used, just check the panel for slickness

Hey vx55. Where you located?



Hmm.... will give it another go with less products and see how that goes.

[vx55]

Thanks.



Hey vx55. Where you located?



Hmm.... will give it another go with less products and see how that goes.

Hi, I am located at JB, quite far away from you :LOLOL

You can meet me up if you are around here, or when you are visiting Singapore

[imported_fishbonezken]

Hi, I am located at JB, quite far away from you :LOLOL

You can meet me up if you are around here, or when you are visiting Singapore

Can I tag along? :heelclick: hehehe



Nice write-up as usual Seech! I had the same experience with you on my first play with OPS, you really have to work it `invisibly`.

[vx55]

Can I tag along? :heelclick: hehehe



Nice write-up as usual Seech! I had the same experience with you on my first play with OPS, you really have to work it `invisibly`.

Of course bud!

I have a spare room here for guests :hifive:

[seech]

Hi, I am located at JB, quite far away from you :LOLOL

You can meet me up if you are around here, or when you are visiting Singapore

JB? Not so far lah... my wife`s from JB.

Can I tag along? :heelclick: hehehe



Nice write-up as usual Seech! I had the same experience with you on my first play with OPS, you really have to work it `invisibly`.

Next time I`ll come down there with fish to go check out the detailing scene down south... heheheh.



Just did a detail yesterday on a Porsche and I did try out the recommendations on using less product. Much better results. Will post the details of the detail soon. Thanks again.

[imported_Bence]

Great to hear! You`re welcome!