Scholls S3 Gold Compound Review

[CH.Detailing]

A few months back Todd Cooperider started selling some products by Scholl Concepts, and two that really caught my eye were the S3 Extra Heavy Cut compound and S40 superfine finishing polish. On a trip through Ohio I decided to swing by the Esoteric Detailing Studio and pick some up in person. After being thoroughly impressed with the shop and layout (Todd came in on his day off to show me around, what a guy!) I left with a bottle of each. Read on to hear my praises of the S3 compound!



Description (from Esoteric`s website):

Cut: Extra Heavy (5/6) Gloss: High (4/6) Sanding Paper: P1500

S3 Edition Gold is a single stage, high performance cutting compound that can remove more serious defects in seconds – oxidization and grit P1500 sanding marks. When worked fully with little pressure at the end of the buffing cycle, it will finish to an incredible high gloss.

This high performance cutting compound has been designed specifically for paint finishing work on scratch resistant surfaces, including UV cured paints. It is recommended for nearly all paint finishing applications on fresh paints.

Thanks to iPT (intelligent Powder Technology), which is based on high purity aluminium oxide, you can now remove imperfections in the top coat even quicker and easier than before. Users benefit from the high cut, the brilliant mirror gloss and the easy handling of this impressive compound.

With S3 Edition Gold there is virtually no dust contamination and it won`t stick to paint, even on hot surfaces. Free of silicone, wax and toxic solvents.

Suitable for conventional and scratch-resistant paintwork, used and fresh paint, and for machine or hand application.

S3 Edition Gold is also ideal for paint finishing applications on polycarbonate and wood.

I`ve used S3 with a variety of foam cutting, polishing, and finishing pads, microfiber pads, with a rotary, and with DA. I`ve used it on new paint, old paint, clear coat, and single stage. You can use it for heavy cutting, as a good polish, and even to do fine finishing work, but I`ve found that it plays the heavy cutting role best. While it works fantastically well no matter how you use it, I prefer to use it with an LC orange pad on a rotary @~1800 rpms with light pressure. With this said, this will be the situation in which I will be describing how the product works. Some of the more subtle characteristics may vary when using a DA or with something other than a foam pad.




S3 is an absolute pleasure to use. First, you only need a very small amount of product, 2 or 3 pea sized drops is all thats needed to do a 2`x2` section. It spreads very smoothly and covers a large area very evenly without much effort, a little goes a long ways. S3 doesn`t dry out very quickly and has a long working time, for the best results keep working it until it is completely clear. Remove with a soft microfiber and be amazed at the gloss and clarity that comes paired with such a high correction ability. Working with a clean pad is very important as it can occasionally `gum up` if you`re using too much product and small pills of gummed up compound will form on the panel. This hasn`t caused me any marring issues but it is annoying, so clean the pad often. This is especially true when working on oxidized single stage.

As with any compound, use it on a clean and cool surface. In this example, the car washed with Blackfire rinseless and clayed with Blackfire polyclay prior to correction.


















I absolutely love using this stuff. It barely takes any product to get good results (less is more approach), it has an incredibly long working time, very very easy to wipe off (no oily mess), impressive combination of cutting and finishing with high levels of gloss. It is what I find myself reaching for most often. This is the product that broke my crackhead like addiction to M105, its that good (although it has slightly less cut IMO).

The only downside is the cost at $54.95 for 1kg or $25.95 for 250mg, but because you only need such a small amount a bottle will last you a long time.


You can find Scholl products at Esoteric Car Care,

S3 GOLD Compound 1kg

[Orinda Auto Detail]

Nice write up Connor looks like it`s worth trying. You think i`ll see much of difference from it and SIP(Usually my goto unless something is really trashed)

[CH.Detailing]

I know you like BF SRC compound, think of S3 like that but with a bit more cut to it and (believe it or not) even easier spreadability and removal.

[Orinda Auto Detail]

I know you like BF SRC compound, think of S3 like that but with a bit more cut to it and (believe it or not) even easier spreadability and removal.

Awesome! How`s the dusting? That`s the only thing about SRC compound I`m not a huge fan of but I do love that stuff

[CH.Detailing]

Absolutely minimal. The super long working time keeps the product on the panel and not in the air!

[addysdaddy]

Great job Connor - someone else has also mentioned S3 to me - looks like a great one step polish.

[CH.Detailing]

If you`re going for a true 1-step, I would suggest going with Sonax Perfect Finish. It has impressive cut for a polish with a great finish. S3 has better cut but a slightly worse finish, S3 can usually use a super fine polish afterwards.

[addysdaddy]

If you`re going for a true 1-step, I would suggest going with Sonax Perfect Finish. It has impressive cut for a polish with a great finish. S3 has better cut but a slightly worse finish, S3 can usually use a super fine polish afterwards.

I`ve been using Ultimate Compound, M#205 and Optimum Hyper Polish as my one step approaches. Per your S3 description, UC in most cases does better in a two step scenario, but I`ve found it to be very pad dependent as to the final look. It can finish down beautifully, but you`ll need to use something like the HT Tanagerine or even a flat white LC pad to get that look. Andrew just posted pix of his M3 detail using the S3 and it looked fantastic as well and then I came across your thread, so twice in one day S3 came up and I`ve never even heard of it-I`m probably living in a cave. Anyway, the Opti Hyper Polish if you haven`t tried it is an excellent product (IMO it`s Wow Rated) and definitely worth having in your arsenal. haha, there lies the rub, so many great choices and so little time.

[Todd@RUPES]

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing Connor!

I have had the pleasure of polishing paint with Frank Scholl himself. They, Scholls, make some really unique products.