Todd@RUPES
Just a regular guy
Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish
Quick Review and How-To
Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish is an easy-to-use “pre-wax cleanser” the deep cleans paint, smooths away swirl marks, removes above surface water spots, and increases over-all paint gloss. Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish also leaves behind a special “priming agent” that is designed to promote the proper bonding of Ultima Paint Guard Plus paint protection.
I had a chance to use Ultima Paint Prep Plus on a Corvette that I detailed last weekend. The paint on this Corvette has been well maintained, and minus some very minor wash marring, was in great shape. Since we know that Ultima Paint Guard Plus leaves a super wet finish on red cars, this was a perfect opportunity to test another one of Ultima's high quality car care products.
Ultima Paint Prep Plus comes handsomely packaged in a clear tube with an included orange foam hand applicator. This “pre-wax” cleanser can be used by both hand or dual-action polisher. Given that I just happened to have a Griot's Garage 6 Inch Orbital Polisher on hand so I figured I would use this to reduce fatigue. Anybody who has polished a car by hand can attest to how much elbow grease and time is required.
I elected to use a 5.5 inch low-profile Tangerine Hydro-Tech polishing pad. The tangerine foam had a very similar composition to the supplied hand applicator and is designed for light polishing making it one of many good choices. Other good choices would include an Orange Light Cutting foam pad, a White Polishing foam pad, or even the Green Wax/Polish all-in-one pad.
Start by twisting the pump dispenser forward to “open” the pump and apply an “X” pattern across the face of the initial pass.
Ultima Paint Prep Plus is an ultra fine “non-abrasive” polish, so if you while you can use traditional polishing techniques (small working sections, higher speed, increased pressure) to remove extremely fine swirl marks, it is designed more of a paint cleanser.
This mean applying Ultima Paint Prep Plus at a lower speed (3.5 on the Griot's) and to a larger section. Ultima recommends a panel at a time. Given the Corvette's famously long hood (required to hide the huge 6.2L V8 and accessories) I choose do attack it in three sections.
Start with firm pressure, spreading the product over the working section.
Continue working Ultima Paint Prep Plus over the section in overlapping passes. As you apply you will notice the product begin to turn opaque and 'melt' into the paint.
Work until only a light film remains.
Ultima recommends letting the product haze before removal. This only took about 5 minutes if polished thin. I purposely left a section with heavier film on it by using a very short polishing cycle (not breaking it down) and found that it took much longer to haze (about 30 minutes) and even then it was difficult to remove. Take your time and work each section properly and it will be very easy to remove.
I used a Supreme 530 microfiber cloth folded in quarters and wipe off was a breeze. The paint immediately had a 'wetter' and richer shine.
For subsequent panels, reduce the amount of Ultima Paint Prep Plus to three small dots around the outer third of the pad.
For the more complex areas of the Corvette's body I used the supplied foam applicator, working in a back-and-forth motion until the product was barely visible.
You can apply Ultima Paint Guard Plus (or any favorite wax or sealant) immediately after wiping the residue off. I choose two coats of Ultima Paint Guard Plus and pulled the Corvette into the bright Florida light for a couple of pictures.
Quick Review and How-To
Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish is an easy-to-use “pre-wax cleanser” the deep cleans paint, smooths away swirl marks, removes above surface water spots, and increases over-all paint gloss. Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish also leaves behind a special “priming agent” that is designed to promote the proper bonding of Ultima Paint Guard Plus paint protection.
I had a chance to use Ultima Paint Prep Plus on a Corvette that I detailed last weekend. The paint on this Corvette has been well maintained, and minus some very minor wash marring, was in great shape. Since we know that Ultima Paint Guard Plus leaves a super wet finish on red cars, this was a perfect opportunity to test another one of Ultima's high quality car care products.
Ultima Paint Prep Plus comes handsomely packaged in a clear tube with an included orange foam hand applicator. This “pre-wax” cleanser can be used by both hand or dual-action polisher. Given that I just happened to have a Griot's Garage 6 Inch Orbital Polisher on hand so I figured I would use this to reduce fatigue. Anybody who has polished a car by hand can attest to how much elbow grease and time is required.
I elected to use a 5.5 inch low-profile Tangerine Hydro-Tech polishing pad. The tangerine foam had a very similar composition to the supplied hand applicator and is designed for light polishing making it one of many good choices. Other good choices would include an Orange Light Cutting foam pad, a White Polishing foam pad, or even the Green Wax/Polish all-in-one pad.
Start by twisting the pump dispenser forward to “open” the pump and apply an “X” pattern across the face of the initial pass.
Ultima Paint Prep Plus is an ultra fine “non-abrasive” polish, so if you while you can use traditional polishing techniques (small working sections, higher speed, increased pressure) to remove extremely fine swirl marks, it is designed more of a paint cleanser.
This mean applying Ultima Paint Prep Plus at a lower speed (3.5 on the Griot's) and to a larger section. Ultima recommends a panel at a time. Given the Corvette's famously long hood (required to hide the huge 6.2L V8 and accessories) I choose do attack it in three sections.
Start with firm pressure, spreading the product over the working section.
Continue working Ultima Paint Prep Plus over the section in overlapping passes. As you apply you will notice the product begin to turn opaque and 'melt' into the paint.
Work until only a light film remains.
Ultima recommends letting the product haze before removal. This only took about 5 minutes if polished thin. I purposely left a section with heavier film on it by using a very short polishing cycle (not breaking it down) and found that it took much longer to haze (about 30 minutes) and even then it was difficult to remove. Take your time and work each section properly and it will be very easy to remove.
I used a Supreme 530 microfiber cloth folded in quarters and wipe off was a breeze. The paint immediately had a 'wetter' and richer shine.
For subsequent panels, reduce the amount of Ultima Paint Prep Plus to three small dots around the outer third of the pad.
For the more complex areas of the Corvette's body I used the supplied foam applicator, working in a back-and-forth motion until the product was barely visible.
You can apply Ultima Paint Guard Plus (or any favorite wax or sealant) immediately after wiping the residue off. I choose two coats of Ultima Paint Guard Plus and pulled the Corvette into the bright Florida light for a couple of pictures.
). Can second to great prep'ing nature of the product but noticed the different wipe properties. The former definitely outweighed the latter though and will use again.
