Optimum Polish Results

Imatk

New member
There were a couple of posts concerning the Optimum line of polishes and someone who is relatively new to using a PC.



Anyway this is the first full car I've done. I did some spot corrections on my own cars and so on but this is the first full car and my friend remembered to take pictures.



Although they aren't as obvious and good as some of you guys pics... they are all I have.



Anyway it shows what results I got with Optimum Compound and Optimum Polish for anyone on the fence.



Here's the only before and after shots I have.



Before

ScratchBeforeSM.jpg




After

ScratchAfter_SM.jpg




And the only shot of the results outside... He took this the next day because when we were done it was dark.



Hood.jpg
 

Attachments

  • ScratchBeforeSM1.jpg
    ScratchBeforeSM1.jpg
    105 KB · Views: 24
  • ScratchAfter_SM1.jpg
    ScratchAfter_SM1.jpg
    112.5 KB · Views: 21
  • Hood1.jpg
    Hood1.jpg
    97.5 KB · Views: 19
Yeah thanks to this site... and I read many of your posts to learn too Scott hehe :)



I started out with an orange light cutting pad and the Optimum Polish. That didn't seem to make a dent. So I stepped up to the Optimum Compound with the orange pad and I got a lot of the swirls out but still not everything.



I hit it again with the orange pad and compound and it didn't seem to make any difference. So I stepped up to a yellow pad and the compound and that took care of it.



I still had to make a few passes even with the yellow pad and compound to get some of the really bad areas but I couldn't beleive how the Optimum Compound was finishing down.



I went over a section with a white polishing pad and some Menzerna FPII and honestly couldn't tell the difference in gloss. I was wondering if maybe it was just me but my buddy couldn't tell a difference either. I decided to go ahead and do the whole section (the door) with the FPII and white pad and just see if it made a noticable difference anyway.



I couldn't tell a difference but I went ahead and did the rest with the white pad and FPII just to be on the safe side.



Then of course I read on the Optimum Compound bottle that you didn't need to use a finishing polish... nice :)
 
Great results. I just recieved the Optimum line up and will be using it shortly.



As for the FPII I noticed the difference, gives the paint that little extra and the reflection is wicked. Well that's just my opinion.



Thanks for sharing the pictures.
 
Thanks for showing the photos.



I am just about to purchase products right now for my PC and was leaning towards OC and OP but you have sold me. That scratch you have seems very similar to a number that I need to get out and my and family and friends cars.



Would you say that OP is pointless if the OC took out most of the swirls and scratches and the OC can be used on a lighter cutting pad to achieve less cutting power?



I was going to do a OC and OP followed with JWPStrong. I'm wondering if I can just skip the OP and go right to the JWPS.



What do you figure was the working time to remove the scratches total?
 
Thanks guys :)



Sorry it took a bit to post on this didn't see it until now.



I would defer to someone like Scottwax to answer your question npjohnson.



As for the working time on that particular scratch... it probably took five minutes or so on that panel.



I personally would get (and did get) the OP and OC just becuase after much advice here I always try to go with the least aggressive product first.



So I would (and did) start with OP and on other cars I've done the OP with an orange pad worked fine and I didn't need to use the OC.
 
Imatk said:
As for the working time on that particular scratch... it probably took five minutes or so on that panel.

5 min. just for that scratch?

How big of an area did you cover in one pass, 1X1, 2X2? What was your speed of arm movement?
 
OP is a necessity (IMO) if correcting issues on darker cars. You never know when you will run across some soft paint either. Its good to have in your arsenal.
 
No not 5 minutes just for that scratch... as I wrote... five minutes or so on that panel.



It was the A and B pillar and the top of the rear quarter panel so it's kind of hard to calculate size-wize... it was a lot of small areas that I had to take my time on.
 
Did it left the car completely swirl free? How long did it take for you to polish let say 1X1 area? I was doing my car a week ago and to polish area of about 2X2 with yellow Edge pad and OC it took forever, and I wasn't been able to remove all the swirls. Optimum left me with mixed feelings.
 
yugin said:
Did it left the car completely swirl free? How long did it take for you to polish let say 1X1 area? I was doing my car a week ago and to polish area of about 2X2 with yellow Edge pad and OC it took forever, and I wasn't been able to remove all the swirls. Optimum left me with mixed feelings.



yugin, you got to remember that the yellow Edge pad is an aggresive pad and it usually leaves smalled scratches. I don't remember if you mentioned which machine you were using but if you were using the PC then Optimum will take some time to work but with a rotary it works great.



Well just sharing my $0.02
 
I was using a yellow cutting pad and OC I would say a 1x1 area... I don't know maybe a couple minutes... I didn't time it or anything.



I generally did a 2x2 area and just let the polish break down and then wiped it off.



It left it pretty perfect. There were a couple areas that weren't completely taken care of but they were so good that you REALLY had to look to see them.



I watched those videos on Autogeek and they really helped me so if you haven't checked them out then give them a look. The breakdown is a little different for the Optimum polishes but the principals are pretty much the same.
 
Back
Top