Morning of Experiments: Optimum Hyper Polish, M205, M09 and D151

[Joshua Centanni]

I didn't have to go into work today, so I figured I'd do a little bit of experimenting with some products I recently obtained.

My goal was to see what 1 step pad/product combination would best remove the swirls on my mom's van.

Swirls

Products Used
Buffer:
DeWalt 849 Rotary Buffer

Pads:
Grey Foam Finishing Pad
White Lake Country CCS Polishing Pad

Polishes:
Optimum Spray Hyper Polish
M205
D151
M09

First I sectioned off the left half of the hood (I had already done some experimenting on the right half).

Then I buffed 4 of the areas using the different products on the gray finishing pad. I cleaned the pad with Meguiar's APC+ diluted 10:1 after using each product. I was running the buffer at 1800 rpm. I also wiped down the buffed areas with isopropyl alcohol before taking the pictures. Here are the results.

Optimum Hyper Polish

M205

D151

M09

The pictures do a decent job at reproducing how the paint actually looked.

I was really impressed with M205, it removed most of the swirls and left the paint looking really nice. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with the Optimum Hyper Polish as it didn't remove nearly as many swirls as M205 did.

Then I repeated the same steps using the LC CCS white polishing pad instead of the finishing pad (I also excluded M09 this time).

Here are the results:

Optimum Hyper Polish

M205

D151

Again, M205 worked the best and I was disappointed by Optimum Hyper Polish.

Take away:
The finishing pad created better results than the polishing pad. This surprised me a bit as I thought that the polishing pad would yield better results than the finishing pad. I also thought that Optimum Hyper Polish would work better than it did, however, seeing some of the results that others have gotten with Optimum Hyper Polish I'm not giving up on it yet!

I was really impressed with how well M205 on the finishing pad worked. For my mom's van, that's the winning combination.

 

[snowking724]

Nice test. Thanks

 

[SupraTurbo94]

nice review!! But I think the Optimum Hyper Polish probably works a lot better with a Yellow or Orange pad when correcting swirls (as far as others has posted). I did decent job with the gray pad though.

thanks for posting the results!

 

[svs]

Great test, I too am suprised by that outcome. Thank's for taking the time to share your results :dblthumb2:

 

[Dubbin1]

Excellent test!!! I too am surprised with the hyper polish results.

 

[IID]

nice review!! But I think the Optimum Hyper Polish probably works a lot better with a Yellow or Orange pad when correcting swirls (as far as others has posted). I did decent job with the gray pad though.

thanks for posting the results!

The OHP worked EXCELLENT for me with a Orange Kompressor pad :xyxthumbs: (Flex)

 

[Joshua Centanni]

Nice test. Thanks

I'm glad you liked it.

nice review!! But I think the Optimum Hyper Polish probably works a lot better with a Yellow or Orange pad when correcting swirls (as far as others has posted). I did decent job with the gray pad though.

thanks for posting the results!

Yeah, as I was typing this up I realized that I didn't use the yellow pad at all! Whoops, maybe next time...

Great test, I too am suprised by that outcome. Thank's for taking the time to share your results :dblthumb2:

Sure thing.

Excellent test!!! I too am surprised with the hyper polish results.

Thanks, yeah it didn't work as nicely as I thought it would. I'm looking to try it out with a couple other pads to see how it performs.

The OHP worked EXCELLENT for me with a Orange Kompressor pad :xyxthumbs: (Flex)

That's good to hear. I have an orange LC CCS pad on the way, I'll have to try out that combination. Thanks for the advice!

 

[350z00m]

how many passes did u make in each section?

 

[Joshua Centanni]

how many passes did u make in each section?

You caught me red handed. I didn't make note of that. However, with each I worked the product in fairly well, making at least 3 passes.

 

[Marc08EX]

Great review! Thanks for the effort. I agree with you that the M205 has surprising results. I guess it's the SMAT technology and being able to work the product as long as you can.

 

[WestEnd]

Thanks, awesome writeup!

I was just considering ordering OHP this morning but now I think I am sticking with M205. I should venture out and play with it like you are though, looks fun.

I realize a different pad, product combo may make a difference. But the results here are pretty interesting. :dblthumb2:

 

[StephenK]

i been seeing a few comments about how well 205 is taking out swirl marks. from what i am reading 205 is more of a light cut polish when need be but still a finishing polish.

 

[sontakke]

Did you have four of each pads? If not, how did you prevent the cross contamination of the pads? Would your results be different if you had the order of application different?

 

[tuscarora dave]

I love doing this kind of testing. Thanks for posting your results. Recently I have been working with a bus sales company who only wants the buses to be brightened up and protected. He doesn't care if they have swirls or not. On the other hand he doesn't care that I play around with testing different products and processes on the buses either. I have a lot of fun with it between paying jobs and also get a better understanding of my many different products. I call it R&D work.

 

[Joshua Centanni]

Great review! Thanks for the effort. I agree with you that the M205 has surprising results. I guess it's the SMAT technology and being able to work the product as long as you can.

My pleasure.

Thanks, awesome writeup!

I was just considering ordering OHP this morning but now I think I am sticking with M205. I should venture out and play with it like you are though, looks fun.

I realize a different pad, product combo may make a difference. But the results here are pretty interesting. :dblthumb2:

Indeed, experimenting is enjoyable.

i been seeing a few comments about how well 205 is taking out swirl marks. from what i am reading 205 is more of a light cut polish when need be but still a finishing polish.

Yeah, with what I've tried it on 205 has done a nice job at removing swirl marks.

Did you have four of each pads? If not, how did you prevent the cross contamination of the pads? Would your results be different if you had the order of application different?

No, I only had one of each pad, but I washed the pad after each use so I was always working with a clean pad (but golly, having more pads, and thus less washing to do, would have been awesome!).

I love doing this kind of testing. Thanks for posting your results. Recently I have been working with a bus sales company who only wants the buses to be brightened up and protected. He doesn't care if they have swirls or not. On the other hand he doesn't care that I play around with testing different products and processes on the buses either. I have a lot of fun with it between paying jobs and also get a better understanding of my many different products. I call it R&D work.

Yeah, I enjoy being able to do side by side tests of different products. That's a pretty cool opportunity you have with the buses to try out your different products! I must admit, I'm a bit jealous.

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

How in the world did a finishing pad remove more swirls than a polishing pad?

 

[pwcheenie]

Thanks for taking the time to show the results of your product test. Another option that I use as an all in one step polish is Menzerna PO 203S. Used with a green pad and Porter cable DA polisher, it knocks down light swirls really nice.

 

[Old Tiger]

Nice test! I havent compared them, but I had very good results with the OHP and a Tangerine Hydro Tech pad on my XLR. Had to get the new OHC out for a fender. IMO this polish works best with Hydro Tech pads. Thankfully I dont have to do much paint correction on either vehicle.

 

[arenared]

Great write-up. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[Dusty Bottoms]

How in the world did a finishing pad remove more swirls than a polishing pad?

Possibly pad-induced swirls? I'm guessing it took out the heavier swirl marks, but left lighter swirls that would polish out with a finishing pad and a light polish.