Best way to use Essence?

Calendyr

Calendyr

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Ok, did 2 cars this week with Car Pro Essence. Can't say I am in love with the product ;(

First my expectations were sky high after reading about it and seeing videos of results.

My personal experience was no so great. So here are some of the issues I have had and I am wondering how I can improve my technique to get the product to work as it should.

I use a Rupes Bigfoot 21ES with a 5 inch backplate and Lake Country HD Cutting pads with this product. I have tried various speeds on the machine ranging from 5 to 3.

So at first I was doing 5 slow passes and product was pretty much impossible to remove from the surface after I was done. Only way I could remove it was to re-apply new product on top of it and then scrub like crazy.

I then slowed the machine to speed 3 and did 5 faster passes. Now the product is much easier to remove but still not easy.

As far as results, a whole lot of swirls are surviving the process. Much more than when I use Paint decontamination cream. On the plus side the protection left behind is way better, but still, with fillers and correction ability, I should be getting better results than PRC.

So any tips on technique?

What kind of results are you getting?
 
Sounds like essence is not liking your paint is it soft paint. I have used it twice so far first I used fg400 than just 2 or 3 slow passes with essence and it was very glossy. It wiped off easy. If you have soft paint it will still work just need fewer passes and a smaller work section
 
There is bit of a trick to using Essence. For me I find this works.

1.Less is more with Essence, only use a small amount.
2. Spread product on speed 1
3. Do 2-3 slow passes on speed 2-3, maybe a little pressure but not much
4. 1 pass on speed 4-5, I find this helps break it down
5. Final pass on speed 1-2 to finish

Though there still mite be the occasional sticky spot, if you have this, add a tiny bit of product and quickly go over the sticky spot again on low speed. Usually does the trick.

Good luck.
 
Use a Megs MF pad with Essence for improved swirl removal. Use Rupes Yellow pad for lighter defects and to amp up shine.
 
I've never used any of their products without issues requiring lots of practice to get right. Just my two cents. Their products are almost impossible to get right the first time. Once dialed in it may be great but I'd never recommend their stuff for first timers or for those that don't have several cars to practice on.
 
Use very little buff till it looks like its gone but dont cook it.
 
For fine finishing, do not prime the pads when using CarPro Essence.

Essence is quite unique, and differs from other polishes you may be used to .

For Essence:

- Do not prime your pad
- Use 2 small dots of product (perhaps 3-4 small dots on first pass with clean pad)
- Spread product quickly onto working area at machine speed 1
- Begin your first pass at a moderate speed (say around 4 on BOSS) with medium pressure
- Make 1-2 slow passes at this moderate speed with moderate pressure (ie up & down, then left to right)
- Make 1 final pass at a slower speed (2.5-3) with no pressure
- Wipe residue away (there should be very little since so little product was used to begin with)
- Clean pad & repeat on next section

If you use too much product, or work it too long it may be a bit difficult to remove, or you may see slight marring. The abrasives break down very quickly (just a couple passes), and you need very little product.

Once you get the hang of it, the process is very quick and easy!

Essence on a Scholl Concepts Neo Honey Spider, Megs MF, or a CarPro gloss pad USUALLY works very well!

Some light marring with Essence is possible on the very first section. When this happens try adding a few more drops of polish and hit the area again. Some paints are more susceptible to marring with a dry pad.

If you're using a microfiber pad cutting pad, you're probably looking to maximize cut. In this instance, lightly prime the MF pad with Essence, and use 2 small dots of product for each working section.
Again, clean the pad after each section.
 
lane5515 said:
For fine finishing, do not prime the pads when using CarPro Essence.

Essence is quite unique, and differs from other polishes you may be used to .

For Essence:

- Do not prime your pad
- Use 2 small dots of product (perhaps 3-4 small dots on first pass with clean pad)
- Spread product quickly onto working area at machine speed 1
- Begin your first pass at a moderate speed (say around 4 on BOSS) with medium pressure
- Make 1-2 slow passes at this moderate speed with moderate pressure (ie up & down, then left to right)
- Make 1 final pass at a slower speed (2.5-3) with no pressure
- Wipe residue away (there should be very little since so little product was used to begin with)
- Clean pad & repeat on next section

If you use too much product, or work it too long it may be a bit difficult to remove, or you may see slight marring. The abrasives break down very quickly (just a couple passes), and you need very little product.

Once you get the hang of it, the process is very quick and easy!

Essence on a Scholl Concepts Neo Honey Spider, Megs MF, or a CarPro gloss pad USUALLY works very well!

Some light marring with Essence is possible on the very first section. When this happens try adding a few more drops of polish and hit the area again. Some paints are more susceptible to marring with a dry pad.

If you're using a microfiber pad cutting pad, you're probably looking to maximize cut. In this instance, lightly prime the MF pad with Essence, and use 2 small dots of product for each working section.
Again, clean the pad after each section.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, this looks very familiar (and correct)...
 
Ok thank you guys.

Seems I was using a little bit too much product (4 pea size drops) and was working the product a little too long (4 slow passes with medium pressure and 1-2 fast passes with no pressure).

Everything else was as you guys described.

I will give this a try on my next vehicle that requires Essence.

And yes I have to agree that Car Pro products seems a bit difficult at first. Hopefully I will master this quickly ;) So far I like them but was surprised they were not as intuitive as other products to use. I do like the concept of Car Pro Reload. People have complained about it but so far I like it. I don't mind having to buff twice, it is still much faster to do than a traditional sealant. Of course the product is very expensive, but I think I am using less of it than I do when I use a product like PowerLock ... so in the end it might not be more expensive to use.
 
DARK HORSE said:
Hmmm, this looks very familiar (and correct)...
Click to expand...

I found this information compiled on another forum and copied it here. I used these procedures when starting out with Essence and have had very good results.
 
Less is more. Less product and less buffing. Essence is a money and time saver. Microfiber pads are my go to with Essence. Foam just spreads it differently. The microfiber uses the cutting power of Essence better, imho.
 
I used Essence two weeks ago with the polishing LC HD pads (orange) on a GG Boss 21 at speed 3 to 5 (starting at five and finishing at three) using the 5inch pads after watching the video linked below. I primed the pad with Essence as they were new and only used 2 small pea sized dots as needed (after each panel basicly). In total I used 5, 5inch pads and 4, 4inch pads (4inch pads were used on PC7424xp at speed 4-5).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48OL5Egs6Bw

Essence seems to perform better with a medium cut pad (maybe the pad is cutting into the filled areas).

Tip: I shook the heck out of the Essence polish each time I applied more to the pads.
 
silverfox said:
I've never used any of their products without issues requiring lots of practice to get right. Just my two cents. Their products are almost impossible to get right the first time. Once dialed in it may be great but I'd never recommend their stuff for first timers or for those that don't have several cars to practice on.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.. re "any of their products" for Car Pro; I have found, Iron-X, Cerris Glass, a number of their pads and Reflect to be idiot proof (i was a good test for that).... so IME not "all" present any real challenges... Almost all my vehicles have been European though so i have been generally working on the middle to harder end of the paint spectrum....
 
I just used essence for the first time as well and had mixed results. Car was a metallic blue Honda Accord.

Rupes 15 with buff and shine microfiber finishing pad.
Prime pad lightly then 4 pea sized drops.
Speed 5 for 3 passes.
Switch to a cool pad after every section pass (I rotated 6 pads and blew them out with compressed air after every pass)

I would say I got about 80% correction with this, then I coated with PBL paint coating. Results were very nice. I ended up ordering more essence over the weekend.

I found that if you don't wipe off the residue immediately you are going to have a problem. I'm guessing it's the coating property of the polish. Don't let this stuff longer on the paint!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I did 2 cars Toyotas and treated essence like reflect and wiped it off after the panel was done and it was easy
And I thought it left a good shine great gloss I would recommend essence to a friend
 
I looks to me like Essence is more like a Glaze/Coating combo than an actual AIO polish in the way it should be used. So basically you want to spread it around really well so it can fill all the pores of the paint, then remove it before it has a chance to dry. I have some microfiber pads somewhere but not sure where ;) I did not like using them when I purchased them a few years back because at the time I did not have a pad washer nor a compressor and cleaning them with a brush or microfiber towel wasn't working at all for me.

I still don't have compressed air but I do have a pad washer, so maybe I could try again and see if I like them. I am a big fan of foam so I doubt I will enjoy them, I am afraid they will damage paint if they get dirty and know they can finish pretty badly in some cases...
 
Exactly when I didn't like reflect and will never buy essence. Who wants to have to do this and that, and this and that, then finally this to get a product to work.
 
You guys....

I used essence the other day with scholl's honey pad, worked great, I use it with MF cutting pad, worked great, white polishing pad-great, orange- no problem, worked it long time still wiped off easy, worked it short-wiped off easy., add more product and keep working it on spider webbing, it fills it with each application. I use it under any coating, works great....

I have a CP wool pad coming in from PBM and will try it with that next.

Its my fav. product of the decade...
 
ekennett said:
I just used essence for the first time as well and had mixed results. Car was a metallic blue Honda Accord.

Rupes 15 with buff and shine microfiber finishing pad.
Prime pad lightly then 4 pea sized drops.
Speed 5 for 3 passes.
Switch to a cool pad after every section pass (I rotated 6 pads and blew them out with compressed air after every pass)

I would say I got about 80% correction with this, then I coated with PBL paint coating. Results were very nice. I ended up ordering more essence over the weekend.

I found that if you don't wipe off the residue immediately you are going to have a problem. I'm guessing it's the coating property of the polish. Don't let this stuff longer on the paint!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Sometimes there will be a white haze from dry product that is hard to wipe off, as you finish your cycle just polish it again and it disappears and wipes off like butter. If you get a lot of that your speed setting is too high.
 
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