Essence / HD speed

KBsToy

KBsToy

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It`s getting warmer here and in no time I will be getting my Artic White Vette out of storage and starting to give her a really good spring cleaning. Wash, Clay, Iron X and wash again. Now comes my problem my car, finish is in relativity good shape, maybe some light scratches from my OCD with washing and QD`s and a coat of FK 1000 put on last fall.

Reading over Mike`s comments on jeweling wax he answered my question on light / colored cars and trying to get the perfect shine. White is hard to get the pop / shine and he talked about using a quality AIO to get it there.

So I was thinking of HD speed or Essence I bought these over the holidays along with other HD / Car-pro products...

Your thoughts and advice please for a weekend detailer :)
Thanks.
KB
 
both products work awesome! i am still playing with Essence trying to get it to work consistantly, but on a white car it should work great. i use HD Speed for quick and easy show car prep, works great and leaves a nice gloss finish.
 
Matt@Revive said:
both products work awesome! i am still playing with Essence trying to get it to work consistantly, but on a white car it should work great. i use HD Speed for quick and easy show car prep, works great and leaves a nice gloss finish.
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What type of ,pads ??? I have car-pro gloss pads along with with numerous polishing pads from different companies....
 
Just remember you need to use a pad with some type of cut. Not necessarily a pad you would use for compounding but at least a nice polishing pad. Same pad you would use for HD polish.
 
I've used and like both but on lighter colors the Essence followed by Reload is a great quick combo obviously not as fast as Speed cause it has the sealant already. I just did a silver ATS with Essence/Reload with a Rupes 15 with a Megs mf Finishing pad ( tried the cutting mf pad, Megs thin foam cutting and polishing pads), which gave the silver a very high gloss candy look. Both are great products but I like the water shedding aspect of the CarPro products.
 
The one point regarding Essence that has me confused is that you have to remove existing sealant/wax before using Essence. From the CarPro website: "20 - Should I strip existing protection if paint is in great shape to apply Essence?
Yes, I would strip the wax or sealant as a minimum prep step."

Since Essence contains abrasives shouldn't they remove the existing LSP? Since we know now that a strong wash with Dawn or even CG Citrus Wash has been shown to not remove existing LSPs this would mean an extra step perhaps with a paint cleaner before polishing with Essence.
 
If you are trying to squeeze the last bit of gloss out of your paint...why would you use an AIO?


AIO's do a lot of things, but they do not do any of them at the level of a dedicated product.

As an LSP, they have less durability than a dedicated LSP. Many have argued that the appearance of an AIO as LSP is not as good as a high end dedicated LSP.

They don't clean as well as a dedicated Cleaner product.

They don't cut as well as a Compound

They don't finish as well as a true finishing polish


If you are only doing your own car, what's the rush.

Skip the AIO

Take your time
 
ski2 said:
The one point regarding Essence that has me confused is that you have to remove existing sealant/wax before using Essence. From the CarPro website: "20 - Should I strip existing protection if paint is in great shape to apply Essence?
Yes, I would strip the wax or sealant as a minimum prep step."

Since Essence contains abrasives shouldn't they remove the existing LSP? Since we know now that a strong wash with Dawn or even CG Citrus Wash has been shown to not remove existing LSPs this would mean an extra step perhaps with a paint cleaner before polishing with Essence.
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Great point something else to look into. I have used Griots paint prep in the past with good results...
 
vobro said:
I've used and like both but on lighter colors the Essence followed by Reload is a great quick combo obviously not as fast as Speed cause it has the sealant already.
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Essence contains Sio2 quartz and claims to have durability on its own of up to 1 year. So certainly much more durability than HD Speed on its own. Carpro recommends using Reload or CQuartz after Essence only to improve beading and dirt repellency. But certainly Essence can be used as an AIO with great durability.
 
boomdone said:
Essence contains Sio2 quartz and claims to have durability on its own of up to 1 year. So certainly much more durability than HD Speed on its own. Carpro recommends using Reload or CQuartz after Essence only to improve beading and dirt repellency. But certainly Essence can be used as an AIO with great durability.
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Yes I know what they claim, I had just Essence on a test car thru the winter and although it has lasted but it has nowhere the water shedding ability as being topped with Reload. Plus the Reload does add a little gloss. I get what you are saying but for a little more time I just prefer to throw Reload into the mix even though it wasn't mentioned in the OP.
 
What pads you guys using Essence with? Carpro suggests their super soft Gloss pads for Reflect and Essence.
 
I just finished using Essence for the first time on my White Diamond Yukon XL. I topped it with Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Sealant:

View attachment 41769

There is not much info out there yet about topping Essence with anything other than Reload or CQUK. I used Reload on the tailgate, but decided to use a non-CarPro sealant just to see how it would work out. I'm very pleased with the gloss and slickness of this combination.

I used CarPro Gloss Pads with my Flex 3401 to apply Essence. Very easy to apply and remove.

KB for your spring detail, my vote would be to polish with Essence using the CarPro Gloss Pads you have then use your FK1000P as the LSP. I think that would be one way to get the Arctic White paint to pop!

It may be that Essence and FK1000P don't "play nice" together, but who knows until somebody tries it?

Whatever you ultimately decide please post up some photos after your detail is complete. A freshly detailed Stingray in Arctic White is eye candy we all can appreciate 😎!
 
Essense by itself is not worth the hype. No shedding ability and lousy beading. So what's the point applying it by itself?
 
silverfox said:
Essense by itself is not worth the hype. No shedding ability and lousy beading. So what's the point applying it by itself?
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Gloss, long lasting paint protection (compared to most if not all other AIOs). That being said, I use reload after Essence.
 
From reading some posts there are a lot saying to use a topper, maybe I should just use HD polish then apply HD Poxy ???

Again THANKS for all the input, sometimes it takes a 63 year old time to digest info :)
 
But I'm telling you that HD speed topped with either HD express or HD Poxy... Looks better than HD polish topped with HD Poxy
 
OP, go with HP Polish topped with Poxy. Essence shouldn't be topped with anything but CarPro products. Plus, Essence takes a little bit of dialing in for optimal results.

silverfox said:
But I'm telling you that HD speed topped with either HD express or HD Poxy... Looks better than HD polish topped with HD Poxy
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Hard pressed to tell the difference, especially on a white car.
 
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