Hello everyone. The terms of winning the LC Hydro-Tech pads stated that we would write a detailed review with pictures. Before I give my review, I would like to state that I am an amateur/hobby detailer with limited experience with machine polishing.
I used my 6" CCS pads to compare to the 6" HT pads. I used m205 and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze on the hood of my Redrock Grand Cherokee. The hood was repainted (long story) and the paint that is on there now is real crappy. There is some particulate under the paint that I knew wouldn't polish out, and the clear shows swirls MUCH faster than the rest of my car, making it pretty dull (and a good candidate for a polishing test).
Here are the products used:
Here is the test subject:
All my prep work done:
The H is for Hydro-Tech side, and C is for CCS side.
I taped a 18x18 inch square on both sides to do my test spots. Then I started working the m205 with the blue HT pad on the H side, and m205 with my orange pad on the C side. My initial observations where that the HT pad required more product than the CCS pad to work smoothly. The HT pad seemed to have a shorter work time (which I think is the opposite of what it is supposed to do), and it also dusted a LITTLE bit more. Neither dusted much, but the HT pad dusted a little more. I know in the product description, it says that the cut on the blue HT pad is a little lighter than the orange CCS pad, and I noticed that. I was able to remove almost all of the swirls with the orange pad in one pass; where as the blue pad definitely needed two passes of m205 to get the results of the orange CCS pad.
Results of m205:
^ this was the CCS pad
^ this was the HT pad
^ this shows the HT side done, and CCS side not done yet
Results of Finishing Glaze on HT side with Tangerine pad:
All in all I would give the HT pads 1.5 thumbs up, compared to the big 2 thumbs up for the CCS pads. The differences where slight, the things I expected the HT pads to be better at; the CCS pads where actually better at. I will continue to use the HT pads that I received, but when it comes down to purchasing new pads (which won't be a while, because I purchased a butt-load of pads) I will be purchasing more CCS pads.
Once again, I am definitely not a pro-detailer. A pro might get different results than I did. I feel that I represent a good chunk of people on this forum though. If someone sees something that I am doing wrong; which may affect the results I got; let me know and I will re-test these pads, and come back with my findings. It was a pleasure to do a review for this forum, and get a chance to use some of the techniques that I learned here. I can guarantee that if I where to do this test 2 or 3 months ago, it wouldn't be nearly as thorough.
Thank you AG for the opportunity to test a new product!
Pat
I used my 6" CCS pads to compare to the 6" HT pads. I used m205 and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze on the hood of my Redrock Grand Cherokee. The hood was repainted (long story) and the paint that is on there now is real crappy. There is some particulate under the paint that I knew wouldn't polish out, and the clear shows swirls MUCH faster than the rest of my car, making it pretty dull (and a good candidate for a polishing test).
Here are the products used:
Here is the test subject:
All my prep work done:
The H is for Hydro-Tech side, and C is for CCS side.
I taped a 18x18 inch square on both sides to do my test spots. Then I started working the m205 with the blue HT pad on the H side, and m205 with my orange pad on the C side. My initial observations where that the HT pad required more product than the CCS pad to work smoothly. The HT pad seemed to have a shorter work time (which I think is the opposite of what it is supposed to do), and it also dusted a LITTLE bit more. Neither dusted much, but the HT pad dusted a little more. I know in the product description, it says that the cut on the blue HT pad is a little lighter than the orange CCS pad, and I noticed that. I was able to remove almost all of the swirls with the orange pad in one pass; where as the blue pad definitely needed two passes of m205 to get the results of the orange CCS pad.
Results of m205:
^ this was the CCS pad
^ this was the HT pad
^ this shows the HT side done, and CCS side not done yet
Results of Finishing Glaze on HT side with Tangerine pad:
All in all I would give the HT pads 1.5 thumbs up, compared to the big 2 thumbs up for the CCS pads. The differences where slight, the things I expected the HT pads to be better at; the CCS pads where actually better at. I will continue to use the HT pads that I received, but when it comes down to purchasing new pads (which won't be a while, because I purchased a butt-load of pads) I will be purchasing more CCS pads.
Once again, I am definitely not a pro-detailer. A pro might get different results than I did. I feel that I represent a good chunk of people on this forum though. If someone sees something that I am doing wrong; which may affect the results I got; let me know and I will re-test these pads, and come back with my findings. It was a pleasure to do a review for this forum, and get a chance to use some of the techniques that I learned here. I can guarantee that if I where to do this test 2 or 3 months ago, it wouldn't be nearly as thorough.
Thank you AG for the opportunity to test a new product!
Pat
