Optimum Instant Detailer & Gloss Enhancer

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scottburton11

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Just got my order and had to try out Optimum Instant Detailer & Gloss Enhancer right away.

It goes on wet and sloppy, comes off streaky and smeary, and smells like cheap bubblegum. It takes more muscle & twice as much time to buff off as my last ID. Didn't appear to add any gloss to the P21S I have on right now.

This is on clean paint washed yesterday & otherwise flawless. I typically use ID to cut through residual water spots and to remove dust/bugs/etc. between washes, but I'm paranoid about hard buffing when there's dust on the clearcoat.

This product came highly recommended. Am I missing something?
 
What size did you buy? I know that the quarts and gallons must be cut 3:1 with water for use.
 
I got the smaller, ready to use bottle. 17oz I think?

Good call though.
 
i agree that the sprayer on the 17oz size is bad, i however dont have problems with streaking. i use a cobra supreme for initial wipe then follow with a blue cobra.
 
scottburton11 said:
Just got my order and had to try out Optimum Instant Detailer & Gloss Enhancer right away.

It goes on wet and sloppy, comes off streaky and smeary, and smells like cheap bubblegum. It takes more muscle & twice as much time to buff off as my last ID. Didn't appear to add any gloss to the P21S I have on right now.

This is on clean paint washed yesterday & otherwise flawless. I typically use ID to cut through residual water spots and to remove dust/bugs/etc. between washes, but I'm paranoid about hard buffing when there's dust on the clearcoat.

This product came highly recommended. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Im not big on OID either, but ID was not made to remove bugs, you need to do an ONR wash.
 
Rsurfer said:
Im not big on OID either, but ID was not made to remove bugs, you need to do an ONR wash.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but that wouldn't address the streaking. For what it's worth, this car is currently bug-free.

I know it's currently en vogue to advertise that your product is "Spray on, wipe off", but OID is advertised this way and is harder to remove than ID's which explicitly say "Spray on, wipe dry and buff off."
 
It's the best I've used and I have never had an issue like you describe. Most likely you are using too much. Or your paint needs more than an ID can provide. All Optimum products are highly concentrated and people with the more is better mentality always have problems at first. Try misting one squeeze to do a whole panel and turn your towel to a clean side after every couple panels. You should see a light haze that will disappear within 20-30 seconds and require NO buffing unless you've applied too much. I use 80-90% Optimum stuff in my shop everyday, if you still have trouble PM me. One more thing, the product settles when stored so you need to shake it prior to use, did you? Hope this helps!
Chris
 
I too love it and completely different experience other than smell. You spritz once per panel and a light buff. No buffing needed and the gloss and slickness is almost immediately apparent. The Optimum Spray Wax needs some buffing but not the quick detailer. Shake well, maybe something settled ??
 
scottburton11 said:
Just got my order and had to try out Optimum Instant Detailer & Gloss Enhancer right away.

It goes on wet and sloppy, comes off streaky and smeary, and smells like cheap bubblegum. It takes more muscle & twice as much time to buff off as my last ID. Didn't appear to add any gloss to the P21S I have on right now.

This is on clean paint washed yesterday & otherwise flawless. I typically use ID to cut through residual water spots and to remove dust/bugs/etc. between washes, but I'm paranoid about hard buffing when there's dust on the clearcoat.

This product came highly recommended. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
you likely had this problem if your working in te sun. or the panel is hot. ive had problems with q/ds in hot weather. ,make sure you wash your car in the shade and apply q/d in shade as well.
 
I didn't shake vigorously, maybe that was it.

My paint is lovingly cared for and otherwise in factory condition. I never wash, dry or detail in the sun, ever ever ever. I only used OID in the shade, several hours after sunset (it's summer here).

Like I said, I don't rely much on ID for shine, mostly for: post-drying water spots from mirror & crevice leakage (I don't use a blower, and they leak for hours); dust that settles on the finish (I park outdoors during the day); occasional bugs.

In this case, I was (not over-) applying it to a perfect finish in the best possible conditions.

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. I'm going to give it a few more tries and report back.
 
maybe you're seeing a bad reaction with a prior product's residual leftovers? I might have experienced something similar where I only polished my hood and OID streaked a little but not on other panels.

It's a LITTLE more effort than QD, but not as much as a spray wax.
 
dublifecrisis said:
maybe you're seeing a bad reaction with a prior product's residual leftovers?
Click to expand...

Good guess, but I can't imagine what it might be. It was polished with Menzerna PO91E (white pad), then Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish (white pad), then two coats of P21S 100% (hand applicator) spaced two weeks apart. Last one was two weekends ago.

Tried OID again this evening, two hours after sunset. Ambient temperature: 76F. Microfiber condition: clean. Bottle agitation: 90 seconds. Sprays per body panel: 1-2. Technique: spray on, wipe off, buff with dry towel.

Still getting streaks and splotches which turn brown after a few seconds. They buff off with 4 or 5 firm passes of the MF.

I will keep trying.
 
I too have the streaking problems with the 17 oz ready to go bottle and the only way I could get it to 'blend' was to use some ONR qd strength. Thought I'd dilute a tiny bit with distilled water before I relegate it to the sit on the shelf products. Also thought I got a bad sprayer head, but seems that others have noticed it's not the best. However, once it's 'worked in', it's slick as....just don't think I want to be working so hard on the paint with a QD...
 
You guys need to call or email Optimum about the problems your having. The owner David Ghodoussi is a real nice guy to talk to.
 
try it on a lightly damp surface also ... never had a problem with that and enough additional lubrication when drying to avoid swirls. Never needed to buff in either situation. It surely sounds more like their car wax product.
 
killrwheels@autogeek said:
try it on a lightly damp surface also ...
Click to expand...

You and Alex might be on to something with the dilution/dampness. That's the next thing I'll try.

It's plausible that the batch I bought is just glitchy. One ID I've used a lot - no names :p - had a consistency problem in the manufacturing process. No two bottles I ordered were the same, so it was a learning experience every time.
 
scottburton11 said:
You and Alex might be on to something with the dilution/dampness. That's the next thing I'll try.

It's plausible that the batch I bought is just glitchy. One ID I've used a lot - no names :p - had a consistency problem in the manufacturing process. No two bottles I ordered were the same, so it was a learning experience every time.
Click to expand...
ya you might have a bad batch.
 
mingraygt said:
You guys need to call or email Optimum about the problems your having. The owner David Ghodoussi is a real nice guy to talk to.
Click to expand...

As promised, David Ghodoussi is a real nice guy.

I won't post our correspondence but he suggested that it may be an incompatibility between OID and P21S 100%. He suggested another try immediately following a wash, which I'll do either this Sunday or (due to the holiday) next. I'll report back on my findings then.

Mr. Ghodoussi also very graciously offered to refund or replace the product in question, officially making him a Real Class Act(tm).
 
OID can play finicky with some LSP's so that could be an issue. Another thing to try is to add a little distilled water to your 17 ounce spray bottle.

I almost always over dilute a concentrated product just a tad and while the 17 ounce is ready to go it could be possible that your certain batch was heavier on the actives.

Hope this helps,
Anthony
 
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