Optimum Poli-Seal question

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cpa5oh

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My black 2002 camaro ss gets fine scratched no matter how I maintain it, so I went looking for a one step product. Optimums poli seal was recommended and I was told I could use a white pad or an orange pad (if necessary.)

I got very little correction of the fine scratches with the white pad even on speed 5 with my gg polisher. The orange pad on 5 got me full correction of the fine scratches...but it left a lot of what I think u guys call micro marring. So I followed up with the white pad...it didn't do anything to get rid of that marring.

I'm not complaining because the paint looks much better and the effort was minimal...but as I read about poli seal on these forums I read that either guys aren't getting any correction or that poli seal finishes down really nice.

Does anyone have any thoughts on why I'm only getting this to finish with micro marring? Without the marring I'd be completely satisfied.
 
You can try adding some polish in the mix when you apply the poliseal. Meaning do 3 dots of poli and 1 dot of polish to get more correction. Its worked for me before. You can adjust the volume of polish until you find the right mixture that works for you.

Poli seal is a great "cleaner" but a lot of times lacks the scratch/swirl removale that I need. I usually use it on DD that are decent and need a cleaning and decent protection.
 
Are you priming the pad properly and completely. If the orange pads have a dry spot or two it can lead to micro marring. That would be the first thing I check.
 
^^^EDIT: I see your point DR Oldz...many like to run OPS to nothing...hence possibility of a dry spot.

Mobile detail said:
You can try adding some polish in the mix when you apply the poliseal. Meaning do 3 dots of poli and 1 dot of polish to get more correction. Its worked for me before. You can adjust the volume of polish until you find the right mixture that works for you.

Poli seal is a great "cleaner" but a lot of times lacks the scratch/swirl removale that I need. I usually use it on DD that are decent and need a cleaning and decent protection.
Click to expand...

I agree. That's why I use OPS with a MF finishing pad...and if more cut is needed (as determined by the test spot) I also add a couple of drops of OP II.

But to answer as to why you are having such issues, I have no clue as I have never used OPS on a foam pad.
 
Last edited:
Which company and style is your white pad?

Which company and style is your orange pad?

Even different styles from the same company with the same color can vary in cut. You may be able to find a pad that fills the gap after we answer these questions.
 
Dr Oldz said:
Are you priming the pad properly and completely. If the orange pads have a dry spot or two it can lead to micro marring. That would be the first thing I check.
Click to expand...

What is the proper amount on priming a pad with poli-seal? I tried covering the face of the pad with poli-seal on a white car, and it turned out "foggy" in a way. Tried with less product, and it worked better (somewhat), but then again, it can lead to micro marring.

It seems very durable but Ive been stuck on either priming the face of the pad completely, but having a "foggy" look to it, or using less and marring the paint. I have used it kind of as a LSP and i really like...just that it stains my pads.
 
Chris@Optimum said:
Which company and style is your white pad?

Which company and style is your orange pad?

Even different styles from the same company with the same color can vary in cut. You may be able to find a pad that fills the gap after we answer these questions.
Click to expand...

Both white and orange pads are Lake Country (the regular flat pads.) 5.5 inches. I think the only one they make in between the orange and the white is the green...so it goes orange, green, white, black, blue (in agressiveness in decending order.)

So is your recommendation going to be trying the green?

I'll add that with a white pad, using Hyper Spray Polish, I got very good results with no 'micro-marring' (but that was when the 'spray' was coming out of the nozzle like a cream...last night it was coming out like a liquid and I was getting hardly any cut at all...I think I didn't shake it up enough in the beginning and used all the heavy stuff at the bottom of the bottle in the beginning and now I'm left with less abrasives.)

I did order Optimum Finish Polish and Optimum Polish II last night...if I can't make this Poli-Seal work I'll go to that. I do have the ability to pick up Lake Country pads locally, so whatever pad you say to try with the Poli-Seal I can get easily.

Thanks!
 
bl3ujay07 said:
What is the proper amount on priming a pad with poli-seal? I tried covering the face of the pad with poli-seal on a white car, and it turned out "foggy" in a way. Tried with less product, and it worked better (somewhat), but then again, it can lead to micro marring.

It seems very durable but Ive been stuck on either priming the face of the pad completely, but having a "foggy" look to it, or using less and marring the paint. I have used it kind of as a LSP and i really like...just that it stains my pads.
Click to expand...

The initial priming should be like Mike describes in his book The Art of Detailing. He gives I think 3 examples that will work. I prefer to work the product into the face of the pad and spread it out so that the whole face has "some" product. Then you should only need 2-3 pea sized drops for each section as a "working" amount. Keep in mind that PS is a great cleaner so lots of stuff will come off the paint as well as spent product, so you will need to switch pads or clean on the fly often. Also, when using PS for correction remember to shrink your sections a bit and stop while you can still feel wetness in the pad. If you have an air compressor, you can blow out the spent product and debris very easily between sections unless you work the product too long, making it too hot, and it will gum up.

cpa5oh said:
Both white and orange pads are Lake Country (the regular flat pads.) 5.5 inches. I think the only one they make in between the orange and the white is the green...so it goes orange, green, white, black, blue (in agressiveness in decending order.)

So is your recommendation going to be trying the green?

I'll add that with a white pad, using Hyper Spray Polish, I got very good results with no 'micro-marring' (but that was when the 'spray' was coming out of the nozzle like a cream...last night it was coming out like a liquid and I was getting hardly any cut at all...I think I didn't shake it up enough in the beginning and used all the heavy stuff at the bottom of the bottle in the beginning and now I'm left with less abrasives.)

I did order Optimum Finish Polish and Optimum Polish II last night...if I can't make this Poli-Seal work I'll go to that. I do have the ability to pick up Lake Country pads locally, so whatever pad you say to try with the Poli-Seal I can get easily.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I think the green would be a great thing to test spot...probably giving you the desired results. Think about it, it sounds like you have the paint these pads were fashioned for. White is supposed to polish and that's all you're getting; no real correction. Green is light cutting which is what you need, but haven't tried yet. And Orange is medium cutting which we all know may need to be followed by a second step on some finishes. My only other advice is to be sure the marks you see are micromaring from the pad and not just remnants of the original swirls that weren't fully removed from the cutting step. Those will never come out with a less aggresive pad/polish combo than you used as your cutting step. Remember that most all of us here recommend getting the process that provides the results you want down with a test spot before just going over the whole vehicle with what you "think" will work. I promise it will save you time.
 
bl3ujay07 said:
What is the proper amount on priming a pad with poli-seal? I tried covering the face of the pad with poli-seal on a white car, and it turned out "foggy" in a way. Tried with less product, and it worked better (somewhat), but then again, it can lead to micro marring.

It seems very durable but Ive been stuck on either priming the face of the pad completely, but having a "foggy" look to it, or using less and marring the paint. I have used it kind of as a LSP and i really like...just that it stains my pads.
Click to expand...

When I use PS I just try to get the whole face of the pad wet with product. Don't force it into the foam but rather spread it across thinly.


EDIT: I just saw what Chris post.... Missed that. He has some great info there.
 
Chris@Optimum said:
I think the green would be a great thing to test spot...probably giving you the desired results. Think about it, it sounds like you have the paint these pads were fashioned for. White is supposed to polish and that's all you're getting; no real correction. Green is light cutting which is what you need, but haven't tried yet. And Orange is medium cutting which we all know may need to be followed by a second step on some finishes. My only other advice is to be sure the marks you see are micromaring from the pad and not just remnants of the original swirls that weren't fully removed from the cutting step. Those will never come out with a less aggresive pad/polish combo than you used as your cutting step. Remember that most all of us here recommend getting the process that provides the results you want down with a test spot before just going over the whole vehicle with what you "think" will work. I promise it will save you time.
Click to expand...

I'll pick up a few green pads tomorrow and I'll try it this weekend.

I didn't do a "cutting" step before using the Poli-Seal...the reason the Poli-Seal was recommended to me was that I just wanted the wash-induced scratches gone - wasn't worried about any of the deep stuff (there are so few of those, even on my 2002, that they just don't concern me.) So the marring was caused during the Poli-Seal 'step' for sure. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't something I was doing that wasn't causing the marring - I'm not a pro detailer. I do know that Hyper Spray Polish got me fantastic results with no marring with a white pad...however when I got about halfway through the bottle the consistency was very different (more of a liquid as opposed to a cream like it was at the beginning of the bottle.)
 
cpa5oh said:
I'll pick up a few green pads tomorrow and I'll try it this weekend.

I didn't do a "cutting" step before using the Poli-Seal...the reason the Poli-Seal was recommended to me was that I just wanted the wash-induced scratches gone - wasn't worried about any of the deep stuff (there are so few of those, even on my 2002, that they just don't concern me.) So the marring was caused during the Poli-Seal 'step' for sure. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't something I was doing that wasn't causing the marring - I'm not a pro detailer. I do know that Hyper Spray Polish got me fantastic results with no marring with a white pad...however when I got about halfway through the bottle the consistency was very different (more of a liquid as opposed to a cream like it was at the beginning of the bottle.)
Click to expand...

as long as you are shaking the bottle often, don't worry about the consistency of the spray polish. are you closing the nozzle when you are done? if not, that might explain why part way down the siphon tube from the nozzle it has thickened up a bit, giving you that thicker consistency until it hits fresh product drawn up from the bottle. all of the sprays from him that i've used have been relatively thin and they work wonderfully.

was this "micro marring" apparent even on different panels with fresh pads? if you pick up even the slightest amount of debris from the air, environment or substrate when polishing it can cause this as well. it just depends. honestly i've never had that issue with white pads on any finish.

i have never had to use more than four pea sized dots of poli-seal on any pad, and for the purposes that i DO use it for, i typically never go more aggro than white lake country constant pressure pads; i'll put it on the panel and manually move the polisher around to get it spread around a bit on the pad and panel, then start SLOW for the first pass to assure it's spread a bit more evenly and then go up to your preferred speed.

have you looked into opti-coating your car to help against these light scratches?
 
cpa5oh said:
I'll pick up a few green pads tomorrow and I'll try it this weekend.

I didn't do a "cutting" step before using the Poli-Seal...the reason the Poli-Seal was recommended to me was that I just wanted the wash-induced scratches gone - wasn't worried about any of the deep stuff (there are so few of those, even on my 2002, that they just don't concern me.) So the marring was caused during the Poli-Seal 'step' for sure. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't something I was doing that wasn't causing the marring - I'm not a pro detailer. I do know that Hyper Spray Polish got me fantastic results with no marring with a white pad...however when I got about halfway through the bottle the consistency was very different (more of a liquid as opposed to a cream like it was at the beginning of the bottle.)
Click to expand...

Poli Seal can be used to cut with the cutting pad (orange), light cutting and clean with the green and white or just as a cleaner wax with a finishing pad. It very versatile. I understood that you were just using it as a one step, but I mentioned following with a second step if you needed to after the orange. You can still use Poliseal just switching pads as needed. I think th green may be the middle of the road you looking for so update us when you've had the chance to try it. The above advice of working with a clean pad is good advice too. Poliseal is such a good cleaner, you do need to clean on the fly or switch to a new pad after every couple of panels.
 
Chris@Optimum said:
Poli Seal can be used to cut with the cutting pad (orange), light cutting and clean with the green and white or just as a cleaner wax with a finishing pad. It very versatile. I understood that you were just using it as a one step, but I mentioned following with a second step if you needed to after the orange. You can still use Poliseal just switching pads as needed. I think th green may be the middle of the road you looking for so update us when you've had the chance to try it. The above advice of working with a clean pad is good advice too. Poliseal is such a good cleaner, you do need to clean on the fly or switch to a new pad after every couple of panels.
Click to expand...

No bout a doubt it Chris, 1st time I used OPS on a LC white foam (instead of MF) was today... hard cc on an Audi...90 min. of clay (paint was filthy), then 1 step. Light swirls and clay marring removed.
Hood shot - iPhone



No before hood shot, but here's an indication of paint condition...(apples to oranges?)

 
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