I'm not convinced Essence fills as much as people assume it does when used with a DA machine and polishing pad... it does have the same abrasive technology found in reflect which, if you have used it, is no slouch when it comes to polishing.
Not trying to create conflict, just trying to determine the facts... how would you try to determine if you're polishing or filling. Thoughts?
This exactly.^ This is the 1st and foremost reason I dislike Essence. It "claims" to fill, and IMO a true glaze like filler that lasts a whole year would make it pretty nice... But on the back label it states to up your pad selection for "heavier cut"
That's the part I don't like. Is it filling? Or cutting? Because if it's cutting [and it sure as heck feels like it's cutting, after all how couldn't it be] then why the heck am I even wasting my time with it? It's not as user friendly as far as working time compared to a good finishing polish such as M205 which can be worked both long or short without issue.. It doesn't wipe off as easily as easily as M205 either, because once you cross that fine line it becomes a pita to completely wipe off the panel [that elmers glue like haze for lack of a better word]
And then there's the final result. Maybe I'm the only 1, but I have yet to see the stuff provide even an ounce more gloss than anything else that's available. IME, once it proves to not show any sort of difference in gloss [which is every single time] I simply change my pad and go back to M205, because it requires no finicky technique to work + actually provides a noticeable difference in added depth and gloss.
I've even checked out the youtube vids where dudes are polishing jet black paint with Essence and even in those vids there's no visual change, no darkening, please can someone show me where this supposed gloss is at? Because I do not see it at all.
I will admit that I tend to sort of overthink my technique while using Essence, part of the reason is because I initially watched JoeNextLevelDetail's vid where he literally goes for over 2 whole min. polishing a small section and that somewhat doomed my learning of what the proper technique really outta be with the stuff... All I know is when I 1st tried to polish it for even half that amount of time it hazed like crazy and became near impossible to wipe off. Pita.
Then I followed the actual directions and went to a short buffing cycle, but it just doesn't do that great of a job of filling anything. It sure doesn't do anywhere near the job if you attempt to use it on any paint beyond extremely light swirls and if you try to correct faded paint with it, forgetaboutit. You quikly find out this aint no where near a compound, it's a total waste of time, even using a 21mm Boss.
It's proved to be inadequate in those exact scenarios for me and every time just winds up getting in the way instead of actually doing the job like for example, M205 does... M205 on the other hand, now you talk about versatile. [polish, cut, remove claybar haze, etc. it can actually behave like a compound if you need it to, unlike Essence which has a very low max limit to what it can do, if it's even doing it. [because no one knows for sure if it's cutting or filling]!
Those are my reasons. At this point I may demote it to metal polish instead of just chucking it in the trash. Lol.
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