Softer Paint: Fixer vs. Meguiars vs. Menzerna
While I have been using Fixer for a while now, I had not used it side by side with its competition on a large scale. So last weekend using both the new LC hybrid pads as well as wool and my very familiar Hydrotech pads I completed some Meguiars / Menzerna / Fixer testing side by side on a test panel.
Preparation:
A few sections were quickly sanded down by hand with 1500 grit paper. After hosing down the panel I washed with ONR and a rolled edge mf towel.
Application:
I started with wool on the Rotary using Fixer on one section and M105 on the other.
As advertised Fixer easily removed the 1500 grit marks using a wool pad and rotary. Of course M105 also removed them with ease.
I am probably partially to blame however a combination of the wool pad and soft paint left a gift for me. The wool pad left these gifts with the M105 as well.
But what could it do with a D/A and foam pad on these same 1500 grit marks? On the next section I used the Orange Hybrid foam pad from Lake Country. Once again Fixer removed the 1500 grit marks leaving a pretty good finish for a heavy cutting pad. There was a slight haze under LED light but there was certainly no tick marks or swirls.
Next I used Fixer with a polishing pad.
The polishing pad easily amped up the gloss on the section I had previously used the orange pad on.
On the section I had used wool earlier I followed with the light cutting pad on one section and the finishing pad on another. Fixer and either pad were able to remove the wool marks and leave an lsp ready glossy finish.
I also attempted to remove a section of sanding marks with Menzerna SIP and yet another with WG TSR. Admittedly the Menzerna portion was not a fair comparison as they aren't marketed to do better than 2000 grit as far as I know. However SIP and TSR are the most aggressive of the Menzerna polishes I own. Both had a tough time getting the scratches all the way out. I thought I had them at first but under close inspection I could see faint lines beneath the gloss.
Photos of the sections and products used:
A week later on the same test panel I was back at it. I hadn't produced any sun shots the previous weekend so I wanted to add just a bit more to this section. First I wet sanded 3 small sections with 2000 grit paper.
I used M105, Fixer, and WG TSR to polish the 3 separate sections back out using LC HT pads via Flex 3401.
It could be refined further so after attending to other matters it was time to see how the brands would compare using some popular finishing pads.
With the flat gray LC finishing pads via Flex 3401 my M105 section was followed up with M205 and my WG TSR section was followed up with Menzerna 85RD. On my Fixer section what was I to do? Well, use Fixer of course! After completing all 3 sections Fixer appeared a touch glossier than M205 while 85RD was glossier yet. The sun was gone by then and the next morning the sun would still not completely emerge from the clouds so I set up the halogens for the final pictures.
