Teach me: Primer Polishes

[Desertnate]

I just recently finished polishing out and re-coating my BRZ (another thread coming) and noticed I'm now really low on finishing polish. I've been very pleased with Griots BOSS Perfecting Cream and wouldn't hesitate to buy another bottle, but before replenishing my stock I remembered the primer polishes. So...I'm heading down that rabbit hole and have a few questions for those who may have already considered/used them.

1. Do they need to cure before applying the coating? I read a review about Gyeon needing 24 hours to cure or 1 hour followed by a panel prep spray. One hour I could manage, anything more is a non-starter since I have to knock out my cars over a weekend.

2. Do they really go bad in the bottle quickly? CarPro mentions Essence has a 1-year shelf life. I do my cars on a staggered 2~3 year cycle. There is no way I'd kill off even the small 8oz bottles in a year.

3. How well do they cut? I've settled into a 1-step process for my cars and keep them in pretty good shape, so they never need more than that. I figure my Subaru won't be a problem, but the Acura's paint is a bit harder and gets more abuse. Dr. Beasley's offers multiple cut levels, but I'd prefer to have one that would work on both vehicles.

4. Do they really provide any benefit over a normal polish? They all seem to brag about putting down an initial ceramic layer and CarPro and Dr. Beasley's say you don't need a prep spray. Panel Prep is not a big deal for me, and does the extra ceramic really do anything?

5. Will they remove an old coating? This is again related to cut. When I polish, I'm not only correcting, but removing the remnants of the old coating. CarPro in the FAQ's mentions "repairing" the coating with Essence. If I'm pulling out Essence, I want the old coating gone, not repaired. That makes me question it's overall cutting ability.

6. Any stand outs in performance? The three I'm familiar with are Gyeon, CarPro and Dr. Beasley's. They have a pretty wide spread in price despite being pretty similar in function.

Looking forward to the comments.

 

[Optimus Grime]

I thought about going down this same rabbit hole but the 24 hour cure time for Gyeon was a hard no for me. I don't use CarPro coatings so Essence is a no go. I really looked into Dr. Beasley's collection but they don't seem to have the same cut as a regular polish. I watched their videos and at most I'm doing 4-5 passes with the polisher to get the results I need and the Beasley rep said 5-7 passes. If my polishing time takes an extra 30 minutes there's no real time saving, for me at least. They all seem to have some Achilles heel that makes them less than ideal.

 

[Texchappy]

I’ve got three — Gyeon, Carpro, c6 app. If believe you should think of them as cleaners more than polishes. The first two have very mild cut and the C6 virtually none. To me, on my vehicles, I don’t need very much cut at all to reinstall a coating so if get buy me a month or two longevity which I don’t know if they do) then I’m ok with the step. The 24 hour for the first two is generally ok on my vehicles because I have a limited supply of energy.

FWIW, I used essence on my Mav when I installed CQUK3 + gliss v1 28 months ago and I found I didn’t need to do the decon I had planned this spring on it. The hydophobics are still excellent.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Labocosmetica Fiero is the other one besides Dr. Beasley's that doesn't require a wait time or a panel prep (well, I think Fiero requires 20 mins or a half hour, but they consider that basically no wait time if you start coating at the same place you started polishing). I don't think either of them have a shelf life. I have the Dr. Beasley's NSP's but the only one I've fooled around with is the Z1 which is the AIO and has a combination of the 45 and 95 abrasives, and I was underwhelmed with the cut. They say that you use less product with the NSP's than a conventional polish, but I found I got better results using more, at least as much if not more than a normal polish--when I did that it seemed to cut more like a normal fine polish.

I'm not sure if the "AIO" properties of the Z1 make it behave differently than the other NSP's, which I haven't tried yet. I don't have the new Core Cut NSP's.

 

[Desertnate]

Thanks everyone!

The more I read into them and thought about your comments/experiences it becomes pretty clear they aren't for me. I already have a process and some products that provide good results and in a time frame I like. I'll likely tweak them a bit but won't bother with primers.

 

[Optimus Grime]

I do have a bottle of McKee's Prep Polish. On a vehicle that doesn't need paint correction but needs a good surface cleaning and boost in gloss it's my go to. I can get around a car in about an hour and then coat without using a paint prep.

 

[Eldorado2k]

I do have a bottle of McKee's Prep Polish. On a vehicle that doesn't need paint correction but needs a good surface cleaning and boost in gloss it's my go to. I can get around a car in about an hour and then coat without using a paint prep.

I’ve got a bottle of that I haven’t used in a long time. Do you find it works best on white?

 

[Optimus Grime]

I’ve got a bottle of that I haven’t used in a long time. Do you find it works best on white?

I’ve only used it on black and the gloss was just as good as any finishing polish.

 

[The Guz]

I started off with Gyeon And CarPro. Both are good but the thing to keep in mind is that both Gyeon and CarPro have come back to state to still panel wipe prior to applying a coating. Both have responded that the panel wipe will not remove any SiO2 left behind. Also keep in mind that these don't always play well with all coatings.

DIY sent me their C6 APP (Adhesion Promoter Polish) and this is essentially the panel prep process but they claim it opens the pores of the paints. Hard to tell unless looking under a high power microscope. What I can say is that it is a joy to work with and wipe off. The other thing is when applying the coating it sorts of melts into the paint. That is the best way to describe it. It also enhances the gloss as it contains SiO2.

My primary primer polish are the Dr. Beasley's NSP's.. There is a small learning curve with them but nothing hard. Just takes a bit of time to get the technique just right. Once you do they are a pleasure to work with. The primary benefit other than the nice finish they leave behind is there is no need for a panel wipe. They are offered in various types as they offer different cut based on the abrasive in the polish. From NSP 45 to 95 to 150 and not to Core Cut. They are all pad dependent depending on the amount of cut needed. Some experience the ghosting effect with 45 and 95 but it does not happen every time. It is nothing to be concerned about. Simply wipe off and coat. It will not come back again. Dr. B also recently released a product by the name of gloss builder which was only in the coating kits as paint builder to add gloss but it can also help with this ghosting effect. It is really not that big of a deal.

With regards to Z1 it is an AIO and it is great for those that like a sheeting product. I would not coat over this one.

 

[DFB]

I thought about going down this same rabbit hole but the 24 hour cure time for Gyeon was a hard no for me. I don't use CarPro coatings so Essence is a no go. I really looked into Dr. Beasley's collection but they don't seem to have the same cut as a regular polish. I watched their videos and at most I'm doing 4-5 passes with the polisher to get the results I need and the Beasley rep said 5-7 passes. If my polishing time takes an extra 30 minutes there's no real time saving, for me at least. They all seem to have some Achilles heel that makes them less than ideal.

I've used Essence with Gyeon coatings (Pure EVO and Can Coat EVO) and found they work just fine together. In fact, I got about 15-months out of Can Coat EVO on top of Essence.

 

[DFB]

Thanks everyone!

The more I read into them and thought about your comments/experiences it becomes pretty clear they aren't for me. I already have a process and some products that provide good results and in a time frame I like. I'll likely tweak them a bit but won't bother with primers.

From memory, the main benefit of Essence was that it was great for really soft paints that mar easily. The concept being that you eliminate the need for the panel prep stage, which in turn reduces the amount of towel work required while the paint is un-protected. It also has mild filling ability to again help with micro marring. Another thing I've read from Carpro US in particular is how short cycling Essence produces more filling ability, while running a full cycle will do more correction (which is minimal as it uses the same abrasive package as Reflect, which is another really nice product to work with).

How much validity there is to all that I don't know. Personally, I really like the user experience of Essence, it's just so nice to work with.

 

[Desertnate]

I started off with Gyeon And CarPro. Both are good but the thing to keep in mind is that both Gyeon and CarPro have come back to state to still panel wipe prior to applying a coating. Both have responded that the panel wipe will not remove any SiO2 left behind. Also keep in mind that these don't always play well with all coatings.

This is helpful and throws up to flags for me. First, if I still have to use a panel wipe, I see it as being less valuable to me, even though a panel wipe is a fast and easy step. Second, and the biggest one, would be compatibility issues. I'm really not a "system" guy and like to mix and match products I like from various brands. Also since some products last longer than others, a brand mis-match is almost certain.

DIY sent me their C6 APP (Adhesion Promoter Polish) and this is essentially the panel prep process but they claim it opens the pores of the paints. Hard to tell unless looking under a high power microscope. What I can say is that it is a joy to work with and wipe off. The other thing is when applying the coating it sorts of melts into the paint. That is the best way to describe it. It also enhances the gloss as it contains SiO2.

Do you only use it with DIY's coating or have you tried others? How's the cut?

My primary primer polish are the Dr. Beasley's NSP's.. There is a small learning curve with them but nothing hard. Just takes a bit of time to get the technique just right. Once you do they are a pleasure to work with. The primary benefit other than the nice finish they leave behind is there is no need for a panel wipe. They are offered in various types as they offer different cut based on the abrasive in the polish. From NSP 45 to 95 to 150 and not to Core Cut. They are all pad dependent depending on the amount of cut needed. Some experience the ghosting effect with 45 and 95 but it does not happen every time.

How do you define "ghosting"? Is this similar to holograms or polishing haze? How would you compare the cut of 95 to other polishes?

 

[Desertnate]

From memory, the main benefit of Essence was that it was great for really soft paints that mar easily. The concept being that you eliminate the need for the panel prep stage, which in turn reduces the amount of towel work required while the paint is un-protected. It also has mild filling ability to again help with micro marring. Another thing I've read from Carpro US in particular is how short cycling Essence produces more filling ability, while running a full cycle will do more correction (which is minimal as it uses the same abrasive package as Reflect, which is another really nice product to work with).

How much validity there is to all that I don't know. Personally, I really like the user experience of Essence, it's just so nice to work with.

How did you find the cut of Essence? Is there a cure time like there is with the Gyeon product?

 

[The Guz]

This is helpful and throws up to flags for me. First, if I still have to use a panel wipe, I see it as being less valuable to me, even though a panel wipe is a fast and easy step. Second, and the biggest one, would be compatibility issues. I'm really not a "system" guy and like to mix and match products I like from various brands. Also since some products last longer than others, a brand mis-match is almost certain.



Do you only use it with DIY's coating or have you tried others? How's the cut?



How do you define "ghosting"? Is this similar to holograms or polishing haze? How would you compare the cut of 95 to other polishes?

DIY App has almost zero cut. It’s not recommended to be used like a typical polish. It’s essentially the panel prep and to be used with a machine that has a stroke no larger that 8 mm.

With the ghosting it is not like holograms or haze. Think of the idea of condensation when you breathe on a mirror and you see that temporarily layer on a surface. In this instance it is not condensation as it will not go away in its own but with a simple wipe of the towel.

I have been using these polishes since they came out and 45 had some tweaks to resolve the ghosting effect and 150 received a 30% increase in cut. 95 is the only one that has not changed. It takes a small bit of time to get the technique down but in my experience so worth it to not need a panel wipe whatsoever. Same with their glass polish.

 

[DFB]

How did you find the cut of Essence? Is there a cure time like there is with the Gyeon product?

I lifted this from my thread regarding Essence -

- For more cutting performance, run more passes to fully cycle the abrasives.

- For more filling ability, short cycle by spreading rapidly over the section and then completing a single set of passes.

- Essence is said to be best with a light foam finishing pad, and especially good on a microfiber finishing pad. In my case, I know it works well with the intermediate level ShineMate blue foam pad.

-Carpro recommend waiting at least 1 hour before using Eraser to allow the Si02 resins to cure. Likewise, you need to wait at least an hour before applying the coating.

Post 2541 below goes into further detail -

Post in thread 'DFB's Garage'

May 6, 2025

Ranger Wildtrak Detail 2025

The Wildtrak was last polished and coated in January 2023, the Can Coat EVO performed beyond expectations, easily lasting about 15-months. For a coating “lite” with a 12-month durability claim, and considering the car is parked outdoors 24/7, you really can’t ask for more really. I do wonder if the Capro Essence primer polish played a part in this.

I’ve been meaning to get this project done for months now, actually, more like a year. Last winter and into early spring, I was just too burnt out. I was also holding off on projects until my long...

• DFB

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These are quotes from Carpro USA (worth reading as the info is very comprehensive) -

How much cut is in Essence? -
Essence uses the same abrasives from Reflect but less of them. However, due to the viscosity and balance of a number of other ingredients we do see an unexpected amount of cut on some paints (especially when paired with a Microfiber Cutting Pad).

Can I use Essence without compounding?
That depends… certainly you can and certainly it will produce excellent gloss. As for durability this would be theoretically ill-advised. On many paints it will also cut FAR more than you can imagine in concert with a Microfiber Cutting Pad. As far as how durable it will be and what your goal is you should compound first to remove oxidation and scratches.

Do I have to use Eraser afterwards -
Theoretically speaking you could skip use of Eraser if Essence was properly used via machine BUT it is hard to measure if you polished the lubricants in the Essence down far enough and so we do recommend using Eraser to be 100% safe. If possible, wait at least an hour after Essence before using Eraser.

How long until it can get wet -
1 hour before you should allow release into water.

 

[The Guz]

In the CarPro facebook group, Corey has also recommended a panel wipe after using Essence even if used with a polisher. It says something when CarPro themselves recommends to not use Essence prior to DQuartz Go.