I don't know if I would call Jason the Fuzz.... :laughing:
You probably know the reason too so if you do, please feel free to share...
:xyxthumbs:
Fuzzy headed sometimes, but not thee fuzz. Haha.
M101 Foam-Cut Compound is part of a system (foam cutting pad, backing plate, and compound) specifically created for the automotive paint refinish industry in Europe.
Interesting note for the history buffs...this is the first compound developed by Meguiar's for a specific international market and purpose (rotary, foam cutting pad, on Europe fresh paint.) AND! It is the first time Meguiar's actually did the development work outside of the United States...to the extent of settng up a temporary lab in Switzerland. Our development team flew to Europe and did the formulating while on European fresh paint in actual paint shops. Fun, fun. And we nailed it! The Foam-Cut System works incredibly well in Europe.
Refinish paint chemistry, sanding, and buffing techniques in Europe are different than in the United States. Paint could have been sent over to California for the compound testing, but it would not represent the paint surface exactly as in Europe. European paint sprayed in a California shop by a California painter in a California paint booth with a California paint gun...would result in a paint surface other than what you would find in Europe. And sending over painted panels from Europe would mean the fresh paint would be out of the sanding/buffing window by the time it arrived. More importantly, detailers sand and buff differently in Europe. So the best development option was to formulate and validate the product in Europe. The strategy worked big time!
So why is it not offered in the United States?
VOC compliancy is not the problem. The formula is VOC compliant globally.
The main reason is that the system did not work too well in the United Sates. We did field testing and results were not up to Meguiar's standards. I know this statement contradicts what you are hearing/reading...but both what I am saying now and what you are hearing are true. Here's how...we developed a system and tested a system. The compound was used on fresh paint in the U.S. and applied with the foam cutting pad and backing plate in the system. Shops rejected the system profoundly. The compound (which remember is rock star in Europe) had a jacked up buffing cycle on fresh paint in the United States. And shops rejected the use of the foam pad and backing plate. How many body shops in the United States do you think use a small 6 inch x 1inch foam pad with a cushy soft backing plate for cutting out sanding marks? Switching to other pads and backing plates improved overall performance slightly on domestic fresh paint, but not well enough to justify this expensive formula.
So why are some people saying M101 works so well here?
Any performance of this compound, either good or bad, that is discovered when used in the United States, on fully cured or OEM applied paint, with any other pad, any other backing plate, or any tool other than rotary...is unintentional and not validated by Meguiar's at this time. So if you acquired M101 and are using it in the United States, you are in undiscovered country...and you are on your own. I have seen and experienced what some people are talking about. Cuts like crazy in some situations (I have to be purposefully vague here, but you don't have to.) So, although not being used as designed in the system, there is some pretty remarkable performance being experimented with out there.
So will Meguiar's be launching a M101 like product in the United states? Or perhaps apply the formula to a different application method?
I will not confirm or deny.
But from the makers of M86 Cut & Polish Cream, M105 Ultra Cut Compound, M205 Ultra Finishing Polish, and the D.A. Microfiber Correction System...I can tell you this much...we are NOT sitting around twiddling our thumbs and letting grass grow around our feet!
rops: So it's not quite like going back to the original SoftBuff 6.5" cutting pads, then.... that was my original thought based on the pad's appearance in the pictures I've seen.
