what is the best finishing polish "hands down" in your opinion???

[Bosko]

I just found this thread after starting a thread asking the same.
After reading a few pages I'm #
I got to read more of the recent post and decide so I can get it ordered

You can ask and read until you are blue in the face...there is no right answer...to many variables on paint types and hardness

 

[dieselfan1]

You can ask and read until you are blue in the face...there is no right answer...to many variables on paint types and hardness

You are correct sir.
What's for dinner?

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[dlc95]

I would love to see 3D come out with a polish that has the same abilities as Speed, cut, ease of removal, etc without the protection element for those times I want to follow with something other than a wax/sealant

That might well be AAT 502, I just haven’t tried it yet


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I can say that at this point the AAT502 is the finishing polish I've reached for most since August of 2020.

Of course the wipe off of Speed is pretty hard to top. But, the AAT502 is close.

I find that if I back off an the amount of polish I use, the easier it is to wipe off. I used to have a hard time with 3D ONE, but it turned out that I was using way too much.

ONE can "stretch" really far too. There are times where all I need to do is brush the pad out, and continue without adding more product. I can do this with most of the 3D polishes. When this happens, wipe off is a breeze.

Clean quality towels helps a lot too.

 

[chilly]

I can say that at this point the AAT502 is the finishing polish I've reached for most since August of 2020.

Of course the wipe off of Speed is pretty hard to top. But, the AAT502 is close.

I find that if I back off an the amount of polish I use, the easier it is to wipe off. I used to have a hard time with 3D ONE, but it turned out that I was using way too much.

ONE can "stretch" really far too. There are times where all I need to do is brush the pad out, and continue without adding more product. I can do this with most of the 3D polishes. When this happens, wipe off is a breeze.

Clean quality towels helps a lot too.

I agree on your method for 3D One, once I get past my initial 3-4 dots, I rarely add more than 1 dot after each pass and cleanout, a little goes a long way

Luckily I don't ever remember struggling to wipe off One

It seems like an 8oz bottle of AAT502 is in my future as well

Then I can shove my SPF to the back of the shelf

Thanks

 

[noorth]

I can say that at this point the AAT502 is the finishing polish I've reached for most since August of 2020.

Of course the wipe off of Speed is pretty hard to top. But, the AAT502 is close.

I find that if I back off an the amount of polish I use, the easier it is to wipe off. I used to have a hard time with 3D ONE, but it turned out that I was using way too much.

ONE can "stretch" really far too. There are times where all I need to do is brush the pad out, and continue without adding more product. I can do this with most of the 3D polishes. When this happens, wipe off is a breeze.

Clean quality towels helps a lot too.

Seriously! AAT502 has a super nice wipeoff?! I wish i know that before. The next finishing polish i buy will be AAT502. I've had a few terrible experiences with ACA 520. User error maybe however.

Thanks for the information, i'm always keen to read your posts. I seen a number of comments now from you on youtube.

Edit: I seen on the 3D site that they call AAT 502 their "entry level" finishing polish. Interesting choice of words. I think i remember that it costs more for them to make the ACA line, but i could be mistaken. I will sacrifice a few points on the gloss meter for a nice user experience anyday. Assuming that's what they mean...it might be that ACA works faster too, i don't really know. I always wanted to love 3D one lol It just doesn't dust for me, the bottle/dispenser is excellent(16oz) and it has a pleasant smell. And i don't have to worrying about breaking it down. In some of the tests i done - purposely putting defects in a few junk panels, not many. It always cut better then sonax perfect finish and i could see no difference in the finish using the same pad and process.

 

[dlc95]

Seriously! AAT502 has a super nice wipeoff?! I wish i know that before. The next finishing polish i buy will be AAT502. I've had a few terrible experiences with ACA 520. User error maybe however.

Thanks for the information, i'm always keen to read your posts. I seen a number of comments now from you on youtube.

Edit: I seen on the 3D site that they call AAT 502 their "entry level" finishing polish. Interesting choice of words. I think i remember that it costs more for them to make the ACA line, but i could be mistaken. I will sacrifice a few points on the gloss meter for a nice user experience anyday. Assuming that's what they mean...it might be that ACA works faster too, i don't really know. I always wanted to love 3D one lol It just doesn't dust for me, the bottle/dispenser is excellent(16oz) and it has a pleasant smell. And i don't have to worrying about breaking it down. In some of the tests i done - purposely putting defects in a few junk panels, not many. It always cut better then sonax perfect finish and i could see no difference in the finish using the same pad and process.

Thank you!

Compared to ONE and ACA520, AAT502 is way easier to remove.

I tried ACA520 again last week, and no matter how I use it, it still fights wipe off. I also need more seat time with it though. I've used ONE and 502 considerably more.

I also ran into a situation where ACA520 left a marred finish on soft paint. I was using a white B&S Uro-Tec on my Duetto. I had to use something else to finish, and I believe it was AAT502 on yellow Uro-Tec pads. It was either that or the medium from Menzerna or Jescar. I've purged a TON of polish lines from my shelves. (I really loved that Jescar, but it was so so old school in terms of user experience, like the latest Rupes stuff that I purged them). It just got to be too much "chasing a shine".

3D positions the ACA520 as a more "premium" product, but none of that matters when pad meets the paint. Simply, AAT502 is a finer cut polish. I've had it struggle to remove da haze, it finishes down on paints that usually benefitted from a fine diminishing polish like Menzerna SF4000, or Jescar Micro Polish. Whatever they're doing with 502 is giving it the nod for final polishing for me. As per Apex, 502 delivered higher gloss readings than 520 did. Perfect Finish beat 502, but for me it's not worth the dusting. Wipe off with PF is a joy though. You could almost breath on it, and it will come off.

Conversely I've seen ACA520 rival 3D ONE in terms of overall cut. It's like "3D ONE Jr", but a little harder to wipe off.

 

[opie2]

3D positions the ACA520 as a more "premium" product, but none of that matters when pad meets the paint. Simply, AAT502 is a finer cut polish.

How would you rate aat502 to menzerna products...(namley 3500)

Im trying to see if i have the need to switch from menzerna 3500 to a 3d polish or just keep on truckin with menzerna.

You do this work way more often than i do, and seem to have great insight on paint correction. So i respect your opinions

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[dlc95]

How would you rate aat502 to menzerna products...(namley 3500)

Im trying to see if i have the need to switch from menzerna 3500 to a 3d polish or just keep on truckin with menzerna.

You do this work way more often than i do, and seem to have great insight on paint correction. So i respect your opinions

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Good question!

What we have there is my old go-to final polish (Menzerna 4000/3500) vs my new go-to polish (AAT502).

Thus far I'm getting the finish I want from the 502, but no dust. No staining of trim, and a more "complete" wipe off. At this point I would say they're comparable finish wise, even on those problematic soft cclears.I'll probably always keep my Menzerna around.

I'd say that if you're happy with 3500, you not likely experience any benefit by picking up 502, conversely you wouldn't likely experience any negative gloss / finish wise from using 502 either.

That's probably why I settled on 502, because I like 3500 so much!

 

[opie2]

Good question!

What we have there is my old go-to final polish (Menzerna 4000/3500) vs my new go-to polish (AAT502).

Thus far I'm getting the finish I want from the 502, but no dust. No staining of trim, and a more "complete" wipe off. At this point I would say they're comparable finish wise, even on those problematic soft cclears.I'll probably always keep my Menzerna around.

I'd say that if you're happy with 3500, you not likely experience any benefit by picking up 502, conversely you wouldn't likely experience any negative gloss / finish wise from using 502 either.

That's probably why I settled on 502, because I like 3500 so much!

I am very happy with 3500. I feel confident im going to get the finish i want everytime i reach for it.

Very well said...thanks!

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[dlc95]

I am very happy with 3500. I feel confident im going to get the finish i want everytime i reach for it.

Very well said...thanks!

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My pleasure.

And I will always probably have Menzerna in the arsenal because I enjoy using it still. 400, 2500, and 3500 are always high performers.

 

[noorth]

Conversely I've seen ACA520 rival 3D ONE in terms of overall cut. It's like "3D ONE Jr", but a little harder to wipe off.

That made me laugh lol

You mentioned apex's video i remeber seeing it. Have you tried koch chemie micro cut?

And yeah perfect finish was my first ever polish maybe thats why usually i find everything else a pain to remove - except gyeon primer but that's a different product. Rupes DA fine is nice too but they mean it when they say you have to short cycle it lol.

 

[dlc95]

That made me laugh lol

You mentioned apex's video i remeber seeing it. Have you tried koch chemie micro cut?

And yeah perfect finish was my first ever polish maybe thats why usually i find everything else a pain to remove - except gyeon primer but that's a different product. Rupes DA fine is nice too but they mean it when they say you have to short cycle it lol.

I had all of the Koch except the lighter cut Polish/Wax.

They all worked great, including the Micro Cut, but I already had the Menzerna 4000, Jescar Micro Polish, CarPro Reflect and Rupes Keramik. The Koch performed so much like those that I sold them. I also sold off the Jescar, Sonax, and CarPro.

The new rupes reminds me of M105/M205. When I attended an advanced sanding course with Rupes through PDP in Ohio in 2017, I was told that one of the head chemists from Meguiar's was going to come work for Rupes. So that could be where the connection comes from. I was pretty familiar with the short cycling of polishes. DA Fine reminds me a lot of M205. They both also do that thing where there is sometimes a bud up of residue that might form around the working area that's can ve challenging to remove.

I still need to experiment with that ACA520 to see if I can do something on my end to mitigate the excessive wiping. That if I even want to go through that process when 502 performs better for me all around than the 520.

If I was to bring a line back it might be the CarPro, but that because some of their coatings are starting to creep into my inventory.

 

[noorth]

I had all of the Koch except the lighter cut Polish/Wax.

They all worked great, including the Micro Cut, but I already had the Menzerna 4000, Jescar Micro Polish, CarPro Reflect and Rupes Keramik. The Koch performed so much like those that I sold them. I also sold off the Jescar, Sonax, and CarPro.

The new rupes reminds me of M105/M205. When I attended an advanced sanding course with Rupes through PDP in Ohio in 2017, I was told that one of the head chemists from Meguiar's was going to come work for Rupes. So that could be where the connection comes from. I was pretty familiar with the short cycling of polishes. DA Fine reminds me a lot of M205. They both also do that thing where there is sometimes a bud up of residue that might form around the working area that's can ve challenging to remove.

I still need to experiment with that ACA520 to see if I can do something on my end to mitigate the excessive wiping. That if I even want to go through that process when 502 performs better for me all around than the 520.

If I was to bring a line back it might be the CarPro, but that because some of their coatings are starting to creep into my inventory.

Great insight. Thanks!

Have you ever used any of the labocosmetica stuff? I recently included their medium polish leale in my order, the main reason i ordered some of their stuff was the acidic car shampoo.

 

[dlc95]

Great insight. Thanks!

Have you ever used any of the labocosmetica stuff? I recently included their medium polish leale in my order, the main reason i ordered some of their stuff was the acidic car shampoo.

I have not. This is the first time I'm hearing about this.

There are a couple polishes I'd be interested in checking out. A couple that Matt Gibb seems to like (he was a polishing guy from Australia or New Zealand), and that CSI CeramX that Darren from Auto Fetish uses.

I'll see what it says about though.

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Great insight. Thanks!

Have you ever used any of the labocosmetica stuff?

The #SIDERO Iron Remover Gel is nice, long dwell without drying out quickly. Supposedly a little limescale reduction ability as well.

 

[DUBL0WS6]

I don't know if I mentioned it in this thread, but Mothers 3in1 ceramic polish is a great finishing polish for standard paint. It would compare to much more expensive polishes. It won't remove a lot of defects but it has a long working time.

From what I understand, some fine finishing polishes contain a fused type of abrasive that breaks down quickly to produce a smooth finish.

 

[Craig Encinitas]

what is the best finishing polish "hands down" in your opinion???

I’m often torn between a finishing polish and one infused with silica…such as CarPro Essence. The concept of laying down some protection that a long-term coating will (supposedly) bond with, better than bare paint, is enticing.

Or I find myself using Xtreme Solutions LVR polishing glaze that has acrylic properties, and is also coating, sealant and wax friendly. But, isn’t necessarily considered a finishing polish.


#OptionParalysis

 

[noorth]

Re: what is the best finishing polish "hands down" in your opinion???

I’m often torn between a finishing polish and one infused with silica…such as CarPro Essence. The concept of laying down some protection that a long-term coating will (supposedly) bond with, better that bare paint, is enticing.

Or I find myself using Xtreme Solutions LVR polishing glaze that has acrylic properties, and is also coating, sealant and wax friendly. But, isn’t necessarily considered a finishing polish.


#OptionParalysis

Have you applied a coating over LVR?

 

[noorth]

I have not. This is the first time I'm hearing about this.

There are a couple polishes I'd be interested in checking out. A couple that Matt Gibb seems to like (he was a polishing guy from Australia or New Zealand), and that CSI CeramX that Darren from Auto Fetish uses.

I'll see what it says about though.

labocosmetica, is an Italian company like rupes.

I have experienced DA fine kinda gumming up on the work area the few times i pushed the working time. I don't think they delivered on the "increased working time". 3D one for instance can probably go 3x longer or maybe even more.

 

[Rsurfer]

labocosmetica, is an Italian company like rupes.

I have experienced DA fine kinda gumming up on the work area the few times i pushed the working time. I don't think they delivered on the "increased working time". 3D one for instance can probably go 3x longer or maybe even more.

:whs:Not only longer work time, but gives an excellent finish.