Scott P
New member
After seeing so many positive reviews on Optimum, I thought I’d give it a try. I have a 32 oz bottle of the polish and the 17 oz bottle of the wax. Normally, I would use the Lake Country Cured Edge Variable Contact pads, but I had some sample Saul at Edge pads sent me. So, I figured I would do a double test/review.
Test Subject – The test subject was my black 98 Grand Prix. It’s last wax job was a VAM.CMW treatment in November or December. It was been a tough winter and the paint shows it. Plus, the finish is really starting to show its age. I no longer strive for ultimate perfection, but rather a more realistic level of finish.
Packaging/scent/price/etc – The wax comes in a nice semi-translucent blue spray bottle with a color label. The polish was in a quart almost “squatty” jug. Neither scent is memorable, either good or bad. I built a lot of models growing up, so maybe the model glue made me immune to bad scents. Unless it has a fun scent like a lot of PB’s stuff, I don’t really notice it. Pricing seems pretty fair. $16 for the wax is about average. I don’t know how many applications you get per bottle. I honestly didn’t measure it. At $16 for a quart, I think the polish is a good value..
The process – I installed the quick change adapter on my PC and went with an Edge Green Light Cutting pad. I spoke to David at Optimum (why is David such a common name in the wax industry anyways?) when I ordered the stuff. I followed his instructions and went to work.
Optimum polish went directly on the pad and I spread it around at speed 4, then cranked it up to 6. The polish is like Poorboy’s Pro Polish or even Four Star Ultimate Swirl Remover. It is a single grade product that lets the pad texture do the work. In other words, it is the pad that determines the cutting level, not the product.
Optimum Polish does not dry as you work it like other polishes. This gives it a nice working time. Removal is a minor pain though since it tends to smear a bit instead of wiping right off like the SSR series. The suggestion is to spray Optimum Wax ont eh finish and buff off the residue that way. That technique does work very well. However, I’d rather buff off by hand and check my results before I spray the wax down. I’d hate to waste the product if I had more polishing to do. The polish does wipe off well enough to check you progress, so it isn’t a major issue.
The Edge green pad did leave a nice finish with minimal hazing. For giggles, I followed up with more polish and the Edge Blue Polishing pad. That really made the surface nice and smooth. The finish was very clear too. I was very pleased.
I wiped off the remaining residue per David’s suggestion by misting on the wax, then buffing off. I used two towels in this process. One towels spreads the product while the other one is used to buff it off. This is my standard procedure for QD sprays too.
When I was done, I was very impressed with the way the finish turned out. The polish is a great product. It worked very well to remove swirls I had in the finish. There were a few minor scratches that were left, but I didn’t feel like using the rotary since I was against the clock. I think it would be a nice rotary product because of the long work time.
The wax itself looks very nice on my car. I woke up this morning to an inch or so of snow, so she was clean until I got onto the road. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do durability testing as I’m sure I’ll be putting something else on my finish before too long.
Conclusion – Overall, I really like the Optimum wax and Polish. I think they'll be great for quick details as you only need to work yourself around the car once since you can apply the wax and remove the polish at the same time. Like I said, I haven’t tested durability myself, but from what I’ve read here and other source, it seems to hold up well. Is it the greatest polish ever? No, but it is now one of my favorites.
Disclaimer – In the spirit of full disclosure, I am posting this disclaimer. I am seriously considering adding Optimum to my product offerings. However, you should not look upon this review as a biased sales pitch. I really do think this is a quality polish and wax. I haven’t tried the rest of the line-up (even though, David did send me a clay bar). I’ll most likely try them when my current supply of Bold N Bright, Natural Look and Vinylex empty out.
Also, no pics. The car is now dirty. It was in my garage, which is also dirty. I am too ashamed to show that off. It’s winter in Rochester, so we don’t know what this “sun” thing that people are talking about even is. So, no pictures in "sunlight", whatever that is. Sorry about that.
Test Subject – The test subject was my black 98 Grand Prix. It’s last wax job was a VAM.CMW treatment in November or December. It was been a tough winter and the paint shows it. Plus, the finish is really starting to show its age. I no longer strive for ultimate perfection, but rather a more realistic level of finish.
Packaging/scent/price/etc – The wax comes in a nice semi-translucent blue spray bottle with a color label. The polish was in a quart almost “squatty” jug. Neither scent is memorable, either good or bad. I built a lot of models growing up, so maybe the model glue made me immune to bad scents. Unless it has a fun scent like a lot of PB’s stuff, I don’t really notice it. Pricing seems pretty fair. $16 for the wax is about average. I don’t know how many applications you get per bottle. I honestly didn’t measure it. At $16 for a quart, I think the polish is a good value..
The process – I installed the quick change adapter on my PC and went with an Edge Green Light Cutting pad. I spoke to David at Optimum (why is David such a common name in the wax industry anyways?) when I ordered the stuff. I followed his instructions and went to work.
Optimum polish went directly on the pad and I spread it around at speed 4, then cranked it up to 6. The polish is like Poorboy’s Pro Polish or even Four Star Ultimate Swirl Remover. It is a single grade product that lets the pad texture do the work. In other words, it is the pad that determines the cutting level, not the product.
Optimum Polish does not dry as you work it like other polishes. This gives it a nice working time. Removal is a minor pain though since it tends to smear a bit instead of wiping right off like the SSR series. The suggestion is to spray Optimum Wax ont eh finish and buff off the residue that way. That technique does work very well. However, I’d rather buff off by hand and check my results before I spray the wax down. I’d hate to waste the product if I had more polishing to do. The polish does wipe off well enough to check you progress, so it isn’t a major issue.
The Edge green pad did leave a nice finish with minimal hazing. For giggles, I followed up with more polish and the Edge Blue Polishing pad. That really made the surface nice and smooth. The finish was very clear too. I was very pleased.
I wiped off the remaining residue per David’s suggestion by misting on the wax, then buffing off. I used two towels in this process. One towels spreads the product while the other one is used to buff it off. This is my standard procedure for QD sprays too.
When I was done, I was very impressed with the way the finish turned out. The polish is a great product. It worked very well to remove swirls I had in the finish. There were a few minor scratches that were left, but I didn’t feel like using the rotary since I was against the clock. I think it would be a nice rotary product because of the long work time.
The wax itself looks very nice on my car. I woke up this morning to an inch or so of snow, so she was clean until I got onto the road. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do durability testing as I’m sure I’ll be putting something else on my finish before too long.
Conclusion – Overall, I really like the Optimum wax and Polish. I think they'll be great for quick details as you only need to work yourself around the car once since you can apply the wax and remove the polish at the same time. Like I said, I haven’t tested durability myself, but from what I’ve read here and other source, it seems to hold up well. Is it the greatest polish ever? No, but it is now one of my favorites.
Disclaimer – In the spirit of full disclosure, I am posting this disclaimer. I am seriously considering adding Optimum to my product offerings. However, you should not look upon this review as a biased sales pitch. I really do think this is a quality polish and wax. I haven’t tried the rest of the line-up (even though, David did send me a clay bar). I’ll most likely try them when my current supply of Bold N Bright, Natural Look and Vinylex empty out.
Also, no pics. The car is now dirty. It was in my garage, which is also dirty. I am too ashamed to show that off. It’s winter in Rochester, so we don’t know what this “sun” thing that people are talking about even is. So, no pictures in "sunlight", whatever that is. Sorry about that.
