Optimum Polishes or...

S

slammin86

New member
I am looking at the Optimum 3 pack for 24.99. I would get the

# Optimum Compound II

# Optimum Polish II

# Optimum Finish Polish



I have a pc, and am looking for something to handle mild paint correction on my own cars. Every once in a while I will do a friends car, so it would be nice to have a full line of products.



Currently I have the sonus sfx 1, 2, and 3 polishes. These seem to work fine, but do dust a lot.



Are the optimum polishes good, or should I be looking towards something else?
 
M105 and M205 are popular and seem like the best technology out there right now, though the Optimum products are probably the easiest to use. The good thing about M105 and M205 is that you don't have to break them down, so a low-power buffer like the PC will finish just fine. On soft paint, I like to have FPII on hand for finishing. On hard paint, M205 finishes as well as anything I've tried. I have a lot of polishes, but lately I've settled on M105/M205/FPII.
 
wfedwar said:
M105 and M205 are popular and seem like the best technology out there right now, though the Optimum products are probably the easiest to use. The good thing about M105 and M205 is that you don't have to break them down, so a low-power buffer like the PC will finish just fine. On soft paint, I like to have FPII on hand for finishing. On hard paint, M205 finishes as well as anything I've tried. I have a lot of polishes, but lately I've settled on M105/M205/FPII.
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OR M105/ M205/ PO85RD
 
wfedwar said:
M105 and M205 are popular and seem like the best technology out there right now, though the Optimum products are probably the easiest to use..
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Whereas the long work time of OCP drove me *NUTS* and I could never get the results I wanted with it, at least not as easily as with my other stuff. Seems like some people just click with M105/M205 quicker/slower than others and I guess that's the case with the oh-so-different Optimum stuff too.



MY vote is another for M105/M205 (plus some Menzerna stuff if you feel the need for that).
 
So will the 205 leave me a perfect finish with no micro marring or haziness or anything?



Also, is there somewhere that sells the 105/ 205 in a 16oz or smaller size?
 
slammin86 said:
So will the 205 leave me a perfect finish with no micro marring or haziness or anything?



Also, is there somewhere that sells the 105/ 205 in a 16oz or smaller size?
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Auto detailing solutions sells 12oz sample sizes of 105 and 205.
 
slammin86 said:
So will the 205 leave me a perfect finish with no micro marring or haziness or anything?
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I know it can on hard paint. I did a number of experiments with different finishing polishes on my Audi and the two best were FPII and M205. Surprisingly, these looked better to me than Ultrafina. When I repeated these on my Toyota, FPII was clearly better. Now, I should note that I am hologram-phobic and always do the last step with my Flex. If I finished with a rotary (or RO, I guess) the results might be different. I feel pretty good about M105-M205-FPII as my go-to combination.
 
slammin86 said:
So will the 205 leave me a perfect finish with no micro marring or haziness or anything?
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Much as wfedwar posted...I've never used it on really soft clear, but I wouldn't expect any problems.



As for "perfect finish", most people would simply say "yes", but IMO you can, at least sometimes, improve on what M205 leaves with something a little milder.
 
Accumulator said:
Much as wfedwar posted...I've never used it on really soft clear, but I wouldn't expect any problems.



As for "perfect finish", most people would simply say "yes", but IMO you can, at least sometimes, improve on what M205 leaves with something a little milder.
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What would you suggest be used as the milder polish to follow? I know the menzera FPII would be a good choice, but at 32oz that would last me forever.



Is there a place that sells the FPII in a smaller size?
 
slammin86 said:
What would you suggest be used as the milder polish to follow? I know the menzera FPII would be a good choice, but at 32oz that would last me forever.
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Something from Menzerna, but yeah, the sizes do make for a pricey buy-in.
 
bert31 said:
You no longer like/recomend 1Z polishes?
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I still like them for some things, but I'd rather *recommend* other stuff these days. I try to take into account that other people, especially those who could benefit from my recommendations, are...uhm, often different from your's truly.



In order of most-to-least aggressive 1Z stuff:



M105 *HAS* replaced 1Z Pasta Intensiv in my eyes for almost any application.



1Z Paint Polish is still a good alternative to #80 for one-steps where the LSP will be a wax. I think *most* people would be happier with M205 though and I think it'll have a good learning curve for most newbies. Better final finish by a good margin IMO. Eh..I'm sorta "why not just get M205?" these days.



I still like 1Z High Gloss, but (besides it too only coming in big bottles) I somehow suspect that most people would find the various Menzerna finishing polishes more versatile (with regard to different types of paint) and they might very well finish out a tad better too.



I still like 1Z Pro MP but a) I haven't bought any lately and they keep changing it and b) it only comes in 1-liter cans. I suspect it's an acquired taste anyhow, something that perhaps only I have a use for.



I still like 1Z WPS but it too is, IMO, an acquired taste that only comes in 1-liter cans. I do sometimes still recommend it when ease-of-use is paramount, but heh heh, nobody ever takes me up on it :nixweiss WPS + 845 = perhaps the easiest somewhat durable combo ever IMO.
 
I am also going to jump on the bandwagon and recommend M105/205. I have accomplished such an amazing level of deffect removal and crystal clear finish from that combo that I can't help but recommend it to others.



Edit: I've used M205 on super soft custom repaints with a black Meguiar's W9207 pad on my G110 without the need for anything finer to follow up. M205 really shows its true colors with a W9207 pad, because it was designed for its use.
 
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