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Today, I taped off a panel of my hood to give Ultimate Polish and Ultimate Compound a try. I have used both in the past, but only shortly, and improperly.
I began with Ultimate Polish, not only because it is a very mild product, but because of the oils it has to offer my paint. My paint is very dry, and using Ultimate Compound in the past was nearly impossible.
Ultimate Polish
The Ultimate Polish made my paint slightly more shiny, and possible to use Ultimate Compound without it grabbing the surface of my paint too hard or drying rapidly.
Ultimate Polish was worked in a small circular pattern (similar to waxing) with moderate pressure within the taped off panel. I worked it into the paint twice (two passes) with each application, working in slightly less than a 2'x2' area at a time. I wiped the product off while it was still wet, and reapplied UP to any areas where it had previously dried to dissolve the dry product and wipe off with a SS microfiber towel. I then used Ultimate Compound.
Ultimate Compound
I worked Ultimate Compound into the paint in very much the same way that I did with the Ultimate Polish mentioned above. The key difference was that I used more pressure, and applied the product 2 times total over the panel. After using UC, the paint looked great. I didn't work the product long enough to get rid of all of the swirl marks, but long enough to get rid of 70-80% of them. I saw no haziness as some mention when using UC, but I followed up with another application of UP anyway. UP didn't seem to make much of a difference at this point, but it made the paint look a bit darker.
Finishing
I was in a bit of a hurry so I topped the polished area with some Ultimate Quick Wax. I removed the tape line and admired the difference. The polished portion was noticeably smoother, and darker. I was surprised that it seemed darker, even before applying UQW. I think this is due to having less scratches to reflect white light.
Conclusion
UP and UC are both great products. They have both surely earned the title of "ultimate" as I see no reason to change the formulas as they are, and thus, have no suggestions for improvement. Overall, I am really enjoying the ultimate line and suggest anyone try it that hasn't tried it yet. Below are some pictures I took, the difference is hard to see on camera due to poor lighting and my camera seeming to not want to focus on the swirls, but it's more noticeable in person.
The best way that I could get any swirls to appear was to have a light shining directly on a small area of the paint.
Non-polished panel
Polished Panel
Outside shot showing darkness difference (more apparent in person)
I began with Ultimate Polish, not only because it is a very mild product, but because of the oils it has to offer my paint. My paint is very dry, and using Ultimate Compound in the past was nearly impossible.
Ultimate Polish
The Ultimate Polish made my paint slightly more shiny, and possible to use Ultimate Compound without it grabbing the surface of my paint too hard or drying rapidly.
Ultimate Polish was worked in a small circular pattern (similar to waxing) with moderate pressure within the taped off panel. I worked it into the paint twice (two passes) with each application, working in slightly less than a 2'x2' area at a time. I wiped the product off while it was still wet, and reapplied UP to any areas where it had previously dried to dissolve the dry product and wipe off with a SS microfiber towel. I then used Ultimate Compound.
Ultimate Compound
I worked Ultimate Compound into the paint in very much the same way that I did with the Ultimate Polish mentioned above. The key difference was that I used more pressure, and applied the product 2 times total over the panel. After using UC, the paint looked great. I didn't work the product long enough to get rid of all of the swirl marks, but long enough to get rid of 70-80% of them. I saw no haziness as some mention when using UC, but I followed up with another application of UP anyway. UP didn't seem to make much of a difference at this point, but it made the paint look a bit darker.
Finishing
I was in a bit of a hurry so I topped the polished area with some Ultimate Quick Wax. I removed the tape line and admired the difference. The polished portion was noticeably smoother, and darker. I was surprised that it seemed darker, even before applying UQW. I think this is due to having less scratches to reflect white light.
Conclusion
UP and UC are both great products. They have both surely earned the title of "ultimate" as I see no reason to change the formulas as they are, and thus, have no suggestions for improvement. Overall, I am really enjoying the ultimate line and suggest anyone try it that hasn't tried it yet. Below are some pictures I took, the difference is hard to see on camera due to poor lighting and my camera seeming to not want to focus on the swirls, but it's more noticeable in person.
The best way that I could get any swirls to appear was to have a light shining directly on a small area of the paint.
Non-polished panel
Polished Panel
Outside shot showing darkness difference (more apparent in person)
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