Ultimate Compound hiding marring?

[Shawn T.]

I've been hanging around on AutoGeek Online for a while and sort of abandoned MOL for a few days. Anyway, I always hear people saying that UC hides marring. I finally decided to speak up and said that UC has no polishing oils in it as it is a compound. I then told a story of how I immediately saw marring after using UC and hence it wasn't covered up ir hidden. Someone then chimed in and said that UC has a "TON of polishing oils." Here are the two responses:

Originally Posted by Shawn T. As far as I know, UC has no polishing oils to speak of. It's a compound. I have never had marring covered up by it. When I did my dad's Pilot with a one step of UC last summer for father's day, I didn't see the light marring in the shade but in the sun, obviously, it was clear. I didn't really care becasue the car is a dialy driver that has worse problems than a little marring but UC didn't cover up anything. Just saying.

It actually has a TON of polishing oils in it. While i agree with you that some exaggerate a lot in believing that you are going to all of the sudden find giant marring and swirls after an IPA wipe down, the fact is that there are a lot of polishing oil and lubrication in this hand compound.




I am not picking on this person or angry. I just want to know if anyone has ever experienced a situation where UC hid marring.

[greg0303]

Re: Ultimate Compound hiding marring?

Hi Shawn,

UC definitely does not hide nor fills up any defects. It's a SMAT product so its abrasives either remove defects or if there are not aggressive enough leave them.

UC has some polishing elements but not accountable enough to hide anything.
I experienced micro-marring and slight hazing with UC on some paints (mostly soft or non-metallic black colors) and I had to clear it with SwirlX or M205.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Ultimate Compound hiding marring?

Let's see if we can clear some of this up for you and everyone else:

Ultimate Compound is a consumer product derived from M105 Ultra Cut Compound - that should be very well known, but what does it mean exactly? M105 was initially designed for use with a rotary buffer on fresh paint, which is why it will often dust noticeably when used on older, more dried out paint, and potentially even more so when used with a D/A rather than a rotary. So, for a consumer application where M105's level of cut isn't really needed, but a much more user friendly experience is practically mandatory, we altered the formulation to include lubricants that make hand application and wipe off easier, and to provide a longer buffing cycle when used with a D/A.

But mention those lubricants to some people and they immediately shout "fillers". Ultimate Compound contains the same SMAT abrasive technology found in M105, M205, M86, etc so it actually cuts and removes defects. Use it with good technique and then do an IPA wipe down and see for yourself. Besides, fillers can only go so far, and we've removed some pretty darn nasty defects using nothing more than UC on a W8207 Soft Buff 2.0 foam polishing pad and a G110v2. Take a look at this thread from a recent Saturday Class where we removed a year old bird dropping etch mark from a C6 Corvette using the above mentioned process. Now, you'll hear plenty of talk about how C6 Corvette paint is crazy hard, so this should have been a real challenge, right? Yet we fully removed the etching, after the owner said he'd been trying to get rid of it through various means for a long time. You don't "fill" an etching like that - you either remove it by leveling the surrounding paint, or you don't remove it. And we removed it with Ultimate Compound and a D/A running a 7" foam polishing pad. No rotary, no wool, no foam cutting pad, no M105. And too darn many eye witnesses for it to have been faked!

[Shawn T.]

Re: Ultimate Compound hiding marring?

Let's see if we can clear some of this up for you and everyone else:

Ultimate Compound is a consumer product derived from M105 Ultra Cut Compound - that should be very well known, but what does it mean exactly? M105 was initially designed for use with a rotary buffer on fresh paint, which is why it will often dust noticeably when used on older, more dried out paint, and potentially even more so when used with a D/A rather than a rotary. So, for a consumer application where M105's level of cut isn't really needed, but a much more user friendly experience is practically mandatory, we altered the formulation to include lubricants that make hand application and wipe off easier, and to provide a longer buffing cycle when used with a D/A.

But mention those lubricants to some people and they immediately shout "fillers". Ultimate Compound contains the same SMAT abrasive technology found in M105, M205, M86, etc so it actually cuts and removes defects. Use it with good technique and then do an IPA wipe down and see for yourself. Besides, fillers can only go so far, and we've removed some pretty darn nasty defects using nothing more than UC on a W8207 Soft Buff 2.0 foam polishing pad and a G110v2. Take a look at this thread from a recent Saturday Class where we removed a year old bird dropping etch mark from a C6 Corvette using the above mentioned process. Now, you'll hear plenty of talk about how C6 Corvette paint is crazy hard, so this should have been a real challenge, right? Yet we fully removed the etching, after the owner said he'd been trying to get rid of it through various means for a long time. You don't "fill" an etching like that - you either remove it by leveling the surrounding paint, or you don't remove it. And we removed it with Ultimate Compound and a D/A running a 7" foam polishing pad. No rotary, no wool, no foam cutting pad, no M105. And too darn many eye witnesses for it to have been faked!

Thanks Mike. I have never experienced this hiding effect that many people claim. In fact, one person said they used UC, did an IPA and it looked like someone keyed their car. I say that this was caused because of the wrong product for the job, not a "hiding" property of UC.

I love UC. It can work in any environment whether it be full sun, in te summer, on a black car or in the low to mid 40s. It is a remarkable product.

I think I remember that thread. I remember a thread where you were working on a car with supposedly hard clear and you actually hazed the paint with an W8207 pad and UC. I remember because you had to follow the area with Colorx to remove the hazing.

Anyway, thanks for the clarification Mike.