Updated - Blackfire One Step makes a newb not feel like a newb...amazing product

[Jayfro]

Updated - Blackfire One Step makes a newb not feel like a newb...amazing product (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101-a/123566-updated-blackfire-one-step-makes-newb-not-feel-like-newb-amazing-product.html)



First of I wanted to thank everyone on AGO and Mike Philips for the help i received, i COULD NOT have done it without everyones input and help!

I'll try to keep this short and to the point.


Details:
2015 Acura TLX - Black Pearl


Issue:
I previously (2-3 weeks ago) used a non-AGO AIO for correcting minor swirls, hairline scratches, and was looking for an increase in overall clarity and shine. I used a HF DA with CG White Pads and one or two LC Orange Pads. I used the same non-AGO SIO2 as the LSP. Everything looked good after i was finished, i was very pleased with my work (especially for a newb) until on Tuesday or Wednesday when i walked outside at work around 1:00-2:00 and saw what turned out to be micro-marring on the hood, i could see my polishing pattern through out the hood...I was mortified, I wore the Scarlet Letter!! After further inspection, the trunk lid, doors....all we're trashed (my words).


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/39fb2cfef5562aad601882f2c6b850a9.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/43d5c69ba8acdf264803e8cdc5abd09f.jpg



I turned AGO for help, and help i received from everyone and Mike P, they diagnosed it promptly. Mike P said he would trade my product for his, i had no idea what he was sending but i trusted him and Saturday morning my product was on it's way via Fed-Ex. I spoke to Mike on Monday, it was very cool to speak to him, telling stories about some of his clients that you would think would be very conscious about how their cars looked but we're filled with swirls and everything else imaginable, these are cars we've seen them on TV too!! Ok...back to my issue!

To my surprise, I received Blackfire One Step on Friday along with Mike's autograph book....wow! When we spoke on Monday, he gave me some product recommendations, which of course i purchased that day....Sonax PNS. I also purchased six LC White Pads and the Scangrip Mini-Match Light (very cool light...expensive, yes but well worth it if you're doing any correction in your typical garage.



Time to Work
I started with the basic wash on Saturday morning to beat the sun from baking the car. I didn't need to be Clayed, the paint since the paint was still very smooth from the previous detail about two months ago...the front end got a quick Claying with the Blackfire Clay Mit since it was a little rough.

I started with with a test spot on the hood, sectioned off a square and used four "nickel" sized drops of BF One Step using a LC White Pad. My speed on the DA was on five, did six passes....two across, two up and down, and two more across....there were no words...just utter amazement on what I was seeing!!!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/8e65965c0f403858481fb1eb78bcdfc3.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/39e7b38bf44d1ab2dc37c2db73cecede.jpg

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/78561d8ffcea1c29bf4b49b75a4227de.jpg




Sun Test

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/a71cf664c287f7103de395b1f548815e.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/1c1397ad31c8d2e0c722fe5b9e6ad0c9.jpg



Backside of Trunk before and after

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/835bdaadd1e2055c4335df840981c2ec.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/7cb3bb31314210c6d59421193fe0c7c3.jpg

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/b2b3151597fc3c334839ea2941b02241.jpg



More before and after...and a dork!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/9e57eea9666f6ce27a95002c6c750fa0.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/39368f57d9e57a0e7822aacd9ed087c6.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/1625afe9501ee248c565629f19deb9f8.jpg




The finished product...
I intentionally parked both side of the car in the sun. The finished product also includes Sonax PNS


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/788bb9cba13ce64e5ec6fa28c1d6fa88.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/fbb0ec0b2dd03ea3efcb9205b0022305.jpg

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/0fe7dd58958ab886f9293e7d1ef5ff69.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/1716a9a583f626f1720d32d16e13f17a.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/a7e71ede35a5285fb6b82cae676f9d80.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/952e236d181a645683c11e7b32142046.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/736bd1ba55fdf3dc4668dec4fc0d62cd.jpg

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/7751d5a4bbc58fb60a1a3d5f0a73add4.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190617/2d48a06dd1232fdb7267bdb0f6a41476.jpg




The stars of the show were the Blackfire One Step, 12 LC White Pads over two days (used 1 orange on the front bumper, and 1 black to remove some tape), Scangrip light is a must have, and lots of towels!

Again, thank you to everyone!

Jay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bruno Soares]

Glad to hear you got this figured out. Amazing what better products can do right? So many options available now and people have a hard time deciding. Often they opt for one they've heard of because some companies do a good job with marketing. And then they are disappointed.

When I was about to do my first car years ago I first thought of Chemical Guys. Loaded my cart at Amazon with their pads and polishes and was ready to order. Then decided to ask around. Was told to come here and learned about much better products. Changed everything was about to do, didn't buy a single CG product and started with Wolfgang TSR, FG, DGPS. Very happy with those results.

The folks here are friendly and knowledgeable, you'll learn a lot if you stay active in this forum. The only problem is you might become a little obsessed. I walk around looking at everyone's paint and keep thinking in my head that it could be so much better if people cared and learned about car detailing.

[expdetailing]

Excellent outcome; looks great! Thanks for sharing!

[Dr Oldz]

Wow!!! Thanks for sharing the story and all the pics. Really came out wonderful. Keep up the great work!!

[Paul A.]

You, my friend are a quick study. Great results!

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Wozers! That black paint looks proper now! The BlackFIRE AIO is top notch for sure.

Thanks for sharing the story. Enjoyed the read.

[TMQ]

You're on your way!

Tom

[ScottH]

BF One Step is amazing. I used up all the samples I received from AG over the last 2 months and placed an order for (2) 32 oz bottles yesterday. Like you, I used it with amazement on a black car (BMW in this case) with a feeling of true satisfaction in the end. Because BMW paint can be hard, I used an orange pad vs. your white, and it finished down amazingly well, and all this was done in the sun to really "test" the product.

You did a great job by the way!!! Now go soak your pads - BF One Step isn't the easiest to remove from the pads.

ScottH

[Goonie75]

Sweet work. Nice to see the smiles too!

Ryan

Sent from my SM-G965U using Autogeekonline mobile app

[SWETM]

Awesome work and write up and pictures!

That is an amazing finish you got on your car! And liked your thorough write up and pictures to tell the great story.

And for what it's worth I have seen a review of the product you used before. It seems to be a PIA to dial it in and is not suited on softer paints. So even the pros have a hard time to get results from that product. But seems to be great when you have got it dialed in on a paint with a lot of defects and medium to hard clearcoat. Think it's just was not a product for your paint to get a quality finish on it.

The BF One Step really made a great job on your car. Seems to be a high quality product with a great user friendlyness.

Nice of Mike to offer you the deal you got.

The great inspection light from Scangrip is worth it to control what you have to work with and how your work goes and gets. Well worth the extra cost. I tried many other lights before I got mad and got a Scangrip Sunmatch v1. Would have been better to do as you did and get it right away.

/ Tony

[Jon TDS]

Are you sure you're a newbie?! Great job!

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[Mike Phillips]

First of I wanted to thank everyone on AGO and Mike Philips for the help i received, i COULD NOT have done it without everyones input and help!



You done did good!







Sent from my iPhone using TapaTalk




And I see you obtained the TapaTalk App to share your pictures. I just created a brand new article to show others how they can do this also moving into the future.


The easy way to share a picture on a forum - Tapatalk App for your cell phone (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/123572-easy-way-share-picture-forum-tapatalk-app-your-cell-phone.html)




Thanks for your trust and thank you for sharing. Now when you get a chance, pay-it-forward and share this forum with your friends.


:dblthumb2:

[Mike Phillips]

And for what it's worth I have seen a review of the product you used before. It seems to be a PIA to dial it in and is not suited on softer paints.

So even the pros have a hard time to get results from that product. But seems to be great when you have got it dialed in on a paint with a lot of defects and medium to hard clearcoat. Think it's just was not a product for your paint to get a quality finish on it.



Could be.... I believe abrasive technology used in a product is the MOST important factor while most others say it's technique. One thing I know however, in most cases, when a product uses crappy abrasive technology all the technique in the world won't make the abrasive technology somehow now good.

It's the abrasive that touch the paint - not technique.


But there is some truth that some products don't work well on soft paints for example, I think most of us have read for years how Meguiar's M205 will tend to micro-mar soft paints. But again - this is related to the abrasive technology, not technique.



By the way, whatever happened to WATER POLISHING with M205? :laughing:







The BF One Step really made a great job on your car. Seems to be a high quality product with a great user friendlyness.



BLACKFIRE One Step is for the most part - Bubba-Proof. I do believe there could be some super soft paints where NOTHING will work perfect, I know, been there and done that but those are the exceptions, not the rule.






Nice of Mike to offer you the deal you got.



I have a history of doing this type of thing on this forum and actually back in the day on the MOL and even Autopia forums.

When I see a person new to machine polishing experiencing micro-marring - I can feel their paint, errr... I mean I can feel their pain.... :)


I've never used the product he started out with, but when I get time I'll give it my normal test I use for other companies product when I'm asked to do compound and polish testing. I figured since he was already using an AIO that the BLACKFIRE AIO would undo the damage caused by the first product and get his car's paint back to where he wants it to look so I took a chance.





The great inspection light from Scangrip is worth it to control what you have to work with and how your work goes and gets. Well worth the extra cost. I tried many other lights before I got mad and got a Scangrip Sunmatch v1. Would have been better to do as you did and get it right away.

/ Tony


I agree. I like the Scangrip tools so much I've written a LOT of articles for this company just to share quality tools with others that prefer quality over cheap.


All my SCANGRIP Swirl Finder Light articles in one place - Mike Phillips (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions/110049-all-my-scangrip-swirl-finder-light-articles-one-place-mike-phillips.html)


I didn't know about the new Scangrip light until Jay shared it in this thread. Weird how I learn about new products like you all learn about new products.


:laughing:

[Jayfro]

Glad to hear you got this figured out. Amazing what better products can do right? So many options available now and people have a hard time deciding. Often they opt for one they've heard of because some companies do a good job with marketing. And then they are disappointed.

When I was about to do my first car years ago I first thought of Chemical Guys. Loaded my cart at Amazon with their pads and polishes and was ready to order. Then decided to ask around. Was told to come here and learned about much better products. Changed everything was about to do, didn't buy a single CG product and started with Wolfgang TSR, FG, DGPS. Very happy with those results.

The folks here are friendly and knowledgeable, you'll learn a lot if you stay active in this forum. The only problem is you might become a little obsessed. I walk around looking at everyone's paint and keep thinking in my head that it could be so much better if people cared and learned about car detailing.

100% agree with you with becoming obsessed, I think my wife is calling all of my friends, family, and coworkers to have an Intervention, not sure where they would drop me off though!!!

[Jayfro]

BF One Step is amazing. I used up all the samples I received from AG over the last 2 months and placed an order for (2) 32 oz bottles yesterday. Like you, I used it with amazement on a black car (BMW in this case) with a feeling of true satisfaction in the end. Because BMW paint can be hard, I used an orange pad vs. your white, and it finished down amazingly well, and all this was done in the sun to really "test" the product.

You did a great job by the way!!! Now go soak your pads - BF One Step isn't the easiest to remove from the pads.

ScottH

Scott...thank you for the compliment. My next project is my wife's "newer" 2016 BMW X3 that we purchased last week, the saving grace is that it's white and it's hers!!!

Jay