Optimum process: hyper compound, hyper polish, ONR, and straight to gloss coat???

[Harry Da Hamster]

I think i saw a review where the Optimum rep says you can go from hyper polish, wipe off with ONR, and go straight to gloss coat... without an IPA wipe. Is this true? Or do i remember incorrectly? Anyone try this?

[Setec Astronomy]

You have a little more in your title than you have in your post...one of the "Optimum Synergy" claims is that you don't need to wipe off the Hyper Compound residue before going to the Hyper Polish. I think people have said at one time that you can use ONR as prep for coating, but that was later retracted (maybe after they came out with their own prep wipe). Optimum was pretty inconsistent with their recommendations at one point. I would certainly do an IPA wipe before Gloss-Coat.

[jkrig]

For Gloss Coat you will need an IPA/prep wipe prior to application, now if you weren't going to coat the car you could follow Hyper Polish with an ONR wipe then straight to Optimum Car Wax or Opti-Seal. I like the thought of going straight from compound to polish without a residue wipe but Hyper Compound just doesn't have quite the bite or versatility when it comes to pads for me. Hyper polish on the other hand is a dream to use and my go polish.

[Finick]

You have a little more in your title than you have in your post...one of the "Optimum Synergy" claims is that you don't need to wipe off the Hyper Compound residue before going to the Hyper Polish. I think people have said at one time that you can use ONR as prep for coating, but that was later retracted (maybe after they came out with their own prep wipe). Optimum was pretty inconsistent with their recommendations at one point. I would certainly do an IPA wipe before Gloss-Coat.

I think one of the more irritating things about these panel wipes is that they always just claim to leave a totally clean surface. Nothing left behind, bare paint ready to coat.

But OPT says in their most recent gloss coat video on TRC YouTube channel, granted it’s not the first time I’ve seen them say it, that optimum paint prep leaves something behind that helps the coating self level.

A primer polish I can understand, but a panel wipe? I’m in the camp that’s just interested in transparency, and not marketing a product as something that promotes better adhesion because it leaves something behind just seems dishonest to me.

I’ve seen in their Facebook group, Yvan skirts around the question when directly asked: does paint prep leave something behind? His answer always seems to deflect, be very vague, and mention how paint prep was originally intended for professional use only but they decided to open up sales to everyone

That being said, since my application of CQUK3.0 was botched, I’m going to use what I have left on my hood and see if I can get it down, and I’m going to be trying gloss coat come spring time. I’ll probably buy their paint prep because it just makes sense.


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[spazzz]

You want the paint prep wipe before Gloss Coat.
Any missed polish will cause your application to drag instead of glide.

It's just easier that way and use a lot of towels.

[The Guz]

I think one of the more irritating things about these panel wipes is that they always just claim to leave a totally clean surface. Nothing left behind, bare paint ready to coat.

But OPT says in their most recent gloss coat video on TRC YouTube channel, granted it’s not the first time I’ve seen them say it, that optimum paint prep leaves something behind that helps the coating self level.

A primer polish I can understand, but a panel wipe? I’m in the camp that’s just interested in transparency, and not marketing a product as something that promotes better adhesion because it leaves something behind just seems dishonest to me.

I’ve seen in their Facebook group, Yvan skirts around the question when directly asked: does paint prep leave something behind? His answer always seems to deflect, be very vague, and mention how paint prep was originally intended for professional use only but they decided to open up sales to everyone

This is quite true. Paint Prep sure smells like straight IPA. I don't know if it really does anything to self level other than the surface being clean of polishing oils which would allow the coating to self level compared to having something on the surface.

That being said, since my application of CQUK3.0 was botched, I’m going to use what I have left on my hood and see if I can get it down, and I’m going to be trying gloss coat come spring time. I’ll probably buy their paint prep because it just makes sense.


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What happened with CQUK 3.0. It is pretty hard to mess it up unless the prep was not good. 4 months in on my car and it is performing quite well.

Also isn't this the second coating that didn't fair well in application?

[Finick]

This is quite true. Paint Prep sure smells like straight IPA. I don't know if it really does anything to self level other than the surface being clean of polishing oils which would allow the coating to self level compared to having something on the surface.

Which would be totally fine with me if companies were just like “yeah this is a strong mix of IPA and whatever else we put in it to make it a little more slick than just straight up IPA.”

I’d buy it just for the honesty. On optimums website they even recommend a 15% dilution as an alternative, and it just makes me wonder.

What happened with CQUK 3.0. It is pretty hard to mess it up unless the prep was not good. 4 months in on my car and it is performing quite well.

Also isn't this the second coating that didn't fair well in application?

To be honest I’m not sure. I wouldn’t say the coating isn’t there, because it’s still doing -something- but it’s definitely not acting the way I’ve seen in basically every video I’ve ever seen.

I think my prep wasn’t thorough enough, or at least that’s all that makes sense. I hit the car with perfecting cream and a Meguiar’s yellow foam pad, wiped with eraser, and then applied the coating.

The wipe down was very tiring and it really just seemed to smear around on the surface. As I worked through my hood I found that whether I was treating it as a wipe on wipe off coating or gave it a minute that it made no difference.

I did my car in thirds (on different days), and by time I was working on my driver side and bumpers, the application process seemed to be going really smoothly. Like I always hear about. None of it really seemed to get a good bond though.

This is indeed the second coating that hasn’t turned out super well. I joined the carpro discussion board on facebook, and one person suggested that I could use a stronger mix of IPA, or even tarx as a prep wipe. He said that on softer/stickier paints he’s done coatings on, sometimes eraser isn’t quite enough to get the polishing residue off. Recommended that I polish, wipe the car down with tarx, then wash it with reset for good measure, and then coat it.

I still have about 10-11ml left, so I’m going to really spend some time on my hood and see if I can get a good bond on there. I also plan on going back and trying the pinnacle coating on maybe a fender or something.


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[Setec Astronomy]

A primer polish I can understand, but a panel wipe? I’m in the camp that’s just interested in transparency, and not marketing a product as something that promotes better adhesion because it leaves something behind just seems dishonest to me.

I’ve seen in their Facebook group, Yvan skirts around the question when directly asked: does paint prep leave something behind? His answer always seems to deflect, be very vague, and mention how paint prep was originally intended for professional use only but they decided to open up sales to everyone.

Which would be totally fine with me if companies were just like “yeah this is a strong mix of IPA and whatever else we put in it to make it a little more slick than just straight up IPA.”

I’d buy it just for the honesty. On optimums website they even recommend a 15% dilution as an alternative, and it just makes me wonder.

Yeah, I dunno...the MSDS only lists IPA but their web store description says "a combination of mild solvents". The Wolfgang paint prep, which I gotta believe is pretty similar, talks about having lubricants and some magic ingredient because apparently the Wolfgang coating will only adhere if you use the Wolfgang paint prep first...which I think Nick walked back a bit when we questioned him on it at the time (or was that the prep polish for the PBL coating?...I can't keep it straight anymore).

They do have a Primer Polish that's part of the professional line that is supposed to enhance the bonding, or speed the curing or something...I forget.

It's funny that Dr. G seems to be such a straight guy...I mean an honest, no nonsense guy...but we mostly seem to get info from him that gets filtered through someone else and gets all twisted around...I think it's that Dr. is a chemist, not a detailer, and that he answers questions from detailers like a chemist...I mean there is some translation error in both directions, I've run into this before when you have people from different disciplines and they can't talk to each other...because the words mean different things. Am I rambling? Sorry.

[Mad Wax]

When it comes to ceramic coatings, and all of the time and money spent on paint correction, and prep products, I would just follow the manufactures directions and not cut any corners. All of this stuff is tested using there own product line. If I'm using an Optimum coating, I'll use there Paint Prep....if I'm applying CarPro, I'll grab Eraser.

[The Guz]

Which would be totally fine with me if companies were just like “yeah this is a strong mix of IPA and whatever else we put in it to make it a little more slick than just straight up IPA.”

I’d buy it just for the honesty. On optimums website they even recommend a 15% dilution as an alternative, and it just makes me wonder.

Optimum recommended this because for a long time they did not have a paint prep. So they recommended IPA. Then there was this big thing about using ONR for everything and that if one stays with in the optimum synergy then there would be no need to prep wipe the surface but rather just use ONR. Then there was a thing about the polymers in ONR. So it was like an endless cat and mouse game on what to use. Then they came out with their prep spray and did not even update their labels and what not.

In short stick with paint prep if using Gloss Coat. Also don't be surprised if Gloss Coat is not the most impressive or longest lasting coating. Not my favorite performing coating other than ease of use.

To be honest I’m not sure. I wouldn’t say the coating isn’t there, because it’s still doing -something- but it’s definitely not acting the way I’ve seen in basically every video I’ve ever seen.

I think my prep wasn’t thorough enough, or at least that’s all that makes sense. I hit the car with perfecting cream and a Meguiar’s yellow foam pad, wiped with eraser, and then applied the coating.

The wipe down was very tiring and it really just seemed to smear around on the surface. As I worked through my hood I found that whether I was treating it as a wipe on wipe off coating or gave it a minute that it made no difference.

I did my car in thirds (on different days), and by time I was working on my driver side and bumpers, the application process seemed to be going really smoothly. Like I always hear about. None of it really seemed to get a good bond though.

This is indeed the second coating that hasn’t turned out super well. I joined the carpro discussion board on facebook, and one person suggested that I could use a stronger mix of IPA, or even tarx as a prep wipe. He said that on softer/stickier paints he’s done coatings on, sometimes eraser isn’t quite enough to get the polishing residue off. Recommended that I polish, wipe the car down with tarx, then wash it with reset for good measure, and then coat it.

I still have about 10-11ml left, so I’m going to really spend some time on my hood and see if I can get a good bond on there. I also plan on going back and trying the pinnacle coating on maybe a fender or something.


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If you are having a hard time doing a prep wipe then there is something wrong. It should not be a lot of work to prep wipe the surface. Did you go with a heavy application? Did you use more than one towel?

One thing I do now is that I use a prep wipe after wiping off polish residue as I go around the paint. I then do another prep wipe cycling through towels.

You are going to have to play with flash times to figure out the right point to wipe off/level off. Doing it to soon and you will remove too much product. Doing it too late and you risk the chance of a high spot. Humidity and temp play a factor.

I don't know about using tarx but that should work as even CarPro recommends using it when trying to strip the oils from Reload. But here is the thing with softer paints, you then risk the chance of marring with that extra wash. Perhaps give Essence a go and then your prep wipe can be a light one if one is even really needed.

For me CQUK 3.0 is performing great at 4 months in. You can find my thread on the prep I did.