Finishing Polish - Griot's vs. Optimum??

**dschribs** · 07-30-2009, 08:12 AM

If you guys had to pick one of these two products for use with PC - which would it be :

- Optimum Finishing Polish
- Griot's Garage Machine Polish 4

I'm working on single stage red paint which has very, very faint light swirls and toweling marks. My plan is to go with a blue LC pad.

Thanks!

**O.C.Detailing** · 07-30-2009, 08:18 AM

I use Optimum polish and am very happy with it for the money. I can't really comment on the Griot's, but Optimum never dusts up on me and has a really nice workability that doesn't seem to be bad at all even in direct sunlight, since I don't have a garage to work in at the moment.

I'm not sure about a single-stage paint though, and the blue pad is a finishing pad isn't it? It has no cutting power at all I believe. I would use a white pad myself. Or an orange pad even, depending on how bad the swirls were. With just the polish alone, and a PC, you'll be there a while.

**Gunslinger** · 07-30-2009, 08:32 AM

Just the opposite for me...I've never used Optimum but do use Griot's. I have nothing but positive things to say about it. I have all four of Griot's machine polishes...numbers 1 through 4. They say their Machine Polish 3 is what to use for general polishing as it's quite fine.

On one of my cars which is Torch Red, I had some scratches in the clear coat, I started with Polish #4, and worked towards the more abrasive step by step until the scratches were gone. When I got to #2, the scratches disappeared, then I went back to #3 and then #4 before applying Souveran Pinnacle on top. Problem solved.

If you decide to go with Griot's, you should be happy, but I'm sure Optimum is a quality product as well.

**O.C.Detailing** · 07-30-2009, 08:39 AM

To be TOTALLY honest with you, I would probably go with the Optimum Poli-seal AIO product. It has a light polishing agent and once worked, leaves behind a very nice sealant. I've used it on some pretty hard clearcoats with a LC Orange pad and it does a VERY good job of correcting, and since you're using it on a single-stage paint, I'd think the less you have to work it, the better. You'd also save yourself some pad life. lol

**dschribs** · 07-30-2009, 09:19 AM

Gunslinger - Do you use a PC or a rotary?

**Gunslinger** · 07-30-2009, 09:37 AM

I use a Griot's random orbital. It does everything I need very, very well, though their new one looks to be even better...I complained to Griot's about the short electrical cord on mine. It looks like they addressed that in their new version.

I would love to try a Flex, but just can't justify the extra expense.