Pad/compound/polish dilemma

Hello,

I started out polishing one year ago and got the hang of it. Now I have a few questions concerning choice of pad/compound/polish.
I know this is (mostly) personal preference or based on the type of paint but still I would like to have some guidelines.

This is what I have/use:

-Rupes lhr12e duetto
-Rupes lhr75e
-Rupes lhr15e mark 3

Pads: microfiber pad, gyeon pads (purple, red, blue & white), rupes pads (blue, green, yellow, white) & Scholl pads (purple & orange).
Compound/polishes: Menzerna 400, 2200, 3000, 3500, rupes (blue, green, yellow, white) & scholl S3, S17 & S30.

Now I am willing to drop the scholl pads/compound/polishes and use the gyeon pads + menzerna compound/polish instead (as the gyeon pads are specially made for eccentric machines & menzerna cuts/finishes better imo), but would it not be better to use the rupes 'system' on hard paints?

Last question: Is there any difference in compounding/polishing soft(er) paints?

Thanks in advance!

Kind regards,
Sonics

If you polishing a lot on harder paints and deep defects on them. I would get a wool cutting pad for longthrow polishers. The yellow Rupes Wool pad is very liked for how they cut and finishes. Also the Blue Rupes Wool pad is good. I like wool pads more than the mf cutting pads as you get less heat build up and also finishing a notch better. You have the Lake Country Low Lint Wool Pad and the Foam Wool Pad which is good. I use the Scholl Premium Wool Pad and the Sonax DA Wool Pad. The Buff & Shine URO-WOOL and also the URO-FIBER mf 50/50 pads is great. It's much personal preferences which to get. The Rupes Yellow Wool Pad is one that I will be getting as so many likes it. So that and the B&S Uro-Wool and if you want the Uro-Fiber 50/50 is great on hard to soft paints.

When it comes to compounds and if you are set on Menzerna. Get you the Menzerna SHC300 for the heavy cutting on harder paints when necessary. I like the Sonax Cutmax for heavy cutting. If it where more available for me I would test out 3D ACA 500 X-Tra Cut Compound or the 3D AAT Cutting Compound which also is liked and have a high cutting ability.

The difference on polishing soft paints is that you use a less aggressive combo than on medium to hard paints. On extremly soft paints you can get heavy cutting from a polish and polishing pad like the Rupes Yellow Foam Pad. Then when you stumble on soft finicky/sticky paints it's to hold down the heat build up and have great lubrication from the polish. This I like Sonax Perfect Finish or Carpro Reflect or Carpro Essence polish on the Rupes Yellow Foam Pad. You want to have a little harder pad on the finicky/sticky paints. And a shorter throw like the Duetto in your case. Some Subaru and Mitsubishi and Honda has these paints.

You have already a great setup. The heavy cutting is what I feel is missing both a compound and pad. When you get those rock hard clearcoats. And don't want to do double polishing steps with your most aggressive combo. Maybe you can get there with the Rupes Blue Coarse compound and Blue Wool Pad. But it's on the edge on when it's the extreme hard paints and deep defects on them.

/ Tony

SWETM: How aggressive can that URO-FIBER 50/50 get? That's the black and white one, right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JustJesus

SWETM: How aggressive can that URO-FIBER 50/50 get? That's the black and white one, right?

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I would say it's like a light to medium cutting pad. It does excells in the finishing you can get from a mf pad. On medium to hard paints it's LSP ready more often than not. Have not used them so much but the impressions is what Brian at Apex Detailing Channel on Youtube has with them. So you don't get as high cut as with the Meguiars Mf Cutting Pad. But the ability to finishing is much greater with the 50/50 Uro-Fiber pads.

Hello SWETM/Tony,

Thank you for the response.
I’ve heard in the past (from professionals) that wool pads do not come to their right on DA polishers since the hair does not move in straight motions, this is where microfiber is best used.

So now I use the uro fiber pads (black&white) with menzerna 400...

Some further explanation why this is right/wrong?

I am not really set on anything, I just use menzerna because it seems to me it gives me the best cut & finish on hard clearcoats.

I was just wondering if it is better to use the Rupes system or menzerna with gyeon/scholl pads...

Sonics


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I have no experience with the Rupes as a system. Like their yellow and white foam pads. Rupes has a great system if you chose to strictly follow that. But as with all things you can find as good or better options and also a less good options. So saying if one is better than the other is almost impossible when you have so many great options out there that produce awesome results. It's so much of a personal preferences which suits you the best. And honestly it is to try the Rupes system and see if you like it. It can be costly to do. But a small bottle of a Rupes polish is not so high. And you have the foam pads from them so it's really to get a couple of the blue and yellow Rupes Wool pads and see if you get the results better than the combo that you use today. It's what I would do.

The new kind of short haired wool pads is very much like a mf pad. And nothing like the twisted wool pads for rotary polishers. Many has gone over to the new style of wool pads for DAs here in EU and also in asia. The LC Low Lint Wool Pad and the Purple Foamed Wool Pad and also the B&S Uro-Wool is getting more popular in the US too. And especially when it comes to the heavy cutting on medium to hard paints. In asia where you often has softer paints it's less aggressive cut from them but you get also way less heat build up than a mf pad and a foam pad. Then it's leaves with a good finish so you can use a less aggressive combo for the polishing that get you a higher gloss finish. Since it's so little micro marring from the wool pads on the DA you get a notch better finish. Which a finer polish cleans up easy. Mf pads are not bad in any way. I have used Meguiars mf cutting pad and finishing mf pad with great results. But here in Sweden we have a lot of Volvo and VW and BMW and MB that's on the harder side of the clearcoats. So sometimes it's a need on trashed paint to get as aggressive combo as possible. And there the short haired wool cutting pads comes in with something like Sonax Cutmax and Scholl S1 Black SS and S2 Black SS heavy cut compounds.

Have not heard so much of it since Menzerna HC400 was changed from FG400. That they could desolve the adisive between the velcro and foam on the Rupes pads and mostly on the blue and green pad. Some have had problems with this.

Maybe not so much of a straight answer. But get the Rupes Blue Wool Pad and the Rupes Blue Coarse Compound as it's the most aggressive combo they have. And test it out on a harder paint when it's needed to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sonics

Hello,

I started out polishing one year ago and got the hang of it. Now I have a few questions concerning choice of pad/compound/polish.
I know this is (mostly) personal preference or based on the type of paint but still I would like to have some guidelines.

This is what I have/use:

-Rupes lhr12e duetto
-Rupes lhr75e
-Rupes lhr15e mark 3

Pads: microfiber pad, gyeon pads (purple, red, blue & white), rupes pads (blue, green, yellow, white) & Scholl pads (purple & orange).
Compound/polishes: Menzerna 400, 2200, 3000, 3500, rupes (blue, green, yellow, white) & scholl S3, S17 & S30.

Now I am willing to drop the scholl pads/compound/polishes and use the gyeon pads + menzerna compound/polish instead (as the gyeon pads are specially made for eccentric machines & menzerna cuts/finishes better imo), but would it not be better to use the rupes 'system' on hard paints?

Last question: Is there any difference in compounding/polishing soft(er) paints?

Thanks in advance!

Kind regards,
Sonics

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The rupes polishes have been hit or miss for me. I dont have ceramic paint, the quartz gel and fine gel polishes left my paint in horrible condition relatively so ive never done more then a few test spots with them. I like the rupes ultrafine but it has zero cut at all. I just had great results from the millie ultrafine with a flex though. Also had luck with rupes millie fine polish.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SWETM

I have no experience with the Rupes as a system. Like their yellow and white foam pads. Rupes has a great system if you chose to strictly follow that. But as with all things you can find as good or better options and also a less good options. So saying if one is better than the other is almost impossible when you have so many great options out there that produce awesome results. It's so much of a personal preferences which suits you the best. And honestly it is to try the Rupes system and see if you like it. It can be costly to do. But a small bottle of a Rupes polish is not so high. And you have the foam pads from them so it's really to get a couple of the blue and yellow Rupes Wool pads and see if you get the results better than the combo that you use today. It's what I would do.

The new kind of short haired wool pads is very much like a mf pad. And nothing like the twisted wool pads for rotary polishers. Many has gone over to the new style of wool pads for DAs here in EU and also in asia. The LC Low Lint Wool Pad and the Purple Foamed Wool Pad and also the B&S Uro-Wool is getting more popular in the US too. And especially when it comes to the heavy cutting on medium to hard paints. In asia where you often has softer paints it's less aggressive cut from them but you get also way less heat build up than a mf pad and a foam pad. Then it's leaves with a good finish so you can use a less aggressive combo for the polishing that get you a higher gloss finish. Since it's so little micro marring from the wool pads on the DA you get a notch better finish. Which a finer polish cleans up easy. Mf pads are not bad in any way. I have used Meguiars mf cutting pad and finishing mf pad with great results. But here in Sweden we have a lot of Volvo and VW and BMW and MB that's on the harder side of the clearcoats. So sometimes it's a need on trashed paint to get as aggressive combo as possible. And there the short haired wool cutting pads comes in with something like Sonax Cutmax and Scholl S1 Black SS and S2 Black SS heavy cut compounds.

Have not heard so much of it since Menzerna HC400 was changed from FG400. That they could desolve the adisive between the velcro and foam on the Rupes pads and mostly on the blue and green pad. Some have had problems with this.

Maybe not so much of a straight answer. But get the Rupes Blue Wool Pad and the Rupes Blue Coarse Compound as it's the most aggressive combo they have. And test it out on a harder paint when it's needed to.

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Thanks for the information. I will certainly try out some of the short haired wool pads out there, after I burned through my stock of MF cutting pads.

I kinda like the Menzerna 400’s cutting ability... Even on hard clearcoats like bmw/mini it cuts just fine.

I guess I’ll have to try out some stuff. I got the compounds/polishes/pads from rupes with the machine (DLX packs) so I will try them out, but after that I guess menzerna + gyeon pads will be my go-to for hard paints.


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