RUPES Pad and Compound Recommendation Charts

**dlc95** · 10-24-2015, 06:21 PM

I've mostly been using the blue/blue mf to do the heavy lifting.

Yellow/yellow mf does a good job in my typical polish/seal situations.

Yellow/yellow foam leaves a gorgeous finish!

I still need to round out my assortment of pads and polishes, but so far, I get a lot of milage out of my small selection.

**Audios S6** · 10-24-2015, 07:26 PM

This is great Todd, and thanks to the Rupes team for developing these charts and the informative descriptions; great way to classify paints and aid us in finding good combos

**Craig Parker** · 10-25-2015, 11:00 AM

Excellent reference guide and information Todd, thanks!

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-25-2015, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Mike@DedicatedPerfection

Beautiful reference Todd! This needs to be stickied.

Thank you very much

Originally Posted by SonOfOC

Great stuff Todd!

Grazie mille

Originally Posted by fly07sti

Very nice. Thank you for posting this.

You are very welcome, I am hopeful that it will help

Originally Posted by Zubair

Thanks Todd, makes lots of sense.

My personal favourite combos are:

Compounding: Zephir Blue on the Grey UHS pad.

Medium or 1 Step Polishing: Quarz Green on the Green pad as intended (Preffered one step over the UHS system)but also works exceptionally well on the Yellow pad as a one step.

Finishing: Keramik Yellow on the Yellow pad as intended is my go to "jeweling" combo on hard German paints that actually prefer the extra cut over the Diamond White pad/polish combo as the harder paints seem to prefer a slightly more abrasive finishing polish.

Again, the above is what works for ME on VW/Audi/Mercedes/BMW/Porsche and some Lexus and Range Rovers.

I am glad that you have played with different combinations and have found to your liking. This is always part of the fun.

Originally Posted by ekennett

That's such awesome information, thank you for posting it!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You are welcome.

Originally Posted by Bunky

If I read the chart correctly, Rupes does not recommend the ultra fine polish or the white pad on soft paint. They recommend the yellow pad and fine polish with a less than perfect finish.

I wouldn't say "less than perfect" as the finish left by the Keramik and yellow pad leaves an extreme gloss every finish that I have used it on.

UHS, "New" Quarz (green), and "New" Diamond (white) use a very similar emulsion. The "New" Diamond can act finicky on some very soft paints.

Note - I have never witnessed this happen, but it has been reported in rare instances and thus we want to offer suggestions that we know will work consistently. That said, there is certainly nothing wrong with trying the Diamond/white pad if that gets you where you want to go.

Originally Posted by swanicyouth

Just a quick question. I'm surprised you guys are recommending the yellow combo for ultra soft paint, instead of white.

I'm wondering when the white combo is recommended???

Answered above. I have already had a great performance with the Diamond polish and white pad on every type of paint, but one some very soft clear coats it can be difficult to wipe off.

Basically the Keramik / yellow pad leaves such an exceptional finish on all paints that I only use white/Diamond if I want that extra .5% of gloss.

Originally Posted by FLAVIOBR

Excellent !!! Thank you for sharing

Mercedes painting not CeramiClear, is a hard paint?

Thank you

Most Mercedes paint is fairly hard in my experience. The PPG CeramiClear is a top coat that is very hard. However, if the top coat is removed the paint tends to be soft underneath.

Originally Posted by Dylan@RUPES

Outstanding work Todd!

Thanks Dylan.

Originally Posted by dlc95

I've mostly been using the blue/blue mf to do the heavy lifting.

Yellow/yellow mf does a good job in my typical polish/seal situations.

Yellow/yellow foam leaves a gorgeous finish!

I still need to round out my assortment of pads and polishes, but so far, I get a lot of milage out of my small selection.

Awesome, thanks for sharing your experience !

Originally Posted by Audios S6

This is great Todd, and thanks to the Rupes team for developing these charts and the informative descriptions; great way to classify paints and aid us in finding good combos

You are very welcome!

Originally Posted by Craig Parker

Excellent reference guide and information Todd, thanks!

Grazie grazie!

**swanicyouth** · 10-25-2015, 07:16 PM

Todd, can you answer another question.

Is the pizza and pasta really that good in Italy? I mean, is it better than pizza in NYC or pasta at a really good Italian restaurant here?

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-26-2015, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by swanicyouth

Todd, can you answer another question.

Is the pizza and pasta really that good in Italy? I mean, is it better than pizza in NYC or pasta at a really good Italian restaurant here?

Being from Chicago, I have an affinity of deep dish, Chicago-style, pizza....

That said, the best pizza I have ever had was in a little restaurant in a town called Magenta. It is about 20 minutes outside of Milan, Italy.

Hope this helps

**dlc95** · 10-26-2015, 03:02 PM

I had the chance to review the initial post again...

My mind is satisfied, and officially blasted with info. Thanks a million, Todd!

While I'm sure many users of the Rupes system are familiar with it, could you cover the specificities of pad priming as it relates to foam and microfiber pads, respectively?

Does the priming process change when encountering these different paint types, or is it a consistent process down the line?

**WRAPT C5Z06** · 10-26-2015, 03:26 PM

Great job, Todd! The UHS pads(polish too) seem to be very versatile on different paint systems.

Awesome!

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-26-2015, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by dlc95

I had the chance to review the initial post again...

My mind is satisfied, and officially blasted with info. Thanks a million, Todd!

While I'm sure many users of the Rupes system are familiar with it, could you cover the specificities of pad priming as it relates to foam and microfiber pads, respectively?

Does the priming process change when encountering these different paint types, or is it a consistent process down the line?

First, thank you for the compliments on the information. I tried to make it as easy-to-understand as possible!

Second, RUPES recommends the following pad priming procedures.

Foam Pads (blue, green, uhs, yellow, white) - apply 6 pea-sized drops around the outer 1/3 of the pad. Set the machine to speed 3-4 and run for 30 seconds using firm pressure.

Foam Pads (yellow and white) - alternative - use 3 drops of product around the outer third and begin to polish as normal (this is the procedure I use, not the official.

Microfiber Pads - Draw a thin amount of product over the entire face of the pad. Try to cover as much of the pad as possible in a very thin coating.

Reload Foam pads with 2 pea-sized drops (6 and 7 inch pads).

Reload Microfiber pads with 4 pea-sized drops

Originally Posted by E92M3_Mark

Great job, Todd! The UHS pads(polish too) seem to be very versatile on different paint systems.

Awesome!

Yes! UHS was originally designed using a very unique emulsion and blend of diminishing and non-diminishing abrasive grains. When combined with properties of the UHS foam pad, this allows for a very slow abrasive break down, giving the UHS the time necessary to polish scratch resistant and high-solid clear coats.

After development, we found that the system works well on all paint types. On very very hard clear coats, it can actually out cut the Zephir/blue foam and equal Zephir on a microfiber!

**WRAPT C5Z06** · 10-27-2015, 09:42 AM

Todd, while the UHS system may perform well on soft paint systems, it's not expected to finish marr free like keramik/yellow Rupes pad, correct? Also, will all the Rupes polishes/pads perform good on 8mm RO? Or, are the abrasives strictly designed for long throw RO, as they may not break down correctly with an 8mm RO?

Thanks.