BudgetPlan1

CarPro Essence is indeed a very nice polish, with the added attributes of having some 'durable fillers' as well as leaving a primer layer of SiO2, ideal for prep before applying a CarPro coating or topping with Reload, Cquartz Lite or similar. While it will likely work well for other coatings as a base layer, it's a 'use at your own risk' proposition when using as a primer for other coatings besides car pro. Have seen some folks who used it as a finishing polish and coated on top with a non-carpro coatings and had some issues ranging from decreased longevity of top coating to bonding issues with other sealants and waxes. Can't say from first hand experience, though, as I have only used it as a base for Cquartz UK 3 + Gliss V2.

CarPro also has Reflect, whihc is essentially Essence without the SiO2 in it...never used it.

There's a variety of fine finishing polishes out there, some other nice ones are Scholl S40 on a honey spider pad or Lake Country Hydrotech Crimson pad and Angelwax Redemption on a Crimson HydroTech. Optimums Hyper Polish is quite nice as well.

I have also had success with 1-step finishing with Griots Correcting Cream and a Buff and Shine Uro-Fiber pad. Sonax Perfect Finish on a yellow Rupes pad does some nice 1-step work as does Scholl S20 Black on a navy or honey spider pad. I recently re-did wife's Aegean Blue Metallic Honda, first with the Griots Correcting Cream on B&S Uro-Fiber then for giggles, tried to refine with a variety of very fine finishing polishes. Under the Scangrip light, 50-50 sections were pretty much indiscernible from the 1-step side to the 2-step side. Perhaps a Gloss Meter could tell them apart but I sure couldn't. While this may not work on soft, black paint, it worked very well on the Honda and I have used the same combo on Ford paint with similar 1-step approach of the Correcting Cream and the B&S Uro-Fiber.

Unless you need heavy compounding to remove severe defects and thus a finishing polish to remove the haze/holograms left over from the compounding, 1-step can get you pretty close to the point where you won't notice finishing polish vs 1-step.

I've used the above approach with a GG 6" DA, Flex 3401 forced rotations, Rupes 15 and BOSS 21 machines so it seems to do well in a variety of situations, many times in 4 section passes.

While I used to think that everything needed at least a 2-step process at the end of the day with the right combo and pad., many, many paints can be one-stepped with the right combo.

GS4-LT1

3M Ultrfina, then BlackFire Sealant and finally Black Fire Carnuba wax. I have found this to be the ultimate for shine, depth and protection. If the paint needs a little more correction than the 3M can provide, I use Menzerna SIP. This combo takes care of about 90% of my paint correction needs when correcting the paint on a car. Good Luck))

CamarosRus

BudgetPlan1,

1) I'm having trouble where/who/how to buy Angel Wax Redemption

2) I'm guessing that the HONEY in Spider Pad refers to its COLOR as
see at https://www.carpro-us.com/scholl-concepts-pads/ there are other
colors ..........I dont care for the 6 1/2" size and dont see the HONEY in 3"

3) The Lake Country Hydotech Crimson is said to not have any bite or cutting
quality so is the Angel Wax Redemption have enough fine polishes (nano)
within itself to finish and burnish ????

4) THe above linked business does carry the Scholl S40 but I cant find who in
USA has AngelWax ...The one Las Vegas distrib has no web site no phone number.

Chuck S Auburn,WA

cmonkey713

Used it for years.

BudgetPlan1

Can get Angelwax via Autoality although they seem to be outta stock at the moment.

Can also get at angelwaxwestcoast
8060 Graystone st, 91040
(818) 919-5803

As for the honey pads, don't see them available anywhere in 3"

As for the cutting of the crimson hydrotech, it worked well for me and I guess it likely depends on which vendor description ya read as far as cutting. From CarPro: "The Crimson Hydrotech Finishing Pad is ideal for use with a polish or finishing polish to bring the gloss to an incredible level while still maintaining some minor cutting ability."