If and when I test a compound that can compare and compete with any of these ...I will showcase them. Time to move on to finish polishes, One steps, and medium cut compounds.
that's awesome that you're planning on doing the same type of comparisons with the medium, finish and all in ones!!! i have the jescar all in one but havent taken it for a spin yet. supposed to cut like a compound, finish like their micro polish and if i understand correctly leave behind power lock +!!! but i cant wait for the next sets of series and thank you for this. youre doing all this so we all dont have to. and thats great!!! keep up the great work brian!!!
I can't thank you enough for doing this series. It saved me so much time and money. 90% of my business is daily drivers of all makes and models. From Fiestas to Escalades and Sonatas to Lexus. More often than not, they haven't been corrected in a long time, if ever. I use a lot of heavy cut compound as a result. My go to's are 3D 501 and Menz FG400. Nice to learn there's an even more abrasive compound in the 3D line that still finishes down so well and is reasonably priced. Thanks again for your efforts and sharing your knowledge. I have learned more from you and Larry than any other sources of info combined! Would love to see you play with the new clear coat restorer some more in different situations.
I lost it when I saw the little spinning podiums you have the bottles sitting on. I mean who else but Brian would do that for us? So awesome! Thank you! 👍👌✌ Edited to remove four letter word, I think it cost me a ❤.. 😔
I just noticed that as well. Never seen it before and a very neat little touch. That's what you see when you follow the series to the podium at the end lolz.
Damn! This is The World Series of compound tests! Thank You for doing this test and recording it! So many good products out there. I like how You always use a basic orange pad! Keeping it simple and effective! Nice!!
Hey Brian, just from my personal trial and error experience on my black 2011 grand sport vette!! So maybe different (harder/softer) clear coat... the absolute best results I have had so far.. I really love the 3D aat 501 with my rotary and wool pad.. (501 deminishes beautifully and only leaves holograms) and finish with aat 502 with orbital and foam pad... again the best results I have tried on this particular vehicle and clear!
I'm staring to feel like Brian watched a lot of Bob Barker on the Price is Right growing up with his "come on down" and "showcases". Thanks Brian, been considering the the ACA and Cutmax. I already have Perfect Finish and like it so maybe as I add a more aggressive compound I'll stick to the Sonax line. It's a bit cheaper too like you said. Whenever I run out which will probably be some time maybe I'll give 3D a try so I don't horde products
Thanks Brian. You expertise is a marketers nightmare. If you say a product is quality then end of story. Cant believe you don't have a million subscribers. Currently working with AAT 501. Wipe off has been sort of challenging and clogging up my towels quickly... 🤔
Excellent test. I personally have used the Car Pro Clear cut, FG400, The Last Cut and a Aussie derived brand Concours Precision made in Melbourne. I believe the Clear cut was the best cut using Car Pro Demi pads 2000 which really levelled the bad orange peel on the hard clear coat I have. Also FG400 was great with Demi pads and had better finish. Tried The last Cut and the finish is flawless. Takes longer to work and cut though. We cannot get Sonax here. We can Angelwax and maybe 3D for a more aggressive cut. I notice you stuck with a foam pad. Do you believe if you used a microfiber like URO or a new age wool pad there would have been more cut achieved with each polish???? I have seen on several good detailer channels pad selection can make a substantial difference. I know sticking to the foam pad gave a non bias result. Anyway I learnt a fair bit from these videos. Thanks for the time and effort, there is a lot of time spent making these plus editing. Cheers mate.
Greetings from the UK, ive enjoyed soaking up the information from your tuition videos so just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to do them. Im a total Noob when it comes to detailing and only really taken it up since the lock-down, i spent a bomb on machines compounds polishes pads sprays towels bla bla bla and trying all these products on my 2009 Mercedes E class, a few things i have learned over the past few weeks, DA`s and Rotary`s are nothing to be afraid of providing you have common sense, hex logic pads and lake country foam cutting pads are useless in my hands as i constantly obliterate them, they come unglued from the backing plate and throw out bits of foam and just give up, no heat from my machine or the paint, they are just cheap. The lake country micro fibre cutting pad is indestructable, meguiars ultimate compound has been meh, Menzerna hc400 has been ok but kinda meh, so after watching this ive ordered some sonax cutmax. My mercedes top coat is like concrete and i now think that this sonax with the micro fibre pad is the way to go, for me. Now to go through your vids to choose the best finishing polish for my hard top coat.
Nice work, Brian! Yeah, dyslexia sucks. I couldn't tell you how many times I meaawd things up writing or typing my numbers out of sequence. My teachers were baffled because I could compute advanced math equations, but would always fail tests because I wrote the number out of sequence. Years ago my boss told me she had to reconcile numerous charges that were over charged. Instead of charging $135, I'd charge $531. Consistently...
I agree with you. The ACA 500 is the best. One I didn't see you test was the OPT Hyper Compound. It does a great job also. Just wondering what you thought of it. Anyway great job I always enjoy your videos. I have done paint correction & paint enhancement for almost 40 yrs. and I must say you and Scott Bley are my favorite for videos. Happy detailing.
Just bought some 3D for an all in one to try on a car next week, have bounced around but keep gravitating to Sonax products. Cut max worked well on some hard paint with hard water burned into the clear coat. Question: What changes in cut products if any for a rotary ?
Some how some way I missed this showdown! I am in the super fan category of Cutmax and Perfect finish... that said Ive also been in love with 3d one and speed. Im going to have to try some 3d 500 just to quell my curiosity! Lol. Great video! Thx!
Thanks 🙏 Brian for another excellent video. Could the results be slightly different if you would have started from 800grit end first and finished at the same?
I thought about this in the last video that I watched. If the compound has diminishing abrasives, it would lose some of its cutting power by the time you get to the 800, no?
I use 3D #500 as well and the #520 polish for a two step system on my vehicles. On the rifles i build for people i use matrix clear coat or big brians glamour clear on the stocks i make, on those i use meguires ultimate compound followed by ultimate polish, and do a third step with formula1 scratch out. Those two systems work good for me
In a normal life situation, what will produce a scratch as deep as a 800 grit sandpaper would? Looks like all these compound don't leave a haze on the surface and therefore a polishing compound won't be needed?
Italian here , Where I live/buy products ACA 500 is 60-65 for 32 OZ ,sonax is 45 for 34 OZ,what do you suggest ? How is the finish comparing 500 vs cutmax ?
Thanks Bryan I love your videos!! I currently use sonax cutmax and perfect finish and I love it!! Every time I wonder about some product or situation I ask myself WWBD (what would Bryan do?) haha and in some cases I've even found answers in your old videos, I've detailed cars for over 8 years and I've learned more in two years years watching your videos than in 6 years of practice!! Just out of curiosity, where would you rank 3m perfect it ex? I've been thinking in the sonax cc36 ceramic coating, do you have knowledge about it?
Great showdown. Cut Max and ACA 500 are indeed good compounds. I also agree that ACA 500 can be difficult on softer paints and Cut Max is consistent regardless of the paint. Can't go wrong with either one. Perhaps Americana Global's new 1000 compound would be one to look into for a test.
GREAT video. I'm gearing up to do this to my car in the next couple of weeks, and I've been voraciously consuming a lot of videos on how to do it properly. One question. Do you have any videos yourself or knowledge of any videos that talk about how to guide the polisher around curves or over folds/lines in a car's design? It seems most polishing videos out there always do it on a completely flat panel, and I'd like to see techniques used for traveling paths that aren't completely flat when polishing. Thanks!
Warning to people using headphones, turn the volume way down @ 8:55. Great video, Brian. Looking forward to getting some Sonax Cut Max to try out. Right now Im using the Griots B.O.S.S. on my Stingray, it doesnt have a lot of bite with an orange pad. I need to get some microfiber pads and some Sonax CM.
Apex Detail I’m having a hard time getting it to cut, at all. And now I’ve seen a few of your videos commenting on how ridiculously difficult the clear is on these cars. I was surprised when I put my Torx 22D with orange pad, on a spot, where there were a few love marks. I worked 2 passes, and it acted like a black pad with a jeweling polish. It didn’t remove anything. I’m the second owner, and from me trying a few different methods on it, and getting zero results, I may also be working with a coating by the way this car beads water when I’ve put nothing on the paint. But it’s hard to tell.
you mention soft / hard clear coat by different manufacturers. can you share with us the manufacturers on the test panels? GM Ford etc. Great comparisons as always.
Just a thought here Brian, what if you start your cutting from the 800 grit marks? I just feel like by the time you get down to the 800 grit section from the 2500 grit section, maybe some of the abrasives have broken down?? Just a thought
Great job Brian as always. You can't go wrong with either of the top 2 mentioned. I was wondering if you have tried any of the compounds outside in warm sun & which worked best? It would be great to know if there are mobile detailers out there that need a compound to perform in that environment. Thanks for sharing your talent & knowledge with everyone, it's helped me alot. Great job once again.
Very nice job comparing the top compounds. I personally like and use the Wizards. It always does a great job for me. What is the cleaner you used to clean your pad? Thanks, Tom
@@matttopp5515 I use it for moderate defect removal or for sanding mark removal. I use either on the rotary with lake country purple foamed wool or their low lint wool and with the DA microfiber cutting pad.
How old was that paint? Most of what I do is fresh. I've been using 3d AAT 501 and it does pretty good but have been thinking about the ACA500. I'd also like to see it done where all the texture was cut out instead just a little on the surface.
Nice video. These are brands I really want to work with. I found a place here in Madeira, Portugal selling Sonax Perfect Finnish but 32oz (1ltr) was almost 60€ with 25%discount. I found a shop selling the 3D ONE for 44€ a 32oz bottle.
Great! (as always) Brian, can you share with us how you determine a soft vs Hard Clear coat vehicle please? I own a 2007 MB SL 550. Am I to assume this is a hard clear coat.
love your videos Brian, cant get some of your products here in the UK, sonax and angelwax are great products, would love to hear your thoughts on Koch H9 (if you can get it) best on wool, also great on a scholls purple foam pad which i think are the same as the 3D purple pads.
I don't how you got the result of Sonax CutMax to the top. For me as an example I tested CutMax with all heavy and medium pads on more than 50 cars. I never got good results so what I am doing is that am switching to deferant compound and completing the car. One area of success to Sonax CutMax is for chrome & wheels polishing. My favorite compound which gives me a lot of success in my work is: Menzerna 400, Rupes Coars & MEGUIARS 105. I am going to to test Koch 801 heavy cut compound very soon some Detailers says it is the best.
pues la verdad yo vi que las rayas estaban ahi ,no vi que las eliminara ningun polish,fue el mismo resultado con cualquier polish usado solo cambio la posicion de la luz, pero las rayas seguian ahi, con cualquier grano, no cambio en lo absoluto,
Many People always said M105 but for me cutmax a bit superior.. maybe u can test about M100, need super cut compound for super hard paint or test for sticky paint like honda 😅
In general Brian, what you suggest if we don’t have a higher quality compound and have deeper scratch like the 800 grid ? a second or third pass or a more agressive pad ?