3M Imperial Compound & Finishing Material

L&I Detailing

L&I Detailing

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This is a question not a review. Ive been doing some research into this and the concept of diminishing abrasives but would like to get some feedback. Has anyone tried 3m Imperial compound before and did they like it. Im looking to use it more on boats and see if it is a good product where you may not have to go back over the boat with a polish before your wax or sealant all the time. Cause when your working on a 50' sportfisher thats a lot of area to be doing 3 steps on and have seen some detailers using it on boats but have no experience with these diminishing abrasives myself.

I usually use 3m's super duty rubbing compound or their high gloss compound followed by 3m's finesse it ii and then my LSP. Just would like some feedback.

Thanks in advance!
Austin
 
Your going to probably get mixed opinions on here about 3M compound, mostly because it cuts like a compound should, and it scares some people. I've never used the Imperial compound, but the other Imperial products that I have tried were decent. My 3M compound of choice is Perfect It 2, now known as simply Rubbing Compound..the stuff in the yellow bottle. While it does a great job at cutting, it don't finish down very well without swirling. Have you ever used Meguires M105? It cuts decent and finishes down nicely.
 
I traded for a bottle of 3M compound once and wasn't prepared for the cutting ability. I have no complaints because it did what the bottle said, it compounded. :D However, I've stuck with Menzerna and Meg stuff as I have more practice with them and I'm more familiar with the ability of each.
 
I still prefer 3M over Megs. Not sure why but it just seems to work the best on black. If it's not black, then I will use the Megs 105 and 205, but when it's black I'm always back to 3M!




JG
 
Ive never used meguiars compounds cars or boats just their waxes from time to time depending on the area. Im probably just going to give it a try ive loved all their compounds ive used and use regularly, if i like it ill continue to keep it in the regiment.
 
L&I Detailing said:
This is a question not a review. Ive been doing some research into this and the concept of diminishing abrasives but would like to get some feedback. Has anyone tried 3m Imperial compound before and did they like it. Im looking to use it more on boats and see if it is a good product where you may not have to go back over the boat with a polish before your wax or sealant all the time. Cause when your working on a 50' sportfisher thats a lot of area to be doing 3 steps on and have seen some detailers using it on boats but have no experience with these diminishing abrasives myself.

I usually use 3m's super duty rubbing compound or their high gloss compound followed by 3m's finesse it ii and then my LSP. Just would like some feedback.

Thanks in advance!
Austin
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Austin most of my experience comes from the automotive side but there are enough parallels that hopefully I can be of some assistance.

Most 3M products, even from back in my day working at a body shop, have a lot of fillers in them. While they may make paint look good for a couple of days to several weeks I have seen all sorts of defect return. On a boat, that is white in color, this may be acceptable.

(Note: Perfect It 3000 series seems to have the least amount of filling)

If you are truly looking for a compound that will finish nice enough on a white gel coat to got to your wax or sealant I would strongly consider Meguiar's M105.

It uses a unique abrasive that is ultra ultra fine (yet still cuts) so it is capable of creating an almost LSP (wax/sealant) ready finish on softer/darker automotive finishes.

When used on Gel-Coat (particularly gel coat with oxidation) you are going to want to make sure you are brushing out your pad after every section, but I think you will be very impressed with what this compound can do.
 
Todd, Thanks for the advice that was exactly what I was looking for, I heard the imperial has a lot of fillers and that if you hit the boat with a degreaser of some kind you will see a lot of the imperfections return and you definitely dont want to be re compounding 50' of gelcoat!

I will definitely give the M105 a try I have heard nothing but great things. Does the M105 work on heavy oxidation as well or is more of a mid range oxidation remove.
 
L&I Detailing said:
Todd, Thanks for the advice that was exactly what I was looking for, I heard the imperial has a lot of fillers and that if you hit the boat with a degreaser of some kind you will see a lot of the imperfections return and you definitely dont want to be re compounding 50' of gelcoat!

I will definitely give the M105 a try I have heard nothing but great things. Does the M105 work on heavy oxidation as well or is more of a mid range oxidation remove.
Click to expand...

M105 will cover heavy oxidation, just make sure to keep that pad clean between sections. If the pad becomes caked you will loose a tremendous amount of cut. You may even consider picking up one of these pad washer units. Grit Guard Univeral Pad Washer Free Bonus!

They are the size of a 5 gallon bucket and will help you clean wool pads quickly. Over time they will save you time and pay for themselves.
 
Thanks Todd. I appreciate all the help! That's a nice little toy may have to pick one of those up compound cakes up way too quickly.
 
Todd,
I have M105, but recently bought a quart of 3M Perfect-It Rubbing Compound in the purple bottle (pn 06085). Have you noticed the fillers being in this product as well? If so, I may consider taking this back (since I've yet to use it) to the local store I bough it from and order more M105.

I was just thinking that having the following...

M105
D300
3M (purple)
Mothers Rubbing compound

...would give me a good selection of compounds to have for various paints. I caught the 3M on sale for $29 a quart which is what promted me to try it as it's normally much higher than that.

In fact, here http://www.autopia-carcare.com/3m-perfect-it-compound.html is ACC's 16 oz. bottle. I will note that ACC's pn is different on both bottles than what my brochure is showing. ACC's 32 oz. size has the same number as my quart, but my bottle is purple as in the link rather than the brown or black bottle shown here for ACC's 32 oz. http://www.autopia-carcare.com/3m-rubbing-compound1.html . Of course I don't think this matters that much, but I did want to bring it tou your attention.

Bill
 
Bill, I dont think perfect it has a lot of fillers in it, I use that one a lot and its a pretty basic compound so I think your ok. Its some of the newer 3m compounds that have the fillers in them with the polishing agents built into them, from my knowledge.
 
I was told that there were 3 grades of 3M products. Meaning, a series of 3 compounds and polishes in each grade. I think one grade is labeled A,B,C and is cheaper, while what I bought is considered the most expensive and labeld 1, 2, 3. I don't know if that information is correct, rather I'm stating what I was told. I don't think the store I was in carried the other grade (3rd) he mentioned.

3M's site isn't real clear either, and their website is terrible to navigate. They simply have soooooo many products.

What's Perfect-It III that I keep hearing about and seeing glimpses here and there?
 
Perfect It III is their fine compound. It still cuts very well, but finishes down a little nicer than the others. Kind of in between M105 and Poorboys Master Cut as far as cutting ability and finish go. Its a great compound if you don't do a lot of wet sanding. Perfect It II is my preferred compound for that.
 
The only compound I have a lot of experience with with 3M is Perfect It 3000, which had some 'light' filling (nothing more or less than most other compounds).

A compound that fills is likely the result of the lubricants in the polish, so this has never bothered me.
 
I've gotten ok results with Meguiars marine 'one step compound' (m67)

doesn't quite cut it for heavy oxidation though

might still opt for 105 anyway. not sure which is cheaper off the top of my head
 
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