Gloss It vs. M105 and Ultrafina: 2step showdown

[dsms]

When I first tested the Gloss It polishes on my high speed rotary polisher I found that although I was able to get great correction, the finish was often left with holograms and micro scratches.



Since then I have been using the gloss it line on my cyclo random orbital and have gotten excellent results but I still wanted to use my Makita when needed so I called Rich Light (the owner and devloper of Gloss It) and he gave me some insight on what combos worked best when doing high speed correction. I gave them a test today and was blown away.



The first test was a comparrison between the Gloss It Extreme Cut and the Gloss It One Step machine polish vs. Meguiars M105 ultra cut compound and 3M's Ultrafina SE.



Here is my objective: I wanted to see how much correction I could achive with a heavily swirled finish using only a 2 STEP correction/finishing process. For those who detail for profit using a 2 step process opposed to a 3 or 4 step process is not only a big time saver but it also increases profitability. You are able to polish out more cars, more efficently. Of course I will only use a 2 step process if I know the finish will be 98-100% perfect afterwards, if not I will add a 3rd or 4th step to get the finish to a perfect or near perfect level.



**In this test there are no variables other than the different products used. Each pad is the exact same and each speed used on the machine is the exact same in both cases. I felt this was important to prove a fair result.**



Left side of panel: Gloss It products

Right Side of panel: Meguiars and 3M products





Here is the test panel. I spent over 10minutes getting the sides evenly swriled and scratched. Notice there are dozens of deep RIDS left in the finish.

Gloss It side:

Meguiars and 3M side:

Now onto the correction.



Gloss It process: Please take note of this is you are using the high speed polisher and gloss it polishes. This basic process will help you to achieve that perfect finish everytime*



Step 1 : Gloss It Extreme cut w/ 8" white lambswool pad at 1500rpm which was then jeweled down to 1000rpm to refine the finish. The white lambswool is great for heavy cutting and moves smoothly across the finish. I sprayed the Gloss Enhancer spray directly onto the panel as the polish dried out so I could lengthen the work time. This not only allowed the extreme cut to work longer but it also helped eliminate most of the micro scratches and holograms because I finessed the finish on low RPMs using the wool pad before it completey dried out thanks to the slick gloss enahancer spray in between polishing.



To give you an idea of the aggressivness of Extreme cut - it is able to easily remove 1500grit sanding scratches no problem on a rotary. It can even remove 1500grit scratches using a cyclo random orbital as well!



Step 2 : Gloss It One step Machine polish w/ 6inch edge CCX blue polishing pad. (This pad has some mecahnical cut but is soft enough to leave a high gloss finish without holograms) I used the One Step polish at 1500rpm and slowly jeweled it down to about 900rpm. Again as the polish dired out I sprayed the gloss enhancer right on the panel and worked it a bit longer as I refined the finish.



Here is the wool pad and the extreme cut

Before correction

Using the gloss enahcer during correction

After correction using only the Extreme cut and wool pad..no finishing was done yet just a thorough IPA wipedown.

If you notice the finsih is completely defect free and left with very very minimal holograms. I took the pictures kinda far away because the CM5300 inspection light shows defects better at a distance. I only notice the holograms because the light is slightly defracted around the bulbs reflection, its very hard to see up close.



So far after only 1 step the correction was just about perfect and the wool pad left a suprisingly nice finish with minimal holograms and no micro scratches. Using the gloss enhacner spray in between polishing really helps eliminate holograms and finer scratches left by the compound and wool pad.



Now it was time to use the One Step machine polish to finish out the paint. The One step is my favorite polish because its so versatile. It has plenty on cut when needed (using a cutting pad of course) but on a softer foam pad it really is able to bring out a high gloss when a light cut is still needed. Basically the One Step is a blend of several gloss it polishes including evolution cut (like SIP) and a Gloss Finish (like Zaino Z2pro)



(This bottle of polish has an unfinished label on it because at the time it wasnt available in quart sizes, it is now though)

The blue CCX edge pad I used is just okay, I prefer a flat pad instead. I just thought it had the right density for this process so I used it.



This is the finish after polishing with the Gloss It one step polish

I took this picture using the CM5300 inspection light Far far away to show no swirls were hidden, here you can see the light is refracted perfectly. No holograms at all.

50/50

The uncorrected side

The corrected side

Now I moved to the right side of the panel this time using Meguiars M105 and 3M Ultrafina. Again I used the same speeds and pads for correction and finishing.





Here is M105 and the wool

Befores

After using M105

The finish left after 105 was very nice, a few deep RIDS remained but overall it was very closely matched to the gloss it extreme cut. The RIDS may have been deeper in the areas near the tape line and that why they werent removed completely.



M105 overall is more agressive than Gloss It extreme cut. The only problem is that it works extremely fast! There is no spreading this product on low RPM and then raising the speed for correction. I use the SuperBee method of laying down a 3 inch bead of M105 right on the panel and picking it up right away at about 1500rpm and just start working it. It takes some getting used to but its effective in defect removal. Now M105 as usual flashed very quickly, within about 6seconds I'd say! To be fair I also used some gloss enhancer spray when it dired out a bit to help jewel it down but it did very little to help.



I then Finished out the panel using 3M Utrafina SE on the same blue edge CCX polishing pad. As I did using the Gloss It One step I set the makita to 1500rpm when using the UF and jeweled it down to about 900rpm.

Here is the right side all finished

Ultrafina is a great polish, it does take a very long time to work though. I sometimes love using a slow breakdown polish so I can really jewel the finish but other times I feel it takes a little too long. The UF helped reduce some holograms left by M105 but it didnt really add to the overall gloss of the finish and I didnt expect it to. It just leaves a clean and LSP ready finish behind.

 

[dsms]

Now some comparrison shots between the 2 corrected sides



Gloss iT

Megs and 3M

Gloss It

Megs and 3M

Both products were able to achieve full correction but in very different ways. Gloss it extreme cut was able to work much longer than the M105 and left the finish with a few less RIDS. M105 really does take some getting used to but its still a top product. My personal choice would however be the Extreme Cut because I liked the way it worked longer and finished out nice and easy with me jeweling down the speed on my makita. All you need to do is add some gloss enahcer and you can just keep working it! Also the Extreme cut doesnt dust at all! M105 can work up quite a mess sometimes.



With extreme cut I was able to work the heavy compound like a regular cutting polish with no problems, I was left with a micro scratch and hologram free finish after only the 1st step using extreme cut.



For the One step machine polish its main job in this test was to polish out any fine holograms left by the wool pad, I worked it like a normal polish and I really focused on jeweling the finish on lower rpm (1200-900rpm). Again the gloss enahcer allowed me to do this with no problems. The Ultrafina worked very smooth as usual and polished out the wool holograms left in the finish as well it just took much longer to work. The Gloss It one step did leave a higher gloss finish however compared to the UF. The key ingrediant in the One Step machine polish is called "Gloss Finish", its the sealant that is also made by Gloss It. Even after buffing off the polish I saw a really deep and flake popping shine.



In total it was a faster process using both gloss it products, even with adding the gloss enhancer to extend the working times. I would say The extreme cut worked about 4x as long as the super fast cutting M105 but Ultrafina needed a lot of extra work time to finish out the paint properly compared to the One step polish.





I think I have found my new 2 step high speed correction process. Both brands performed very well and achieved almost identical results but gloss it was just easier to use.



Another thing I like about the gloss it products is that you dont have to jump from brand to brand. For example I dont need to shop store to store to get each polish or compound. Why use 2 or 3 different companies to get the results you want when you can just buy the same brand from one place?



Gloss It is a one stop shop for all things polishing. You can go from agressive compound,cutting polish, light polish, finishing polish all the way down to a sealant using the Gloss It line.



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One more little experiment I tried Ill admit I went a little nuts on this one



I wanted to see how bad a finish could be corrected using Gloss It..in only 3 steps.



I used steel wool and a stiff carpet brush to turn a once perfect finish into this...

So out with the wool pad and extreme cut, this time I up'ed the RPM to 1700 for a few passes, still using the gloss enhancer in between so I could work it for as long as possible. Again I jeweled the finish down to 1000rpm. I really kept working extreme cut with the gloss enhancer and even added a few extra beads of polish to get as much correction as I could in 1 step.

A quick spread of the extreme cut on low rpm (something you cannot do with M105, it will have already flashed by then)

After just 1 hit of extreme cut on the wool! You can see the color of the panel now and its clarity has been restored, not perfect but a hugh improvment

Now I followed up the Extreme cut and wool with a Meguiars 6.5inch cutting pad at 1500rpm again and then jeweld the finsih down to 1000rpm. This step was needed because the level of defect in the finish was too severe for just a 2 step. The PPI ration of the meguiars burgandy foam pad is identical to the gloss it (edge) yellow pad

I used the one step here because Like I said with a cutting pad it really can do nice correction and this panel needed every bit attention there was



After finsihng out the panel and then a IPA wipedown

Very impressive for only 2 steps

I went one step further and did a 3rd step using a black LC foam finishing pad (has very mild mechanical cut to help reduce holograms) again I used the One step and this time I left the speed at about 1200rpm before refinig the finish at 900rpm.

Afters

There are still lots of deep swirls and scratches left that would need 1500grit wetsadning to remove but for a non wetsand correction in 3 steps I think the finish achieved was remarkable!



So from this

to this...

in only 3 steps, not bad at all!



With the right pad, speed and the use of gloss enhacer you can achieve superb results and very high levels of correction using the gloss it polishes. I am a believer:thumb:

 

[dsms]

Here are some finished cars I did using gloss it correction polishes and sealants.

Hope this was a help to anyone who was curious. If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them the best I can.



Thank for looking

 

[hamken]

Awesome write up! Thanks!

 

[rwisejr]

Great write up !!!!!!!! Gloss it products look very interesting How is the c ut on the new ceramiclear and other hard clearcoats ?

 

[POPPAJ]

WOW!:shocked This could be a commercial for Gloss-it! Funny thing, over on their web site a guy named SMOKEY, who does half of the postings, did the VERY same test.

 

[Scottwax]

Very impressive results.



I love the super fast cut of #105 but the short work time can be a pain to deal with. Cutting 20% or so with Optimum Polish really helps. Might have to try Gloss It so I can hopefully get the same correction with 1 product.



On harder paints, I can two step with #105/OP and Ultrafina but on softer paints a middle step is pretty much required.

 

[dsms]

WOW!:shocked This could be a commercial for Gloss-it! Funny thing, over on their web site a guy named SMOKEY, who does half of the postings, did the VERY same test.

I am him:rofl...and its just Smoke btw

 

[dsms]

Very impressive results.



I love the super fast cut of #105 but the short work time can be a pain to deal with. Cutting 20% or so with Optimum Polish really helps. Might have to try Gloss It so I can hopefully get the same correction with 1 product.



On harder paints, I can two step with #105/OP and Ultrafina but on softer paints a middle step is pretty much required.

You would really like gloss it, Scott. The polishes were designed around the cyclo and you can do some serious correction with it.

 

[imported_sal3291]

man I need to stop reading your posts lol everytime I do I go to Gloss It site and debate on buying, they are a lil on the pricey side.

 

[carlsson]

Absolutely awesome tutorial you got there, great work. I'd like to believe there's a 2 step solution to detailing too– at least some of the time.





One question though, which product is their "One Step" polish? I didn't see it on their site.

 

[POPPAJ]

I am him:rofl...and its just Smoke btw

Yeah, and lots of it!

 

[dsms]

Yeah, and lots of it!

You saying im full of it?

 

[imported_rydawg1]

Was the owner of Gloss-it from Mass. ?



I met his old business partner at a car show.

 

[Todd@RUPES]

Here are my concerns...



It is never ideal to do a two step because you will likely having defect return, period. I would be interested in seeing you put that hood in the sun for 4-5 days with no lsp and then re-check.



Also you seem to look negatively on UF because of its long work time, but compliment the Gloss It compound for the same?



M105 is superior because not only does it have more cut but it works so fast. You could compound the hood three times in 18 seconds...



Going from M105 to UF is never a good idea becaue both products have high fhilling potenial and you will likely get a large amount of defect return.



If Gloss-It works like you say, then I would suspect that it has some thick filling action as well.

 

[imported_JoshVette]

Here are my concerns...



It is never ideal to do a two step because you will likely having defect return, period. I would be interested in seeing you put that hood in the sun for 4-5 days with no lsp and then re-check.



Also you seem to look negatively on UF because of its long work time, but compliment the Gloss It compound for the same?



M105 is superior because not only does it have more cut but it works so fast. You could compound the hood three times in 18 seconds...



Going from M105 to UF is never a good idea becaue both products have high fhilling potenial and you will likely get a large amount of defect return.



If Gloss-It works like you say, then I would suspect that it has some thick filling action as well.

Todd, I've used the gloss it evo cut and evo polish on a black volvo hood and there were noticable holograms afterwards so I would say it more then likely does not fill. Even after 4 days later of setting in the sun the holograms remained the same. just fyi.



I'll post up some pics if I can find them.

 

[dsms]

Here are my concerns...



It is never ideal to do a two step because you will likely having defect return, period. I would be interested in seeing you put that hood in the sun for 4-5 days with no lsp and then re-check.



Also you seem to look negatively on UF because of its long work time, but compliment the Gloss It compound for the same?



M105 is superior because not only does it have more cut but it works so fast. You could compound the hood three times in 18 seconds...



Going from M105 to UF is never a good idea becaue both products have high fhilling potenial and you will likely get a large amount of defect return.



If Gloss-It works like you say, then I would suspect that it has some thick filling action as well.

I dont look at UF as a bad product, it actually is one of my favorites to be honest. I just feel that sometimes it takes quite a long time to work, and if I can get the same results using a product that works in half the time than I will use that. In addition I find that UF does not add the gloss of the finish quite like the One Step polish did.



The thing about gloss it polishes is that as long as you use the QD you can keep working the product to your desire. I can technically stop the product from working anytime after its fully broken down, I just choose to add the QD so I can finesse the finish a bit longer and even at that the product still doesnt work half as long as UF. M105 as I said in the OP is more aggressive but its super fast work time doesnt allow me to refine the finish much. Extreme cut does also work fast but not like M105 and and especially using the QD I can extened the work time quite a bit, which is unusual for an aggressive compound (ie. M105 and FCP).



And in all my testing I will say, as Josh did that gloss it does not fill. I have fully corrected my own DD cars and have not found the swirls to re-appear.





Here are some sun shots I took this morning.



Right side Megs+UF Left Side Gloss it

This is the gloss it side (upside down)

Pardon the smudges from moving the panel

Here is the megs and UF side

I still found holograms in the Megs side because I think I needed a 3rd (middle step) of polishing to finish out M105 and the wool before UF, but this was a test to see which products could produce a clean finish in only 2 steps not 3.

 

[stiffdogg06]

Awesome Review bud.



May have to look into this Gloss It Products. I would just do what Todd says for a few days and see if anything comes back to get rid of another variable from the product.:clap:

 

[wannafbody]

Some good stuff in this thread. The Gloss it compound seems impressive. Have you tried the Gloss It QD with M105 to see if it increased the working time?

 

[RDAutosport]

Going from M105 to UF is never a good idea becaue both products have high fhilling potenial and you will likely get a large amount of defect return.



If Gloss-It works like you say, then I would suspect that it has some thick filling action as well.

I haven't seen any filling from 3M Ultrafina. I just started using M105 some, but haven't noticed any filling with it either.



Regards,



Rich