orionredwing
New member
A review dedicated to the beginning detailing enthusiast.
If you’re like me, you were probably introduced into the world of detailing after seeing all the stunning details by the experts on these forums. You’ve read up on all the stickies, guides, and spent countless hours researching products. But in the end, whether you’re about to take that plunge on your first order, or have already placed the first few, you may still be thinking the same things I am. Am I getting the right products? Is this product really worth the money? Which product can result in the best look for my car?
To speed you along the information overload highway (j/k), here’s another product comparison written by someone new to machine polishing.
For this comparison, only the hood was machine polished.
Car Detailed: 2007 BMW 335i Sedan, Montego Blue
Process: 100% swirl removal, hood only
SIP (Flex spd 5-6 LC orange pad – multiple passes)
P0106FF (Flex spd 6 LC white pad – finishing pass)
Products Compared:
Menzerna Final Touch Glaze (FTG) & Poorboy’s World EX-P (left side of hood)
Chemical Guys (CG) EZ-Crème II & CG JetSeal 109 (right side of hood)
Product left on for 12 hrs before removal (repeated again for 2 layers total)
Picture 1
From far away, I really can’t tell the difference between the products compared. Both the left and right side of the hood looks equally nice to me.
However, this picture showed me why polishing is the most important step. If you compare the hood to the front bumper, you may notice how the hood ‘pops’ out more than the bumper. Before getting my Flex, I had spent 16 hrs detailing by hand. What you see is the difference between a hand polish using Menzerna Final Polish II (FPII) on the bumper, and a machine polish / 100% swirl removal on the hood.
EX-P
Reflection of tree. A solid product at a great price, FTG/EX-P yields some pretty good results. Honestly, if I had started with a machine polish, I may never have felt the urge to try the products in the 2nd comparison. But in my original hand polish, I didn’t get the pop that I was looking for, and incorrectly blamed it on the LSP.
JetSeal
Reflection of house. Wow, I’ll let the picture speak for itself.
Comparison 1
Forget all the fancy trees and stuff. Let’s keep it simple and compare a light post! For me, I see that JetSeal on the right yields a crisper, more distinct, and more vibrant reflection than EX-P.
Comparison 2
Ok, here’s a more complex comparison. I can still see a difference between JetSeal and EX-P. Comparing the real white garage in the background, JetSeal’s reflection seems to reflect more of the true color, and the image is more distinct. EX-P also reflects well, but is a bit darker, and doesn’t pop out as much.
Conclusion
In the end, I validated several facts that I’ve always read about, but wanted to personally experience.
#1) A good (machine) polish makes the most impact, and probably yields 80-90% of the final look.
#2) Different LSPs do make a difference! JetSeal is really an excellent product.
Personal Reflection:
Prior to this, I was sucked into the excitement of product overload. As a new hobbyist reading up on all these great products, you can’t help but feel an urge to order and try everything! I wonder how many of you guys feel the same?
What this comparison did for me was satisfy my itch to try new products, because I’ve found a really good one in JetSeal 109. Heck, if I started off w/ a machine polish, even EX-P would be a good product to stay with. My itch was satisfied because I realized that if I was a non-enthusiast driver passing by, I would never be able to notice a difference in the products from far away. How close did I need to get to the hood to take those shots? … Very close!
Hope you guys enjoyed reading this product comparison.
(I plan to apply CG 50/50 as a topper a bit later)
P.S. My fiancee has a great eye, so I asked her to come out this morning. She came out, glanced at it for all of 2 secs from the distance of picture 1, said the right side looked better, and went back into the house. I stood there for a sec, followed her back in, and was like 'baby, how in the world can you tell from that far away?!?!' I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder
If you’re like me, you were probably introduced into the world of detailing after seeing all the stunning details by the experts on these forums. You’ve read up on all the stickies, guides, and spent countless hours researching products. But in the end, whether you’re about to take that plunge on your first order, or have already placed the first few, you may still be thinking the same things I am. Am I getting the right products? Is this product really worth the money? Which product can result in the best look for my car?
To speed you along the information overload highway (j/k), here’s another product comparison written by someone new to machine polishing.
For this comparison, only the hood was machine polished.
Car Detailed: 2007 BMW 335i Sedan, Montego Blue
Process: 100% swirl removal, hood only
SIP (Flex spd 5-6 LC orange pad – multiple passes)
P0106FF (Flex spd 6 LC white pad – finishing pass)
Products Compared:
Menzerna Final Touch Glaze (FTG) & Poorboy’s World EX-P (left side of hood)
Chemical Guys (CG) EZ-Crème II & CG JetSeal 109 (right side of hood)
Product left on for 12 hrs before removal (repeated again for 2 layers total)
Picture 1
From far away, I really can’t tell the difference between the products compared. Both the left and right side of the hood looks equally nice to me.
However, this picture showed me why polishing is the most important step. If you compare the hood to the front bumper, you may notice how the hood ‘pops’ out more than the bumper. Before getting my Flex, I had spent 16 hrs detailing by hand. What you see is the difference between a hand polish using Menzerna Final Polish II (FPII) on the bumper, and a machine polish / 100% swirl removal on the hood.
EX-P
Reflection of tree. A solid product at a great price, FTG/EX-P yields some pretty good results. Honestly, if I had started with a machine polish, I may never have felt the urge to try the products in the 2nd comparison. But in my original hand polish, I didn’t get the pop that I was looking for, and incorrectly blamed it on the LSP.
JetSeal
Reflection of house. Wow, I’ll let the picture speak for itself.
Comparison 1
Forget all the fancy trees and stuff. Let’s keep it simple and compare a light post! For me, I see that JetSeal on the right yields a crisper, more distinct, and more vibrant reflection than EX-P.
Comparison 2
Ok, here’s a more complex comparison. I can still see a difference between JetSeal and EX-P. Comparing the real white garage in the background, JetSeal’s reflection seems to reflect more of the true color, and the image is more distinct. EX-P also reflects well, but is a bit darker, and doesn’t pop out as much.
Conclusion
In the end, I validated several facts that I’ve always read about, but wanted to personally experience.
#1) A good (machine) polish makes the most impact, and probably yields 80-90% of the final look.
#2) Different LSPs do make a difference! JetSeal is really an excellent product.
Personal Reflection:
Prior to this, I was sucked into the excitement of product overload. As a new hobbyist reading up on all these great products, you can’t help but feel an urge to order and try everything! I wonder how many of you guys feel the same?
What this comparison did for me was satisfy my itch to try new products, because I’ve found a really good one in JetSeal 109. Heck, if I started off w/ a machine polish, even EX-P would be a good product to stay with. My itch was satisfied because I realized that if I was a non-enthusiast driver passing by, I would never be able to notice a difference in the products from far away. How close did I need to get to the hood to take those shots? … Very close!
Hope you guys enjoyed reading this product comparison.
(I plan to apply CG 50/50 as a topper a bit later)
P.S. My fiancee has a great eye, so I asked her to come out this morning. She came out, glanced at it for all of 2 secs from the distance of picture 1, said the right side looked better, and went back into the house. I stood there for a sec, followed her back in, and was like 'baby, how in the world can you tell from that far away?!?!' I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder
