The "Other" Prima products

Discussion in 'Detailing' started by Scot, Mar 20, 2010.

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  1. Scot

    Scot New Member

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    Since we have been talking about Prima lately I thought I would ask about some of the other Prima products that don't get a lot of mention. There are 2 of there products that I am not sure of where they fit in and 1 product I don't recall anyone ever mentioning.
    First is the Prima Finish. I am not sure where this fits in. Is it like Amigo being a light polish. Has anybody found a good place where this fits in to there detailing routine.
    Next is Prima Slick. This appears to work on a lot of different surfaces. It seems like it could replace Hydro on the paint and also Clarity on the glass and Nero on the plastic. It sounds pretty good to me other than that I have all the products it could replace so would there be any benefit to using Slick over the other products. Once again I am wondering if there is a place for this product in my detailing.
    The final product I don't think I have heard of anyone using. That is Prima Wheel Armour/Shield. I haven't yet bought a product for my wheels and here they have what sounds like would be a good addition to my detailing product arsenal . But, it makes me a little leary that noone appears to be using it. Any thoughts on this product or what you use for your wheels.
    There is another product that seems to get no air time and that is Prima Nourish but we have already hashed that out on another thread.
     
  2. lotsie

    lotsie Club Coordinator

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    I use Finish after I have corrected major swirl damage,heavy oxidation,deep scratches, when using Swirl with a yellow pad, or any application of Cut. Finish is just a polish, and has no fillers in it, unlike Amigo, which is a light polish, with fillers. I have only used Finish a couple of time on our MINIs, but I have used it on other cars that have been neglected.
    You likely don't need it on your MINI. Amigo should be just fine.

    Slick is a Quick Detailer (QD). I use it to remove light dust from the paint. I don't trust Cali. dusters, but many do. Also use it to remove bird poop, or to spot clean road gunk, IF the car is not dirty. Also to spiff up the paint before club events. It does not last long, few days, but helps keep stuff from sticking to your car. You can use Hydro as a QD on dry paint, but I save it for after a wash.

    Wheel Armour is great stuff IMO. It has cleaners in it, and it waxes your wheels all at once. It is made to withstand the high heat wheels encounter, and lasts for months. Some folks just use Hydro to wax wheels, I use both. Helps keeping brake dust from sticking to the wheels, making regular washing easier.
    A regular wax is not designed to withstand high heat, so it won't last long.

    Mark
     
  3. Octaneguy

    Octaneguy New Member

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    #3 Octaneguy, Mar 20, 2010
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2010
    I use Finish in a slightly different way than Mark and this is probably more personal than anything. The Prima polishes use diminishing abrasives to do their work. These break down the longer you polish with them. These polishes serve two purposes. 1.) To remove defects by leveling the paint and 2.) to Lubricate the pad so the pad can spin freely doing it's job.

    I have found that by using already broken in Swirl on a slightly saturated white pad that I can achieve the results I want without having to switch to a different polish. I don't recommend doing this unless you've had a lot of experience with polishing. My main buffer is the Makita rotary, though I have 3 polishers I use on all my cars. The Makita Rotary, the PC 7424XP, the Metabo SXE400. The latter two are orbitals of course.

    I use Finish only in cases where Swirl and my techniques don't work, which is rarely. In rare circumstances I will come across a scratch sensitive paint that mars very easily (i.e. is soft) and Swirl seems too aggressive, so I then go down to Finish and that solves the problem.

    As for Amigo...OMG this is the greatest stuff in the world. I will use it on all dark finishes. After I've finished polishing the swirls out and the clarity is perfect, I'll do a pass of Amigo with a white pad on the PC at speed 4 or 5, and it just richens the paint and adds some slickness. Then I will put Epic or BG over that. I find that it doesn't do much for white and silver cars, so I just reserve it for all darker finishes and always on black.

    As Mark said, Amigo has fillers which is great for many scenarios. In that scratch sensitive scenario, using products with fillers can help improve a finish by masking/concealing flaws that are otherwise impossible to fix. They can help you as the owner to maintain your paint by minimizing swirls and defects without polishing. On a black car, if you did Amigo and then Banana Gloss, you'll have maximum filling capability at your disposal when working by hand. Still you need to remember we are filling micromarring and light scratches, not keyings or scratches you can feel with your fingernail.

    Slick is a Quick Detailer that offers no protection. It is not a plastic protectant like Nero. It does work well as a glass cleaner.

    Hydro is a spray on wax as you dry product. It can be used as a quick detailer and many people do, but it's not intended to give you the sort of gloss/slickness as Slick. I use Hydro in all the hard to reach places like door jambs, wheels, etc..

    Prima Nourish is a leather conditioner, and Prima really needs a general purpose leather cleaner too so the two can be used together. I don't know how many MINI owners have leather or have leather and are here in this forum. I don't think there is that much to talk about other than...yes it works, it softens the leather without leaving it glossy, and it smells like leather!

    I don't use Wheel Armour but many people have on the Sewing Site and love it. I have matte black painted wheels, so waxing them doesn't do much. For customer cars, I just prefer to use Hydro. Most waxes don't last long on the wheels anyways.

    While I think you are seeing that many products overlap, the goal is to create products that excel in certain areas. You might find that Slick works great on some shiny plastics, but it won't work well on plastics like the arches or rubber seals. It's important to become proficient with a product line so that you can make the best choices for product selection in a given situation. And as you've found, some products can be used for other things that weren't originally intended and that's fine!



    Richard


     
  4. Scot

    Scot New Member

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    Great! thanks alot Richard. You have a good nack of clearing up the haze in my mind. :)
     
  5. lotsie

    lotsie Club Coordinator

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    Prima Clarity helps with that:Thumbsup:

    Mark
     
  6. bee1000

    bee1000 New Member

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    I've found that Swirl, Amigo, Epic, Slick and Wheel Armour are all equally good at sitting in my cupboard and making me feel guilty when I pull out the only products I seem to actually use: car wash soap and Hydro.
     
  7. Octaneguy

    Octaneguy New Member

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    Finish Update!!

    I think a lot of people would pay good money if I could clear up the haze on their paint remotely like I can do with peoples minds, lol.

    Ok, so after writing my thing above, I get a black 2010 Camaro in my shop and what do you know? The paint is ultra soft. It mars easily and is generally a pain in the butt to restore.

    The owner brought it to me after spending all day polishing the hood with a PC. He said it took a long time to make it look good. I took a close look and it looked decent in the sun, but under my lighting rig, I could see pigtails, haze, and other defects.

    I decided to polish the paint with a PC and an orange pad and Swirl because it was a Chevy right?? And Corvette paint is among the hardest....and the owner of the car was on his way to pick up his kids from a ball game so they didn't have a lot of time.

    So I polished out a test spot and noticed that the finish became hazy. Hmm too aggressive. I went to a white pad and Swirl and the results were much better. Finishing off with Amigo, the result looked almost perfect under the sun and the owner said..ok you do the car.

    So I did some more tests and found that starting with a white pad and Swirl on the unpolished parts of the car was too much. So I used a white pad and Finish and that produced MUCH better results. Just for kicks, I tried a black pad and Finish and that had the opposite effect...it actually hazed up the surface worse than the orange pad.

    So I'm pretty certain the solution for this car is:

    Rotary or maybe just PC with white pad/Finish
    PC white pad/Finish
    PC white pad/Amigo
    PC black pad/Epic

    Gotta go work now.
     
  8. Octaneguy

    Octaneguy New Member

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    Just a quick update...my roadmap was off. I found that my rotary with an LC white pad and Amigo is doing the trick. I will follow that with the same pad/chemical with a PC, then go to wax. Amigo is working wonderfully on this paint plus its a joy to wipe off. Amigo to the rescue!!!!
     
  9. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Well folks are doing remote tunes. I'd love a remote detail. :D
     
  10. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad Club Coordinator

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    A year ago I tried to use Amigo on PW paint prior to the seasonal Epic application and ended up regretting it. The filler ended up making a home in a few of the larger imperfections in the paint and made them even more visually evident than not using it at all. If there was a memo somewhere advising its use on dark colors only, I missed it.

    Being far removed from Richard's aptitude to be able to rely on broken down Swirl as a finishing polish, I've become sold on the Swirl + Finish polish combination (with a concurrent step-down in pad aggressiveness). This keeps it simple and seems to keep me out of detailing trouble -- thus far.
     
  11. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    I do think paint color has something to do with it.

    On my car (cool blue - kind of a medium-dark color) Swirl + Amigo is fabulous.

    I use Finish occasionally for things like polishing out plastic lenses, the A-pillar covers, etc.

    I'm a true believer in WheelArmour like lotsie.

    I use Slick by the gallon as a QD when the car is just dusty or buggy.

    I use Hydro, Nero, Clarity, Banana Gloss... pretty much everything except Mystique. I love Mystique... but get acceptable results with less expensive washes that I can buy locally (either Meguiar's or Ice).

    I use Nourish for my leather roughly monthly. A few times per year I'll wash the leather using Lexol cleaner and a bucket of warm water, then Nourish when dry. I use Griot's Leathercare spray between my Nourish treatments - it's like Nero, but for leather.
     
  12. lotsie

    lotsie Club Coordinator

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    I need some Nourish.

    I have some other leather stuff, but it's maybe time to try something else:popcorn:

    Mark
     
  13. lotsie

    lotsie Club Coordinator

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    I use ICE for a wash. ICE calls for 2 oz, per gallon. Mystique 1 oz, per gallon.
    The Prima wash is twice as much per gallon. So they both make as much solution, close enough. No shipping on the ICE, and gallons of it are always 5 minutes away.

    I see no difference between them, both are polymer washes.

    Mark
     
  14. Octaneguy

    Octaneguy New Member

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    Haha, once I figure it out, you'll be my first customer! In the mean time, I think it probably goes something like this....<over the speakerphone> Ok Crashton put the webcam next to the paint...ok....now put on a dollop of Swirl on your white foam pad...and begin applying pressure starting at speed 4 and ramping it up to speed 6, now move the PC side to side....:D

     

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