Order of aggressiveness...again!

[jjbleds]

I know this has been covered in various places on the forum. I know that there is many different combos of pads and paint hardness. I also know that they could have different technologies, SMAT or DAT. And finally I know that some of these are apples to oranges, compounds or cleaner/waxes. BUT, in the spirit of "use the least agressive first", I'm trying to make a list. I tried to put them together the best I could, I did lots of searches and put a bunch of lists into one. I know I'm missing a few so I am looking for some help. I don't want a Meguiars official position or anything just a generic order. This is what I came up with from MOST to LEAST aggressive.

#105
#95
#85
#84
#04
#86
Ultimate Compound
Scratch X 2.0
Swirl X
#151
#83
#02
#205 & #80
#09 & #82
#66
#06
Color X
#3 & #5 & #7 & #81
#20
#12
DC #1

[Tuck91]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

DC1 should be the least aggressive i think.

[jjbleds]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Yes! Thank you.

[jjbleds]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

*bump* Nobody else wants to touch this one?

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

I bookmarked it, even reposted the link to your thread for a new poster asking questions about the order of aggressiveness. I was waiting for one of the Meguiars Mikes to chime in with how accurate your scale is. I appreciate its completeness and inclusion of the older DAT products. How did you did you determine the order?

[jjbleds]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Hi ClearlyCoated, Thanks for the reply. I did about 1000 searches and where there was a reputable responce regarding which product was more or less aggressive I would insert it or change around my list (there was about 6 lists). Most of the posts consisted of 2 or 3 products to compare. It took about 8 hours over a week or so to get a list that made sense. I was waiting for the Meguiar's Mikes too as I would also like to see how accurate my scale is!

[Murr1525]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Well, your overall order is probably good. The problem is there are different types of products, products for different application methods, products for different types of paint, etc.

So, even though they might be 'in order', you would not simply go up or down the list when choosing a product to use.

[jjbleds]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

I completely agree, as I stated in my original post there are apples to oranges, BUT..... It seems like alot of people are doing a test spot with 205 or 80 then jumping to 105 or ultimate compound when there are alot of choices in between. Or to go the other way maybe they should be doing a test spot with Color X or M09.
If people don't understand how a product is to be applied and worked they are not going to get the results they want and should not be using that product anyway.
I was just looking for an order to show that there are other options for using the least aggressive. If everyone whips out the 105 at the first sign of trouble then there wont be much clear left for the next sign of trouble.
If I'm working some 83 with the DA or rotary and I'm not happy with the results for whatever reason, I know that I can go up to D151, which is a COMPLETELY different type of product and possibly get the results I want. Maybe D151 and the paint I'm working on just get along better, but I'm using the least aggressive. I know that D151 has a wax in it, but I don't have to let it dry and I can still follow up with M09 and a different LSP. Or if I'm using 83 with the rotary I could actually go to ultimate compound with the DA and have better results for whatever reason.
Different types of compounds, same results, least aggressive.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

*bump* Nobody else wants to touch this one?

Sorry I missed this one, noticed you originally posted this on a Sunday, (Sunday, April 19th), and then bumped it on a Sunday, (Sunday, April 26th).

That's probably why myself and any other Meguiar's employee missed this as we try to push-away-from-the-keyboard on Sundays to spend time with family and friends, (sometimes work on our own car guy projects), and then start our work week again on Monday.

We understand people what to know which products are more aggressive but these kinds of lists just don't work very well because products like M04 are rotary buffer only, so for a guy working by hand the ranking of this product next to Ultimate Compound and ScratchX doesn't make any sense and doesn't matter.

For the most part, a person needs to decide if they're going to work by hand or machine, and if by machine which type of machine. After you have decided how you're going to apply the products that will then determine which products are in a grouping you can use. From this grouping of products we could then put them in order of least to most aggressive.

[jjbleds]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Sorry Guys, I guess I'm missing something! If we look at it with an analogy....
There could be 5 different ways(products) to get to Shinyland from where you are now, which is Swirlville. Some ways are best by car(rotary), some ways are best by bicycle(DA), and some ways its best to walk(hand). So to make an informed decision on which way to take I would need to look at ALL of them, even if I don't have a car! Then if I decide that it's best to go by car then I will have to get one and learn to drive or get someone to drive me.

What I will do is go through my lists and split them up into application catrgories, then order of aggressiveness. I don't remember seeing any lists like that because I would have stopped searching, if someone has one then don't be shy! OCD stinks!

[Murr1525]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Well, its not that your missing anything as far as the order of products. Its that out in the general public, very few people are really going to be able to work off of it, unless they understand that they might be jumping over certain product for different reasons.

For instance, Ultimate Compound and #105 can be used by hand, while #86 - #95 are machine only. And #4 is rotary only at that. But #4 by rotary is stronger than #105 by hand. But listing them in that way doesnt show that.

[Andrew C.]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Hmmm even though M66is rated more aggressive than 3,5,7, and 81 on the bottles, I still found it to be less aggressive than those

[jjbleds]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Thanks for the replies! Murr1525, I understand what you are saying. My list was geared toward the more experienced person, who probably already knows how to use the products. Everyone else would have to look up each product to see the application method anyway. Give me a few days I'll redo my list according to application method.

[Murr1525]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Yeah, almost really need 3 different lists....

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Order of aggressiveness...again!

Let me take a stab at this...

Yeah, almost really need 3 different lists....

How about 4 groups just for example purposes...


Figuring out which product to use can actually be kind of simple unless you're getting into wet-sanding, but if we limit it to just by Hand, DA Polishers and Rotary Buffers then a person can start out with just a few products.

For example, if the four different groups of people below were all committed to taking care of their own car, and/or customer's cars as a part of their job, (they work in a body shop or are a detailer), then here's a good initial collection of products each group should have in their collection to tackle whatever comes their way. Some of these items are a given, but I'll include them in the list just to create a somewhat complete but general list.



People working by hand

• Car Wash
• Detailing Clay and a Spray Lubricant for the claying process.
• Ultimate Compound - For removing deep defects or fast removal of shallow defects.
• SwirlX - For removing shallow defects for jeweling or final polishing and also maintenance polishing or light cleaning in-between detailing sessions.
• Quality car wax or paint sealant of your choice.
• Quick Detailer - This can be the same as your clay lube or a different product out of the zillions on the market.
• Optional - Spray-on wax - Some people love them some people don't but you won't know until you try a couple for yourself.

People working by DA Polisher

• Car Wash
• Detailing Clay and a Spray Lubricant for the claying process.
• Ultimate Compound - For removing deep defects or fast removal of shallow defects.
• SwirlX - For removing shallow defects or for jeweling, (final polishing), and also maintenance polishing or light cleaning in-between regular detailing sessions.
• Quality car wax or paint sealant of your choice.
• Quick Detailer - This can be the same as your clay lube or a different product out of the zillions on the market.
• Optional - Spray-on wax - Some people love them some people don't but you won't know until you try a couple for yourself.

Variation to the above would be to use compounds and cleaner/polishes from our Professional Line, for example the M105/M205 Tag Team, or a couple of the 80's Series products, M83, M82, M80, or M09.

If you're doing one-step detail work then either M66 or D151, if you're doing complete multi-step buff-outs for show car results then you're back to having products like M105 and M205 in your arsenal and of course a finishing wax.


People working with a Rotary Buffer - Fresh Paint Environment - Refinishing


(If you're working in a fresh paint environment make sure your product choice is body shop safe)

• Car Wash
• Detailing Clay and a Spray Lubricant for the claying process.
• M105 UCC
• M205 UFP
• M86 Cut & Polish Cream

For a final glazing, M81, M07, M03 or M05 are all options. These would either be used glaze or final polish the paint before customer pick-up, these could be applied by hand or hopefully a DA polisher.

People working with a Rotary Buffer - Cured Paint - Reconditioning

• Car Wash
• Detailing Clay and a Spray Lubricant for the claying process.

This can be as complicated as you want to make it but suffice to say a person doing detail work with a rotary buffer is usually aiming for show car results or speed, so the show car group would be using a multiple step approach and the speed group would be hoping to use just one or two products. Any combination of these,

M105 UCC
M205 UFP
M21, M26, M20
M66
D151

Again all the product suggestions were just a minimum selection for someone to start with and still be able to tackle hopefully anything that comes their way.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Does that give kind of a more general viewpoint of how a person would choose their products versus lining them all up and rating them by their aggressiveness or gentleness and then trying to pick one based upon it's place in the line-up?

It's just more complicated than rating all the products relative to the whole collection in an effort to pick a product. What I typed out above isn't any kind of definitive recommendation just a big picture point of view of how much simpler it is when it comes to actually going out into your garage to work on your car. Of course having a forum like this or a full-time Customer Care Hotline helps...