CarPro Questions (Hydro2/Essence/Reload etc)

[sburrell93]

Last weekend I gave my car a proper clean and decon in prep for giving it a quick machine polish to remove some light swirling in it. Didn't have enough time to do the whole car, so not wanting to leave it unprotected, I fired some Hydro2 over it. So, couple of questions about this, because CarPro stuff confuses me!

Can I machine polish right over the top of Hydro2 or do I need to strip it back before polishing again? Plan on trying out the bottle of Essence I got so I'm assuming this will need completely clean paintwork?

Has anyone any experience using Essence with a harsher pad (white or green hex pad for example) to remove swirls? I have the CarPro gloss pad and planned on just using that after removing the swirls with separate polish and pad but if I could do it all in one step it'd be simpler!

Finally, Reload... Where does this come in the process?! Hydro2 then reload? Or other way round? Or are they better kept as separate products? Don't have any Reload just now but had considered picking some up.

I'd usually just go trial and error with most stuff but I don't want to f**k it up!

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

I always machine polish over the top of hydro2 without any issues.

I tend to use hydro2 and then top it up with Reload after maintenance washes :up:

 

[Scrooge]

Polishing over hydro isn't an issue, reload is just too or maintenance washes as DaveRon says and yes I had good results using harsher pads for a bit of correction. Essence is fantastic stuff!

 

[sburrell93]

Brilliant, cheers guys! I'll need to pick up a bottle of Reload then. Should be cheaper than constantly topping up with Hydro2 lite or something.

Can't wait to try essence out properly. Bought some then shat out of trying it at the weekend lol as I wasn't sure on using it after other polishes etc. but I'll give it a go this time round and see how it fairs up against the swirls too!

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

Brilliant, cheers guys! I'll need to pick up a bottle of Reload then. Should be cheaper than constantly topping up with Hydro2 lite or something.

Can't wait to try essence out properly. Bought some then shat out of trying it at the weekend lol as I wasn't sure on using it after other polishes etc. but I'll give it a go this time round and see how it fairs up against the swirls too!

When you get your Reload you might want to try diluting it down.

Mine is diluted 1:1 with distilled water and it goes on a lot better without leaving steaks.

 

[Yellow Dave]

Machine polishing will remove the hydr02 unless you're using the softest of combos. Saying that using essence with a mild polishing pad may even remove it.

It's recommended not to get essence wet after application so follow up with reload would be preferred Hydr02 which needs to be applied to a wet panel. As a base product I personally think reload lasts longer than hydr02, plus hydr02 is quicker and easier to use for top ups with your routine wash.

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

Or use hydro2 lite and apply like a QD :up:

 

[Yellow Dave]

Does it work ok applied like that? Often thought of trying it but then went straight to reload instead.

 

[sburrell93]

When you get your Reload you might want to try diluting it down.

Mine is diluted 1:1 with distilled water and it goes on a lot better without leaving steaks.

Will try that! My mate uses reload on his car and it streaks easily from what I've seen undiluted.

Machine polishing will remove the hydr02 unless you're using the softest of combos. Saying that using essence with a mild polishing pad may even remove it.

It's recommended not to get essence wet after application so follow up with reload would be preferred Hydr02 which needs to be applied to a wet panel. As a base product I personally think reload lasts longer than hydr02, plus hydr02 is quicker and easier to use for top ups with your routine wash.

Yeah I figured polishing would remove it anyway but it was more to make sure it wouldn't react badly with it or anything.

So both hydro2 and reload seem pretty interchangeable then? I'll maybe give them both a go in opposite ways on different panels and see how each turn out.

My main worries were really about certain things reacting with others but it sounds like I'm probably overcomplicating it!