Product Review & How To: Ultima Paint Prep Plus

[Todd@RUPES]

Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish



Quick Review and How-To


Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish is an easy-to-use “pre-wax cleanser” the deep cleans paint, smooths away swirl marks, removes above surface water spots, and increases over-all paint gloss. Ultima Paint Prep Plus Pre-Wax Polish also leaves behind a special “priming agent” that is designed to promote the proper bonding of Ultima Paint Guard Plus paint protection.


I had a chance to use Ultima Paint Prep Plus on a Corvette that I detailed last weekend. The paint on this Corvette has been well maintained, and minus some very minor wash marring, was in great shape. Since we know that Ultima Paint Guard Plus leaves a super wet finish on red cars, this was a perfect opportunity to test another one of Ultima`s high quality car care products.


Ultima Paint Prep Plus comes handsomely packaged in a clear tube with an included orange foam hand applicator. This “pre-wax” cleanser can be used by both hand or dual-action polisher. Given that I just happened to have a Griot`s Garage 6 Inch Orbital Polisher on hand so I figured I would use this to reduce fatigue. Anybody who has polished a car by hand can attest to how much elbow grease and time is required.




I elected to use a 5.5 inch low-profile Tangerine Hydro-Tech polishing pad. The tangerine foam had a very similar composition to the supplied hand applicator and is designed for light polishing making it one of many good choices. Other good choices would include an Orange Light Cutting foam pad, a White Polishing foam pad, or even the Green Wax/Polish all-in-one pad.

Start by twisting the pump dispenser forward to “open” the pump and apply an “X” pattern across the face of the initial pass.




Ultima Paint Prep Plus is an ultra fine “non-abrasive” polish, so if you while you can use traditional polishing techniques (small working sections, higher speed, increased pressure) to remove extremely fine swirl marks, it is designed more of a paint cleanser.

This mean applying Ultima Paint Prep Plus at a lower speed (3.5 on the Griot`s) and to a larger section. Ultima recommends a panel at a time. Given the Corvette`s famously long hood (required to hide the huge 6.2L V8 and accessories) I choose do attack it in three sections.



Start with firm pressure, spreading the product over the working section.




Continue working Ultima Paint Prep Plus over the section in overlapping passes. As you apply you will notice the product begin to turn opaque and `melt` into the paint.




Work until only a light film remains.




Ultima recommends letting the product haze before removal. This only took about 5 minutes if polished thin. I purposely left a section with heavier film on it by using a very short polishing cycle (not breaking it down) and found that it took much longer to haze (about 30 minutes) and even then it was difficult to remove. Take your time and work each section properly and it will be very easy to remove.

I used a Supreme 530 microfiber cloth folded in quarters and wipe off was a breeze. The paint immediately had a `wetter` and richer shine.




For subsequent panels, reduce the amount of Ultima Paint Prep Plus to three small dots around the outer third of the pad.




For the more complex areas of the Corvette`s body I used the supplied foam applicator, working in a back-and-forth motion until the product was barely visible.






You can apply Ultima Paint Guard Plus (or any favorite wax or sealant) immediately after wiping the residue off. I choose two coats of Ultima Paint Guard Plus and pulled the Corvette into the bright Florida light for a couple of pictures.

[Rocket]

Todd I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your reviews. You give enough detail and the pictures add just that much more info. What rand of pad was that?

The corvette looks great.

[Old Pirate]

Great review Todd, I have not use this one product and will be adding to my wish list.

[classofshine]

Nice review, this is also said to extend the life of UPGP by quite a bit as well.

[Pats300zx]

Great review Todd. I have always been impressed with this Paint Prep Plus with it`s cleaning ability. I think it gets overlooked in comparison to a lot of the other pre products on the market.

[Todd@RUPES]

Todd I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your reviews. You give enough detail and the pictures add just that much more info. What rand of pad was that?

The corvette looks great.

Thank you, they are fun to do!

Great review Todd, I have not use this one product and will be adding to my wish list.

It`s a great pre-wax cleanser for sure Angelo!

Nice review, this is also said to extend the life of UPGP by quite a bit as well.

Yes, I am going to do a durability test, 1/2 prepped with Paint Prep, the other half just wiped with alcohol.

Great review Todd. I have always been impressed with this Paint Prep Plus with it`s cleaning ability. I think it gets overlooked in comparison to a lot of the other pre products on the market.

Agreed Pat!

[mjlinane]

Great review. I, too, used Ultima Paint Prep Plus this weekend (on a Civic and not a Corvette ). Can second to great prep`ing nature of the product but noticed the different wipe properties. The former definitely outweighed the latter though and will use again.

[Bunky]

Great tutorial! I have a sample to try sometime.

[Todd@RUPES]

Great review. I, too, used Ultima Paint Prep Plus this weekend (on a Civic and not a Corvette ). Can second to great prep`ing nature of the product but noticed the different wipe properties. The former definitely outweighed the latter though and will use again.

It wipes off SO easy if you work it all the way but can be a little stubborn if you don`t.

[Todd@RUPES]

Great tutorial! I have a sample to try sometime.

I agree Bunky. Do you have any experience with Ultima Paint Guard Plus?

[TroyScherer]

Nice review Tood.


One thing I did find is that UPPP even with the supplied applicator was able to remove some pretty major marring. I was rather impressed with that.

[dc52nv]

Thanks Todd for your review. This will certainly come in handy when I receive my box of Ultima goodies.

[dd1101]

Great review, Isnt that a flat orange pad and not HT tangerine

[Todd@RUPES]

Great review, Isnt that a flat orange pad and not HT tangerine

Good eye, but that is a tangerine pad. It`s actually an old prototype tangerine pad that used the black backing (when it technically was called the h20 orange pad).

[dc52nv]

Todd, any tips you can give me on using the included pad that comes in the kit? I`m planning on using it this weekend, finally.