Menzerna
Intensive Polish
PO91E - 32 oz.
  From Germany, Menzerna Intensive
Polish,
Our Best Swirl Removing Polish
Most people would call Menzerna's
PO 91E Intensive Polish an abrasive compound. It removes
2000 grit sanding traces, swirls and paint defects. Menzerna calls it a polish
because it removes these defects with minimum or no loss of surface gloss.
On most light colors you can go from Menzerna Intensive Polish directly to finishing with
your favorite wax or sealant. On dark color paints, a subsequent once over with
Menzerna PO106FA will produce a completely swirl-free, high gloss surface. While this accomplishment isn't turning lead into gold, it's as
close to alchemy as you can get in the car care business!
Lets go back to basics. If you
have swirls in your car's finish, you have three options.
- You can live with them.
- You can hide (fill) them temporarily with
filling polishes or glazes.
- You can permanently remove them.
Most of us car care
perfectionists had to dismiss option three because it required a circular polisher and an abrasive compound. You actually abrade away the
paint or clear coat surrounding swirl until the swirl is gone. Compounding,
however, requires a little skill with a circular polisher and leaves the surface dull.
This dullness, or haze, is normal and part of the compounding process. To remove
this haze, you would polish with increasing less abrasive polishes until the paint's
gloss is restored. Most of us do not have enough
confidence to tackle this procedure.
That leaves us with option
two. Non-abrasive polishes and "swirl removers" typically contain a
strong solvent base. This solvent rounds off the top edge of the swirl robbing
sunlight of a sharp edge to cause a reflection. Fillers in the polish then fill
the swirl. When you wax over the polish, you seal the fillers in place. In most
lighting conditions, this procedure makes swirls invisible. The downside is,
swirls will re-appear as the wax ages and the whole process will need to be
repeated.
 Menzerna
Intensive Polish is unique because it actually removes swirls, like a
compound, yet it minimizes or eliminates haze, like a polish. Unlike
domestic compounds and polishes, Intensive Polish is water-based. It does
contain a petroleum distillate, but it's a lubricant not a solvent.
It will not soften or affect the curing of fresh paint. Also unique is the
fact that it contains no fillers of any kind. In fact, it contains no
fillers, no glaze, no wax and no silicones!
What Intensive Polish
does contain are some of the highest quality and uniformly sized, milled
abrasives in the world. These particles can polish out 2000 grit swirls
and remove surface oxidation with minimal or no surface haze. Remember,
Intensive Polish is removing swirls, not just filling and hiding them.
Download
our FREE eight page Menzerna
Application Guide for instructions on compounding and polishing with
Menzerna products.
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When to use Intensive Polish:
Intensive Polish should be
used on older vehicles with dull, oxidized or neglected paint or on any vehicle
when trying to remove specific paint defects (water spots, swirls, scratches not
going through the clear coat, etc.).
So how good is it?
I've used Intensive polish by
hand, with the dual-action, Porter Cable 7424 polisher and with a professional,
circular polisher. Click below for your application.
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By hand:
Mist a terry or microfiber applicator pad with water or Black Baron Foam Pad
Lubricant and apply a quarter size amount of polish. Work on an area of
about 2 square feet. Using a circular or back-and-forth motion, wipe polish over
the area until almost dry. Wipe off polishing residues with a damp terry cloth
or microfiber cloth. Continue polishing in 2 square foot sections until vehicle
is done.
Results - With very little effort, I was able
to restore gloss on a five year old vehicle with a sadly neglected finish. I was
not able, by hand, to remove swirls in the finish or acid-etched water spots.
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Wipe on. |
Buff off. |
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With the Porter Cable 7424 polisher:
Work on areas of about 2 square
feet. Apply two, 8 inch lines of polish on the paint. Mist the foam compounding
pad with Pad Lubricant or water and, with machine off, spread polish over the
surface. Set the Porter Cable's speed control between 3-1/2 and 4. Place the pad
on the paint and turn the polisher on. Work over the area in a figure-8 pattern
until almost dry. Mist the surface with Pad Lubricant/Residue Remover or a 50/50
solution of alcohol and water. Wipe off residues and inspect the surface. If
defects and swirls are still present, continue compounding. If the surface is
swirl free, wipe off any remaining residues with a damp Terry cloth or
Microfiber cloth. Continue polishing in 2 square foot sections until vehicle is
done.
Results - Using our Orange Foam Power Pad at a
speed setting of 3-1/2 to 4 on the dial, I was able to remove even more
oxidation and all but the deepest swirls. The water spots looked better but I
could not remove them. At this point, the vehicle looked crisp, clean and shiny,
ten times better than when it was brought in. There was no trace of compounding
lines or haze. Further polishing was not needed. I could put a final coat of wax
or sealant on the car at this point and most people would consider the finish
"like new."
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Apply Intensive
Polish to
paint.
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Put foam compounding
pad on
machine's hook and loop backing plate.
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Mist compounding pad
with water
or foam pad lubricant.
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Spread compound with
machine off.
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Set the speed dial
between
3-1/2 and 4,
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Work in a figure-8
pattern.
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Remove residues with
an alcohol/water
solution and inspect the surface. |
Buff off any remaining
residues. |
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a circular polisher:
Work on areas of about 2
square feet. Apply two, 8 inch lines of polish on the paint. Mist the
Yellow Foam Compounding Pad with water or foam pad lubricant and, with
machine off, spread polish over the surface. Set the polisher's speed
control to 1000 rpm. Place the pad on the paint and turn the polisher on.
Work over the area in a figure-8 pattern until almost dry. Mist the
surface with a Pad Lubricant/Residue Remover or a 50/50 solution of
alcohol and water. Wipe off residues and inspect the surface. If defects
and swirls are still present, continue compounding. If the surface is
swirl free, wipe off any remaining residues with a damp Terry cloth or
Microfiber cloth. Continue polishing in 2 square foot sections until
vehicle is done.
Results - I was able to remove deeper
swirls and about half of the water spots. On some of the deeper water
spots, I was bearing down and just starting to see a little haze form. To
remove the remaining water spots I would have had to increase the
polishers speed or switch to a lambswool compounding pad but I felt I was
at my competence level and I didn't want to push it*. I wiped off
the polishing residues and inspected the surface. There were only two
spots where I could see a hint of haze. I could easily have waxed the car
and been done with it. The car's owner would never have noticed the two
patches where I really worked the surface. Not wanting to do a half-way
job, I peeled off the compounding pad, stuck on a white foam polishing pad
and went over the surface lightly with Menzerna Final Polish. I finished
with a coat of wax, applied by hand, and presented the car's owner with a
car that looked as good as the day it left the showroom.
* Menzerna states that Intensive Polish can be used at speeds of 1500 to
2500 rpm but I'm not comfortable working at those speeds with any product.
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Apply Intensive
Polish to
paint surface.
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Attach Yellow Foam
Compounding
Pad to polisher.
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Mist compounding pad
with Pad Lubricant.
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Spread compound with
machine off.
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Start with a speed
of 1000 rpm
(Position 1 on the Porter Cable 7428)
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Work in a figure-8
pattern.
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Remove residues with
an alcohol/water
solution and inspect the surface. |
Buff off any remaining
residues. |
Clean-up - After compounding, wash all
pads in a bucket of soapy water, rinse and let air dry.
Bottom line:
Intensive Polish is a compound
that thinks it's a polish. It's extremely forgiving and, unless pushed hard,
actually removes minor swirls and paint defects without a trace of surface haze.
This is the best polish I have ever used with the Porter Cable 7424 when it
comes to actually removing swirls and minor paint defects. When followed with
Menzerna's Final Polish, it leaves a polished, high gloss, swirl-free finish
every bit as good as could be achieved at a body shop.
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Note: Scratches deep enough to be felt with your fingernail
can be made to look better but probably can not be entirely removed. You
should not attempt to remove scratches that go all the way through the
paint or clear coat. These scratches require re-painting and should be
repaired by a body shop technician. |
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You should not
attempt to remove
scratches that go through the
top clear coat.
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Intensive Polish is VOC compliant in all 50 states.
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Imported from Germany
Available in a 16 oz size for the enthusiast and 32 oz. for the
professional. |
Remove
swirls, spots and pits on
paintwork, Fiberglass and chrome!
Most bikes collect more than their
share of swirls, spots, pits, and surface dullness. Menzerna Intensive Polish
can correct all of those problems while replacing a whole cabinet full of
products. Use Intensive Polish on paintwork, with or without a clear coat,
powder coat, Fiberglass and chrome to remove most defects and leave a bright,
haze-free shine.
By some standards Menzerna Intensive
Polish would be considered an abrasive compound. It removes 2000 grit sanding
marks, swirls, and paint defects with minimum or no loss of surface gloss. On
most light colors you can go from Intensive Polish to finishing with your
favorite wax or sealant. On dark colors, a once over with Menzerna
Final Polish II will produce
a completely swirl-free, high-gloss finish. Top it with Menzerna
FMJ for a remarkably clear, emotionally vibrant shine with a
shimmering liquidity.
Intensive Polish is great for use on
chrome to remove pin-sized pits, stains or rust spots. Most enthusiasts use a metal polish
for this task but most metal polishes leave a black residue on the cloth, and if
the chrome trim is on paintwork, the black residues are transferred to the
paint. Intensive Polish buffs off easily without any black residues.
(Intensive Polish does not have the cutting power to remove large pits or rust
spots in chrome and will not restore pitted wheels.)
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| Use
Intensive Polish to remove fine scratches and swirls. |
Intensive
Polish is also great for removing pitting and stains from chrome. |
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For best
results, use a quality Microfiber cloth like our Multi-task
Microfiber Cloth. Use a small amount of polish on the
cloth about the size of 2 nickels and polish all your painted, clear
coated, and chrome surfaces. This buffs off easily and leaves a
mirror-bright, streak free finish. |
Available in 16 oz. and 32 oz. bottles. |
