Will these products enhance or mute flakes in metallic paint?

I have redfire metallic paint on my car, and I love how the flakes shine in sunlight. For this year I want to move toward using products that are designed to enhance the flake rather than mute it. I have read that some Poorboys products are designed to do one or the other, so I wanted to check and see if certain products will do either.

I already have and love Liquid Natty's Red for enhancing flake. I am going to get the paste version soon and will be layering the two as my topper.

My plan is to use SSR1 to clean the paint, and then top with Nattys Red. However, I have some additional Poorboy's products on hand, and would like to know if these are designed to enhance or mute the flakes?

Polish with Carnauba white. Does it enhance or mute flakes? What about Polish with carnauba blue? I know it is better suited for darker color cars like mine, but does it enhance or mute flakes?

Black Hole. I tried it once last summer and loved the gloss, but it didn't do much for filling my swirls. Is it designed to mute or enhance flakes?

EX. Same question, does it mute or enhance flakes?


Thanks for the help!
 

Dwayne

Operations Manager
I have redfire metallic paint on my car, and I love how the flakes shine in sunlight. For this year I want to move toward using products that are designed to enhance the flake rather than mute it. I have read that some Poorboys products are designed to do one or the other, so I wanted to check and see if certain products will do either.

I already have and love Liquid Natty's Red for enhancing flake. I am going to get the paste version soon and will be layering the two as my topper.

My plan is to use SSR1 to clean the paint, and then top with Nattys Red. However, I have some additional Poorboy's products on hand, and would like to know if these are designed to enhance or mute the flakes?

Polish with Carnauba white. Does it enhance or mute flakes? What about Polish with carnauba blue? I know it is better suited for darker color cars like mine, but does it enhance or mute flakes?

Black Hole. I tried it once last summer and loved the gloss, but it didn't do much for filling my swirls. Is it designed to mute or enhance flakes?

EX. Same question, does it mute or enhance flakes?


Thanks for the help!

Great questions. Since you already have Liquid Natty's Red, I would stay with that and do multiple applications rather than layer liquid/paste. The end result will be pretty much the same.

Polish with Carnauba will not mute flake. Polish with Carnauba Blue will slightly.

Black Hole can mute slightly as it is designed to add depth, richness and gloss. White Diamond would be the better choice for making the metal flake pop.

EX can mute flake. EX-P does not mute.

What I would do...

SSR-1, White Diamond, Liquid Natty's Red, Liquid Natty's Red (second coat to ensures even and adequate coverage, maximum gloss)
 
Great questions. Since you already have Liquid Natty's Red, I would stay with that and do multiple applications rather than layer liquid/paste. The end result will be pretty much the same.

Polish with Carnauba will not mute flake. Polish with Carnauba Blue will slightly.

Black Hole can mute slightly as it is designed to add depth, richness and gloss. White Diamond would be the better choice for making the metal flake pop.

EX can mute flake. EX-P does not mute.

What I would do...

SSR-1, White Diamond, Liquid Natty's Red, Liquid Natty's Red (second coat to ensures even and adequate coverage, maximum gloss)

Dwayne, thanks so much for the advice. I was considering getting the Nattys Red paste because I had read that the paste version does a slightly better job of filling very minor scratches. But would the liquid version do a better job than the paste of enhancing flakes? I get that clearing up the clearcoat will also make any swirls more visible and I am ok with that tradeoff it it also makes the flakes more noticeable.

I really wanted to try out the paste version, but if you think liquid nattys red would work better for enhancing the flakes, I'll just buy more of it :)
 

Dwayne

Operations Manager
Dwayne, thanks so much for the advice. I was considering getting the Nattys Red paste because I had read that the paste version does a slightly better job of filling very minor scratches. But would the liquid version do a better job than the paste of enhancing flakes? I get that clearing up the clearcoat will also make any swirls more visible and I am ok with that tradeoff it it also makes the flakes more noticeable.

I really wanted to try out the paste version, but if you think liquid nattys red would work better for enhancing the flakes, I'll just buy more of it :)

I have a 2oz sample of Natty's Red paste that I can include with your order. That way you can have the best of both worlds without the added cost.

Whether you use Liquid Natty's Red or Natty's Red Paste, I would highly suggest trying to eliminate the swirls before applying the wax because neither will really hide them and may actually amplify them. Of course the White Diamond will help to fill but would be better to reduce or eliminate the swirls completely if possible. SSR-1 may be enough but you might want to try SSR-2.5, followed by SSR-1 if the swirls are moderate to deep.
 
I have a 2oz sample of Natty's Red paste that I can include with your order. That way you can have the best of both worlds without the added cost.

Whether you use Liquid Natty's Red or Natty's Red Paste, I would highly suggest trying to eliminate the swirls before applying the wax because neither will really hide them and may actually amplify them. Of course the White Diamond will help to fill but would be better to reduce or eliminate the swirls completely if possible. SSR-1 may be enough but you might want to try SSR-2.5, followed by SSR-1 if the swirls are moderate to deep.

Thanks Dwayne, I'm not ready to order just yet, and I might want to go for the 7424 Porter Cable, are the PC kits not on the new site yet?

I tried the SSR1 and Black Hole combination on my swirls last year and it didn't fill them so I suspect I would need something more than SSR1 to remove the swirls. However, I really don't like the idea of removing too much clearcoat so I would probably feel better just removing what I could with the SSR1 and a white pad (I used a finishing pad last time), then try the White Diamond, and whatever's left will have to stay.

BTW I did some research on White Diamond and noticed on other sites that almost all of the reviews mentioned how it accented flakes in metallic paint. Since I understood Black Hole to be for darker colored cars and WD to be for lighter colors, I never even looked at White Diamond as being a candidate for my car. So it might be helpful to others if Poorboys had a graphic/table that showed which products mute flakes and which ones make them more visible. Like a comparison chart. Just a thought!
 

Dwayne

Operations Manager
Thanks Dwayne, I'm not ready to order just yet, and I might want to go for the 7424 Porter Cable, are the PC kits not on the new site yet?

I tried the SSR1 and Black Hole combination on my swirls last year and it didn't fill them so I suspect I would need something more than SSR1 to remove the swirls. However, I really don't like the idea of removing too much clearcoat so I would probably feel better just removing what I could with the SSR1 and a white pad (I used a finishing pad last time), then try the White Diamond, and whatever's left will have to stay.

BTW I did some research on White Diamond and noticed on other sites that almost all of the reviews mentioned how it accented flakes in metallic paint. Since I understood Black Hole to be for darker colored cars and WD to be for lighter colors, I never even looked at White Diamond as being a candidate for my car. So it might be helpful to others if Poorboys had a graphic/table that showed which products mute flakes and which ones make them more visible. Like a comparison chart. Just a thought!

The comparison chart is a great idea and is certainly in our plans!

Porter Cable kits are coming very soon. I had a tight deadline for the website launch and needed to prioritize what was available now and what I could add in later. The Porter Cable 7424XP and all of the pads should be available by next week and I will have some nice kits put together too.

I agree that removing too much clear coat isn't a good idea. SSR-1 with a polishing pad is a great choice because it will allow you to polish the surface without cutting deep into the clear.
 
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