Introduction:

As if the awesome new tools Griot’s Garage just released weren’t enough, they’ve also debuted a whole new line of pads and polishes designed to complement the tools and complete the whole BOSS™, “Best of Show System”. The new polishes were developed in-house at Griot’s state-of-the-art design center with the help of some talented chemists and a great development team. Via Jeff Brown, I was fortunate to be a part of this exciting release and help test and provide feedback on some of the 120+ formulations. While I’ve done a few pre-release testings for various companies, this was the first time I’ve been involved this early in the development and I truly enjoyed learning about everything that goes into the process. In fact, I think that may just be a good article topic for later on. 😉

Product Description:

BOSS™ Pads

BOSS™ Pads are designed with precision to withstand the rigors of Long-Throw Orbitals, while delivering superior performance, control, and comfort. Pads provide the contact patch between you and your paint finish. Just like racing tires gripping the track, this interaction is critical to success.
Our 8mm thick, low-profile design delivers unrivaled energy transfer and defect removal. The pads’ low center of gravity and light weight improve tool stability and pad control for smoother operation. We use the highest quality reticulated foam, cut to our specifications. All BOSS pads feature a center intercooling hole designed to resist heat buildup at the center of the pad which eliminates common dishing and other pad component damage for extended pad life.

BOSS™ Creams

You can tell the difference from the first drop. In our drive towards perfection, our proprietary Best Of Show System™ formulas were created in-house at Griot’s Garage to do exactly what they say: fast correcting, mirror polishing, sealing and protecting. Blended and bottled at the Griot’s Garage Manufacturing Facility, these liquids empower you to achieve visibly better results in less time. Consider them to be precision tools, flexible in use to adapt to virtually any paint finishing scenario. Pair them with the appropriate BOSS™ pads and prepare to be amazed!
All four BOSS creams utilize specialized levels of sub-micron abrasives, which more efficiently remove defects and leave a highly-refined finish. Each cream is engineered with rich, high-lubricity, non-filling components to promote faster pad rotation so you can produce a true, concours-worthy finish in less time.

Product Details:

BOSS™ Pads

• Thin pad design, 8MM thickness
• 4 foam pads, 1 Microfiber, 1 Innerflex (all available in 5″ and 6″ sizes)
• Chamfered Edge
• Center inter-cooling hole
• Reticulated Open Cell Foam
• Color coded to match intended Creams

BOSS™ Creams

• 4 liquids; 2 compounds, 1 polish, 1 All in One (AIO)
• Color coded bottles to match intended pad use
• Unique, pleasant scent to each
• Sub-micron abrasives
• No silicones or fillers in the compounds or polish
• Long working times
• Little to no dust

Pad Reviews:

All of the pads perform very well and I’ve become a big fan of the thin pad designs a lot of companies have been releasing of late. A thin design allows for more rotation, faster correction, easier to clean, and they take up far less space.

• Micro Fiber Pads: These pads have a thin, medium-density foam backing that deliver the cut you’d expect from a MF (Micro Fiber) pad in addition to finishing better than some other competing brands. It’s no surprise that I’ve adopted the Griot’s Micro Fiber as my go-to cutting pads for most jobs lately. I generally use these pads along with the thin Fast Cut MF pads, which have been released for a while now.
• White Fast Cut Foam Pad: These pads are firmer foam, similar to a few others out now like the CarPro Flash pad and Rupes UHS pad and delivering very impressive cut and finish for foam! When it comes to heavy cutting I tend to prefer MF pads, but these offer a cut that is very close to MF and leave a better finish. The firmer foam “feel” does take some adjustment, at least for me, but again, I’m a MF pad guy. One other thing to note about the white foam pads is that much like other stiffer foam brands, they can have a tendency to sling polish after the initial priming. Be sure to spread your polishes around first and never take the tool off the paint while it’s still spinning.
• Orange Correcting Foam Pad: These pads will likely be a popular go-to pad for those 1-step correction jobs. The pad offers solid cut and should finish LSP-ready on most all paint types.
• Yellow Perfecting Foam Pad: These pads have been a champ at finishing down perfectly on all paint types I’ve used them on so far and have become my go-to for finishing when paired with the Perfecting Cream.
• Black Finishing Foam Pad: I honestly haven’t had to use these pads much on a car yet so I can’t provide much feedback, but they worked very well throughout the testing.
• Innerflex Pad: The Innerflex pad is something completely new for polishing and is essentially another tool for your arsenal. While the new thin pad trend is great for cutting, it also poses an issue when working on cars with lots of curvy panels. Griot’s solution to this dilemma is the Innerflex pad, which is essentially placed in-between your backing plate and pad, giving you added cushioning and allows for the pad to conform to panel contours. It will also help reduce aggressiveness and increase user comfort. Another added feature of the Innerflex is a reduction of temperature build-up in your pads and extension of their life. I REALLY LIKE THESE PADS! 🙂
  

Cream Reviews:

• Fast Correcting Cream: The majority of the vehicles I work on receive a 2-step correction or more, so Fast Correct has really been one of my most-used compounds over the last 6 months. Its cut is on par with most of my other compounds but it has little to no dusting, especially when used with the MF pads, and the long working time is great, making it a very pleasant-to-use compound. Paired with the Fast Cut MF pad I was able to quickly eliminate swirls and even RIDS with some quick, focused polishing on several hard BMW, Audi, and Mercedes paint types. The only possible ask is a slightly better wipe-off; while it’s not hard to remove by any means, it’s also not as easy as something like Meguiar’s D300. Regardless, this isn’t a significant concern and I would say the wipe-off is similar to that of a few other compounds I use in my work. Since there always seems to be a trade-off when developing compounds & polishes, the great cut, working time, and almost nonexistent dusting out weigh a little added wipe off effort. Not using too much product helps with wipe off a lot, as does towel choice. I would suggest using only 3 pea-sized dots of Fast Correct after initial priming.
• Correcting Cream: Correcting Cream is an excellent middle of the road compound that can cut very well and, with the right pad choice, still finish out LSP-ready on almost all paint types. I would compare the cability of this product to one of my other well-liked products, HD Adapt. The wipe off of Correcting Cream is a little better too, but again, keep usage to only 3 pea-sized drops after priming.
• Perfecting Cream: Perfecting Cream is an excellent finishing polish and has worked flawlessly on every paint type I’ve worked on so far, even those soft, touchy black B-pillars. Paired with the yellow pad it completes my go-to 2-step combination and I’ve been thrilled with its overall performance.
• Finishing Sealant: The Finishing Sealant is the one product I haven’t spent much time with thus far and there have been formula updates post-dating the receipt of my sample. Notwithstanding the changes and my limited use, the initial bottle I received polished in like butter, but that is the limited feedback I’m able to provide. I will try to do an updated review once I order a bottle of the released product.

Product Images:

Pads

Innerflex Pad

Polishes

Pic of showing of of the test batches, various formulations (abrasive size, type, load, emulsion, ect)

Doing some testing with Correcting Cream and the orange pads

Closing thoughts and comments:

I feel the BOSS™ system as a whole is going to be a huge hit in both the enthusiast and professional detailing markets, but the individual components are also able to stand alone and perform individually. The pads have an excellent design and appear to be very durable based on the zero failures I’ve experienced over 6 months of use. All of the new creams perform beautifully and even have their own unique, pleasant scent, which is a welcome quality for me, as a non-fan of products with a strong scent of solvent. Of course this is always an area that comes down to individual taste, but all of the testers I spoke with loved the scents. In fact, to quote one of the other testers, Eric Witt of Tru-Shine Detailing; “When I use orange I crave creamsicles. When I use white I just want to spread it all over some cinnamon sticks! I told Jeff to make sure he puts DO NOT EAT on the labels!”

As I noted in my article covering the new Griot’s tools, this really is the era of a whole new Griot’s Garage! I’m confident that once you’ve had a chance to try the whole suite of new and improved products you will agree!

Also check out the other Griot’s BOSS related articles.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review! 🙂