For decades, 3M has led the automotive industry with some of the finest and hardest-working paint and refinish products in the market. Now, the latest and greatest from 3M is here: the 3M™ 1-Step Paint Finishing System featuring the all-new 8000-grade 3M™ Trizact™ Hookit™ Foam Abrasive Disc—plus 3M™ Perfect-It™ 1-Step Finishing Material and a family of polishing pads engineered to work with it.
These 8000-grade abrasives are the industry’s finest, eclipsing the previous finest grade abrasive, 5000-grade Trizact™ foam discs. The combination of the Trizact™ 8000 grade abrasive foam disc, the new 1-Step Finishing Material, and the matched pads equals deeper, glossier finishes with no swirl and less clean-up. Using Trizact abrasives for paint finishing can reduce overall polishing time by 75 percent while providing consistent paint finish results.
The 3M 1-Step Finishing System: How It Works
The 3M™ Trizact™ 8000 disc uses uniformly-sized abrasive structures that provide regular patterns and consistent scratches for refining the smallest of imperfections. The disc is so effective that it eliminates the need for compound, reducing polish time and yielding a cleaner job. With this system, shops can expect reduced rework and comebacks caused by swirls and sand scratches. The new 3M™ Perfect-It™ 1-Step Finishing Material is a water-based product with an advanced formula and mineral for easy cutting and polishing—all in one step.
“We engineered a product between traditional compounds and polishes,” says Marcus Schneider, Senior Application Engineer at 3M. “The finishing material is not as aggressive as a compound and not as fine as a polish.”
Schneider has been working at the 3M campus for almost a decade. In that time, he’s worked on everything from dental composite crowns to industrial adhesives involving complex resins from sea to sky, fishing poles to aircraft.
“It’s an amazing product,” he says, “and the extremely fine grade gives a beautiful finish. Getting the scratches out of the clearcoat is difficult, and the Trizact 8000 disc makes that job easier. The 3M™ 1-Step Paint Finishing System is specifically designed for collision and body shops.”
The process is simple:
First, remove dirt nibs, dust and level excess surface texture using a 3M Purple Finishing Film Hookit™ Disc (P1500 or P2000). Next, refine the remaining scratches using the 3000-grade 3M™ Trizact™ Hookit Foam Disc. Further refine the scratch (and skip compounding) using the Trizact™ 8000 Foam Disc. Finally, to remove the final sand scratches and achieve a high polish and shine, use the 1-Step Finishing Material and the matching foam finishing pads, working an area no larger than 2-feet x 2-feet at a time. Finish with a 3M detail cloth.
Together, Trizact technology and the 1-Step Finishing System can deliver:
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Cleaner Jobs: No compounding equals less cleanup, as well as the opportunity to use foam instead of wool pads for less swirls.
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Faster Buffing: Eliminate time spent chasing inconsistent sand scratches such as pigtails and other hard-to-see-but-impossible-to-miss imperfections that diminish shop productivity.
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Better Finish: Customers only remember how the car leaves the shop—impress them with the results of 3M™ Trizact™ 8000 and the 3M™ Perfect-It™ 1-Step Paint Finishing System.
Together, the whole of the products is greater than the sum of their parts.
Allows the technician to eliminate the compounding step and move directly to polishing
Designed to perform in hot and humid climates
Easy clean-up with less sling
Saves time and money
Improves health and safety
Improves productivity
Leads to high-quality repairs every time
Wipes up easily without smears
Washes off easily
Less fatigue during clean-up
Saves time and money
Improves health and safety
Easy to use
Eliminates compounding
Provides a deeper, glossier finish
Schneider and 3M understand that these products don’t exist in a vacuum—together, they can truly reduce technician fatigue, cut polishing time by 75%, and potentially increase shop revenue.
“They’re really easy to use. You know what you’re getting and it’s repeatable on the shop floor. It’s a true 1-step polishing system using one liquid and one pad. You’re not using a compound.”
“If you never put swirl in, you never have to get it out,” Schneider says with a smile.
Learn how to increase productivity on the shop floor by visiting go.3M.com/trizact.
