Cost: The Handi Puck is £6.95 Each additional ‘Spot Pad’ is £4.95
Date of Review: 7th October 2018
The Sales Pitch from Auto Finesse:
The Auto Finesse Handi Polishing Pucks are perfect for all applications from applying wax to tyre dressings, to polishing intricate areas around the car. The Velcro-backed high-density foam dome has been designed to fit a wide range of 75-120mm pads.
Source: https://shop.autofinesse.co.uk/detailing-accessories/handi-puck
Tyre Spot Pad (Black raised pad) £4.95
The Auto Finesse Tyre Spot Pad is the perfect partner to the Handi Puck creating an ergonomic tyre dressing applicator. It features a sandwich-waffle foam design, with an 85mm surface area.
Microfibre Spot Pad (White pad) £4.95
The 80mm Auto Finesse Microfibre Spot Pad is ideal for turning our Handi Puck product into a hand-polishing system.
Wax Spot Pad (Black pad) £4.95
Specifically designed to work in conjunction with the Auto Finesse Handi Puck, the Auto Finesse Wax Spot Pad becomes an ergonomic wax applicator, complete with soft bevelled foam that fits perfectly inside our 200ml wax jars – making the waxing stage of any detail an easy one.
Scrubi (Yellow Pad) £4.95
The Auto Finesse Scrubi pad turns our Handi Puck into an interior and fabric hood cleaning tool, allowing products such as Hide to be agitated from leather quickly, efficiently and safely.
The 80mm pad can also be used on carpets, fabric and a whole host of other interior surfaces.
Source: https://shop.autofinesse.co.uk/detailing-accessories/
What You Get:
A firm foam dome-shaped ergonomic pad with a velcro hook at the bottom to hold the pads in place.
Underside for the velcro.
With a pad attached.
The Spot Pads.
Left to right; wax, polishing, tyre, scrubi and the puck itself.
Product Description:
The only way to describe the feel of this puck is to compare it to a desk stress ball. It has the same firm feel and the dome fits nicely in the palm of your hand.
Currently there are four options for the pad attachments, Microfiber spot pad for polishing (white), Wax spot pad (black), Scrubi for interiors (yellow), Tyre Spot pad (black raised surface). Each pad has to be purchased separately from the puck itself. Unless you find a kit selling all of them together that is.
Instructions:
Hold it and move it! Depending on the type of application you can velcro different types of pad. Press on and tear off as required to swap over pads.
Wax Spot pad;
A soft smooth gentle black pad that fits perfectly into the Illusion wax and other AF premium wax tins. The pads can also be used in much larger tins of wax if required.
The pad is super soft and exactly the same as the XL wax hand pad by AF. The difference is that the pad is much easier to hold with the puck. It’s exactly the same as the XL shaped pad, however when the XL and this wax spot pads becomes full of product, they will squash down and become soggy for the want of a better word. A simple twist in the tin will apply an even coating of wax on the full face of the pad allowing even application of your preferred wax.
As this pad with the puck is fairly tall it can become awkward to use in some areas, in fact, you will need to remove the pad and apply by hand into the tighter places which sort of defeats the point. This will probably be the most used pad by me.
The wax pad is the same diameter as the XL Wax Mate and half the cost. The same height as the spot pad.
With the XL you can buy two for the price of one spot pad, but the XL will squash down into the small gaps where you would have to remove the Spot pad from the puck. The foam is the same and both become soggy with product after a proper usage. When the pads become full there is no doubt that the puck is much nicer to use.
Micro Fibre Spot Pad;
This is a large pile white pad used for hand application polishing.
This sized pad is great for smaller areas and stops your fingers aching from applying the pressure from repeated rubbing. The best pad of the four options in my opinion and will probably last the longest. The top of the pad is sponge layered to maintain even pressure on the paint surface. The material is quite long and can hold a good amount of product. I used this pad when i wanted to buff out some stone chips after they had been sanded down.
Tyre Spot Pad;
There are multiple versions of the tyre applicator on the market and this spot pad joins them at he lower end of the market. Not a bad pad when it’s new, deteriorates fairly quickly.
The more you rub over raised lettering the worse it gets. It will last longer on standard tyres, and with the puck it will keep your hands away from the messy products and easy to use. Due to its size you may need a couple of passes over large sidewall tyres, but will be fine on lower profile tyres.
Due to the foam used it’s pretty easy to clean.
Scrubi Spot Pad;
This is designed for interiors and upholstery spot cleaning. The material is like a pan cleaning pads with an open style random design.
In my opinion this is to harsh for some of the more delicate plastics in cars. I would probably use this on a carpet for a little stain. I doubt I would use it on a vinyl or leather that’s for sure. easy enough to clean due to open style of the large pores.
Usage:
The puck itself fits nicely in the hand, and with big hands like mine it was still comfortable to use. The consistency of the puck is very good, high density foam with a slight amount of give.
The pads are used in different ways just as you would for their dedicated alternatives from other manufacturers, wax applicator pads, wheel & tyre applicator, polishing pad and interior, which makes this a versatile tool and neat to carry around. I deal for a car show day out in fact.
Results:
The pads all perform as they are expected to, the wax pad will soften and partially collapse once full of wax.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Why only a 6? Well the cost mainly as its not the best value for money, along with the fact you have to buy each pad separately as well. Only two pads are worth getting in my opinion.
Handi Puck: nice size for the hand with a nice comfortable feel, should last a fair bit of (ab)use. The Velcro is a good quality and holds the pads firmly in place.
Wax Spot Pad: perfect fit into the AF quality wax tins, but it will collapse after time when it gets full of product.
Micro Fiber Spot Pad: the best bad of the bunch. This will allow you to use your hand not just fingertips when trying to polish small areas which can take a while if you are using gentle compounds such as Tripple or Meguiar’s Compound products.
Tyre Applicator Pad: this will hold the tyre product and stop your hands getting dirty, but with the raised part of the tyre moulding for branding etc. it did start to show early signs of wear.
Scrubi: a nylon open pore style pad to use on fabric and carpet, I (personally) wouldn’t use it on leather, plastic, polished surfaces or wood trims. Thus it has limited use of application regardless of the sales pitch, I would prefer to use a dedicated fabric brush. If you are going to clean a seat you would do the whole thing and not just a small area as it would look obvious, so using this over a large area would take time and a lot of effort. Use this on clear Perspex at your peril.
Conclusion:
A limited use tool (item) to be honest which can work out expensive with all four pads purchased with the puck itself. The puck is comfortable to use and I would say that the only pads worth getting are the Wax pad which is ideal for its intended purpose. The other being the Microfiber polishing pad, great for small area polishing such as after stone chip fixes or smaller areas where the machine polish wont reach. The tyre pad is adequate, but there are much better and larger, more dedicated offerings from other manufacturers too, some. The Scrubi will be ideal to remove a small mark on a carpet or rubber mat, but not much good for larger areas. I guess that’s why they are called ‘spot pads’.
For the Puck at £7 that is quite a lot of money for a foam dome which probably only cost £1 to make. The painted on logo will come off after a few uses so there is no point in charging extra for the branding. The logo is already starting to come of after light use.
If a third party was to produce these even at half the cost, then this is an ideal little gadget to save aching fingers.
The advantage is that if you use one spot pad more than the others then its simple enough to replace without having to buy everything.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but only for the Handi Puck, Wax and Polish spot pads.
Would I buy it again? Only if the puck and/or the pads are on a very cheap sale.