Here is a rundown of how to get longer lifespan and consistently great performance from any foam polishing pads. In this blog post I’ll be using our Green All Rounder pads as an example but these tips apply to many foam polishing pads on the market.
#1 – DO NOT USE TOO MUCH PRODUCT – PREVENTING PAD PORE CLOGGING
The Green All Rounder foams have a cell size aka pore size that allows the pad to do some scrubbing to remove light to medium paint defects but still finish down really well on a wide variety of paints however they are still small enough that if anyone applies too much product and it cakes up on the pad it can clog those pores and negatively impact it’s cutting and even finishing performance.
But fear not, it is quite easy to prevent that. Firstly, moisten the foam with a pad lubricant or rinseless wash – water is acceptable as well. Give the pad a spray or two – this will help the pad pick up and move the abrasive product around but more importantly reduce or eliminate dry buffing which is where the foam starts to tear up from a lack of lubrication from the product during frictional polishing. It can also reduce dusting a little but adding some supplemental wetting agents like paraffin oil or optimizer do an even better job of that.
Once you’ve done that, add just one to two drops of product to the paint surface in a circular shape the same size as the pad your using, put the pad down, turn the machine on and spread it out then start polishing.
Work the product for anywhere from twenty seconds up to two minutes at most and if you have used an amount that’s not too much, the pad face will have a light and even coating of product (usually white or dark grey) and can be easily cleaned out with a pad washer or a spray of rinseless, a quick rub and a compressed air blowout on angle and the pad’s super clean and ready to go again.
If however the pad after doing the first section is absolutely caked in product and the pad looks more white(or the colour of the polish or compound) than mostly green, you are definitely using too much and need to wind back on the quantity
What your ultimately looking for is a nice film of product on the surface that stays moist the whole time, not white powder everywhere or a dusty mess.
Clean the pad after each section and switch the pad to another one after every panel or two.
#2 – Use speeds 2-5 on a DA and 500-1200 RPM on a rotary
Our All Rounder pad really does work it’s best in these speed ranges. Of course you can always go beyond them but these are excellent speeds to start out at when new to this.
When using the pad on a rotary, if you want to remove 5000 to 8000 grit sanding marks or maybe 3000 grit which if you’ve sanded with top quality discs or papers and sanders or blocks, you could achieve, tilt the pad on angle slightly with the left side of the pad lifted above the paint surface. This can give better airflow and cooling to prevent overheating the paint and the pad and then after a few passes put the pad flat, increase your arm speed, decrease the pressure your applying and the machine speed by 200 rpm at least and do another pass then slow the machine speed down by another 200 rpm and do another one and use zero pressure with the pad dead flat. If you finish at between 400 and 700 rpm with the last pass, you should end up with an excellent to superb finish.
What your basically doing is refining out the marks that you can potentially put in and leaving the best possible finish
#3 – When purchasing any pads, set aside some for rotary use only and another set for use on Dual Action polishers
Soon we will have available the Green All Rounder pads in the GEN II aka Super Series pad style with a supportive and protective interface below the foam.
However until then if your using Dual action polishers the most and sometimes use the rotary, I highly suggest that you purchase a set of Green All Rounder pads and keep one half exclusively for use on the rotary and the rest for DA polisher use. Whilst the pad is a universal use pad and most if not all of my pads will be designed for universal machine use, one unfortunate thing that happens with DA polishing especially with large orbit machines is that with pad designs which are just velcro and foam, the pad tends to become dome shaped eventually from the orbit size and regular use of the pads on these machines but especially if added pressure is used. The outside of the pad is forced back and the centre pushed forward
What happens from that is that when you go to use that same pad that has become domed on a rotary, the pad will never perfectly align dead centre. So that is why I recommend to save some pads for rotary exclusive use only as with a DA the pad can be a little off centre and it doesn’t matter but on a rotary the pad must be perfectly circular for optimal results
#4 – Switch pads every 1 or 2 panels for maximum results
Whilst yes we can use one pad and go around the entire car with it if we use the pad washer 4000 however this is not the most efficient way of polishing or correcting paint.
By using 3-4, 5-6 or even 8-12 pads for each stage of polishing around a vehicle, we get consistently great results but also extend the lifespan of our pads. The Green All Rounder is one of the highest tensile strength, tear resistance and dense foams on the market today but even it will eventually soften somewhat and lose some of it’s cutting power after say half of the car is done or a third.
Until my Elite series pads come out which will include some foams which barely soften at all, my advice to get the best performance and lifespan out of your all rounder pads is to use one pad for an entire panel then replace it with another one or even do a section of a panel with one pad then grab another one and do the next one and keep doing that.
Either way yes you will use alot more pads and have a bunch to clean out afterwards but the efficiency, quality of results and lifespan of the pads will be far superior. Maximum cut, finish and lifespan – now that’s the win win we want right
#5 – The best polishes to use with this pad
After hundreds of hours of R & D testing, here are the products that have worked out fantastically well with my pad
3D ACA 510 & 520 – The flagship product that works great with that pad – a magic combo
3D One – Another great combo
Sonax Perfect Finish – Works really well and great for one step corrections or finishing
Koch Chemie H9 and F6 75/25% blend – H9 is highest.
Koch Chemie M3 – Finishing
Rupes DA Fine or DA Fine & Uno Pure 80/20% mixture
CSI Ceram X – A great one product correction liquid to use with the Green for a variety of needs
OBERK SOLE – From initial testing this has worked very well with the pad
Of all these products, I’ve had the most enjoyment using the 3D products and gotten sensational results. The 3D One and ACA 520 were used to totally revive the paint on my celica as well as to remove sanding marks on the left rear quarter panel after a big 1500-2000-3000-5000 and 8000 grit machine sand process. All l needed was 3D One, the rotary and my Green All Rounder pad and it knocked it all out no problem and then I used another green pad with ACA 520 to finish
Well that’s pretty much it for now guys, I hope this has been helpful and if you have not tried these pads yet, please do get your order done here on the website and give them a go.
Cheers
Matt
