One of the biggest problems that has existed for decades with polishing pads is premature velcro delamination where the velcro loop material peels off the back of the pad well before the working surface of the pad has worn out.
There are a few causes of this problem and in this blog, I will share exactly what they are and how we’ve solved each one with the pad king brand polishing pads such as the spitfire green all rounder and midas touch gold pad and soon the frostbite and lone star pad range which will be the first two foams made here in SA from foam blocks and sheets
#1 – Solvent soak through destroying the adhesives bond
The first one is when petroleum hydrocarbon solvents used in many polish and compound formulas soak through the open cell polyurethane foam pad from using too much product or the correct amount is used but the operator keeps using that pad for far too long on the one vehicle and allows the solvents to go further down the pad.
Once those solvents get to the bottom of the foam layer, they start to attack the velcro’s adhesive layer and weaken the glue’s bond with the foam and it will hit that failure point sooner or later. Usually, one corner or side fails first but sometimes the entire velcro will peel off the pad whilst the polisher is running and the pad can fly off too and this leaves the backing plate exposed to do damage to the paint if it makes contact.
Closed cell foams will not suffer this problem as much if at all as they keep compounds and polishes on the surface of the foam but their main weakness is that they lack the ability to dissipate heat so tend to soften faster which leads to shorter pad life. Only higher density foams would fix the softening issue.
#2 – Heat from downward pressure & low resistance adhesives
Excessive heat from using too much downward pressure when polishing is another big cause of velcro delamination.
That much pressure, especially on DA machines, increases heat and shear forces at the Velcro interface. This accelerates adhesive fatigue and can cause the velcro to tear or shear off with pads which feature conventional adhesives like hot melt ones which has it’s bond weakened with every heat cycle if not high enough temperature resistant which most are not.
There is a dramatic increase in pad and paint surface temperatures when you increase downward pressure. From using none to light or moderate pressure you should be fine and in the 25 to 40 degrees range but push down more and you can spike it into the fifties and even sixty degrees range or above and sixty degrees is where the experts say that paint swelling issues begin but also the extra strain on the pad’s cause velcro to fail.
The main problem with polishing pad design is that companies who make the pads have been using hot melt adhesives for decades and most of them are not high enough temperature resistant with 70 celcius the common rating. As a pad fanatic and now a pad manufacturer and seller, that type of adhesive and heat rating is simply nowhere near good enough for my pads and especially in 2026. Some brands may not care but I most certainly do. Velcro failure is one of the things that used to annoy me so much back when I detailed cars. The Pad King brand was created to solve issues not just make another range of pads to sell.
From my extensive testing in the past two years since establishing the pad king brand, I have discovered that whatever the temperature resistant rating a pad’s velcro adhesive is, if you give that pad enough heat cycles at half of that rating (35-40 celcius), with every heat cycle the pad gets, the adhesive’s bond with the foam is weakened slightly and given enough heat cycles – sometimes not that many and the adhesive fails and off comes the velcro. In recent weeks I’ve visited a detailing shop that’s very high quality and the pads from china they have been using which were decent had the velcro layer delaminate from the wool or the foam after just one use or a few. That is unacceptable.
Such is the issue with hot melt adhesives, they are heated to the point that they become a liquid then sprayed onto the surfaces being adhered together but once cured, heat from polishing especially with more downward pressure weakens that bond. Rather than becoming stronger from heat it just gets weaker and weaker until the failure point is reached.
Hot meit is old technology and I refuse to use it when I start manufacturing pads from sheets this year. That is why I have teamed up with Australia’s leading innovator of adhesives to make sure that every pad I bring to the market has velcro that refuses to move. The Gold pads have had not one reported failure yet in a whole year from customers.
#3 – Velcro mismatches and bad backing plates
There is more than one style of velcro on the market – J Hook and Micro hook are the most common ones but mushroom hook and extra grip do exist as well but are more often used in industrial markets. Too much heat is generated between the hook on the polisher’s backing plate and the pad’s loop when there is a mismatch of hook and loop styles
Usually this mismatch of a J hook plate with micro hook pad aka long length hook with short length loop or vice versa, can cause slippage which then leads to friction and thereby a spike in heat. This can burn the loops right off of the pad’s backing and lead to the pad refusing to stay on the plate anymore but can also lead to premature velcro failure too.
The other issue is that not all backing plates are created equal. Some on certain brand dual action polishers are very aggressive and create too much heat and suddenly the pad’s loops are burnt down to where there are not enough left to keep the pad attached to the plate. Some chinese made polishers plate’s create way too much heat and are the biggest cause of pad velcro failures. Even 3M sanding interface discs have hook velcro that is far too aggressive for purpose and will scratch paint if the sanding discs holes are not aligned perfectly.
Do this to ensure no mismatches
Rotary polisher backing plates are usually J Hook – a longer length hook shaped like the letter J hence the name however some of the 25 and 30 mm thick urethane based plates may actually be micro hook and in general you will usually have no problem with most pads but if you do notice pad slippage, change the plate from the thin micro hook to J Hook or vice versa if you have them.
Do not skimp on quality when purchasing backing plates. Get the best quality plates and a variety of them – non flexible, somewhat flexible and those that can bend alot. Rotary plates on the market are metal threaded in most cases to screw onto the polisher’s spindle but some do exist with plastic threads. These should be avoided at all costs as they can suddenly have the threads stripped off if cross threaded and from wear and fly off the machine at speed all of a sudden.
Dual action plates in almost all cases are micro hook but I found that the liquid elements brand DA polishers feature J Hook plates. Most pads work with them very well but check all pads and ensure they have adequate grip
If you happen to own a Rupes HLR 15 or 21 try to replace the original plate as it lacks the grip of the previous generation MK 3 Rupes machines and the loop velcro does not go all the way to the edge of the plate so some pad edge flap can occur but is no major issue normally.
#4 – Using one pad for too long
For optimal lifespan and reducing the chance of velcro failure, change your polishing pads often when working on a vehicle. The ideal number of pads to use for each stage of paint correction is at least four to six pads but ideally eight to twelve. This gives superior cutting and finishing performance as each pad is only being used on one or two panels maximum. Giving one pad the job of polishing a whole side of a car or the entire car is going to see a drop off in performance but also put tremendous load on the pad and get the velcro adhesive if a traditional hot melt type closer to failure point.
Whilst yours truly recommending to use more pads as I sell pads may seem like a sales pitch, it is my three decades of experience polishing vehicles that has taught me that the more I used per job, the better the outcome, the easier it is, I save time as I never have to go back and re polish areas as I did not work a pad for long enough to lose performance in terms of cutting or finishing so the drop off is super minimal. The time to clean more pads at the end of the day is a very low price to pay for an increase in efficiency, better performance, elimination of reworks which kills time and the pads last longer. So I’m doing you a favour and myself the opposite by recommending you to use more.
Using too few pads and not rotating sets of pads, not having sets of pads (a set can be as few as four to six) or pushing one pad too far and giving it alot of heat cycles dramatically increases the chance of delamination but also poor performance. Heat buildup is cumulative and once the adhesive reaches its thermal limit, failure is inevitable.
#5 – Failed bond between the loop fabric and the adhesive
We have discovered that sometimes a particular batch of loop fabric and the adhesive used to bond it to the foam does not successfully bond together 100%. After speaking with the team at Velcro Australia, this can be a fault during manufacturing. Even if it looks fine, just a little bit of water from using a pad washer or hand washing a pad with faulty velcro material or low quality adhesives and the weak bond is broken and the velcro peels straight off. I had this problem with a certain brand of microfiber pads.
Micro hook plate on the right, J Hook on left and middle
How we solved these issues
The heat /pressure issue
Our Spitfire green all rounder and Midas touch gold pads both feature a 120 degrees celcius temperature resistant adhesive on velcro brand loop material. All the new pads we release this year and beyond which are made right here in South Australia from foam sheets will feature new Australian made 120, 150 and 200 degrees temperature resistant adhesives between all the layers. These adhesives are not hot melt and are made from different materials and designed to handle alot of things to ensure that our super and elite series pads do not suffer from velcro failure but also pad layer delamination between each one.
Most pads on the market are only made with seventy to eighty degrees hot melt adhesive velcro loop and this simply is not high enough to ensure the velcro adhesive does not fail ever
The heat generated between the backing plate and the pad with certain plates would be unlikely to reach the temperatures that the materials used to make super and elite series pads and the adhesives can withstand which is well over one hundred degrees before the interface softens at all and any adhesive starts to weaken.
Solvent soak through issue
To solve this problem we have evolved the sandwich pad to a new level using three different interface materials which are non porous, made from highly temperature resistant ingredients but also using multiple grades of each material and finding the ideal material and grade for each foam pad type. By doing this, the foam has the support it needs whilst the velcro and adhesive can never be hurt by polish or compound solvents ever again as they simply cannot reach it.
Our super and elite series pads all will feature an interface layer that is nonporous, supports the foam layer above it but will not break down. The added benefit is better power transfer from polisher to paint as well as the pad’s ability to remain almost dead level even after a machine wash and high speed spin dry if people chose to clean their pads that way.
Velcro mismatch and bad plates issue
By not using hot melt adhesive with the pads we manufacture and sourcing Australian made super high temperature rated adhesives plus far higher density foams, we expect that even a mismatch between hook and loop would see our pads survive the temperatures created as they are so highly rated but constant evolution of pad design by us each year will see the pad king range only get even better in time
Tips to reduce the chance of velcro failure with conventional pads
- Remove the pad from the backing plate using a flat tool or very carefully and slowly if you’ve used it for a long time
- Store your washed and damp/wet pads velcro end up and try to get as much water out of the pads as possible first but do not wring them.
- Change pad every one or two panels and use more pads to gain efficiency.
- Buy quality backing plates with better quality hook material – not all hook material is the same. Velcro 3610 is better
- Don’t soak pads in a bucket or tub of water for hours or longer – it softens foam and can effect adhesives
In conclusion, we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of pad design and solving every issue that exists with pads
Happy and successful detailing
Matt the pad king
