Need long lasting 3 inch foam pads

[tuscarora dave]

Hi everyone and a Happy Holidays to all members and staff!!

It's been quite a while since I've posted to the forum.
I've been working diligently to grow my Handicap accessible vehicle repair and service business, balance in a personal life, be a great dog owner, son, brother etc. etc. Doesn't seem to leave much time for interacting on the forums..

Many years ago I ordered up some Griot's Garage 3 inch orange foam pads, and to my disbelief... I'm still using them but they are about to fly apart finally. It's simply incredible how much use I got out of these little pads. I realize however, that things do change. The industry has changed immensely since I was last a contributing member of this forum. I feel kind of like a newbie when it comes to products, pads, polishers etc.

Don't get me wrong though.... I still have mad skills and continue from time to time to produce some absolutely stunning paint corrections... But in all reality my detailing duties are still mainly reconditioning and maintaining commercial vehicles, which doesn't require the OCD Detailer's mind set at all.

Anyway.... on to my question...
Do any of you, or have any of you continued to use these 3" orange pads from Griot's Garage? Do they still hold up well? I'm thinking overall pad integrity with an emphasis on the bond between the velcro backing and the foam of the pad. I'm mainly asking about the 3" orange pads...

please offer up anything you may have to shed light on whether the quality remains or if they have fallen to the way of cheap mass produced failures. Thanks in advance for any info you can share on these "Little Giants" as I have called them over the years.

Additionally....

What seems to be the toughest 5.5" microfiber pads nowadays?

I had about a dozen or so of the Lake Country 5.5" UltraFiber pads, the thin ones for DA use. Once I got past the learning curve of MF pads and stopped overheating and self destructing these pads due to poor technique, I find these to be a real joy to work with and find the integrity of these pads to be top notch and am amazed at how long these pads have served me.. but just as with anything... they won't last forever.

It's time to re-buy or to try something new and stronger.

So the question here is... "What's your favorite 5.5" thin microfiber pads, and why do you consider them your favorites?

Again... Thanks in advance for any insight offered, and a huge HELLO to all of those who know me!! And of course friendly holiday wishes to all!!

[Setec Astronomy]

Hi Dave,

I have also used the GG 3" pads and found them to be durable. The 3" size seems to be underserved in foam pads. Are you using them on the little Griot's machine? Or something else? Because there are some 4" pads now that fit on a 3" backing plate, like these: Rupes 100mm (4 Inch) Foam Pads but you'll never spin them with the little Griot's.

As far as the MF pads, I've also had good luck with the LC pads, but also with the Meguiar's. I haven't bought any MF pads for a while so I can't speak to what the current Meg's pads are like (I know they've improved them since I bought mine).

Good to see you posting and sounds like things are going well for you.

[Mike Phillips]

3 inch and 4 inch buffing pad options at Autogeek


Griot's 3" foam pads
Griots Garage 3 Inch Orange Polishing Foam Pad 3 Pack

Griots Garage 3 Inch Black Finishing Pad, Set of 3

Griots Garage 3 Inch Mini Red Wax Pad 3 Pack



Flex 3" foam pads
The Flex 3" foam pads work great with rotary or DA style pads, it's the taper that makes small pads work.

FLEX PE8 Rotary Foam Pads – 1, 2, 3 Inch Diameter

The 3" Flex pad will fit on this DA backing plate

3" backing plate



Buff and Shine 4" pads
Buff and Shine offers a Mini Spot Buffing Kit. The kit includes a rotary buffer backing plate with an adapter to fit the rotary buffer backing plate to a DA polisher.

Buff and Shine Mini Spot Buffing Kit


The foam pads and wool pads in this kit will fit on this 3" DA backing plate

3" backing plate




These LC pads fit the above 3" backing plate too...

Lake Country Hydro-Tech 3 x 1.25 Inch Foam Pads


Lake Country 3 Inch Flat Pads 6 Pack - Your Choice





If you can go 4" the Meguiar's 4" foam pads or the Cyclo 4" foam pads or the Buff and Shine 4" pads are great for that size category.

Meguiar's

Meguiars DA Compound Power Pads

Meguiars DA Polishing Power Pads

Meguiars DA Waxing Power Pads


Cyclo

Cyclo 4" pads


Buff and Shine

Buff and Shine 4" pads



RUPES
And the RUPES 4" foam pads are tapered and killer! I use the white pads for machine waxing.


Rupes 100 mm (4 Inch) Foam Pads


Lots of options!

[RFrommann]

I use griots 3" pads and prefer them over Lake country 3" pads.

For mf pads I have 6.5" griots boss pads and some meguiars 6" pads. Which they are pretty damn choose to the same size, so I'd assume the meguiars 5" mf pads being very close to 5.5"

Both pads come in packs of 2

[BillyJack]

Do any of you, or have any of you continued to use these 3" orange pads from Griot's Garage? Do they still hold up well? I'm thinking overall pad integrity with an emphasis on the bond between the velcro backing and the foam of the pad. I'm mainly asking about the 3" orange pads...

I bought a pack of GG orange pads 2 years ago and had the same problem on every pad with very few uses. I'd never put 'em on a rotary, just my GG D/A. I'd heard somewhere that Griot's made some changes recently to better their reliability, but I'm happy with my current small oranges from Buff & Shine. I'm just a weekender, so no production work, but these seem to have much more tolerance for hard use.

Bill

[Mike Phillips]

Just to note....

When working with small pads it's the taper design that makes a tapered pad work better than a cylindrical pad.

Why?

The taper means less support behind the face of the pad so the face will remain flat and even mushroom out. With no taper but 100 percent support to the face of the pad the foam will tend to collapse or twist in reducing the size of the footprint.


Just what I've noticed from use...

[ronkh57]

Heard GREAT things about Buff and shine pads

Hi Dave

[haris300]

Nothing but good experiences with the Griot's Garage 3 inch pads. I've gotten some serious mileage out of those little guys. The Buff and Shine 3 inch grip pads are also fantastic in terms of performance and quality/durability. They work great as DA or rotary pads. Well priced too.

[FUNX650]

Hi Dave...

Happy Holidays to you as well.

Really great seeing you post again!
Sounds like your Life is going great!

As to 3" buffing pads, I use:
-Griot's Garage 3" foam
-3M's Perfect-It 3" foam
-Flex's 3" foam
-Rupes' 4" foam



Bob

[custmsprty]

Just to note....

When working with small pads it's the taper design that makes a tapered pad work better than a cylindrical pad.

Why?

The taper means less support behind the face of the pad so the face will remain flat and even mushroom out. With no taper but 100 percent support to the face of the pad the foam will tend to collapse or twist in reducing the size of the footprint.


Just what I've noticed from use...

I have B & S 4" LC 3" and Rupes small pads and the Rupes are most definitely my favorite. Easy to cut into tight areas with the tapered edge and they are nearly indestructible. The others I mentioned are quality pads too, but my preference leans towards the Rupes.