How to prime a foam pad when using a DA Polisher

[JSMet]

As always; excellent, straightforward, and extremely useful advice from a master. This and the knowledge I get from forum members' posts is what keeps me coming back. Thanks.

[WEST SIDE]

As always; excellent, straightforward, and extremely useful advice from a master. This and the knowledge I get from forum members' posts is what keeps me coming back. Thanks.

I love these little tips because it's always so far between polishing on my own vehicles that this keeps me ready.

[Tesla]

I think we first saw this style of pad priming in relation to the KBM a couple years back.

I know PorscheGuy997 was the first one I read. http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...d-priming.html

Much of the same information here as in that thread from two years ago.

I'm tempted to say PG997 wrote about this extensively on MOL, although my memory fails me a bit. A good piece of info for everyone.

[VIP Reflections]

Thanks mike!
this is something i never did the right way. i would apply product to the pad, the glide the pad across the 2 x 2 work area without turning the power on, then apply drops where the pad has no product, spread product on speed 1 and check again to see if any more product is needed. i think with this method i can save TIME AND PRODUCT!
seriously mike, much thanks to you and AG Fam... because if i did not apply all of what i learned here 2 AG into my p/t detailing biz, i would not be half as successful and would make twice as many mistakes.

[Mike Phillips]

I think we first saw this style of pad priming in relation to the KBM a couple years back.

I know PorscheGuy997 was the first one I read. http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...d-priming.html

I think you're right. And I remember Chris's thread, I brought up MOL in 2004 and ran it till I came here in 2009 and Chris was and is a stellar member of the MOL forum. Chris was also a part of our Batmobile Extreme Makeover, so I'm very familiar with who Chris is as well as his positive contributions to the detailing world.

Chris working on Nate Truman's recreation of the 1966 Batmobile
Photo Courtesy of MeguiarsOnline



And I'm not sure how many year's I've known Kevin but for quite a while... I was a part of the Instructor Team for both NXT ti Classes in 2004 and again in 2005

Here is Mike Phillips and Kevin Brown at the hand sanding station. You better sand correctly or Kevin Brown will make you do it over and over again. Practice makes perfect and if you do it the way these guys show you , you got it made!

Photo Courtesy of MeguiarsOnline

And this is why I always tell everyone to be open to new ideas and I include myself in this practice also.

I was originally shown to use a X-pattern back in the late 1980's before the PC was ever introduced to the detailing world and we were using air powered DA Sanders with Meguiar's W5500 foam pads. Most people reading this won't even know what I'm talking about.

I document when the electric DA Polisher was introduced in this thread as most people don't know this information either...

Porter Cable 7424XP

Remember, the Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher was originally introduced as a wood sander. It was introduced to the detailing world as a paint polisher by Meguiar's in the early 1990's. The oldest Brilliant Solutions Catalog I have in my collection goes back to 1995 and it shows it in there. That was long before most of these popular discussion forums even existed, let along the online stores.

Here's some pictures of my oldest catalogs... am trying to find out if there's any older catalogs than this...

The one on the left is from 1995 and the one on the right is from 1996, the catalog from 1995 documents Meguiar's introducing the G100 at least 13 years ago and before this we were showing people in the Professional Trade how to use air powered DA Sanders to polish paint by using our W5500 Foam Polishing Pad, which if you look closely is the actual pad on the Porter Cable unit pictured below, not a W-8006 on a W64 DA Backing Plate.

Photos courtesy of MeguiarsOnline.com





The lettering is kind of fuzzy but you can make out that it says Porter Cable



With a thin piece of sanding paper attached to the backing plate the counterweight might make a difference.

With a comparatively thick foam buffing pad and especially after it becomes wet with product, it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Then when I taught classes for Meguiar's from 2002 to 2009 that was the way we did it during the classes and no one at Meguiar's ever suggested changing the method. As simple as the idea of spreading the product out over the face of your pad with your finger is... it's just something I never did or demonstrated.

It does make sense and I'm all for using the best techniques. It does take a little longer to do and when working on TV every second is measured, seriously.

That said, all anyone has to do is go into their garage and place a X-pattern or a Circle-Pattern of product on to their foam pad and then make a few section passes and on it's own the product will move out and cover both the paint and the entire face of the pad, so the pad gets good coverage with product either way but by stating out and spreading the product out PURPOSEFULLY you insure 100% of the face of the pad is working from you from the VERY start.

Most of the videos I've made in the last 6-7 months I show this, in fact on this Motorhead Garage feature I show it,

New How-To Segment on Motorhead Garage - February 13th and 14th


I'm pretty sure I show it on one or two of the My Classic Car Features,

Autogeek's How-To Features on My Classic Car with Dennis Gage


I show it 3, 4, 5, maybe 6 and even 7 times in the 9 brand new Two Guys Garage Features all coming onto the airways now...

Behind the scenes pictures for 2 new TV projects


We demonstrated this technique in all of our DetailFest Classes that involved machine polishing.

Live Broadcasts
Watch it now! - DetailFest Saturday and Sunday Classes - Live Broadcast!
6 Videos - Approximately 1 hour long each!



And most of the new videos on our Online Classes website also show this techniqeu....





So not only do I recommend to people to be open to new ideas but I practice it myself...


Another thing I type once in a while is that online detailers and enthusiast detailers almost always know more than those that don't hang out on detailing discussion forums because there's so much new information and new products being introduced all the time that the only way to keep up and get this type of information is through forums.


Even still... hundreds of thousands of cars have been successfully buffed out using an X-Pattern or a Circle-Pattern when applying product to a clean dry pad, or a pad that has been broken in. I know, because I've buffed out a few cars using that approach...

Here's three examples...

Sniper built by Troy Trepanier
Before this picture was taken the finish was filled with holograms or rotary buffer swirls and I removed them using only a DA Polisher and probably the Circle-Pattern of applying my product to the face of the pad.





Chip Foose's Challenging Challenger...
(Back when I wore a flattop)

Photos Courtesy of MeguiarsOnline




Then next weekend the owner took two first places after we removed the swirls, scratches an stains our of the paint.


Steve Metz's Panic Parrot - A 1950 Studebaker Starlight Coup







Everyone can find a way that works best for them, I'm convinced that spreading the product out over the entire face of the pad when starting with a clean, dry pad is the best way to prime the pad before starting to work the product and as such I now incorporate it anytime I'm working on a car or showing others how to work on cars.

[Rei86]

Thanks for another great article Mike

[RChicago]

So let me think and see if I am getting this right...
1) Prime Clean Dry Pad
2) Use pad on Da for a section of the vehicle
3) Work Clean, and clean your pad either with MF towell (Quick) or Pad Cleaner
4) Do I need to re prime pad if I used the pad cleaner????

This is where I am confused.... Whats the difference if I am just starting or I have done a section and cleaned with a pad cleaner???

Thanks
Signed....Confused....

Tom

[Mike Phillips]

So let me think and see if I am getting this right...
1) Prime Clean Dry Pad
2) Use pad on Da for a section of the vehicle
3) Work Clean, and clean your pad either with MF towel (Quick) or Pad Cleaner

Clean pad with nylon brush, on the fly technique which is terry cloth, or using a pad washer and then blotting any excess water/cleaning solution out of foam. Point being to remove both,

• Spent product
• Removed paint

Before adding fresh product.

4) Do I need to re prime pad if I used the pad cleaner????

If you use the pad washer you could re-prime the pad with the product you're using because the pad washer will effectively have removed all the good product from the pad.

Some people will just add more "working product" to the face of the pad and get back to work, some will opt to "prime" the pad and then add "working product" to the face of the pad.

Priming first will likely ensure maximum performance from the tool, pad and product, not priming and just using working product to a pad already moist will still get the job done.

Millions of cars have been buffed out using both styles...

Don't make buffing out your car rocket science, I only say this in the kindest way because there's so much information and so many opinions and yet it's really pretty simple...

KISS - Keep it Simple Simon

[UCD]

Great article Mike!

[Buggy Bath]

So just spraying a quick detailer or lubricator is not good enough?

Also, what is a section pass?