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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
So what I'm hearing is the green CSS polishing pad is recommended for the AIO?\
Asking as someone who will do a one step on the wife's car, not as a pro getting paid for his services.
2009 Pontiac G8GT
2015 Ford Explorer Limited
2019 Chevy Silverado RST Z71
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
Originally Posted by
Belo
So what I'm hearing is the green CSS polishing pad is recommended for the AIO?\
Asking as someone who will do a one step on the wife's car, not as a pro getting paid for his services.
I'd say that would be a good choice or a "good rule of thumb".
AT least it's a fairly safe pad to do you Test Spot with and then inspect the results to see how the paint is re-acting and from there you can move forward.
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
Originally Posted by
Cruzscarwash
i 100% agree Mike, when i first started out a was a dollar chaser and id go after every penny i could, and i destroyed my body and my wallet barely grew from the after math.
no i fully understand and have no issues with the power of saying NO or turning away a job, even high paying jobs if i dont get a good feeling about the customer after talking with them about a potental job.
i think thats definaelty a lesson those looking to make this a businesses need to learn and accept in teh early stages for sure.
Well said.
Thank you for sharing your real-world experience.
Just shared the link to this thread on the AG D101 FB Group. Not sure if those guys know the term,
Pad Haze
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
Good read all the way throughout!
When I do an AIO job it is usually the 3401, Speed(now using BF One Step as my new Favorite) and the white LC Force Hybrid pads. (Love these pads but the white ones certainly hold water when cleaning differently than any other pad I have used. Kinda neat) It’s a pretty fool proof system for just about all paint types IME. I have learned thru the years that changing pads often will lead to much longer pad life in the long run. I have no problem using 10+ pads a vehicle. My cut rate never slows as the pad becomes wet and soggy with product if changed often.
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
Originally Posted by
Dr Oldz
Good read all the way throughout!
Thanks Jim. I agree. Good questions and comments about the topic.
Originally Posted by
Dr Oldz
When I do an AIO job it is usually the 3401, Speed (now using BF One Step as my new Favorite) and the white LC Force Hybrid pads.
That's my normal recipe for powering through a detail, and specifically for a lot of the car guys around here.
[QUOTE=Dr Oldz;1592648]
(Love these pads but the white ones certainly hold water when cleaning differently than any other pad I have used. Kinda neat)
Yes, the white Force Hybrid hold water, I think that's the "hybrid" part of this specific pad. The foam structure is part open cell and part closed cell. Closed cell pads hold liquids inside of them.
See my article here,
Open Cell Foam or Closed Cell Foam? - A simple test you can do to determine by blowing air into the pad
Originally Posted by
Dr Oldz
It’s a pretty fool proof system for just about all paint types IME.
I agree. When I detail for money I tend to use the BEAST as I find the 8mm gear-driven rotation and oscillation enables me to correct, polish and seal paint as fast as humanly possible without making mistakes and while maintaining top quality.
Sometimes I show other tools in a write-up and when I do this it's catering to other people's budgets or preferences, Here's and example where I showed how to do one-step high quality production detailing to an old 2-door Chevy using the Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher. I could have done it a LOT faster with the FLEX 3401 but I wanted to show a tool that the average person could afford that wasn't junk but also didn't cost $400.00+ dollars just for the tool. A person reading the below thread if they are NEW to machine polishing besides having to purchase the tool will also have to purchase pads, products and towels and the more pads the better for them and their time-efficiely as well as overall results.
Review: BLACKFIRE One-Step Cleaner/Wax by Mike Phillips
Note the tool and also note I show how many pads I used....
I count 8 pads. Down a ways in the thread I also show how many towels I used. When I take pictures like this it's to telegraph a message to people that it takes more than one pad to buff out a car and it takes more than one or two towels to wipe off product.
Originally Posted by
Dr Oldz
I have learned thru the years that changing pads often will lead to much longer pad life in the long run. I have no problem using 10+ pads a vehicle. My cut rate never slows as the pad becomes wet and soggy with product if changed often.
Yeperdoo...
More pads are better!
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
Originally Posted by
Mike Phillips
I too use LC orange foam cutting pads with one-step cleaner/waxes and sometimes you can get away with it but you won't know unless you inspect and if you really want to see what's going on at the surface level then chemically strip the paint and inspect with a SCANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light or some other strong swirl finder light.
Also - When a foam "cutting" pad is clean and DRY it is its sharpest and this is when it is more likely to cut the paint and haze it. As you work around the car with the same pad the pad will become soggy or wet or saturated with product and the foam will become softer and broke-in. At this point you're probably using a pad closer to a "polishing" pad and no longer a "cutting" pad.
This is also where some seasoned detailers and also newbies get lucky because they don't have a lot of pads so they can switch out to a fresh DRY foam cutting pad for each panel. The lack of pads keeps them safe and they may read what I've written and think I don't know what I'm talking about. But I have the pad resources to switch over to a DRY foam "cutting" pad for each panel and I'm telling everyone, there is such a thing as pad haze and it can and will bit you in the behind some day.
Mike
Using a LC Orange per your comments above and need to keep changing them or else use LC White?
Which ‘orange’ pad version do you use most, I have the Force line but open to suggestions.
Thanks for your insight and coaching me through the learning curve.
Kirby
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
This is an excellent read, but my apologies, I missed the part where the pad recommendation was given. There are a few in here that got tossed into the mix. Is it the LC green or white pad that should be utilized for an AIO? I'm interested in utilizing McKee's 360 as my AIO and am interested in knowing what pad would be best paired with my GG6?
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
Originally Posted by
PSYS
This is an excellent read, but my apologies, I missed the part where the pad recommendation was given. There are a few in here that got tossed into the mix.
Is it the LC green or white pad that should be utilized for an AIO? I'm interested in utilizing McKee's 360 as my AIO and am interested in knowing what pad would be best paired with my GG6?
Good question and the BIG PICTURE answer is simply stick with a foam polishing pad. If the company that makes the pad calls it a foam polishing pad then trust their judgment. If the pad is described as a foam cutting pad it can leave pad haze. If the pad is described as a foam finishing pad it may not do much for correcting any paint defects.
MOST important - do a TEST SPOT.
At the recent roadshow class I demonstrated pad haze n a black Yukon Denali using a foam cutting pad and BLACKFIRE One Step. The pad left the black paint hazy looking. I took a foam "polishing pad", the same product and buffed just a small strip inside the hazy area and a flawless finish was restored. This demonstrated to the class that just the CUT of a pad can cause haze.
Both the LC Green and White are polishing pads, my normal choice is the white foam polishing pads.
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Re: Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
@ Mike
I use a LOT of the LC White Forced Hybrid for the One Step AIO's
Does the White Forced Hybrid = HDO black pad?
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Good rule of thumb when using an AIO - stick with foam polishing pads by Mike Phillips
100% agree on pad selection.
The other huge time waste I see way too often is guys topping the AIO. Almost always the protection is less than applying that same product on top of clean paint. Just use a good one step polish and then wax, seal or coat instead. Putting a durable product on top of a poor AIO will just make it not last as long.
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