Polishing Pad full

[joeint]

My son just got a 2016 F150, being a good dad I offered to help him polish his new ride, with my new HF orbital polisher, we used a Meguiers AIO. So after washing and drying, I go at it with a 5" white 3M polishing pad. I started with a little quick detailer on the pad with about 4 pea size drops of polish working on about a 2'x2' area, each time a move to a new area I add 4 more pea sized drops. By the time I got around the truck the pad was really saturated, when I squeezed it the pad would just ooze out what I guess is polish. I cleaned it the best I could with Dawn dish soap and set it out to dry. Is that how a pad should be at the end of a polish job? I'm new at the whole detail thing but love a clean car. The truck came out good.
Thanks for any help and advice...

[Cruzscarwash]

one pad for a whole truck? if your talking megs 66 then you should have had a least 4 pads with lots of cleaning in-between panels. you will likely have to wash the pad multiple times as that stuff really gets into the pad.

[joeint]

Yep one pad for the whole truck. So the pad should have been cleaned multiple times say every other panel or so? Is a Dawn wash ok for cleaning on the fly?

[Cruzscarwash]

I clean after with a brush before my pad ever goes back on the paint, cleaning on the fly I do after each panel, but again and you will see this all over the forum one pad is way to little

[Cruzscarwash]

heres the link

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions/88109-how-many-pads-do-i-need-buff-out-my-car.html

[dlc95]

I've used those white 3M pads with M66 a lot this summer.

I've never felt the need to spray them with qd. I do start with 4 drops, reload with 3, and wipe with a terry cloth towel after every couple sections or so.

I want to say I'd go through three or four pads on pick up trucks, and the cabs of bucket (tree removal) trucks.

[custmsprty]

Yep one pad for the whole truck. So the pad should have been cleaned multiple times say every other panel or so? Is a Dawn wash ok for cleaning on the fly?

You should use atleast 4 pads for a truck. The pad is what's touching your paint, so it's one of the most importnat components to the polishing process, eqaully as important as the product selection. You can only clean it so much when doing the job. It also heats up and that creates a whole nother batch of issues, the least being possible dusting of the polish. Not too mention the junk that's coming off the paint and your basically just grinding all that stuff into your paint. So invest in some more pads. 4 white and 4 orange is a good starting place.

[osiapstndp]

It was great helping out your son with his new truck. :)

To get the maximum effect of any kind of pad it is important to 1) use multiple pads and 2) keep the pads as clean as possible.

1) When working on a larger vehicle I use approximately five or six pads (10 to 12 if you add the compounding and polishing steps). To make the decision to change out a pad I look at the surface - is it covered with product and built-up dirt? This normally is enough of a description to get across the point that the pad needs to be removed from the tool and set aside for proper cleaning with running water and a dedicated foam pad cleaner after the job. One cannot use to many pads. Don't go overboard, but using even two or three for a whole vehicle, depending on its condition of course, may not give you the highest standard of result.

2) After every section (approximately a 2'x2' area) I always turn away from the vehicle and clean the pad using a polishing pad brush or a short-nap microfiber towel. Auto Geek sells the pad cleaning brush and of course they sell cheap all-purpose microfiber towels.

Below are some product recommendations.

Polishing pad brush (the product page briefly describes how to use the brush)
http://www.autogeek.net/padtool.html

Bulk all-purpose towels
http://www.autogeek.net/microfiber-bulk-detailing-towels.html

Dedicated pad cleaner (128oz)
http://www.autogeek.net/xmt-pad-cleaner-128.html

Dedicated pad cleaner (16oz)
http://www.autogeek.net/xmt-pad-cleaner.html