Oldie, but goodie pads....

[WRAPT C5Z06]

LC Hydrotech pads! Hadn't used my 5.5" cyan and tangerine pads for a while(until recently). Man, these are some great pads!! The perfect option for 1-steps from light to heavy polishing. The biggest benefit of these pads, to me, is the finishing ability!! Especially, the tangerine. This pad will finish EXCELLENT, including soft black paint. On medium to hard paint, the cyan pad will finish good, even with a compound. I'm not sure if these pads have been discontinued?

[BudgetPlan1]

Soft black paint, Crimson Hydrotech + Scholl S40 = very nice results.

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[Paul A.]

Thanks for the reminder, Wrapt. I have some that are collecting dust somewhere.

Because of the colors of the foam, I wrote short descriptors on the back of each one to help remind me of the cut characteristics. I tried them a few times and went back to my years old wool, orange, white, black mentality for all my LC pads.

I need to break these out again and give them another go...especially for the ubiquitous 1 steps i've been doing lately.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Soft black paint, Crimson Hydrotech + Scholl S40 = very nice results.

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I'm very surprised how well the tangerine finishes, let alone the crimson!

[BudgetPlan1]

I'm very surprised how well the tangerine finishes, let alone the crimson!And now that you've brought it up, methinks I need to order a set of 6.5" Crimson. Despite their reputation for occasional durability issues ('Hydro-shred') they just work so well with DAT liquids, liquids doesn't soak into pads as much.

They are fine items that I dont think of that often unless going for that little something extra.

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[SWETM]

Could it be that they where made for the use with water based polishes. That they shred when useing the oil based polishes. Would be interesting to test these Hydro-Tech pads with Sonax Cutmax and Sonax Cut and Finish and EX 04-06. Don't know if Perfect Finish is water based too. Would like to test any closed cell pads. And special the crimson HT pad and apply sealants and waxes and PA Viking Coat or Cosmic v2 with it. The close celled pads are soaking in less product. And with Sonax polishes you are already useing very little product. In that it seems to be a great choice to use Hydro-Tech pads with Sonax polishes.

[BudgetPlan1]

I think the shredding tag got applied with the blues when they first came out and mighta been rectified.

[dlc95]

I think the shredding tag got applied with the blues when they first came out and mighta been rectified.

Right.

The original blue pads had a more rigid, And larger cell structure, making it both very coarse, and sort of brittle.

The current version still cut great, but are a little more pliable.

[dlc95]

Heck yeah, Mark!

I still love these things too.

My findings are similar with the tangerine. In fact, my current avatar was polished using Menzerna PF2500 and the Tangerine Hydro.

They're still being made, and Buff and Shine has their Uro-Cell, closed cell pads available too.

Great pads for sure!

[SWETM]

They have made them thinner too not so long ago I think.

[RaydiantDetail]

Yes! I still get use out of my blue and tangerine hydrotechs on AIO jobs!

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[WRAPT C5Z06]

Heck yeah, Mark!

I still love these things too.

My findings are similar with the tangerine. In fact, my current avatar was polished using Menzerna PF2500 and the Tangerine Hydro.

They're still being made, and Buff and Shine has their Uro-Cell, closed cell pads available too.

Great pads for sure!
I've always noticed your avatar pic looked great, Dan! I have a few of each pad from the Uro-Cell and do not like them nearly as much as the Hydrotech line. I did a bunch of testing(on my black test hood) with the Hydro's versus other pads in their respective categories, and I'm *extremely* impressed with the Hydrotech lines finishing ability! For me, I tend to get caught up in the newer products always coming out, but some of the "old guys" are just as good, or better!

[dlc95]

I've always noticed your avatar pic looked great, Dan! I have a few of each pad from the Uro-Cell and do not like them nearly as much as the Hydrotech line. I did a bunch of testing(on my black test hood) with the Hydro's versus other pads in their respective categories, and I'm *extremely* impressed with the Hydrotech lines finishing ability! For me, I tend to get caught up in the newer products always coming out, but some of the "old guys" are just as good, or better!

I also prefer the LC Hydros too. I also believe they finish better, and the design is better. I'm not a fan of beveled pads on 8mm tools.

I hear ya on the products too. I'm way behind though, coming into DA polishing in 2013. But some of it is marketing, promotion, mak8ng money.

I recognized this in the drum industry. If a company didn't release anything new through the year, they were looked down upon, so these companies would release a new trinket, only to discontinue it a year later, because it didn't sell, or was redundant within the line.

As far as the Hydrotech pads, I believe their cut to finish ratio, and unique cell orientation make them a viable tool still today. They are trying to replicate the effect of the closed cell, stiff pads buy making very small cell, stiff pads, like the HDO/SDO blues, but personally I prefer the Hydrotech.

Many times that Tangering and 2500 was the hero of the day!

[Dr Oldz]

I have been using these since they came out. Love all of them. Closed cell foams got a bad rap a while back cuz of heat issues. I honestly never had a heat issue because I change my pads very often. These pads also work really well on rotary polishers. Good post, Mark!!