Best way to clean finishing pads

[Snyderdetailing1]

Hello everyone! I recently did a full inside & out detail on a Honda civic and used my new Da polisher to wax the vehicle and it came out nice! But what is the proper way to clean the pads? Should I use all purpose cleaner?

[Hermes1]

I would use a dedicated pad cleaner. I prefer the powdered form mixed with water and let them soak followed by using a pad cleaning brush to work out the excess polish and or wax/sealants. I find it helps to have a bucket with the solution on had at the start of the job to let each pad soak while continuing with the work.

[Snyderdetailing1]

I would use a dedicated pad cleaner. I prefer the powdered form mixed with water and let them soak followed by using a pad cleaning brush to work out the excess polish and or wax/sealants. I find it helps to have a bucket with the solution on had at the start of the job to let each pad soak while continuing with the work.


Thank you for the info, im failry new to using Da Polishers and pads. How often can you use the same pad until its trash? I wont be cross using one pad for different applications.

[Mike Phillips]

Hello everyone! I recently did a full inside & out detail on a Honda civic and used my new Da polisher to wax the vehicle and it came out nice!

But what is the proper way to clean the pads? Should I use all purpose cleaner?




So the key word here is the word

Wax


Car waxes and sealants are NOT water soluble. And even with a good soap, it's still more difficult to clean wax out of a buffing pad than it is to clean a compound or polish out of a buffing pad because most dedicaed compounds and polishes ARE water soluble.


Read through this thread from 2014,

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wool-and-foam-buffing-pads/84363-cleaning-sealant-foam-pad.html#post1153446



And like I say in post #10,

Just to comment because this question come up a lot....



:)

[Mike Phillips]

Here's two products that work well to clean pads, including clean out waxes and sealants.


Mix some of this up in a couple of gallons of water and then dunk the pad and start squishing it.

BLACKFIRE Advanced Pad Cleaner & Restorer (https://www.autogeek.net/blackfire-pad-cleaner.html)


At some point, you'll need to rinse it either in a bucket of rinse water or in a sink.



This is made by Grit Guard for their pad washer and it too works really well.

Grit Guard Pad Renewing Solution (https://www.autogeek.net/pad-renewing-solution.html)


Same kind of think, spray onto pad, use your hands to squish the pad and at some point rinse.


:)

[Hermes1]

Here's two products that work well to clean pads, including clean out waxes and sealants.


Mix some of this up in a couple of gallons of water and then dunk the pad and start squishing it.

BLACKFIRE Advanced Pad Cleaner & Restorer (https://www.autogeek.net/blackfire-pad-cleaner.html)

At some point, you'll need to rinse it either in a bucket of rinse water or in a sink.

Same kind of think, spray onto pad, use your hands to squish the pad and at some point rinse.

:)

This is what I have had the most success with and settled on.

[Dr Oldz]

I will often put it away as is in a ziplock bag. I press down on the pad and seal. This will almost give a vacuum packed effect. I write on the bag what product I used and save it for next time I use it.
When you go to reuse, the pad is already primed with product for you and you use less. I will always spin the pad on the buffer and go over the face with a nylon brush just Incase any particulates found its way onto the pad at the beginning of each use.