Life span of a Lake Country pad

[anson89]

Looks like my Orange, green, white and foam flat LC pads are dying on me. Somehow, it looks so abused, I'm afraid to use it on paint. My steps in washing the pad might be wrong - set PC to speed 6 and spin it with a toothbrush on top to remove all leftover polishes, spray some Simple Green, let it soak in water & vinegar for 2 days.

I've heard great results on the hydro tech or kompressor pads. What are your thoughts and recommendations?

[Lasthope05]

They should last for a pretty long time if you are careful with them when buffing. Stay away from edges. Your washing method might be your problem. I have heard soaking for long periods on time with a strong detergent deteriorates the foam and the velcro adhesive.

I have personally dont soak my pads long at all. I knock off bulk residue with a brush spray each pad with apc and throw them in the washer on the longest presoak wash cycle with a little woolite.

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

Sounds to me you are using a a pretty harsh method of cleaning your pads. I would suggest rinsing the pad and working your fingers into the pad first to remove alot of the polish. Then you can either use a little bit of dawn dish liquid or the DP pad cleaning stuff. There really isn't a need to use a brush and especially spinning it on the pc and brushing it when the rinse will take most of it out of the pad. When I let the pads soak I use warm to slightly hot water and they don't soak for no more than an hour. I then rinse them once again working my fingers into them to remove what is left of the soap and polish. Ring them out then lay them on a sweater drawing stand face down. This lets the water drip away from the backing and air also circulates through them. My lc pads are several years old if not older and are fine. Hope this helps.

[Matt]

Something about the use of vinegar stands out to me.

That might be what's breaking down the pads as I know it's not really a good idea to wash microfibers in vinegar as it causes the fibers to break down over time.

[OGauge4Me]

Do yourself a favor and buy the pad cleaning system. I am a hobbyist and the cost seemed high at first but the ease at cleaning a pad is just so nice, quick and easy.

Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer,Dual action orbital pad washer, foam and wool pad washer, rotary pad washer, Cyclo pad washer, Porter Cable pad (http://www.autogeek.net/grit-guard-universal-pad-washer.html)

At 15% off the cost is still $100 but better than $135

[ICEMAN]

i only use the XMT pad cleaner and a softer toothbrush and water and my pads come out perfect everytime.

[VR8]

My lc pads are several years old if not older and are fine. Hope this helps.


Holy Cow! You're kidding? I've got to be doing something wrong too. Several years!? Of course if you have 100 pads in your arsenal and you only use a pad once a month I could see it...maybe.

I do however believe how much pressure I use while I'm buffing is at fault for some of the early deaths of my pads. I've finally learned, I think, to let the pad do the work and not my full on pressure against the buffer, driving the pad to compress half of its original size. If I'm not getting easy corrections now I move to a more aggressive pad instead of pressing harder.

Asphalt Rocket you must have gentle hands and never hit a sharp edge. Congrats to ya. Teach me!

[the_invisible]

I have gone through a couple of orange pads. I use them mainly at speed 6 with the DA or 1700rpm with the rotary, along with products such as M105, UC, Menzerna SIP, and some other compounds.

When they wear out, the foam start to "fray" somewhat and not retaining products as well as when they were new. I have no problem whatsoever with the velcro. Just the foam showing noticeable wear, and I think that's quite normal considering the compound I use with the orange pads are extremely aggressive.