Which Pads?

[benjamin3]

I am purchasing a PC and know I will need to get some orange and white pads. The question I have is what is the difference between gray and black pads and when would you use one over the other (or should I just get one of these colors?).

Also, for wax or sealant application, should I get some blue or red pads (would red be better because they have less cutting ability)?

(I am planning on getting WG twins to start with, and Megs 105/205/Menzerna 85RD if the WG TSR cannot remove the swirls).

Thanks for any advice you can give me so I can decide what to order.

[rwright]

What are you working on? What are you trying to achieve? These are very important questions to provide the best possible answer.

In a nutshell, the gray and black pads are the same. Some advertise as gray and some advertise them as black. You will want 5.5" pads since you are using the PC XP.

[CEE DOG]

Assuming you are speaking of the LC brand pads the black and grey are the same pad. They are just described differently in different places. Same pad, same color.

:Picture::Picture:

Good luck :)

[benjamin3]

I'm just working on family cars. We have a black Lincoln MKX which has quite a few swirls and water spots, and a metallic silver BMW 330Ci, which is in good shape. I mainly want to get the swirls and water spots out of the MKX, but may use the PC to also apply sealants and/or wax to both cars.

[rwright]

Depending on how bad the paint is, you may be able to get away with M205 w/ a white polishing pad. This is where the famous quotes "Do a test spot first" and "Start with the least aggressive method" come into play. I highly advise buying lots of pads if you can. This will allow you to try several methods until you find the sweet spot. What am I talking about? Simply start with M205 w/white pad, if that doesn't work move on to M205 w/orange pad. Still not cutting it, try M105 w/white pad then M105 w/orange pad. Time consuming? Yes, but very safe.

Also, you should really look into the Hydro-tech pads. Life of the pad is not as good as the regular flat pads or ccs pads, but they cut and finish so well! This is all just my opinion and I'm sure you will receive many more responses! As Cee Dog stated, good luck!

[maximus20895]

And to answer your other question, a blue pad is perfectly fine to use with a wax or sealant. I prefere the 5.5'' LC glad pads :)

[benjamin3]

Thanks everyone for the help!