What pads to buy?

[jhnybgood47]

I have a porter cable with a 5.5 in backing plate. I purchased the lake county orange for removing swirls and the white for polishing. Are there better pads out there?

[rider9195]

Are they the flat, CCS, or Hybrid pads? I prefer using the flat pads as they work very well. The Hydro-Tech pads are suppose to cut more, but do not last as long. Are you having any problems with the current pads?

[cardaddy]

I have a porter cable with a 5.5 in backing plate. I purchased the lake county orange for removing swirls and the white for polishing. Are there better pads out there?

Better than Lake Country?

You're gonna' need more than orange and white though. Flats are nice and provide a good overall 'feel', but the CCS will work as well, just they work a bit different. I like both, but you can get a lot more 'flat's' for your $$ and more is ALWAYS better. :)

No, seriously.... It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish. What products you are working with etc. It may be that the white pad is needed for swirls with a given polish on a given paint whereas on another car you need the orange with the same polish.

One thing I don't like to do is mix different value's of "cut" in a single pad. If I'm using Megs 105 then I'll not put WG Paint Sealant 3.0 in the same pad for instance. Might use the same pad for similar 'cut' with different products after thorough washings but that's about it.

I'd say unless you have really deep swirls you may not ever need but a couple of yellow perhaps, but I'd get orange, white, blue, black and at least a couple of reds. Some stuff works REALLY good with reds as a polish, although the pad doesn't have any cut at all. Once you know what works with the vehicles you are doing then just grab say a 6 pack of each.

I know my next 'product' order is gonna have to be more WG stuff and a trial of Menz for sure.

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/s525/URCarDaddy/Photobucket%20Desktop%20-%20BLUE-PC/Pad_Unpacking_3.jpg

[Marc08EX]

That's a lot of pads!!! Are you a pro?

[jhnybgood47]

Ok. I bought these orange and white ones: CCS foam buffing pads,foam polishing pads,lake country foam pads,foam polisher pads,buffer pads,lake county pads,porter cable pads,pads for air sander (http://www.autogeek.net/ccs-5-5inch-foam-buffing-pads.html)

I was applying M105 when the pad exploded. Since I bought 2 I finished the car with the second pad. Some of the swirls are still there and I really didn't like the feel of these pads. That's why I was wondering if these were the best pads for compound and polishing.

[rider9195]

It looks like the pad was over saturated and the speed and pressure may have been too much. Any pad would have done this.

[UCD]

MF and LC Hybrid.

[primo spaghetti]

Ok. I bought these orange and white ones: CCS foam buffing pads,foam polishing pads,lake country foam pads,foam polisher pads,buffer pads,lake county pads,porter cable pads,pads for air sander (http://www.autogeek.net/ccs-5-5inch-foam-buffing-pads.html)

I was applying M105 when the pad exploded. Since I bought 2 I finished the car with the second pad. Some of the swirls are still there and I really didn't like the feel of these pads. That's why I was wondering if these were the best pads for compound and polishing.

WOW...no offense, but definitely looks to be user error. too fast, too much pressure, too much heat and too much product IMO from that pic.

[KJ91]

Check out the Uber microfiber pads. They have great cut and when used with FG400 they provide good gloss also.

[jhnybgood47]

I only put a small X on the pad. Is there a way to avoid putting less product on or a way of removing excess?

[Paul_no_Longer_uses_this_account]

Did you prime you pad before starting? I try to clean my pad on the fly every 2 section passes.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/20135-how-clean-your-foam-pad-fly-when-using-porter-cable-style-da-polisher.html

[jhnybgood47]

Yes I primed it. I was cleaning them a lot less often then that. I guess I'll start doing it more often.

[Paul_no_Longer_uses_this_account]

Yes I primed it. I was cleaning them a lot less often then that. I guess I'll start doing it more often.

Don't feel too bad, look at what just happened to me with a LC Hydro-Tech Cyan pad.
14786

[cardaddy]

That's a lot of pads!!! Are you a pro?

:laughing: Nahhhh.... I just have a lot of cars. It's one of many hobbies I have, from Home Theater to home remodeling, to RC trucks and guns. ;)

I plan on doing some serious paint correction to 3 of my cars over the next few months (before summer comes) and once that starts I know it'll take 5~6 of one color with one product to get anything done. Just throw um' in the bucket and keep on working. If I need a dozen on one car before I get too tired I figure that's a good thing.

Different car, different paind, different pad. Plus there is no way I'm going to mix different cut products in the same color pad. (IE not using Megs 105 and 205 in one pad.) Same thing with mixing product lines, but to a much lesser degree than mixing cut.

My Brother in law was in from "the OC" for Christmas and started moaning about how stupid I was to buy so many pads. I was like "Look, I've got 5 cars and I'm not paying ANYBODY to detail them. I do 2 and the pads pay for themselves and then some. Oh, and by the way, how much do you pay to have your car detailed?" And you know what was so weird about THAT? His college age kid details cars in the summer for cash! Bought him a Dewalt rotary buffer last Christmas!

That sucker shut up right quick! (Because I know he didn't even WASH his own cars when he lived here as a Coke VP. Now that he's in 'the OC' knocking back even more bucks he sure as he!! isn't about to start.)

Seriously though, working with a machine is 'working smarter, not harder' and I am too darned old to work as hard cleaning cars as I used to. Yes it takes an investment up front when you move to new equipment (my OLD stuff is a 6' and a 10" DA that's more suited for spreading wax and light duty buffing, but would never do any swirl removal) but once you have everything you need then you never have to stop in the middle of a job because you ran out of pads.

Oh, and I do manage a bit of side work for the neighbors if that helps.

[cardaddy]

Ok. I bought these orange and white ones: CCS foam buffing pads,foam polishing pads,lake country foam pads,foam polisher pads,buffer pads,lake county pads,porter cable pads,pads for air sander (http://www.autogeek.net/ccs-5-5inch-foam-buffing-pads.html)

I was applying M105 when the pad exploded. Since I bought 2 I finished the car with the second pad. Some of the swirls are still there and I really didn't like the feel of these pads. That's why I was wondering if these were the best pads for compound and polishing.

Dude.... is that the face of that pad that you've managed to turn black and melt? Only thing that would cause that is too much product, speed, and too large a working area.

Megs 105 in notorious for short work times, although there are some work arounds. I'd say try Ultimate Compound and get much much more working time.

You mentioned you did the entire car with one pad? That's not possible, and can damage more than your pad if you're trying to do any really swirl removal. After priming the pad additional applications are just pea sized dots in 3 ~ 4 spots. Any material will work it's way to the middle of the pad and just sit there till it turns into a hot spinning glob of goo.

The only way to make 'one' pad last over an entire car is spreading wax or sealant. Anything that's doing cutting will fill up sometimes before you could even do a hood. (Or, do one panel, wash and clean the pad good, wait for it to dry for hours, or overnight, then move to another panel and do the same thing.) If I'm doing any serious swirl removal I'll use a rule of thumb, 2 for the hood, 2 on the roof and trunk, 1 rear bumper and rear quarters, and 1 front fenders and doors. (heavy correction can take more)

I know the white pads work on some projects with 105 but you might want to take a look at orange ones to get the job done faster. Then switch to 205 and whites.

Here are a few threads to check out on pad cleaning, and especially working with 105. Not sure if they mention XMT or similar products but that's also a good thing to check out for keeping a pad lubricated. I've even used water, or a QD, even ONR in a pinch.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/20135-how-clean-your-foam-pad-fly-when-using-porter-cable-style-da-polisher.html

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/products-guides/55230-m105-m205.html

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/29674-cure-m105-s-short-working-time-dusting-issues.html

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/29607-ime-m105-reacts-different-different-paint-systems-2.html

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/57423-weak-pads.html