Waffle foam sucks?

[pman626]

I got a pair of 6" waffle foam cutting pads for just $3 ! :xyxthumbs:

Half the pad isn't touching the paint because of the waffle structure. In effect, it's working half as fast as a flat foam pad.

So tell me what's so good about waffle foam?

http://www.chemicalguys.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/buf801banner1.jpg

[Kamakaz1961]

My guess is NOTHING!! BTW, thank you for this. Even though I would never get me any waffle foam pads I was just curious on how they performed. Thank you for the answer!

[custmsprty]

I agree, I still swear by LC flat pads and Rupes pads, I just bought some Buff and Shine flat pads, haven't used them yet. The other thing I don't like about waffle, ccs or hexlogic is product migrates to the cracks and gaps and goes to waste.

[KMdef9]

When you apply pressure with the waffle, you compress it and much more than 50 percent is making contact with the paint. Your not suppose to only using the weight of the machine when polishing...

With that said, I wouldn't use them for Jeweling.

I have a bunch of them for headlight resto's and they work great.

Those look like staged pictured anyways...

[Odisious]

Your vinyl cabinet door is open and unlocked in the background. Waffle foam won't help with that. I'll tell you that right now.

[FUNX650]

When you apply pressure with the waffle, you compress it and much more than 50 percent is making contact with the paint.

Your not suppose to only using the weight of the machine when polishing...

Waffle-style foam buffing pads also allow for
heat build-up to have escape routes.



With that said, I wouldn't use them for Jeweling.

I won't go that far.

3M's Perfect-It Ultrafine Foam Polishing Pads are
used for "jeweling"...and they're "waffle-style".


Bob

[KMdef9]

Waffle-style foam buffing pads also allow for
heat build-up to have escape routes.


:dblthumb2:



I won't go that far.

3M's Perfect-It Ultrafine Foam Polishing Pads are
used for "jeweling"...and they're "waffle-style".


Bob

I'm just happy with my LC's, and wouldn't switch to a waffle style. I also wasn't implying others couldn't, let alone shouldn't use them for jeweling.

[pman626]

I agree, I still swear by LC flat pads and Rupes pads, I just bought some Buff and Shine flat pads, haven't used them yet. The other thing I don't like about waffle, ccs or hexlogic is product migrates to the cracks and gaps and goes to waste.


yeah. I have to dot the polish on the high spots of the pad.

Because the waffles are cut too deep, you would have to press very hard to get the full pad to touch the paint, and that would bog down the DA motor.
Not good.



When you apply pressure with the waffle, you compress it and much more than 50 percent is making contact with the paint. Your not suppose to only using the weight of the machine when polishing...

..


Ok, I pushed the waffle foam on a piece of glass, and it's 67 percent contact.

Any more pressure and the foam probably wouldn't rotate.

[KMdef9]

yeah. I have to dot the polish on the high spots of the pad.

Because the waffles are cut too deep, you would have to press very hard to get the full pad to touch the paint, and that would bog down the DA motor.
Not good.





Ok, I pushed the waffle foam on a piece of glass, and it's 67 percent contact.

Any more pressure and the foam probably wouldn't rotate.

How did you measure the surface contact?

[pman626]

How did you measure the surface contact?


I eyeballed it by looking on the other side of the glass, while putting about 10 lbs pressure.

But upon actual calculation of the dimpled areas and subtracting from the overall area, I overestimated, and it's about 60 percent +/- contact.

[tpr1634]

I had a couple I had gotten from Adams, and you are correct they do suck.

[pman626]

I'm willing to give it a few more chances since that 3M waffle has gotten such good user reviews.

My waffle pad is a cutting pad, so it's a lot stiffer and hard to get full contact.

On a softer pad, you can compress it easily and get 100% contact.

[dlc95]

I have a soft grey one for the d/a. I like it for cleaner waxes for some reason. I watch the "product trail", and the spin of the pad to make sure I'm getting adequate coverage.

This pad is an open cell pad, and compresses easily. I imagine prepolymer closed cell pads would be a pain in the rear for me. See, I love Hex Logic pads, but really only the Green and Blue which are open cell. I never lose product in the grooves. Give me an Orange one, and I could end up with product in the grooves.

[HateSwirls]

I have some 3M Waffle pads that I don't use because I don't care for them.
They also sling product no matter how you try spreading it.

Give me my flat Lake Country pads and my CG's Hex pads any day of the week.

[AnthonyGXP]

The only real benefit of this design is to keep the pads cooler by ventilating air in and out through the side of the waffle structure.