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  1. #1
    Super Member Joe@NextLevelDetail's Avatar
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    Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Your Most Expensive Investment






    You might be thinking that tool's are your most expensive investment, But in reality its not, Tools require little maintenance after purchase. As for pads you will always go through more and more. The above photo you will notice a Flex polisher, and pads surrounding. The Flex polisher is $389 the pads I have placed around the polisher add up to a value of $400! and in reality that is a small fraction of all the pads I own, And it is crazy when you stop and think that only 25 pads+ accumulate to that value.


    Pads are one of the most important and costly materials a detailer uses. So how you take care of them is vital to longevity and performance.

    As a professional detailer I am always looking for ways to cut costs, My concerns with spending more money really cost me more cash in the long run. In my professional career there is nothing more frustrating then a pre mature pad failure. Through my experience I have became to realize that it's how you care for your pads that determines the life span.


    Maintaining Pads


    There is more to cleaning your pads than "cleaning your pads" We have all been guilty of using, Dish Soap, Degreaser, All Purpose Cleaner. There are even alot of mentions on this very forum about paint thinner. And all of those products will get the job done in cleaning your pads, However these powerful harmful products are actually damaging and degrading your pads with each use. Naturally us being detailers we want everything 100% clean, However we are being counter intuitive, Those stubborn polishing stains are not going to affect polishing performance, However the wrong chemicals, that we are using to remove those stubborn stains damage the foam cell foundation and that will most certainly alter your polishing pad performance and life span.


    Ever notice after you use dish soap to strip a car how grabby and squeaky the paint feels? The same affect happens to your polishing pads after using the above cleaners, It makes your pad feel dry, brittle, grabby, and the foam feels squeaky.













    The above photo you will see the foam cells magnified, You will notice the honey comb cell pattern, and that is the structural foundation of the pad. All Purpose Cleaners, Degreasers, Dish Soap, Laundry Soap, all load up in the pores and cells of these pads and actually dissolve the pores, And this is a one way ticket to pad failure. Residue from all the cleaners above will linger in the pad and continue to break down as you use it. So now it is taking a beating while getting polished and cleaned.





    The Right Chemical For The Job

    All soap is not created equally, Using the correct chemical for any maintenance is key, We use car soap and rinseless wash solutions to maintain our paint finish, that was designed and formulated for paint, None of us would ever use laundry soap to wash our car. , However every soap was formulated for a different purpose, We wouldnt use hair shampoo for laundry, Laundry soap for body wash, and dish soap for shampoo, sure it would give us a end result of "clean" however there would be certain things that can potentially cause damage or not work as well.




    Have you ever went camping or ran out of shampoo and had to use body wash to clean there hair? Afterwards it leaves you with a very dry and grabby feel, Another great example is using degreaser or all purpose cleaner to wash our hands, afterwards they feel very dry that is why we use hand soap, The same theory goes for polishing pads. Chemist formulate and design every product to do what its intended purpose was for, Polishing pad cleaner is designed to remove compounds, polishes, waxes/sealant, specifically for foam.







    Cleaning Your Pads



    Not only can the strong chemicals hurt your pads, but the actual way you clean them can degrade them as well.









    spray your polishing pad cleaner on your pads, im using McKees 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner.





    After you let the product sit on the pads for 20-30 seconds, Get a SOFT brush not a hard brush and agitate the compound/polish
    (using a hard brush can cause ripples in the pad)









    Using cool/warm water I run the pad under the water while brushing face of the pad with my brush, Ensuring all polish is out of the pad.
    (do not use really hot water as this can cause damage to your pad, You want to cool the pad down so the foam cells can expand and get stong again)





    Before











    Spraying Polishing pad cleaner.













    Agitate with soft brush.















    Done. My pads are now restored and ready to be used over and over again.















    Im rubbing my thumb against the pad, and it feels restored just like new, After using harmful chemicals my pads would feel dry and brittle.









    Before And After













    Cleaners VS Polishing Pad Cleaner




    After speaking with a chemist about the issues cleaners can cause for your polishing pads, Everything that was shared with me made total sense, I decided to do a "stress test" I was going to test 2 orange Boss pads (I use those alot at my shop) On One I was going to clean with McKee's 37 polishing pad cleaner, and the other I was going to use Dish soap,degreaser. Both pads were only used with 1 machine (G21) and 1 Polish (McKee's 37 Fast Polish) Both pads share the same amount of buffing time. I was going to use my old method of cleaning pads, And the other method was recommended by the chemist.



    Old Test Method: Hot Water, Dish Soap + Degreaser
    New Test Method: Cool Water, Polishing Pad Cleaner



    Can you guess what pad was maintained with what? You guessed right the top pad was maintained with Dish Soap, and Diluted Degreaser that you can find at a dollar brand store. The bottom pad was maintained with McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner.







    Notice how the top pad lost its color, Also you can see how the face of the pad is starting to shrivel up. The bottom pad still has its original color and feels almost as good as the day I opened the pack. The top pad is the perfect example of what APC/Degreaser does to your hands, It dries them out. Using the dish soap and degreaser it dried the pad out drastically, Not only did it lose its overall color, The pad feels totally different from the other pad that was maintained with polishing pad cleaner.







    Side By Side

    [/FONT]URL=ht[tp://s1194.photobucket.com/user/nextleveldetailer/media/Polishing%20Pads/DSC_0780_zpsi3bxr6iq.jpg.html][/URL]



    What Not To Do


    Like I said above us being detailers we naturally want out pad 100% clean, And sometimes we go to extreme measures and processes to get that done, So I am going to put down a list on what not to do to your polishing pads.


    Pressure Washer: No, this will eat and cause deterioration at a much accelerated rate, Even if it doesnt damage it at the start everytime your doing this your stressing your foam out. (Use a hose)


    Hot Water: Its natural to want to use really hot water to get all the stains out, However this is not good for the pad, Heat is your pads enemy, And that is the culprit of pad failure, The buffing process makes the pad endure a ton of heat, And now you are stressing the pad even more by cleaning it in hot water. Use cool water to restore the foam and cool the pad down.




    Cleaning + Using Too Soon: At my early stages of buffing I only had a handful of pads, And this is very common for a enthusiast to not have hundreds of pads, So when your pad gets gunked up you clean it in the sink, dry it with a microfiber towel to your best ability, and than go back to town! This is hurting your pad and is a one way ticket to paid failure town. Using your pad too fast after you just cleaned Will affect a ton of things. If the pad is still moist/wet understand that the pad is heavier than what it originally is, So now the mechanical energy of the polisher is moving more weight and stressing the pad out way more than normal. This also interferes with your cutting and finishing ability.




    Stains On Your Pad: Do not use gas, paint thinner, Knives, to get stains out of your pad, As long as the spent compound, polish is out of your pad the pad will still perform excellent.



    Conclusion

    I hope you can see how important it is to maintain your pads properly, I hope this opens your eyes as it did mine when I found out, We all make fun of the people that use dish soap to maintain there cars, well this is essentially the same thing, As a pro when I am cleaning about 3-6 pads I use McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner, At a busy day at the shop when my brother, father, and my self are buffing multiple cars and go through alot of pads, I use McKee's 37 Pad Rejuvenator to clean a bulk of pads, It is priced fair and can get multiple applications out of one jar.





    Whatever you are using just make sure it was designed for foam!

    I hope you guys enjoyed this, took alot of patience to do the testing.

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  3. #2
    Super Member Marc08EX's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Great review and write-up Joe!

    Color looks exactly like the XMT polishing pad cleaner. If this works as well as that then we have a winner!
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  4. #3
    Super Member RaskyR1's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Nice article, Joe.

    I'd be curious to know what the chemical difference is between your average APC and the pad cleaner shown. More specifically, what is in your typical APC that is damaging? I've been told a lot of those MF towel cleaners are nothing more than APC's, so I'm always skeptic knowing how marketing people work when a cleaner like this comes out.
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  5. #4
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    I definitely use a pressure washer to clean my pads at times. It's a pretty weak one and I've had no problems thus far - I've used it on pads previously cleaned with dedicated pad cleaners and there is still tons of residue in the pad that gets removed... but I do this knowing I'm accelerating the wear and tear. I just hate standing at a sink cleaning dozens of pads with a small brush and breathing in chems. If that's the trade off for accelerated wear then so be it.

    Nice comparison between the pad cleaned with a dedicated cleaner vs. one with the cheaper APCs. I've noticed the same thing. I also enjoy Poorboy's Tornado Pad Cleaner quite a bit when I use the method you mentioned - I clean all my Nano pads that way and they come out brand new every time. Thanks for the review and the reminder about pads - they are certainly worth investing time and effort into!

  6. #5
    Super Member Joe@NextLevelDetail's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Quote Originally Posted by RaskyR1 View Post
    Nice article, Joe.

    I'd be curious to know what the chemical difference is between your average APC and the pad cleaner shown. More specifically, what is in your typical APC that is damaging? I've been told a lot of those MF towel cleaners are nothing more than APC's, so I'm always skeptic knowing how marketing people work when a cleaner like this comes out.

    Im very intrigued by the chemistry side of detailing, Speaking with a chemist, I had alot of the same questions as you. He explained that not all APC is the same, and every manufacturer has different formulas, Some of the cheaper APCs on the market use more harmful chemicals, So they can have a attractive price point, and some of those more harsh chemicals can degrade your pads. I was also told that Polishing Pad Cleaner, is stronger and more effective on foam, Than APC/Degreaser, And that it flushes out of the pads pores much easier than APC.

    I didnt ask about APC and microfiber, I will certainly ask if I do speak again, However I feel that Microfiber cleaner more than likely is a form of APC, and it might not be whats necessarily in it, But more of whats not in it if that makes sense. I have found that every other Microfiber cleaner is different, Some are more watery some more soapy.

    Again the chemistry side to detailing really is amazing.

  7. #6
    Super Member RaskyR1's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Actually, Jeff Brown just answered my question. He said they utilize surfactants rather then relying on sodium-salt based cleaners which can leave behind a residue, which I know I've seen before on my MF pads! Guess it's time for a dedicated pad cleaner.
    Quote Originally Posted by CieraSL View Post
    Wait! I know! Mirror, mirror against the grass, tell me who has kicked swirls' ass?
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  8. #7
    Super Member Joe@NextLevelDetail's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Quote Originally Posted by Heisenberg View Post
    I definitely use a pressure washer to clean my pads at times. It's a pretty weak one and I've had no problems thus far - I've used it on pads previously cleaned with dedicated pad cleaners and there is still tons of residue in the pad that gets removed... but I do this knowing I'm accelerating the wear and tear. I just hate standing at a sink cleaning dozens of pads with a small brush and breathing in chems. If that's the trade off for accelerated wear then so be it.

    Nice comparison between the pad cleaned with a dedicated cleaner vs. one with the cheaper APCs. I've noticed the same thing. I also enjoy Poorboy's Tornado Pad Cleaner quite a bit when I use the method you mentioned - I clean all my Nano pads that way and they come out brand new every time. Thanks for the review and the reminder about pads - they are certainly worth investing time and effort into!
    You do not have to explain to me! having a professional shop, Cleaning all those pads, I would stand them outside and just pressure wash them lol.

    Again, If it is a weaker one dont get too close to it, as it will degrade the face of the pad. My suggestion would to use a hose with a pressure setting and that does the trick just as well without the risk!

  9. #8
    Super Member Joe@NextLevelDetail's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Quote Originally Posted by RaskyR1 View Post
    Actually, Jeff Brown just answered my question. He said they utilize surfactants rather then relying on sodium-salt based cleaners which can leave behind a residue, which I know I've seen before on my MF pads! Guess it's time for a dedicated pad cleaner.
    Lmao, You see that big word crap? That is what the chemist was telling me big word after big word, And i tried to register as much as possible.

    But yes, He told me the residue is bad news for the pads. As you can see in my test subject above, One pad looks like a zombie the other looks like new!

  10. #9
    Super Member Joe@NextLevelDetail's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    Quote Originally Posted by RaskyR1 View Post
    Actually, Jeff Brown just answered my question. He said they utilize surfactants rather then relying on sodium-salt based cleaners which can leave behind a residue, which I know I've seen before on my MF pads! Guess it's time for a dedicated pad cleaner.
    that is another subject i forgot to leave out above, The microfiber cutting pads, the hairs get hard and dry, they really feel like crap after using apc/degreaser. again i was told it is because of the residue that is left behind.

  11. #10
    Super Member TMQ's Avatar
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    Re: Cleaning Polishing Pads? | Stop DAMAGING Your Most Expensive Investment | McKee's 37 Polishing Pad Cleaner Review

    This is good information!
    Thanks for the education.

    Tom

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