Time to “step it up” .... thoughts?

[Eldorado2k]

Someone tell him not to get those pads^

[bean438]

1 pad per panel for compounding*

You can stretch a pad for longer than 1 panel when polishing.

And when it comes to Black pads aka waxing pads aka lsp spreading pads aka Finishing pads, you can pretty much finish off a vehicle with just 1 of them. [2 tops]

Don’t bother getting a bunch of finishing pads. You’ll be wasting your money. Instead tilt the scale over to compounding/cutting pads, and then polishing pads [but not as many as the cutting] and 1 maybe 2 finishing pads.


If you mess around and buy a dozen finishing pads, I’ll personally call your wife and spill the beans! Lol.

Lol, I’ll heed your advice. Looks like you answered as I was replying. I figured one finish pad per panel was crazy. I have one green LC ccs pad. Should be enough as I use it to apply red Klasse, and will use it on the rav after polishing with 205.

[bean438]

As for pad cleaning I used to put them into the washer with pad cleaner and air dry, foam side down.

Saw a guy on you tube that hand washes in buckets with pad cleaner, and the. Through an industrial wringer, then air dry foam down. Overkill?

Do I really need pad cleaner? Car wash soap ok? Or dish soap?

[Eldorado2k]

As for pad cleaning I used to put them into the washer with pad cleaner and air dry, foam side down.

Saw a guy on you tube that hand washes in buckets with pad cleaner, and the. Through an industrial wringer, then air dry foam down. Overkill?

Do I really need pad cleaner? Car wash soap ok? Or dish soap?

I just cleaned a bunch of my pads yesterday... The way I do it is: If I’m not being lazy, the easiest way is to rinse them clean with plain water. Yes they’ll come perfectly clean with plain water as long as you clean them the same day you used them. No letting them sit overnight because then you’ll need more than just water. And this only applies to pads used for compound & polish.

Any pads used for wax, sealant, AIO’s, or other lsp protection will require some kind of cleaner.

For pad cleaning where they’ve sat for a while: I just spray them good, nice and saturated with LA’s Totally Awesome from the dollar store and let them marinate for about 10min. then lay down my Grit Guard on the lawn and spray them with the garden hose nozzle on jet setting. They come perfectly clean in seconds everytime.

After I spray them clean I flip them over, rinse the backside, then press them on the Grit Guard to let the excess water out and put them in a clean bucket with a Grit Guard on the bottom to prevent them from sitting in a pool of water.



Next I put them on my HFDA with a 5” backing plate and spin them dry full speed into an empty 5 gallon bucket. Most of the water comes out. Before I remove the pad I press the pad into a large thick waffle weave drying towel and now they’re 95% dry. Lay them out and they’ll be fully dry in no time.

100% clean and dry everytime even if they’ve been sitting for a long time.

I never use my expensive polisher to do the spin drying. The pads are heavy with water and I don’t want to risk messing with my pricy polisher for that. That’s what the HFDA is perfect for, doing the grunt work and never breaking down.

[bean438]

Would you use “totally awesome” on pads that were used for compounding/polishing/aio?

Would a “simple green” degreaser work?

[Eldorado2k]

Would you use “totally awesome” on pads that were used for compounding/polishing/aio?

Would a “simple green” degreaser work?

Yes, the Totally Awesome at full strength is what I use pretty much all the time for pad cleaning because I usually get lazy after polishing a whole vehicle and then they sit dirty for a bit...

I’ve never used Simple Green, so I can’t comment on it. I can’t imagine anything working better than LATA though.. It works even better than the dedicated pad cleaner I used to buy + it doesn’t smell toxic like the pad cleaner does.

LATA is low sudsing and fast rinsing. So if that Simple Green tends to create lots of suds then it’ll more than likely suck for pad cleaning. You want something that rinses instantly. [that’s why dish soap isn’t a good idea for pad cleaning]

[Sb5181]

Someone tell him not to get those pads^

Are you talking about the force hybrid or the ccs? I just picked up the Makita and was thing about the force hybrid, been using the flat pads which have been fine


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[Eldorado2k]

Are you talking about the force hybrid or the ccs? I just picked up the Makita and was thing about the force hybrid, been using the flat pads which have been fine


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The reason I say that is because I’m a free spinning polisher user, so my 1st thought is to not recommend those pads only based on them not being ideal for free spinning DA polishers. But if you’re a forced rotataion polisher user then those are your type of pads [at least from what everyone says]

Makita is forced rotaion or rotary correct? In that case you’ll probably love the Hybrid pads.

I personally wouldn’t recommend the CCS pads on any polisher because they’re antiquated by todays standards.

[bean438]

Interesting. I thought you were referring to finishing pads, lol

If I buy the 3401 it’s hybrid pads. Now I’m not sure what to buy for my UDM?

If the ccs pads are not good why does AG still sell them?

[Eldorado2k]

If the ccs pads are not good why does AG still sell them?

It’s not that they’re not good, just that there’s the latest and greatest when compared to those older style of pads. Just like a natural chamois vs. a Griots PFM drying towel. Is there still some people out there who prefer to stick with there natural chamois? Sure, but it’s rare these days.

And I did mean only buy 1-2 finishing pads.