Thanks to the lovely winter season we get here in RI/New England, I've been mostly shut down for a few months now. The detailing season really is only April(ish) to October. Much outside of that, it's too cold outside to wash cars.

I decided the other day that in order to build on some decent success from last year, I need to do a few things. First and foremost, I need to consolidate down the products and tools I use and really simplify things. I started on the area that I really need to consolidate, and that's buffing pads. I recently swapped out my G15 for a G21 but run the 5" plate on it. I also have a Rupes LHR75E and a rupes Nano for polishers. The rupes machines are easy, for the LHR75e I decided on Meguiar's or LC (depending upon availability) MF cutting pads and rupes yellow foam pads. The Nano is the same, LC MF cutting and Rupes Yellow pads in the 1" and 2" variety. I used the 15 most of last year and used the 5" 21 a couple times this year. What I settled on after a lot of trial and error (and I mean a LOT) is Meguiar's or LC MF cutting pads and Griot's BOSS orange and yellow foam. For product application I picked up a couple HDO Red waxing pads because they were on sale at some point, not 100% if I'll stick with those.

However while browsing Jescar's site to see if they had any new stuff coming out, and I stumbled across their new buffing pad line. They have a MF cutting pad, a yellow foam polishing pad, and a blue foam pad called the 'microfinishing' pad. Upon comparing prices from my wholesaler for the Griot's pads, the Jescar pads came in significantly less with the MF Pad being a bit more money than the LC and Meg's alternative.

To test, I decided to order a yellow and a blue since it follows logic that they should work well with the Jescar liquids I'm standardizing on. They are sold in 3.5", 5.5" and 6.5" sizes accommodating two out of my three machines. They were delivered the other day and I checked them out but haven't actually used them on the 21 yet. The 3.5" pads don't have the center hole which I don't think is a huge deal, but if the 5.5" pads work well it'll be an interesting thing to try them out vs. the Rupes pads.


Initial impressions:

The yellow pad has a very similar density to the Rupes yellow foam, and a similar surface feel. The profile of the pad is literally as if the standard Rupes pad and the Griot's BOSS pad had a baby. Same shape as the rupes pad, but slightly thinner, not quite as thin as the mille pads. A bit thicker than the BOSS pad with a less rounded profile, still has a center hole. If my testing with other pads holds true (mille pads too thin with the sharp profile, regular rupes pads too thick and easy to stall, griot's pads nice balance of thin and rounded profile) these could be a great contender to replace the BOSS pads in my arsenal as they're a few dollars per pad less money. They seem like they'll be really versatile for everything from compounding softer paints, to AIO duty, and even stepping out moderate cut products.

The blue pad is a similar profile and thickness, but a much different, softer foam. It's closest to the LC Blue finishing pad I have, but slightly stiffer for a bit more cut than a dedicated LSP pad. Somewhere between the Griot's yellow and black BOSS pads, but thicker and with the the slightly sharper profile to them. I can easily see them working for both final polishing and even waxing.

Hopefully I can get some test time on these and see what a viable alternative they could be.