To Prime or Not to Prime (and a question for Joe at Next Level Detailing)

[geoguy]

Still learning, so bear with me. I have read/seen where you should Prime/butter your foam pad so that you aren’t putting dry pad to paint and also utilizing the entire pad surface for correction. But I have also seen where guys are only starting with several drops (or an x, or circle) of product on the pad and then going at it. So which is better? Or does it depend on the pad?

Also, does anyone use a pad conditioner? I read a post by Joe from Next Level Detailing where he said that he primed the pads for Compound and polish, but not to for McKees 360 (but used a pad conditioner instead). Why no priming for 360?

[Eldorado2k]

No bearing happening here... We welcome everyone. Nothing wrong with being new. There are no dumb questions. Welcome online.

I’ll let the others chime in with their advice on this 1.

[Dr Oldz]

Personally I prime every pad unless I’m cutting with a rotary. Then I just pick up a bead.

Some products even claim there is no need to prime but I still do it. 100% of the pad face is working for you and it keeps the product balanced across the pad face.

I’m not sure there is a right or wrong answer here as it may be more personal preference. I will say that it is more crucial on some machines than others tho....

[PaulMys]

My pad of choice is the LC flat pad.

IMO, priming them causes premature saturation.

It's not a huge deal for me, as I will go through as many as 18-20 pads on my truck. (Yup!)

But if I only had 5-6 pads to work with, priming would be a problem. Again, this is just my experience.

[sudsmobile]

I prime forced rotation pads and just use 4-5 drops on free spinning. With wool I tend to use a little more product just to try and knock down the lint a little.

[Mike Phillips]

I cover this in all my how to books but here's the nutshell version.

Different tools from different manufacturers have different recommendations. For example, RUPES says to only place a few drops of products on the face of the pad and then turn the tool on while the pad is against the paint and allow the product to migrate around on the face of the pad. I'm pretty sure I have articles on this forum on this topic

For ANY microfiber pad you want to use the KBM as it's important to prime the entire face of the pad and each fiber. (I don't use mf pads, not a fan)

For just about any other orbital with foam, you can KBM it, that is spread some product over the face of the pad and then add a few drops when starting with a clean dry pad or so like I do, put a healthy circle of product on the face of the pad, turn the machine on and get buffing. Take my work for it, after a few passes the pad will be "primed".

In my detailing classes I also cover all of this and use comedy to teach the lesson.

Also - if using foam pads, pad saturation is a problem. Don't help the problem buy wetting foam pads. Instead, simply use the product you're going to use as your priming agent.

Do some searching on how many pads I recommend for buffing out a car. I have articles on this too and the point of the articles is that WET FOAM PADS don't buff good. Dry pads do. So don't make your pads wet.

As for rotary, I'm like Jim, I use the 10 at 10 Technique which I also have videos on, articles on and it's in my "Complete Guide" book.

[geoguy]

Thanks for the input guys. I think my problem is saturating, maybe over saturating, the pads.The last time I polished, I primed the pad (liberally) and added 3-4 drops on top of that then added more product for the next section. Was using LC CCS pads. Took forever to clean them out too.

[Eldorado2k]

Has anyone seen Joe? Anyone know what he’s up to?

[Cruzscarwash]

Has anyone seen Joe? Anyone know what he’s up to?

his posting has gone down I barely even see him post on social media anymore


for priming I stick to the 1 pad per panel and I do a circle on the first go and vary my following amounts off the initial pass

[DBAILEY]

Several drops on the pad face then dab the pad numerous times over the section to be polished, then start up the polisher. It only really matters on that first section. Its primed plenty after that. I only prime MF pads and that's pretty lightly coated using my fingertips.