porter cable white pad on the xt

[Bruno Soares]

I see, so it’s an AIO and not just wax. In that case a white polishing pad is fine but you should consider a few to cover the car. Like 4 of the white pads. If it was just wax with black or red pad then 1 would be fine.

[animescreen]

So color pads are they like universal amongst manufactures? Like if you say black or red pad for waxing and one will be ok. It will usually same if it was griots or lake county (think thats the name) lol

Guess makes senae to have more pads for aio as it has abrasives and will pick up stuff (mixed with white pad thats bit abrasive as well) so more pads the merrier while just wax will require just one and occasionally clean correct?


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[Bruno Soares]

So color pads are they like universal amongst manufactures? Like if you say black or red pad for waxing and one will be ok. It will usually same if it was griots or lake county (think thats the name) lol

Guess makes senae to have more pads for aio as it has abrasives and will pick up stuff (mixed with white pad thats bit abrasive as well) so more pads the merrier while just wax will require just one and occasionally clean correct?


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Right. I’m familiar with lake country so those were the colors I used. They are not universal. The ones i use are thin pro available at Autogeek.

[DMiglio]

So basically you were bit skeptical in beginning then after honing down your skills you decided to give it a shot and had no issues right? So spreading the wax, you went 5.5 to 6 speed? I tested the speed just when i opened it and got pretty started how fast it goes. Or did you mean go 3-3.5 to spread the wax. And bufffing it out use the same speed of 3 to 3.5? How did you clean as you go if used this pad alone?

Hey sorry for the late reply,

Not a skill thing, just a “ehh this pad is pointless thing” and didn’t see a use for it so left it in the box haha. I bought a polishing kit when I bought the PC so used the 5inch backing plate and some pads it came with. When I sold a winter car of mine I figured I’d use the white pad the PC came with to see how it worked seeing as how the paint was pretty shot I couldn’t hurt it any. To my surprise it worked well and really cleaned the paint up. I wouldn’t use it normally just was having some fun is all.

In this case I only used the pad over 3 large panels(hood, roof, trunk) which I broke into two sections a piece for 6 total “panels.” As far as pad cleaning I like to keep a terry towel or cheaper microfiber on me and after a couple of panels I’ll put the towel to the face of the pad and turn the polisher on. This cleans it on the fly and works well enough for a few panels before needing to change to another pad. Like somebody suggested you could probably get away with 4 pads.

For spreading a finishing wax, I’d use 3-3.5 speed to keep the pad spinning, helps the polisher to just “glide” across the paint without “sticking.” This will speed up your ability to spread the wax quickly and efficiently as opposed to doing it by hand or at a low speed 1-2, where the pad just doesn’t want to move but almost stick to the paint.

For using a cleaner wax, even if just to clean the paint a bit I’d use 5-6 speed setting and cover a good size of the panel, think half a hood, fender, half a door etc, and go over the area 4 times or so in a cross hatch pattern. This will take some more time(less than an hour),but if you’re just looking to bring out more shine and depth you don’t need to focus much on pressure or slow arm speed. You’ll remove a lot of impurities in the paint which alone will enhance the overall finish of the paint.

Sorry for the long winded post but why explain something in 100 words when you can use 1000 haha!?

[animescreen]

Hey sorry for the late reply,

Not a skill thing, just a “ehh this pad is pointless thing” and didn’t see a use for it so left it in the box haha. I bought a polishing kit when I bought the PC so used the 5inch backing plate and some pads it came with. When I sold a winter car of mine I figured I’d use the white pad the PC came with to see how it worked seeing as how the paint was pretty shot I couldn’t hurt it any. To my surprise it worked well and really cleaned the paint up. I wouldn’t use it normally just was having some fun is all.

In this case I only used the pad over 3 large panels(hood, roof, trunk) which I broke into two sections a piece for 6 total “panels.” As far as pad cleaning I like to keep a terry towel or cheaper microfiber on me and after a couple of panels I’ll put the towel to the face of the pad and turn the polisher on. This cleans it on the fly and works well enough for a few panels before needing to change to another pad. Like somebody suggested you could probably get away with 4 pads.

For spreading a finishing wax, I’d use 3-3.5 speed to keep the pad spinning, helps the polisher to just “glide” across the paint without “sticking.” This will speed up your ability to spread the wax quickly and efficiently as opposed to doing it by hand or at a low speed 1-2, where the pad just doesn’t want to move but almost stick to the paint.

For using a cleaner wax, even if just to clean the paint a bit I’d use 5-6 speed setting and cover a good size of the panel, think half a hood, fender, half a door etc, and go over the area 4 times or so in a cross hatch pattern. This will take some more time(less than an hour),but if you’re just looking to bring out more shine and depth you don’t need to focus much on pressure or slow arm speed. You’ll remove a lot of impurities in the paint which alone will enhance the overall finish of the paint.

Sorry for the long winded post but why explain something in 100 words when you can use 1000 haha!?

I like the details plus helps my patience lol.. 5 to 6 speed for beginner like me will require some practices on my other car that needs polish. You use a porter cable right? Any suggestion on good polish for starting out and pads for polish.

[DMiglio]

Don’t let the speed worry you too much, I say that now but when I first started I felt like 4.5 or so was a “good limit.” Problem is, especially with the porter cable is that it’s easy to bog it down which is why I’d recommend higher speeds. You’ll get more work done per pass and achieve better results faster!

I know you’re looking to use White Wax, if you haven’t gotten your pads yet I’d just try the porter cable white pad. Practicing on your other car, use a speed your comfortable with on one quarter of the hood, do another quarter at a slightly higher speed, another quarter a step up from that and do the last quarter at speed 6.

Make maybe 4-6 passes, might be better to shoot for 8 if you’re comfortable. You’ll be able to get a feel for the speed and the polishers ability to get some work done and develop your skill in the matter of only a few minutes!! Keep a towel nearby to wipe off and clean your pads surface in between “panels.”

I now use the porter cable as a smaller 3inch machine, normally I’ll use a Griots 6inch(think of a buffed up porter cable) and a Griots G15. But starting out and getting a feel for machines and growing your skill and comfort level the PC is a great tool!

As far as a good polish and pads, I’d just go with Meguiars Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish, both are excellent products and user friendly! As far as pads I use Lake Country and Meguiars. For starting out I’d grab 6 Lake Country flat pads in Orange(can be used for compounding or polishing in some cases) and 6 flat pads in White(polishing). It’s pricey up front but grab the “6 pack” on Autogeeks store and wait for a 25% off sale and you’ll pay close to half off the list price!