What's your recipe for cleaning foam and micro pads?

[luckydawg]

when i am done i throw them in a bucket of water until I am thru polishing- then I clean them by hand with my APC, then spin them dry with my rotary- that slings 99% of the water out, they dry fast after that

[opie]

when i am done i throw them in a bucket of water until I am thru polishing- then I clean them by hand with my APC, then spin them dry with my rotary- that slings 99% of the water out, they dry fast after that

Yes good reccomendation on the rotary. Forgot to add that. It works well especially on wool pads. Its like a very long fur dog shaking off after going for a swim lol

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[waddell64]

Anyone have a great method for getting a sealant out of a foam waxing pad? I recently used Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant with SiO2 and I had a time getting all the sealant out of the pad.

I used some BlackFire Pad cleaner on my foam pads that I used Griot's Correcting Cream on and they came out perfectly clean with minimal effort. Can't say the same with my poor waxing pad.

[oneheadlite]

Put this together a while back: (Copy/paste my post from when I did it)

Tried out a DIY ghetto pad washing station I put together.




Handypail paint roller tray + el cheapo 6” backing plate + Griot’s drill adapter bit + drill (ok, bit driver).

I’m too cheap to buy a pad washer, but have been curious to find an alternative to the hand scrubbing step. Also haven’t been crazy about some of the grids the pad runs on for some pad washers; seem like they’d be sharp to the pad. I know if they wrecked pads we’d have heard about it long ago, but I like the idea of something rounder. The other day in the garage I saw a paint roller tray which got me thinking.

The trays I have are either very paint-y or super flimsy. Found the Handypail one during my search, I think it was like $12. Actually quite sturdy, and another benefit I found when I got it home is they made it to sit securely in a utility sink.

Backing plate was a cheap on I could source locally (sorry AG, I’m impatient when I’ve got an idea to try). $8.

I’ve had the bit adapter for a while now, I use it to run carpet brushes on my drill. $10

Add about 1/2-3/4 gallon of water and detergent (I’m trying rags to riches), and then run with about half the pad in the water. Tray is sturdy enough to squish on to help flush the fluid through. Went through a big backlog of pads I had to clean in waaaay less time than it would take to clean by hand.

Future upgrade: since the backing plate I got is 5.something inches to run 6” pads, I’m going to look into making a disc to put between the backing plate and the outer edge of the pad to: keep the velcro away from the 5.5” pads that overhangs their backing, and to support the outside of the 6.5” pads. I’ve got some lexan at work I’ll see what I can come up with. No damage that I noticed with the stack I did, but figure can’t hurt.

Just to clarify, when cleaning the pads, I only run them about half in the cleaning solution with the drill running. Like other pad washers I kinda pulse down how much pressure I'm applying to help squish fluid out and let it soak back in.

[2black1s]

When I clean pads, I only have a handful at a time, so I do them in my laundry sink by hand. I use either Tide or Dawn, starting at full strength. I've never felt the need for a pad specific cleaner. The Tide or Dawn cuts through anything I've ever run across.

[Lance Mark]

I do it by hand....I use Wolfgang Pad Cleaner

I rinse the pad in water and do a quick scrape across the surface with a pad brush, not too much, just enough to agitate and open the surface up a bit
I then put a couple squirt of pad cleaner on one and then ad a bit of water and squeeze it a few times to get the pad cleaner into the pad, then let it sit a few minutes and then rinse it thoroughly
then it goes on the machine at full speed, gets a quick sprits of pad conditioner, and then into a bin for when it will be ready to use next time

[luckydawg]

When I clean pads, I only have a handful at a time, so I do them in my laundry sink by hand. I use either Tide or Dawn, starting at full strength. I've never felt the need for a pad specific cleaner. The Tide or Dawn cuts through anything I've ever run across.

I use my APC as its considerably less expensive-- use to be $5-- now $7 per gallon since Jan. of 2021. I do a kwik rough spray & squeeze in the bucket outside then bring them in to my laundry sink also-- to keep from getting the majority of the chemical/gook out of my septic