How many polishing pads per car?

[Eric7810]

5 minimum for your Mustang.

You will see the pads getting loaded up with product, which allows them to heat up quicker. (Bad for the pads).

And the "loaded up" pads will stop cutting effectively.

You can always clean them on the fly with a terry towel and/or a pad cleaning brush, but that is nowhere near as good as switching to a fresh pad.


Also, the harder you work your pads, the shorter their life span.

This


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[Paul A.]

I would use 6 to 8 pads on that 'Stang.

[Dr Oldz]

I would use 13.

2 hood
2 roof
1 trunk
1 per each fender and door =6
1 front end
1 rear

Plus any smaller pads you may need.

[Coatingsarecrack]

When I did my 16 vert GT I used (6) 5” and (2) 3”.

I would add 1 more for your roof. I used a pad brush after each section. I had 10 totals for just in cases (like dropped pads). Have a couple extra.

If you have compressed air blow them out from middle to end. Don’t get to close with air. Also watch out if your pads are closed cell foam as I saw on a TRC video it can break them down.

The pad cleaning brush worked well for me


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[Bdubbs]

I would use 13.

2 hood
2 roof
1 trunk
1 per each fender and door =6
1 front end
1 rear

Plus any smaller pads you may need.

When I did my 16 vert GT I used (6) 5” and (2) 3”.

I would add 1 more for your roof. I used a pad brush after each section. I had 10 totals for just in cases (like dropped pads). Have a couple extra.

If you have compressed air blow them out from middle to end. Don’t get to close with air. Also watch out if your pads are closed cell foam as I saw on a TRC video it can break them down.

The pad cleaning brush worked well for me


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Sorry guys,

Are you using this many pads total? Orange, white and black? Or for each?

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[2011 302]

I usually use 8-10 5" pads and 4-6 small 3".
I do use a pad brush after each section so pad doesn't load up,then a spritz of pad cleaner and into the bucket of pad cleaner mixed in a 5 gallon bucket.

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[2011 302]

Sorry guys,

Are you using this many pads total? Orange, white and black? Or for each?

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That's total for me,I seldom do 2 step or 3 step polishes.
That's car show quality and big money, big hours.


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[Desertnate]

I normally work on my own cars and even then I never do a two-step unless the vehicle is new to me and the paint is in bad shape.

With that in mind, for a mid-sized car like the Mustang I'll typically use around 6x 5" polishing pads and a around 2x 3" pads. With that number I rotate them such that I never use a pad more than two times and I'll clean them on the fly using a pad cleaning brush.

[Paul A.]

6-8 each step plus 4-6 smaller pads for tight areas.

[Dr Oldz]

Sorry guys,

Are you using this many pads total? Orange, white and black? Or for each?

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Each compounding/polishing step. If applying a LSP, then only one pad for the whole vehicle.