How to clean your foam pad on the fly

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

Thanks! Found some links and pics

good deal..priming the pad that way helps a lot

[brawl]

Question: What about pad cleaning brushes?

Answer: I touched briefly on this above, but let's drill down a little deeper. Pad cleaning brushes or even a nylon toothbrush work great for cleaning residue off the face of a foam pad when the foam pad is on a rotary buffer but they don't work well at all when the pad is on a dual action polisher.

About the best you can hope for is to clean the very center of the pad when the tool is turned on but as you draw the bristles of the brush towards the outside of the pad the increased pressure over a small area, (the bristles of the brush pushing down on the foam), is enough pressure to engage the clutch in the tool and stop the pad from rotating.

The brush only cleans the pad if the pad is rotating. Thus brushes don't work well for cleaning pads on dual action polisher when you're trying to clean the pad while the polisher is turned on. Give it a try sometime and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Hi there Mike. Thanks for this article.

I missed reading this article before doing my first and (so far) only machine polishing. I used nylon toothbrush in cleaning my pads in between two sections. I noticed that the Griot's DA, on speed 3, slowed down when I moved towards the edge of the pad. But when I increased the speed to 4, it slowed down but not as much. I also read somewhere that DA needs some sort of pressure and it will be bad for a DA to free spin - that is without any pressure. So I am now second guessing my pad cleaning method.

I find it hard to clean a foam pad on the fly by a cloth using Griot's. On speed 3, I could not stop the machine from spinning and it was hard to control. Maybe I need to work out and lift some weights.LOL Can I use Speed 1 or 2 in cleaning on the fly?

[Mike Phillips]

Hi there Mike. Thanks for this article.

I missed reading this article before doing my first and (so far) only machine polishing. I used nylon toothbrush in cleaning my pads in between two sections. I noticed that the Griot's DA, on speed 3, slowed down when I moved towards the edge of the pad. But when I increased the speed to 4, it slowed down but not as much.

You cannot clean a pad on a DA Polisher like you can a pad on a rotary buffer due to the free floating spindle bearing assembly. It just doesn't work.

I also read somewhere that DA needs some sort of pressure and it will be bad for a DA to free spin - that is without any pressure. So I am now second guessing my pad cleaning method.

What you're talking about is when people new to the DA Polisher try to use it, if they're gun-shy, that is scared to apply any pressure to the head of the polisher for fear of burning the paint or fill-in-the-blank, the pad won't spin and they think their polisher is broken. It takes some downward pressure to make the pad rotate, not just light pressure or fluttering the pad over the surface.

You don't want to hold your DA in the air and run it or your pad will go flying off and get dirty.

I find it hard to clean a foam pad on the fly by a cloth using Griot's. On speed 3, I could not stop the machine from spinning and it was hard to control. Maybe I need to work out and lift some weights.

LOL Can I use Speed 1 or 2 in cleaning on the fly?

Could be a strength issue... cleaning your pad on the fly is a really FAST and simple way to get most of the built-up gunk on the face of the pad so you can quickly get back to work. It's not a perfect pad cleaning system it's a fast pad cleaning system.

It would be so easy to show you how to do this in person. The technique is shown in one of our online class videos but I'm not sure which one.


Sign up for one of our next classes, I always show multiple ways to clean pads in both classes including the clean you pad on the fly technique for DA Polishers and Rotary Buffers.

[brawl]

Thanks for your time Mike.

You don't want to hold your DA in the air and run it or your pad will go flying off and get dirty.

I tried it and it worked. The pads did not fly off. Maybe because the pad was new and the velcro is still sticks well to the backing plate.

Could be a strength issue... cleaning your pad on the fly is a really FAST and simple way to get most of the built-up gunk on the face of the pad so you can quickly get back to work.

I think I was too hesitant to press harder and I also think I did not put a lot of pressure first before turning the DA on. The towel was starting to fly when I attempted this method. And yes, I am too fragile for a 200 pound Filipino. Weight supposed to help increase energy, pressure, etc..., and in my case it does work sometimes.

It's not a perfect pad cleaning system it's a fast pad cleaning system.

I'll try this method again and hope I can get it because I really want to adopt this.This is really a time saver in cleaning the pad during polishing.

It would be so easy to show you how to do this in person. The technique is shown in one of our online class videos but I'm not sure which one.


Sign up for one of our next classes, I always show multiple ways to clean pads in both classes including the clean you pad on the fly technique for DA Polishers and Rotary Buffers.

I'd love to but I can't - money and visa.

More power to you Mike.

[EuroFD]

Now I have another reason to keep my rotary: cleaning foam pads. With my DA coming soon, I was always finding reasons to keep my rotary - aside from aggressive surface correction.

Great article.

[WRXINXS]

Mike do you hold it lightly against the cloth and let the pad spin. Or, do you hold it firmly so it is just vibrating?

[Ginnova]

what i'm using to effectively clean my pads on a da is a chenille wash mitt. soak the mitt with water and wring it thoroughly to remove most of the water.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike do you hold it lightly against the cloth and let the pad spin. Or, do you hold it firmly so it is just vibrating?

You do a little bit of both...

[Man of Valor]

Hello Mr. Philips my name is Matthew Sparacino. I am currently in the market for a D.A Polisher and came across the Meguires Dual Action Polisher G110v2 and was wondering if it would be a good choice since I am new to D.A Polishers. Also I was wondering if you could suggest any specific pads I will need in order to get out swirl marks and fine scratches. Thank you for your time.

[Mike Phillips]

***Update***

I've added a video on how to do this technique to the first post on page one of this thread.