First time DA'ing! Pad care and storage questions!

I have a Harbor Freight DA (gear grease has been changed) and a Buff and Shine backing plate for it. I've have Buff and Shine foam pads on hand; 3 orange, 2 white, and one black. I'll be using these on my black 2014 Mustang GT that I've kept in great shape and doesn't show a need for a really heavy correction (I've maintained the paint with a Meguiar's DA Power System until now).

I also have pad cleaner, pad condition, and a pad cleaning brush. How and when do I use these things? When I'm all done, how do I store the pads? Can I put them in a gallon ziplock bag to protect them from contamination? Any other tips for me?
Thank you!

You use the pad conditioner the first you are about to buff, before you put product on the pad.

Pad cleaning brush after you compound or polish a section or two. Turn your machine down to speed 1, turn upside down, and graze the brush over the spinning pad to kick out the spent product, and abraded paint. Once the pad no longer comes clean, install a fresh pad, and continue. I find that if I use a microfiber towel to wipe the wet product off the pad after brushing I get more use from the pad.

Pad cleaner once the job is done for the day. I spray them with the cleaner, and let them set for a few minutes. Then I massage the cleaner I brought the pores of the pad. My goal is to dislodge the residue from the cell walls of the pad, or the fibers from the microfiber. From there I massage them under running warm water until the rinse water is clear.

Sometimes I put them in a bucket with a solution of cleaner and water, and wash them under the water, then rinse them separately.

Once done I smash them between my hands to get as much water as possible out over the sink, then again folded in a towel, finally back on the polisher in a bucket to get the water out. I then set them on a cookie rack to air dry for a couple days. I don't usually put them in zip lock bags, especially if there is a chance they could still have water in them. I ruined a set of Meguiar's pads eighteen years ago to mold because I put them away wet in their bags.

Mike Phillips has a video on how to clean a pad with a towel, thats the technique I use for foam on a DA. Basically just grab the pad with the towel and turn it on. I clean the pad at the halfway mark on a hood, after a fender or a door. I usually use 4 pads compounding or polishing.

I posted this in another thread. I bought a piece of 1x4 from Lowes and some adhesive hook and loop on a roll. I cut the wood about 3 feet and stuck the Velcro to it. I hung it over my basement sink to allow the pads to drain and drip dry in the sink

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I have mine stored in a shoebox. They fit in there perfectly and the lid protects them yet the box and airflow insure they stay dry. I went to a local shoe store and they had several for me including smaller ones that fit my 4" pads.

I'm pretty similar to dlc95. I brush the pad after 2 sections. I used to use the towel method like Mike Phillips does until one time the towel got wrapped in the spindle and blew my machine. Luckily Griot's replaced it with the lifetime warranty. Now I'll just wipe it with a towel.

After mine dry for a few days foam side down on a wire shelf, I put them in ziploc bags. One thing I do is put a mark on the side of the pad with a sharpie each time I use it, so I know how many uses it has had (like tick marks). I rarely keep a pad beyond 2-3 uses. I typically use 2 pads on a regular size vehicle like a mid-size sedan. So maybe 8 panels per pad (roof, hood - count as 2 panels each, quarter panel, door, door, quarter panel...switch pad...trunk/bumper, quarter, door, door, quarter, front bumper). And I typically only use the used pads on my own vehicles. For customer cars, always new pads.

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Originally Posted by A2D Signature

I posted this in another thread. I bought a piece of 1x4 from Lowes and some adhesive hook and loop on a roll. I cut the wood about 3 feet and stuck the Velcro to it. I hung it over my basement sink to allow the pads to drain and drip dry in the sink

Attachment 48250

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Bravo👏🏼Great idea! Thanks for sharing.👍🏽

I like to keep my 5.5" pads in pretzel stick containers. They are around 5.5"-6" diameter and you can fit about six pads in them. Just make sure the pads are really dry first.

Thank you guys! This forum's subscription notification has been a bit crazy for me. I just received and email today saying someone had finally replied to my question; and it appears people had been replying since the 14th!

I ended up using a pad cleaning chemical from Pinnacle, and then I rinsed the pads over and over again in the tub of the foyer bathroom until the water squeezing out of them was clear. I then squashed them between my hands until I could press no more water out. The last part really annoyed my wife! I left the pads out on vanity in the foyer bathroom sink, flipping them occasionally, until they were dry. :) Once dry, I placed them into gallon ziplock bags for storage to protect them from dust contamination.