Review and How-To: Griots Garage 6" Surface Prep Pad

Review and How-To: Griot's Garage 6" Surface Prep Pad


Now you can throw away your detailing clay and remove contaminants by machine!


Griot's Garage 6" Surface Prep Pad

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Most people that know me through the online car detailing world know that I prefer to do as many procedures by machine instead of working by hand because simply put, the human hand cannot compete with the results you can create when working by machine.

Not only is this true when machine compounding, polishing and waxing paint but it's also true when it comes to removing above surface bonded contaminants like,

1. Overspray paint
2. Tree sap mist
3. Industrial fallout
4. Traffic pollution
5. Airborne dirt, dust and contaminants

The above types of airborne contaminants land on your car's finish anytime you're car is outside. Whether you're driving it or if it's parked at work or outside when at home. Over time, contaminants build-up on the exterior surface and form such a strong bond that they won't wash off when you wash your car.

Historically, the way professional detailers and do-it-yourselfers would remove these types of contaminants is by using detailing clay. Griot's Garage has introduced a new tool that will enable you to remove these contaminants by MACHINE!

This new tool is called the Griot's Garage 6" Surface Prep Pad and in my opinion and experience it is the BEST way to effectively remove 100% of any contaminants on your car's finish. It works better than normal car detailing clay and besides working better it lasts longer. Plus - if you drop it on the ground you can simply wash the surface off and then continue to use it.

Last longer than clay
Normal detailing clay loads up with the contaminants you're removing of your car's finish. As you use the clay you knead and re-knead it to expose fresh clay to work with. In reality, as you knead a used clay patty you not only fold the contaminants into the clay but you also fold or move them back out to the working surface so you're never truly working 100% clean. Then at some point the clay becomes so loaded with contaminants that you must throw the clay away and switch to a new piece of clay.

Griot's Garage 6" Surface Prep Pad lasts 5 times longer than traditional clay plus because you can wash and rinse the contaminants off the surface as you work around the car you're always working clean for better results faster.



Griot's Garage new 6" Surface Prep Pad for working by machine or hand!

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The diamond pattern embossed into the polymerized rubber surface creates channels for contaminants to flow into instead of becoming trapped between the pad and the paint for a safer and more effective decontamination process.

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The foam core enables the pad to flex to maintain surface contact when machine decontaminating curved body panels.

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Directions

Step 1: Break in new pads on glass before using on paint

When starting out with a brand new pad it's important to break in the polymerized rubber surface by running it over some clean glass like the windshield.

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Mist some Griot's Garage Speed Shine onto a section of clean glass.

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Run the pad over a section of glass for about 5 to 6 section passes on the 3 to 4 speed setting.

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Your pad is now broken in and read to use on paint.

Step 2: Mist a generous amount of Griot's Speed Shine onto a section of paint.

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Step 3: Using only a little more than the weight of the machine, move the Surface Prep Pad over the paint on the 3-4 speed setting.

Adjust the speed setting so that you can clearly see pad rotation. The pad must be rotating for effective contaminant removal.

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Step 3: Repeat this process over the rest of the car.

After decontaminating a section of paint or an entire panel, use a clean microfiber towel to wipe off and remove any residues.

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The best way to maximize gloss...
If you're looking for the maximum shine out of our car's finish then look into the Griot's Garage 6" Surface Prep Pad. Gloss comes from a smooth surface. Taking your car's finish to show car quality starts with getting the paint as smooth as possible by removing any contaminants off the surface. After removing contaminants off the surface the next step is to remove defects like swirls and scratches below the surface. The combination of addressing above surface bonded contaminants followed by removing below surface paint defects is the approach professional detailers use to create award winning paint on show car and you can create these same results on your car.



After decontamination

I took these two pictures after ONLY washing and decontaminating the paint using the new Griot's Garage 6" Surface Prep Pad by machine and the new Griot's Synthetic Clay by hand. As you can see in the pictures the gloss is amazing!

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On Autogeek.com


Griots Garage 6 inch Surface Prep Pad

Griots Garage 6 Inch Random Orbital Polisher

Griots Garage Speed Shine Detailer - 35 oz

All Griot's Products



:)

Just to note...

I did the baggie test to this car to determine if it actually needed to be clayed, or mechanically decontaminated. The baggie test showed the paint was rough.

While my experience is these types of tools, that is this 6" Surface Prep Pad works better than clay, one thing I like about clay is you can "sometimes" get an idea of what the contamination is on the paint because it will show up on the clay.

For example if you clay a car and see red colored contaminants coming off the paint and onto the clay you can guess that it's possible the contaminants are read overspray paint.

So before using the Griot's 6" Surface Prep Pad on this car I took the liberty to use some white detailing clay and here's what it looked like after using the clay on just a section of the paint on the hood.



I like to use clay when I'm curious to see the color of the contaminants on the paint. Other methods work great to remove contaminants but clay can show you what's coming off the paint.

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Sometimes I like to place the clay on a white microfiber towel to show the contrast...

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Interesting...


:)

Thanks for the review Mike. I have been thinking about alternates to clay, I will have to pick this up

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NickZ28

Thanks for the review Mike. I have been thinking about alternates to clay, I will have to pick this up

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Thanks and a comment...

My experience is that using a pad like this on a machine does a better job of removing more of the bonded contaminants than any other method of doing mechanical decontamination.

The exception might be doing the mechanical decontamination step during the washing step while the car is all wet. This is just one of methods I share in our 3-day competition ready detailing classes and its for the class on Production Detailing, which is VERY different than show car detailing.

The thing about show car detailing is a lot of these types of cars as a professional courtesy to the owners I don't wash them with running water thus I can't use the clay mitts during the wash process as there is no "wash process" but instead these types of cars are cleaned using a waterless wash or a rinseless wash. Thus my experience is when you're not going to do a normal wash then the pad on an orbital polisher is the best option for removing the most contaminants and thus the best way to maximize gloss, which is the goal for a show car finish.


If any of that makes sense?


:)

I like the idea of using the Surface Prep Pad because it seems to save time as well as wear and tear on the body.

I asked the question over on Griotsgarage.com:
I am using the 6" Surface Prep Pad on a Porter Cable 7346SP. With any pressure at all, the Porter Cable slows its rotation so that there is little, if any, rotation. This is when I am using speed setting 2 or 3. Should I increase the speed setting?

The answer was:

No, the 6" Surface Prep Pad should only be used on a Speed of "One."

There were two other responses to questions on Griot’s Garage that recommended using Speed Setting of 1 or 2.

I recall, but can’t seem to find it now, a post from Mike Phillips here stating that Speed Setting of 3 or 4 can be used because it is necessary to keep the pad spinning.

I am assuming that if the 7436 can’t keep the pad spinning I first need to use less pressure. If that doesn’t cause the pad to start spinning again, should I increase the Speed Setting?

Request – any chances of getting a video of the Surface Prep Pad being used?

Somewhat related question – would it be worthwhile to get a Flex3401 to use with the Surface Prep Pad to ensure the Surface Prep pad stays rotating?

TIA for any responses/thoughts, etc.

You need pad rotation for effective contamination removal.

Turn up the speed on your PC until you see good pad rotation while moving the pad over the paint.

Gear-driven orbitals like FLEX, Makita and RUPES can be used effectively at lower speeds like 3ish.

:)

Mike, Thank you for the reply. I appreciate it. I certainly did not expect it on the weekend.

Next question is regarding how much Speed Shine Lubricant (i.e. Detailing fluid) I should be using. I am assuming that it has to be enough that the surface being decontaminated is still wet at the end. I hope that question makes sense.

If you are searching for ideas for your next video, can I suggest a short one showing your use of the Surface Prep Pad using a DA polisher?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AeroncaChamp

Next question is regarding how much Speed Shine Lubricant (i.e. Detailing fluid) I should be using. I am assuming that it has to be enough that the surface being decontaminated is still wet at the end. I hope that question makes sense.

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Yes.

:)

Thank you. Now stop doing work stuff!