Pads - velcro issues?!?!

[Bates Detailing]

Alright guys..... I have bought 12 cutting pads (3m and some other brand) in the past month for the makitas - I am down to 5! All due to the backing coming off . Granted we use them almost daily, but they are fine other than the backing coming loose - does anyone else have these issues?!?!?! It has happened on one cyclo pad over the last year, but these cutting pads are coming loose to soon! Could it be the heat melting the glue from letting them sundry while at jobs?!!?!?

[Vegas Transplant]

Last post and I'm calling it quits 'til Monday.

First of all, you get more mileage out of your pads in a week than I get in two months.

Heat definitely plays a role, and so do the cleaning agents used when getting their deep cleaning. But whenever I get delamination issues (bp or pad), it's usually due to the slipshod way of just ripping the pad from the bp.
Hot pad/bp = softened adhesive.

I'm anal about getting my nail under the pad and pinching with thumb and forefinger to remove...I learned to do this because of the LC issue with the cyclo pads back in '08, and I follow thru religiously ever since, regardless of da or rotary, foam or MF.

Now, if only I could remember not to drop the pressure washer wand every time that it leaves my hand, then I would be accomplishing something.

My OCD and Two Cents. I'm out...c'ya on the forums next week.

[Madkatz]

do they all have a specific spot where they come lose? like all on the sides or all of them start from the center?

next what polisher are you using? DA? Rotary?

based on my experience, although i don't detail regularly and on a daily basis but before i detailed for weeks using the same pads, what i noticed was most of the pads we used where the center came loose first was caused by heat, we first experienced this with the GG6 where applying too much pressure during the compounding stage is very tempting to get faster correction simply because it doesn't bog down, i asked a friend of mine and he said the heat might be generated from the motor since it is under stress and that it could translate to the backing plate and then the pad, true enough we tried a new backing plate and a new pad put some pressure and buffed a panel and the actual female thread of the polisher and the male thread of the polisher were too hot to touch, and it did seem like it translated into the backing plate and then the pad since the most damage we had was on the center, as for pads coming off from a rotary polisher, my only experience was that it came off while buffing at high speeds while the pad was damp, just cleaned using pad washer, spun them at speed 6 for a good minute or so and then went back to buffing, it seemed that the moisture softened the adhesives because even though we did not see any foam melt, the area of the backing plate and the backing plate was hot, we used a 5" BP on a 6.5" pad and only the area where the 5" BP was attached to the pad came loose, i also believe some people here associate it with using too much product but i doubt it would be the same in your case

now if its on the sides, this is one i experienced also with using larger pads with smaller backing plates while buffing on curves and edges, and we usually experience these on softer pads, what we noticed was since we used a smaller backing plate 5" for a 6.5" pad or 6" for a 7.5" to 8.5" pad that when we buff on corners the edge of the pad tend to fold a bit where the backing plate doesn't support the remaining exposed backing material and its this fold that usually tends to break open

these are just me experience so it may be different from what your are experiencing but i am also very interested as to what is causing pad failure, but over the years i found that soaking the pad too long in pad cleaning solution can cause loosening of backing material and if after spin drying the pad you don't let it dry foam side down velcro side up it also soften the backing material, also spin drying isn't always the best way to dry pads, sometimes we actually remove more water with pinching one side and swinging it really fast by hand, we noticed with some pads like hydrotech that even if you spin dry it on a rotary it still retains a lot of water and product inside

another thing we did before was to use a pressure washer to clean the face of the pad, while this easily cleans the face of the pad it can't go down and break down the polishes and compounds inside the pad like really doing a proper pad wash does, and we noticed that the center of the pad somewhat became stiffer and crumbled after some use but i guess this is different from the backing material coming loose

[swanicyouth]

I have had this problem, but only when cleaning pads in the washer. Don't do that anymore. I've carefully Krazy Glued the Velcro back on right when it starts peeling in it surprisingly works well. You just have to be very careful to get all the glue under the Velcro.

Why someone can't come up with a better or more permanent glue is beyond me. Why doesn't anyone use The Edge Pads anymore? It seems like that would solve this problem, as each pad has a backing plate built into the center of it, correct?

[Madkatz]

For glues, i thought of using the same glues they use in rubber shoes since i thought if these glues can stick these babies together even when walking and even under a lot of change in shape and pressure it would probably hold well with backing plates and foam pads backing material coming off, so i went to a local shop that does those kinds of service and bought a little bottle of their glue, costs around 6$ for an oz but when i use it it worked pretty well now my cheapo backing plate from a cheapo brand isn't coming off anymore and any pads i've had work the edges of the backing material is stuck there real nice, its a no name brand since they didn't want to tell me what they're using but it might be a great idea for those who have this same problem, you might be able to get something similar and it might work well better than throwing these pads away, just a suggestion

[SeaJay's]

I've had this issue in the past and when I wash my pads in the washer. I don't do that anymore either.

I am using my pads more and more lately and I haven't run into any pre-mature failure of the backings. After awhile the backing will start to peel up along the edges. At that point they are used for hand polishing only or thrown away.

I actually had some serious issues with the 4" LC pads. The heat build up was loosening the glue and they separated several times. I have since switched to the cyclo 4" pads and have not had an issue. They use a more durable glue for their backing.