XMT Polishing Pad Cleaner is a beast.

**y8s** · 12-03-2012, 09:50 PM

XMT Polishing Pad Cleaner by Pinnacle For your dual action or rotary polisher.

That stuff ^^

Over the weekend I did some heavy cleanup work on a 1998 Honda Civic with some neglected--rather, "forgotten"--paint. I Iron-Xed, Speedy Prepped, and washed it really well and after doing a couple test spots to determine the best course of action, decided that I wanted to start aggressive.

I opted to use the Lake Country Ultra-fiber microfiber 5.5 inch pad and Optimum Compound II.

And since I'm a relative n00b with microfiber pads, I probably overloaded and overworked this one. Here's my technique of rendering a pad useless:

1. Do your test spot on Saturday. Don't wash the pad.
2. Do 80% of a hood with 10 section passes for each section using the same pad.
3. Add too much product
4. Clean on the fly and with the brush, but only a little.
5. Get that compound caked on to the pad in a solid, matted mess until it starts dusting and sticking to the hood so you can't remove the compound.
6. Let the pad sit overnight. Heck, let it sit all the next day too.

I wish I had a picture to show you, but I don't. Just imagine a solid clump of spent product and maybe a little visible texture. No good.

I tried brushing it out with my pad brush and it just dragged lines in the surface. I sprayed it down with the XMT Pad Cleaner and tried again. It almost did something. So I pulled off the spray head and held my finger over the opening and poured a little more generous helping onto the pad. I then hit it with the brush and the compound started to come free. Several minutes of scrubbing and rinsing later, I had a pad that was soft and fuzzy and looked like new.

If you were to compare the tortured pad to the one that did the last section after cleaning both, you wouldn't be able to guess which was which. For a while, the grungier looking pad was the one that had the least use--but even that came out easily with enough of the XMT cleaner.

If there was one thing I'd change about it, it would be the smell and method of application. The spray nozzle gets too much into the air and it burns my nose. If it had a squeeze bottle top, I could get more product where I needed it more quickly.

Thumbs up for clean microfiber!

OK Fine I took a picture.

Matt

**TheCougarGuy** · 12-04-2012, 08:37 AM

I just got a bottle of that cleaner with the Flex kit I just bought. I used it to clean up pads I used on red single stage paint. It worked great. The pads looks new with no staining from the single stage.

Great stuff!

**Audi X2** · 12-04-2012, 08:50 AM

I have used the XMT pad cleaner and it did work well, but after trying the product made by Grit Guard I have not looked back. The Grit Guard PRS cleans everything extremely well and does not have very strong fumes. It works well used by itself or with the pad washer.

Grit Guard Pad Renewing Solution

**cartman57** · 12-04-2012, 09:24 AM

I agree with your comments about XMT, it's good stuff.
The sprayer atomizies the liquid to a very fine mist, the cleaning capability is outstanding. Finally used up my first bottle and ordered a second one but transfered to a different bottle with adjustable spray nozzle.
Works well on MF towels too if there aren't enough for a load in the washer, spray and wash in the sink with hot water with some Dawn.

**Vegas Transplant** · 12-04-2012, 09:33 PM

I respect the way that you keep it real y8s

Wonder how effective it would be on an OMF pad used for polishing bumpers and such?

**y8s** · 12-05-2012, 08:52 AM

haha

metal polishing wheels like to be gunked up with rouge dont they?

**Vegas Transplant** · 12-05-2012, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by y8s

haha

metal polishing wheels like to be gunked up with rouge dont they?

Yeah but I have a rake and nail blocks for those.

This pad came relatively clean with Dawn and the power washer, engine near idle.

**addysdaddy** · 12-05-2012, 12:50 PM

I've been using P21s TAW with good success! It's a citrus based cleaner that I spray onto the pad once it's "spent." Let it sit in a bucket till I'm done and agitate the pad surface by hand onto a grit guard. Fill the bucket with hot water and let all the pads soak for about 1 hr. Then rinse quickly and let soak in DP Pad Rejuvenator for an 1 hr. Rinse and set out to dry on grit guards that serve as drying racks. Pads looks great.

**cardaddy** · 12-05-2012, 04:17 PM

I've not had to deal with a pad that caked up, (yet). Although I've one car here that needs some work, and an SUV that has serious water spots in the clear, so I see it coming while the weather is cool enough to put that much effort into it.

FWIW I'm willing to bet the smell that burns your nose is good old hydrofluoric acid. I used to buy it 5 gallons at a time to do aluminum brightening, as well as frame cleaning on a fleet of tow trucks. OMG It will reach down into your lungs and pull every last bit of breath out! I noticed that familiar smell first time I used XMT (along with a Windex smell).

Hydrofluoric acid is fantastic for a ton of uses but will cause serious and unrepairable damage if it gets on paint undiluted ,(or even diluted depending on conditions). I used to use it on anything and everything. After all, it's pretty much in any wheel cleaner you find and you know how one works fine and the other trashes your wheels. Buyer Beware!

**RMM** · 12-05-2012, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by cardaddy

I've not had to deal with a pad that caked up, (yet). Although I've one car here that needs some work, and an SUV that has serious water spots in the clear, so I see it coming while the weather is cool enough to put that much effort into it.

FWIW I'm willing to bet the smell that burns your nose is good old hydrofluoric acid. I used to buy it 5 gallons at a time to do aluminum brightening, as well as frame cleaning on a fleet of tow trucks. OMG It will reach down into your lungs and pull every last bit of breath out! I noticed that familiar smell first time I used XMT (along with a Windex smell).

Hydrofluoric acid is fantastic for a ton of uses but will cause serious and unrepairable damage if it gets on paint undiluted ,(or even diluted depending on conditions). I used to use it on anything and everything. After all, it's pretty much in any wheel cleaner you find and you know how one works fine and the other trashes your wheels. Buyer Beware!

If you don't have calcium gluconate at hand you should never use products with HF. A lot of people on this forum aren't aware of the danger they incurr when using something like Meg's Wheel Brightener.