What type of applicator do you use?

[Nick T.]

Originally posted in another thread by 4DSC
Sometimes I've found normal waxing with a foam pad alone can shear off some of the contamination from the paint just like clay does. That's why I have to change (or flip/rotate) applicators sometimes and find it's picking up dirt, even though I was sure to clean the paint first.

Foam, terry, microfiber pad, or microfiber towel? What do you think is best, and why?

In my never ending battle to end micro-marring on my black paint it occurred to me that maybe the applicators were partially to blame, so having an “<B>e</B>nquiring mind” I wanted to know what the differences are between the various applicators. Here’s what you can do to duplicate my experimenting:

Get new and unused pads, a foam pad, a terry pad, and a microfiber pad. Pick a relatively mar free area on your paint. Put <B>no product</B> on any of the pads and rub a small area with moderate pressure using each <B>dry</B> pad. You probably gonna say, “<I>What? Rub my beautiful paint with a <B>dry</B> applicator! Not in this lifetime!</I>” Well, I did - and now I know why I use what I use. BTW, it did take some polishing to get rid of the marring that the testing caused.

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[blkZ28Conv]

I use a variant. The sponge that is found inside a terry applicator. This small-cell sponge is great for applying thin coats of products and appear very gentle to my black finish.

I do use terry and foam for my polishing / cleansing steps because of their slight "cutting" capabilities.

Nick, what were your results?

[drrac2]

What were the results of your experiment?
I know one individual who applies wax to his finish with his fingertips. Apparently it takes forever, but he swears by the method. He claims no marring and uses very little product.
His car always looks great, but its red (very forgiving IMO).

[paco]

Many actually apply wax by hand. The heat from your hands melt the carnuba. It also allows you to assess your paint at the same time and see if there are any bonded contaminates. I tried it once and found it a bit messy and time consuming so I went back to old faithful and use a foam pad.

[2wheelsx2]

I use a terry pad for anything with cleaning ability. The terry seems to have a bit more "bite". Foam if it's a pure wax, which I just slather on with almost no pressure.

For Klasse, I have been using the terry covered foam pads so far, but because of uneven spreading, I may go to pure foam pads soon.

[Calestus]

i use terry for inside stuff and foam type pads for outside stuff

[IndigoGTI]

I have been using terry pads the last few times I have polished/waxed the cars, but I don't like the uneven application of product. I will definitely switch back to foam, unless I am applying Zaino of course.

[Nick T.]

Originally posted by blkZ28Conv
Nick, what were your results?

The results were very surprising to me!

I collected some pads (yellow, blue, and gray foam, terry, and MF), positioned a halogen over my front fender, and QD’d the test area. Had some second thoughts about doing this - wasn’t looking forward to repairing the probable damage - but proceeded anyway. I gradually applied more pressure to each pad in turn, checking often for marring - and found that it took pretty heavy pressure to get even the slightest marring. All pads past the test with flying colors! There was little or no difference between any of the pads that I used.

This testing changed my mind about pad selection! IMO it would take a lab testing environment to detect any significant difference between any of these pads. In the real world I think the choice boils down to two factors; evenness of product application and how it feels in your hand.

My choice has been to use small squares of MF towel for wax/sealant because, being an old fart, I just can’t get used to using these new-fangled pads!

<B>YMMV!</B>
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[blkZ28Conv]

Cool test.

Now we see why there are so many personal choices of pad usages and they are all correct.

[//MMMGood]

The same couldn't be true of the polishes and waxes could it? :P

Peter Hsu

[4DSC]

Nice test Nick, thanks!

I just remembered I did post up a CD scratch test a while back where I tested a Turtle Wax terry covered applicator and was surprised to find it didn't harm it. I've been using that for hand polishing and Megs foam pads for glazing/waxing.

[SickOfItAll]

MF applicators all the way - actually I'm glad I saw this thread, I should probably order another half dozen.