Machine application issues ... It was the PADS!

**Don** · 05-24-2015, 03:45 AM

IT WAS THE PADS!!

So like I mentioned earlier, I was going to use a Meguiar`s yellow polishing pad to see if I had any better luck applying the Ult Liquid... MAN DID I EVER! 4 dime sized drops to prime the pad and that amount did the entire hood, 4 more drops, the entire roof and 2 drops the trunk lid. After that 4 drops would do two complete panels. I did have to go over each panel several times, because I couldn`t really see for sure where it had been applied and where it hadn`t.

For removal, there was no buffing involved, just an easy wipe with a clean microfiber, this is where I found out for sure I had covered every bit of the car, there was a light tug, then smoothness on the second pass. There were no oily swirls, streaks, dark patches, nothing but paint with a super high gloss ... I`m extremely pleased with the process and the results. My suggestion to anyone having trouble like I was ... switch to a slightly firmer pad, it makes a world of a difference

**Bunky** · 05-24-2015, 05:06 AM

What pads were you using?

I had tried using a Rupes with a HT Crimson and it seemed to hop a little so switched back to B&S blue and problem solved.

**Don** · 05-24-2015, 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by Bunky

What pads were you using?

I had tried using a Rupes with a HT Crimson and it seemed to hop a little so switched back to B&S blue and problem solved.

I was using LC variable contact black finishing pads (they were old, but in good shape). The pads absorbed a good 90 percent of the Ult Wax and never released it onto the paint and one of them collapsed on me. I didn`t let the second one get that far, because I had recognized the signs of collapse and just quit using it and went to hand application. The LC pads were A LOT softer and more absorbent than the Megs hand applicator pad and the Megs yellow polishing pads were more like the hand applicator in in firmness and aggressiveness.

I did get a little color off of the roof (ss paint) but all in all things went extremely well with near perfect THIN, THIN, THIN application. Just a whisper of product on the paint. The polishing pad even seemed to clean up well after soaking in a 1:1 Simple Green solution for about two hours. So my opinion is that some finishing pads are just too soft & absorbent for sealant/wax application.

**MiVor** · 05-24-2015, 08:08 AM

Just my $.02, but I think sometimes a softer (less dense) pad sucks and holds product deep in the pad instead of putting it down on the surface. `It`s said` (somewhere) that these softer pads are for for LSP application, but I think my white `polishing` pad (a medium density) works better.

**Don** · 05-24-2015, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by MiVor

Just my $.02, but I think sometimes a softer (less dense) pad sucks and holds product deep in the pad instead of putting it down on the surface. `It`s said` (somewhere) that these softer pads are for for LSP application, but I think my white `polishing` pad (a medium density) works better.

Well, I`m "proof" of "What`s said somewhere." The firmer, denser pad was the magic bullet for my troubles.

**MiVor** · 05-24-2015, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Don

Well, I`m "proof" of "What`s said somewhere." The firmer, denser pad was the magic bullet for my troubles.

What I meant was that pad mfg`s recommend the softer (less dense) pads for LSP`s (perhaps just to sell more), but they just don`t seem to work as well as the firmer (higher density) pads.

**Don** · 05-24-2015, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by MiVor

What I meant was that pad mfg`s recommend the softer (less dense) pads for LSP`s (perhaps just to sell more), but they just don`t seem to work as well as the firmer (higher density) pads.

An expensive lesson for me, since I wasted so much UPW on only 3 cars

**MiVor** · 05-25-2015, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by Don

An expensive lesson for me, since I wasted so much UPW on only 3 cars

Sometimes lessons cost a little, sometimes a lot - it`s a sliding scale. The important thing is that they`re learned!

**Accumulator** · 05-25-2015, 12:32 PM

Don- Glad you got things dialed in. I too generally prefer firmer pads; as long as the pad doesn`t have any cut in-and-of itself it`s usually soft enough for me to LSP with. Wasn`t all *that* long ago that they simply didn`t *make* the extra-soft LSPing pads and I did fine back then too. But I don`t have problematic/stupid-soft paint either.

I *do* hear that the LC gold LSPing pad is really good though, still intend to try it out some day. Eh, I never did really like those black LC pads, still have a few of `em just sitting around unused.