Is it bad to detail with a damp to wet pad after cleaning it?

[Contradiction]

Hi everyone,

Newbie to detailing my own car here and I want to detail my car tomorrow. I need to wash my foam orbital pads before I do it and I`m concerned that they will still be damp or even wet tomorrow if they don`t have enough time to air dry.

Is that going to cause any problems?

Or is it not going to have any effect at all?

Thanks!

[Stokdgs]

It will be better for doing the work if your pads are dry..
As you use them wet, and they get full of dead paint, compound residue, they then are no longer doing the job on your paintwork..
Is there a way you can put them on their edge and get them outside in the sun?
DanF

[SWETM]

The problem is often that they get heat build up very fast when they are wet or even damp. And also gets saturated much faster than a dry pad is as it`s almost saturated when you start to polish. If you don`t have any choice to use completly dry pads. Spin them dry and a rotary polisher is more effective than a DA. Squeze out as much water as possible before you attach the pad on the polisher. Get the speed setting higher as you go. Take of the pad and have a plush absorbant mf towel on a table or something like that. Press the pad against the mf towel with pressure in the center of the pad and push out to the edges. Just do it once on the same spot on the mf towel and see if you need to be doing it on a new dry spot of the mf towel. Feel on the mf towel if you have gotten it wet. You could be have a very week solution of destilled water and something like IPA or an IPA based product as it`s evaporate from the pad when drying. This is to get the surface tension of the water to break. You can also have 32oz bottle of destilled water and just a drop or 2 of dish soap as very little is needed to be effective to break the water tension. This makes if it`s reaching the water in the pad to get easier to run out from the pad as the capillary holding ability from it reduces very much too. When I think of it you may be doing a soaking in water with the drop or 2 of dish soap in bowl as the last step when you have rinsed out the pad thoroughly and you finish with this little bath and press it into the pad. And squeze out the leftover of that water should be easier and don`t think that little of dish soap will effect your pad. Just use very little of the dish soap in a higher amount than at least 32 oz of water. To help you get the pads as dry as possible.

Switch pads more often as they get saturated faster. It`s also can be a problem if you use an oil based polish. Most newer well knowned polishes is water based with an emulssion of oils and water. So there you don`t have any problems if the pad is slightly moist if that`s lesser than damp LOL. When I think of it maybe some drops of ONR or other rinseless wash and waterless washes product could work good too instead of the dish soap drops. Some use those pad washer buckets on the fly to clean them with. Mostly rotary users do this and have a pad cleaner solution in the bucket of it. And some ad a couple of drops of ONR in the pad cleaner solution. Also if you have an air compressor to blow out the water as much as possible with the pad on the polisher and full speed while you blow out the water. Just so you take some extra step to get it as dry as possible before you use it again. And even switch between 2 pads after every section you have polished. So they cool down enough until the next section you polishing with it. There are a couple of things to do to get the pad as dry as possible before you use it. Just remember that you maybe only can use it for a couple of polishing sections before you need to be cleaning them again. And also maybe you don`t get the highest performance from them that way. But it can work for getting good results from polishing. Just have a look at the heat build up in the pad. As this is what can wear them down fast.

/ Tony

[Contradiction]

Thanks for the thorough replies! I washed them last night and squeezed them out against a MF towel and it seems like they are nearly dry now. They are sitting out in the sun now as well.

[Stokdgs]

Thanks for the thorough replies! I washed them last night and squeezed them out against a MF towel and it seems like they are nearly dry now. They are sitting out in the sun now as well.

Contradiction --
Great news !!! Yes, get them as dry as possible, and they will work longer, and do a better job..
I always use at least 6 or more of each type when Detailing a Client`s vehicle..
Dan F

[Accumulator]

Just as we once added water to some compounds (e.g., M105) to make them more aggressive and to increase the functional work-time, that can happen when using damp pads too.

Water has less lubricity than Polishing Oils, so the "wet component" of the product has a lower % of lubricants. And the water often doesn`t "flash off" as fast as the usual liquid portion of the product.

Not always a bad thing, but still worth keeping in mind.