CMA pads....

[breakneckvtec]

Now its my understanding that the yellow pad is a cutting pad and has some abrasive qualities to aid in the removal of paint blemishes. Do the CMA pads do this, or not really?

[Riccar]

yes. the yellow pad "cuts" more than the white. The gray pad is for buffing only.

[breakneckvtec]

So then if your swirls arent that bad it may not be necessary to use an abrasive to remove some because you could use the yellow pad from time to time to take care of some light swirls correct?:nixweiss

[mzgloves20]

The pad has to have some type of viscus material. Or do you mean with a non-abrasive medium and the cutting ability of the pad alone?

[breakneckvtec]

Well I ask because I am looking for a way to reduce swirls to a minimum. I want to use 3M SMR with the yellow pad to remove/reduce swirls and then go with zaino once I have the surface the way I want. I also have about 2 or 3 minor 2" scratches I wanted to hit with the fine cut compound as well before zaino. What do you guys think?

[shaf]

I think I`m finally getting what you`re thinking. You`re conflicted about the harshness of the pad versus the harshness of the product you`re using right?



You could try using SMR with a cutting pad, and it might work, but DavidB once told a bunch of us that pads and products should work together, and I kind of agree in theory. Pads are to enhance the cutting power of polishes, not to replace the abrasiveness of a product because you should be polishing with the product, not the foam of the pad. Seeing as how SMR is on the "pretty mild" side, I`d pair that up with a polishing pad, as I would with other stuff like cleaner waxes, pre-cleaners, etc. Stuff like the fine cut compounds and stronger I`d pair with a cutting pad. DACP is a bit of an "in between" product and I imagine you could use either depending on what you`re doing.



Just get out there and try out the SMR on either pad (I`m sure people have done this anyway) and see where it takes you.

[breakneckvtec]

Yes, that is what I was getting at. I have just decided to take knowledge learned from here and just start trying products and different combos till I find what I like. My first attempt will be 3M SMR and followed by the complete zaino.