Mini Review-- Buff & Shine Low-Pro Foam Pads for Long Throw Polishers

[pwaug]

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Info From Buff & Shine

-Specifically designed to resist the stress and tearing action of long throw polishers
-Foams designed for long throw machines--run cooler and don’t collapse or soften from the heat
-Denser foams reduce polish absorption by the foam keeping it on the surface of the pad for quicker, more efficient defect removal
-Flame, fuel, oil resistant rubber interface for improved balance and reduced vibration
-Center cooling hole aids in pad positioning on the polisher

Green Pad--Extra Cut
Orange Pad--Light Cut/Heavy Polishing
Maroon Pad--Polishing
Red Pad--Finishing/LSP Application

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My Measurements

Small Pads--5.5” diameter foam, 4 15/16” diameter Velcro, 7/8” total thickness, ¼” interface pad thickness, 5/8” foam thickness

Large Pads--6.5” diameter foam, 6 1/16” diameter Velcro, 15/16” total thickness, ¼” interface pad thickness, 11/16” foam thickness


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I used the 5.5” pads with HD Adapt on a 2005 Altima that was in pretty bad shape. Clear was hard, but not as hard as VW clear.

My Observations

-Previously I’ve used my G15 with Buff & Shine’s standard 5.5” foam pads and was happy with the smoothness and lack of vibration, but with the Low-Pro pads I was amazed at how much smoother, with even less vibration, the polisher operated.
-The beveled edge (foam is tapered to wider diameter than the interface rubber) really allows you to safely polish close to protruding objects.
-Polishing product definitely does seem to ride on the surface of the foam rather than be absorbed by the pad--made cleaning on the fly much more effective.

After some test spots

Green Pad
--very firm (firmer than a B&S yellow), very fast cut--almost as much as a MF pad--used to do some spot polishing on deeper rids which it removed in a snap but I was surprised how well it finished.
Orange Pad
--again very firm--firmer than a B&S standard orange pad --almost as firm as the Low-pro green pad--cut really well and finished LSP ready on this harder Altima clear--ended up being the pad of choice for this car--this could be a great pad for one steps on harder clear
Maroon Pad
--firmer than a B&S standard green polishing pad--tried it on a few spots--really cut well for a polishing pad and finished very, very well--can’t wait to use this on my spring detail on my two Vws with just light wash marring--could be a great pad for one steps on softer clear
Red Pad
--dramatically softer than the Maroon pad--can’t see myself using the G15 for LSP application but this could be a great pad for refinement on nonmetallic black cars-didn’t have a chance to use this on the Altima --very dense pores like the standard red B&S pad so it should keep LSPs from soaking in just as well

Overall Impressions

High Quality--I’ve never had a B&S pad blow up, shred or the Velcro separate so I believe these will be just as high quality. You can see how much effort is taken to create a top notch pad--the edges are finished very well and the Velcro almost looks like it’s fused to the interface rubber.

The pads just seem to glide over the paint doing their job with no effort on your part.

Pad cleaning after the car was complete was a snap -- soaked in Dawn for a couple of hours then sprayed with APC and rinsed--easy to remove product as it was for the most part on the surface of the pad

Pricing--as others have mentioned I was disappointed to see these were priced right up there with Rupes and Boss pads but I’ll have no problem spending the extra $$ for a quality product.

[Ronkh]

Cool review

I need to try bs pads

[jtford95]

Me too

[Oldfordisbetter]

Great review. Need to see a couple more positive reviews before I can justify spending the extra cash for these pads. Plus, I have to many pads the way it is.

[Detailology Oz]

Wonder if it`s European foam or American. They have both in their lineup
Euro being far superior most times.

[4u2nvinmtl]

How do they compare to the LC HD long throw pads (assuming you`ve tried those as well)?

[JSFM35X]

Nice review, but if they are up there with the Rupes Pads, I would rather fund their company since they are the innovator of the industry not the imitator so I will reward them with my business. If I could save some $, I would give it/them a shot.

Thanks for your review.

[House of Wax]

Nice review. I need to pick up some new pads soon and will keep these in mind

[GearHead_1]

Wonder if it`s European foam or American. They have both in their lineup
Euro being far superior most times.

Interesting comment.

[pwaug]

Wonder if it`s European foam or American. They have both in their lineup
Euro being far superior most times.

I believe it`s a new foam developed for these pads. Don`t know for sure if it`s one or the other, but it feels, looks and behaves like their standard Eurofoam pads.