pad life

**rockymountaindetail** · 05-08-2009, 09:53 AM

For the professional detailers:

how many times do you wash and re-use your pads?

Is there a guideline or a recommended amount of times to wash and re-use from Lake Country?

I`m getting good life out of mine, many times it is a tear or rip from a piece of trim that is the final blow. Just curious on how long they hold up for others.

Thanks

**Todd@RUPES** · 05-08-2009, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by rockymountaindetail

For the professional detailers:

how many times do you wash and re-use your pads?

Is there a guideline or a recommended amount of times to wash and re-use from Lake Country?

I`m getting good life out of mine, many times it is a tear or rip from a piece of trim that is the final blow. Just curious on how long they hold up for others.

Thanks

CMA`s pads use only the highest quality Lake Country foams, regardless of pad size and design. You should notice, particularly with our larger white foam pads, that they last a very long time. I have pads that are up to three years old and probably have polished 150 cars or so (maybe more?) and work great.
I wash all of my pads with 10:1 Meguiar`s Super Degreaser right after using them, then rinse them out thoroughly in a bucket, then spin dry.
The biggest issue is the Velcro `delaminating` from the pad. When we first released the dual foam Constant Pressure technology pads, we had an issue with a little under 1% of the pads. However we went to the back to the drawing board with Lake Country and now a super adhesive that should outlast the foam.

If you dry the pads reasonably well after washing, they should last a VERY long time.

**imported_Luster** · 05-08-2009, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by th0001

. I have pads that are up to three years old and probably have polished 150 cars or so (maybe more?) and work great.

Wow!!! I have some orange "flat" pads that are almost 3 years old, but the backing is starting to come loose. Some others I`ve torn on a piece of chrome trim (before I learned to mask it off!).

But I haven`t used them NEARLY 150 times. Maybe 30 times... I also have some CCS pads that I`ve used maybe 20 times that look brand new! I guess there`s still quite a bit of life left in them!

**Todd@RUPES** · 05-08-2009, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by Luster

Wow!!! I have some orange "flat" pads that are almost 3 years old, but the backing is starting to come loose. Some others I`ve torn on a piece of chrome trim (before I learned to mask it off!).

But I haven`t used them NEARLY 150 times. Maybe 30 times... I also have some CCS pads that I`ve used maybe 20 times that look brand new! I guess there`s still quite a bit of life left in them!

To be fair I have no idea on the actual number. I have a white 7.5 inch CCS pad from CMA that is atleast 3 years old and I probably have used it atleast on 1 car a week (sometimes 5 in 3 days) since I have owned it. Maybe more?

I really think the key is to wash them frequently.

**Spoons2k** · 05-08-2009, 04:57 PM

i get good life out of my smaller 4 in and 6 1/2 pads then i do the 7 1/2 pads LCC pads the constant pressure ones mabe its just me i wash them frequently but the 7 1/2 pads just dont last me well

**imported_Termigator** · 05-08-2009, 06:17 PM

The old 6" LC pads didn`t last too long for me because my PC`s 6" backing plate would start grabbing at the edge of the blue foam. After a while, the pieces of the blue foam would start flying around during polishing. The 6.5" pads have solved the problem because the the entire plate rests on the velcro backing. The pads last much longer for me now.:smile: