Quote Originally Posted by rlmccarty2000 View Post
Thanks, I`ve only got one of the green ones left. I threw the first one away because it delaminated/destructed and there was no need to try to wash it. I do have one green 4 inch and one blue 4 inch that I will mail to you. I just bought a few new green pads here yesterday. I always use Rupes green pads with the corresponding green topped polish, but why couldn`t you use any pad with any polish? I have never heard any other pad manufacturer say not to use a certain polish with their pads. Any info would be appreciated.
There are only a handful of (actual)polish-grade foam manufacturers in the world, and most of that foam is sourced from one of several places in Europe. When you are a foam pad manufacturer, you are actually a foam pad converter. You purchase the foam in what amounts to a loaf, cut it, stamp it with your backing material, and off you go.

Prior to the BigFoot revolution, the foam you would purchase would be soft and designed for a rotary polisher. This is, of course, because rotaries made up 99% of the market. Rotary foam has to be soft; it must quickly contour to body panels while spinning at an edge speed greater than 30mph.

On an orbital polisher, the soft foam absorbs much of the movement of the DA - similar to a bowl of Jello jiggling on itself. The wasted engr. leads to heat build up inside the foam. Since most of the foam comes from the same source (this is why foam pad manufacturers tend to have identical colors/foams across their line up), the traditional way to solve this issue to remove surface area from the foam (reduce height and/or reduce diameter).

RUPES specified a number of unique (and proprietary) foam formulas that are resistant to lateral movement. This allows for an efficient transfer of energy to the paint, without the need for a small pad or pressure to compress the foam. The resin used inside the foam is unique and does not play well with certain aggressive solvents. However, it is carefully matched to the color-coordinated compounds, which is why Mike Phillip`s calls the blue/blue (Zephir blue compound / coarse blue foam) magical. When primed according to specification, the water-based blue compound will slightly soften the first millimeter or two of the pad, which allows for effective cutting without leaving too much haze (in some cases finishing out perfect, even on black). It`s part of the way each foam was engineered for the compound.

With certain compounds, which use an aggressive solvent in their carrier, the resin in the foam can break down quicker, dramatically shortening pad life.