Replenishing Supplies: Pads

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Desertnate

Active member
Now that we`re into January and the Spring sales will most likely start next month, I`m starting research to gradually replenish my humble inventory of supplies that wore out/ran out last year. The products I`m faced with replacing are the only ones I`ve really used over the last 5~7 years of being a "serious" detailing enthusiast. As such, I`m reaching out to the vast experience of everyone here for your thoughts and advice. Today I`m looking at pads.

Background: Right now I own a Harbor Freight DA with the Lake Country 5" backing plate. It works great for my purposes and I have no need to replace it. I`ve been using Lake Country Flat Pads and am happy with their performance. However a year ago I was given some sample Thin Pro pads and was amazed at how much faster and easier they were to use. I still prefer the thicker Flats for curved surfaces, but when working on a door, hood, or roof, they were great. This made me to start thinking about possible options and what might be out there I hadn`t considered before. I currently only work on vehicles belonging to family members, so these pads aren`t being hammered on a daily basis. The white and orange pads have suited me well and I rarely find a need for anything lighter or more aggressive.

I`m not doing a wholesale replacement of my inventory. I`ll still have some Flat pads in great shape and only need to replace a those which have worn out. I`ll be operating in a "mixed mode" environment, but can see myself slowly replacing inventory one six-pack at a time.

Here are the choices I`m considering:

Thin Pros: I really liked the samples I used, but they are a bit pricey. Advantage is I`m familiar with the color scheme and how they perform.

Buff and Shine: The 5.5" pads are less expensive than the Thin Pros. Disadvantage is I know nothing about their color scheme or their size relative to the Thin Pro`s. I really like the way thinner pads work. The advantage is a lower price compared to the Lake Country pads.

?: Is there an offering from someone else who would suit my needs

I`ll also be moving on to new polishes as my previous supply has run out. That will be another thread for another day, but should stick with pads I know rather than both pads AND polishes to keep from changing too many variables all at once? Again, I`m just doing daily drivers and not a priceless Ferrari...I could be overthinking things.

Thanks in advance.
 
Griot`s and Megs also offer thinner pads. Not sure on pricing these days.

if you`re only doing one six-pack at a time, wait for those sales to come :) And slowly build up.

For polishes, yeah....it`s all (mostly) pretty good these days.
 
JustJesus said:
Griot`s and Megs also offer thinner pads. Not sure on pricing these days.

if you`re only doing one six-pack at a time, wait for those sales to come :) And slowly build up.

For polishes, yeah....it`s all (mostly) pretty good these days.
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Have you used either? Any better than the Lake Country? Both seem to be a bit higher in price than the Lake Countrys.

The Guz said:
One of Mike`s write up`s you may want to look at.

5.5" SUPER THIN FOAM PAD OPTIONS for your Dual Action Polisher
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Thanks! I`d forgotten that thread. I even posted in it.

Does anyone have an idea how the size of these thin pads compare to the Buff and Shine pads? Are the BnS pads thicker? The more pictures I look at, I`m starting to think they are thicker.
 
I think the B&S pads are thicker. The Meguiar`s thin foam pads are nice especially on a porter cable type tool. Haven`t used the griot`s boss pads or the thin pros.
 
Desertnate said:
Have you used either? Any better than the Lake Country? Both seem to be a bit higher in price than the Lake Countrys.

Does anyone have an idea how the size of these thin pads compare to the Buff and Shine pads? Are the BnS pads thicker? The more pictures I look at, I`m starting to think they are thicker.
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Yes. Both pads from Megs and Griot`s are good. I like `em (limited use, but so far, so good).

Is one pad better than the other? Can`t say, as Megs has a 3 foam pad line up. They work. Griot`s line up is 4 foam pads? Those work as well. Thin Pros have 5 foam pads in that line up. So, can`t truly compare, say a cutting ability, from one line up vs the other`s. All work well. At least IME. I do like the "Less is More" idea of only using 3 pads, but that`s just me.

For me, cost is always a consideration. I picked up more than a handful of the Megs during a sale on top of a sale (as in, Megs products are % off, during a storewide % off sale).

If you`re talking about the standard BnS flat pads, then yes, the thin pads are indeed thinner.
 
Desertnate said:
Both seem to be a bit higher in price than the Lake Countrys.
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Just checked
6 pack of Megs 5" - 55$
6 pack of Griot`s 5.5" - 55$
6 pack of LC 5.5" - 45$

So what about those choices? How do we choose which pads to stick in a 6 pack? Well, I tend to LSP by hand, so I wouldn`t really be interested in having Megs black foam pads in that 6 pack. I`d get like 3 Cut, 3 Polish. Pretty good, right? With Lake Country, there are 5 pads to choose from, so which ones do I get in the 6 pack??? 2 for cut, 2 for polish? But they also have the Extra Cut foam pad!! They also have the black and red soft foams....Yeah. So what other pads do we choose Me? I`d get, again, 3 (orange) and 3 (white). If I needed more cut, I`d use a Megs MF Cut disc.

But we`re talking about me, a hoarder of sorts. And I like to try different things. Soooo yeah. Sorry if made it more complicated. Just giving you a perspective :)

How nice it is to just KISS (Keep it Simple Simon)
 
The lc thin pro pads work great on the pc style polisher, b&s was ok as polishing not so great at cutting unless you go to their yeti fiber pads that can do both cut and polish. Should see what they can do with an all in one


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The orange, and white buff and shine foams are comparable to LC. The black b&s is stiffer than the LC, and the orange b&s seems more aggressive than the LC.

I actually don`t like thin pads on my PC. I don`t notice much of a difference, other than increased sensitivity to stalling.

My favorite are Lake Country Hydrotech. They have great rotation, and their closed cell composition makes very efficient cycling of the abrasives. They also finish incredibly well.

The draw backs are that the closed cell foam takes longer to dry after washing, and some polishing techniques tend to increase wear on the foam. I`ve also made the mistake of using them with too aggressive a backing plate, which ruined the pad while removing, and trying to spin a pad dry on a high speed. Ruined thatvpad too.
 
Thank you everyone for the information. I really appreciate it.

JustJesus said:
Is one pad better than the other? Can`t say, as Megs has a 3 foam pad line up. They work. Griot`s line up is 4 foam pads? Those work as well. Thin Pros have 5 foam pads in that line up. So, can`t truly compare, say a cutting ability, from one line up vs the other`s. All work well. At least IME. I do like the "Less is More" idea of only using 3 pads, but that`s just me.
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Fortunaly, the Thin Pro orange, white, and black pads are the same as my Flat pads. The gray Thin Pro is like a sanding disc, and since I use coatings these days I have no need for red.

JustJesus said:
Just checked
6 pack of Megs 5" - 55$
6 pack of Griot`s 5.5" - 55$
6 pack of LC 5.5" - 45$

So what about those choices? How do we choose which pads to stick in a 6 pack? Well, I tend to LSP by hand, so I wouldn`t really be interested in having Megs black foam pads in that 6 pack. I`d get like 3 Cut, 3 Polish. Pretty good, right? With Lake Country, there are 5 pads to choose from, so which ones do I get in the 6 pack??? 2 for cut, 2 for polish? But they also have the Extra Cut foam pad!! They also have the black and red soft foams....Yeah. So what other pads do we choose Me? I`d get, again, 3 (orange) and 3 (white). If I needed more cut, I`d use a Megs MF Cut disc.

But we`re talking about me, a hoarder of sorts. And I like to try different things. Soooo yeah. Sorry if made it more complicated. Just giving you a perspective :)

How nice it is to just KISS (Keep it Simple Simon)
Click to expand...

Choosing the color of the pads isn`t difficult. I only need the white and orange. I might throw in a black pad in case I want to do some jeweling or come across insanely soft paint.

danlc95 said:
I actually don`t like thin pads on my PC. I don`t notice much of a difference, other than increased sensitivity to stalling.
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When I tried my Thin Pro samples, there was a noticeable difference in performance. My DA spun more freely when the pad was on the paint and I could actually run at a slower speed to get the same correcting ability. I also noticed my polisher actually ran smoother with the Thin Pro`s. Since I only have one pad of each color overall usage time was limited, but I felt they corrected faster with less downward pressure on the polisher.

I appreciate all the information. At this point, I think I`ll stick to Thin Pro`s and keep an eye out for the good sales.

EDIT: Like the 20% sale going on now at the Autopia store!
 
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