The crazy green confusion...
It is confusing for me, but here is the deal with the green pads...
As pictured earlier in the thread, there are two types of green foams (well three actually, but that is another story). One is a coarser designed foam that is a little more mild then the yellow foam and leaves significant surface scouring.
PAC does not carry this 'heavier cut' green foam.
There is also a milder green foam that is a polishing foam. This is the one that PAC carries. Both of the more popular green foams (cutting and light polishing) are European in origin, hence the confusion with the name.
Where does our green foam fit in...
The pad itself has less mechanical action then the white pad and finishes near similar to the black pad. It bridges the gap nicely. So why the confusion about it's cutting ability and what it is used for? We must remember that Lake Country has a significant OEM (car factory) market and we benefit from a lot of the technologies developed for the OEM level.
At the OEM level the Power Orange foam is very popular as a one step pad, there is little need for a finer foam, even if we see a benefit. The Green Foam was designed originally to offer a finer cutting action that could also serve double duty at applying waxes, sealants, and glazes.
The white foam is a finely tuned polishing pad and not designed for application duty. This is why the green foam has a PPI higher to the fine pads (80) put out cuts the 75 PPI black pad. It is a true dual-purpose foam.
At the detailer level, most have found this unique foam to perform similar to a white pad (sometimes out cutting it, sometimes not, depending on paint) while tending to finish better. When it was new it was marketed as an 'all in one wax pad with some polishing action' but it was also new to the market.
While it still the most aggressive finishing pad available, it has really gained popularity in the detailing crowd (as opposed to the OEM crowd) as a light polishing pad.
Why the confusion on if it cuts more or less then a white pad then? Because if you load both pads with heavy lubricant like wax the green pad will have more polishing ability. That is what it is designed for originally. However with most polishes (and not waxes) the white foam is going to be slightly more aggressive. As time allows I will go through the site and clean up any confusing (old) information but thank for bringing this to our attention (the confusing descriptions on PAC).
I hope I cleared up some of the confusion?!
