Mike Phillips
Administrator
Why it's important to clean your pads often...
ANYTIME you're abrading the surface whether you're using an aggressive cutting compound of an ultra fine polish, you have two things building up on the face of your buffing pad...
You need to remove both of these substances from the face of the pad and the panel you're working on before you apply fresh product. If you don't,
How to clean your pads and other options to make buffing clean again...
I just buffed out half the hood on an oxidized 1959 Cadillac and used the technique along with a nylon brush and it works adequately enough to allow me to work clean and get back to work quickly.
That's the whole idea behind cleaning your pad on the fly... you can remove a majority of the spent product and removed paint and then get back to running the buffer... buffing out an entire car already takes a l-o-n-g time... stopping to do some kind of pad cleaning procedure that isn't quick and easy keeps you from buffing on the paint.
Fast methods include,
Slow methods, (they might work well but they take you away from buffing on the car)
ANYTIME you're abrading the surface whether you're using an aggressive cutting compound of an ultra fine polish, you have two things building up on the face of your buffing pad...
- Spent product
- Removed paint
You need to remove both of these substances from the face of the pad and the panel you're working on before you apply fresh product. If you don't,
- Adding fresh product to spent product and removed paint adulterates the fresh product, it also dilutes it.
- Buffing with a dirty pad will be more difficult.
- The product will cake-up on the face of the pad.
- The product will become gummy on the paint and hard to wipe off.
How to clean your pads and other options to make buffing clean again...
- You can scrub the face of the pad with a nylon brush like a pad conditioning brush or even a nylon toothbrush
- If using a Dual Action Polisher or a Rotary Buffer you can clean your pad on the fly with a terry cloth towel
- You can wash your pads in a bucket of water
- You can wash your pads in a sink under running water
- You can wash your pads in a pad washer
- You can switch to a clean, dry pad
- You can switch to a brand new pad
I just buffed out half the hood on an oxidized 1959 Cadillac and used the technique along with a nylon brush and it works adequately enough to allow me to work clean and get back to work quickly.
That's the whole idea behind cleaning your pad on the fly... you can remove a majority of the spent product and removed paint and then get back to running the buffer... buffing out an entire car already takes a l-o-n-g time... stopping to do some kind of pad cleaning procedure that isn't quick and easy keeps you from buffing on the paint.
Fast methods include,
- Pad Washers
- Cleaning your pad on the fly with a terry cloth towel
- Using a nylon pad conditioning brush
- Using a Spur if you're using a wool pad on a rotary buffer
Slow methods, (they might work well but they take you away from buffing on the car)
- You can wash your pads in a bucket of water
- You can wash your pads in a sink under running water