Your favorite polishing pads and why?

Old thread but had to chime in. My favorite pad of all time with ANY machine would have to be ------

Sonus Yellow 6 inch.

Hands down the best all around pad ever made. Heavy cut, medium cut and can even finish with the best of them. I had to buy a case of them the last time because no one sells them anymore.

Todd I found them in Florida the last time but can't remember where. Do you have an "in" with these pads somewhere? I see the other Sonus products being pretty strong with all detail suppliers but the pads aren't available. How come?
 
FOAM: Hex Logic for me...most "efficient" foam pad in my opinion ...and made in USA.

MF: Lake Country MF buffing pads. Finish down really nice.
 
fergnation said:
Old thread but had to chime in. My favorite pad of all time with ANY machine would have to be ------

Sonus Yellow 6 inch.

Hands down the best all around pad ever made. Heavy cut, medium cut and can even finish with the best of them. I had to buy a case of them the last time because no one sells them anymore.

Todd I found them in Florida the last time but can't remember where. Do you have an "in" with these pads somewhere? I see the other Sonus products being pretty strong with all detail suppliers but the pads aren't available. How come?
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I'm not sure where to source these pads anymore, sorry.
 
Sorry to bump an older thread, but I was just curious. Ive seen a few instructional videos and some even a video from a detailer over the MF pads and they all seem to say that using the MF will help you eliminate the cuts you get from a using a compound/polish and foam pad. Although it might take a bit longer from what I took from the videos the MF pads can give you the same results without having to use both a polishing and finishing foam pad.

I think with my car (2012 KIA Soul) with the soft silver paint job a MF pad would work perfect for a noob like myself. It looked like there would be less room for error, am I wrong to assume that?
 
Todd Helme said:
Forced Rotation Style Dual-Action Polishers (FLEX 3401 and Makita Two-Mode BO6040)

Heavy Correction: Lake Hybrid Wool Pad (similar to purple foam wool) or Lake Country Hybrid Hybrid Orange Heavy Cutting Pad
Moderate Correction: Lake Country Hybrid Blue Power Finish Pad
Polishing/Finishing: Lake Country Hybrid White Power Finish Pad
Pure Finishing: Lake Country Hybrid Black Finishing Pad
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Ready to pull the trigger on a Flex 3401 but have a few pad questions. First off, I plan on ordering an assortment of the 5" hybrid pads with the LC interchangable bp system. But I have a large collection of LC HT 5.5" pads (for use on my 7424xp) that I want to be able to use with the Flex. If that isn't advisible, then it makes my decision to buy the Flex suspect. And I'm not sure I want to transition to the HT 6.5" pads for the Flex to gain the in-between steps.

And from what I've gleened from the forum, I need the HT pads to really "fill in" the gaps in the hybrid system, especially if the meat and potatoes of what I do is working on good paint. All of the hybrid pads are more aggressive then the HT Tangerine, which is the max required on my personal cars. And as quoted above, I'm surprised to see that Todd uses the hybrid white for finishing considering it's more aggressive then the HT Tangerine-perhaps it's the foam composition and in fact will finish down better then the HT tangerine. I'm really confused on this point.

There only solution I can see would be to use the 4 3/8" bp with the LC HT 5.5" pads - but not sure if that should be avoided and only use the hybrid pads? Sorry, but I can't seem to sort this out.
 
Well since my last post I've purchased the Flex 3401 (and it's all good) and decided on the 5" LC hybrid pad system! But here's a question I can't seem to find an answer to. In terms of pad longevity, how many cars would you guesstimate that a pad would/should last - let's just talk about pads used for compounding & polishing, not those used for applying the LSP? It seems that I can do two cars (with a thorough cleaning in between of course) but then the pad is trash. By the end of the second car, the white hybrid pad I was using had lost it's density and was very soft compared to when it was new. What seems to be "normal" for you guys?
 
well if i can i ask if anyone can add to this i just started using da micro pads i have only been using rotary buffer couple yrs i feel i have been very proficient with its use i like only the 3m line prefect-it pads but i have been using da micro pads on some hard paint lately that did not seam to cut well but in trial and error i learned less speed and less compound seam to cut better and when i say less compound i mean almost to the point of dry buff why does that seam to be the case and in doing so will give me a mirror shine with just compound. oh and this is on black paint also
 
addysdaddy said:
Well since my last post I've purchased the Flex 3401 (and it's all good) and decided on the 5" LC hybrid pad system! But here's a question I can't seem to find an answer to. In terms of pad longevity, how many cars would you guesstimate that a pad would/should last - let's just talk about pads used for compounding & polishing, not those used for applying the LSP? It seems that I can do two cars (with a thorough cleaning in between of course) but then the pad is trash. By the end of the second car, the white hybrid pad I was using had lost it's density and was very soft compared to when it was new. What seems to be "normal" for you guys?
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Using any pad on a DA polisher is going to wear it out much faster than if it was used on a rotary. The constant change of direction (stretching/tightening/general flexation) of the paint will wear it much much faster. That said, I would say I usually get 30-40 cars per pad (changing pads 3-4 times). I would also recommending washing the pads immediately after use.

The white hybrid pads may feel softer/are they still working well?
 
Heavy Correction: Meguiar's 5 inch cutting discs
Moderate Correction: Lake Country Cyan Hydrotech
Polishing/Finishing: Lake Country 5.5 inch Green Pad
Pure Finishing: Lake Country Red CCS or Blue Flat
 
Todd Helme said:
Using any pad on a DA polisher is going to wear it out much faster than if it was used on a rotary. The constant change of direction (stretching/tightening/general flexation) of the paint will wear it much much faster. That said, I would say I usually get 30-40 cars per pad (changing pads 3-4 times). I would also recommending washing the pads immediately after use.

The white hybrid pads may feel softer/are they still working well?
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I would say yes Todd but at something less then 100%. I'm guessing but perhaps 75% of what it did when new. The more aggressive pads seem to last longer whereas the white pad really does morph into something mushy, which to me indicated that it was trashed. The density completely changed from something very firm when new to something a little firmer then a HT crimson pad. So soft IMO.
 
Is there a need to have both Lake Country Flat Pads and Lake Country Hydrotech pads when using a d/a like Griots Garage GG6?
For example LC Flat Pads 5.5" (orange,white, black,blue) and LC HT 5.5" pads (Cyan, Tangerine, Crimson)
 
silvermesa said:
Is there a need to have both Lake Country Flat Pads and Lake Country Hydrotech pads when using a d/a like Griots Garage GG6?
For example LC Flat Pads 5.5" (orange,white, black,blue) and LC HT 5.5" pads (Cyan, Tangerine, Crimson)
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You can easily only have 1 type of pad. If you like a certain style then stick with what works. I have both types and have uses for each. I find the standard flat pads are more durable than the hydrotechs but that the hydros tend to cut and finish a little better for me. Also depending on what I am working on one pad may do better than another.

At the end of the day if you are a hobbyist and don't want to spend all of the money to have pads in all of the colors and quantities needed, you can't really go wrong in picking just one type and sticking with it.

 
Random Orbital Heavy Correction = meg's or optimum 5.5" MF cutting discs

Random Orbital Moderate/Polishing = 5.5" low profile hydro tech tangerine pad

Random Orbital Finishing = 5.5" low profile hydro tech crimson pad

Flex 3401 moderate/polishing = 6.5" Hydro Tech Tangerine pads

Flex 3401 finishing = 6.5" Hydro Tech Crimson pads

Still trying to find a heavy correction pad for the 3401 that cuts and finishes as well as a MF cutting disc on a random orbital.
 
Since the Flex is technically a DA polisher, can't you use the MF disc? I don't see too many using it...and @SSizzlin'...you're searching for a heavy correction pad for the Flex.
 
firebird said:
Since the Flex is technically a DA polisher, can't you use the MF disc? I don't see too many using it...and @SSizzlin'...you're searching for a heavy correction pad for the Flex.
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Apparently the forced rotation of the Flex doesn't play too well with the MF pads.
 
umi000 said:
Apparently the forced rotation of the Flex doesn't play too well with the MF pads.
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I wonder if the statement would be that they do not work well with a Flex using the same procedure as a non-forced DA. I thought someone said the Optimum mf pads worked better on a Flex than Meg's but have do not know if there was much evidence presented.
 
I really haven't found a "go to" combo with my Flex 3401 either. Tried Megs, Optimum and LC Ultra MF pads and still get better results with my GG6 & PCXP. Not sure the forced rotation matches my style of machine polishing.
 
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