6 inch pads at Harbor Freight...

W

wannafbody

wannafbody
Stopped by Harbor Freight and found some 6 inch pads with 5 inch velcro on the back for $3.99 each. I bought a black finishing pad and a blue polishing pad. Initial impression is that these are pretty good quality pads(foam didn't feel cheap) providing the velcro doesn't separate.
 
Wow...hope these work out... I gotta say I like the price. Foam pads have been overpriced for ages.
 
At this price of four dollars they are throw aways, assuming they are of decent quality to begin with. For those of us who detail just one or two cars once or twice a year there would be no need to buy pad cleaners and struggle with cleaning - use once and toss. They describe the attachment as "hook and loop". Will this "hook and loop" work with the Griot 6" DA? I ask because I really am not sure what "hook and loop" is and my pads just stick on the Griot.



Well, I just returned from HF and purchased three of the black finishing pads. They are pretty good quality I think and "hook and loop" simply means a velcro backing, just like the ones from Griot and Uber that I have used in the past. For $3.00 they are a good buy. It will be some time before I get to try them out but I think they will be just fine.
 
Call me crazy but I had a dinner with a couple very well known detailers and one said that he throws all his pads in the wash with his microfibers. Been doing that for over a year now and it's made my life about six hundred times easier and I haven't had any ill-effects yet.
 
The website says they are normally $6.99 and on sale for $3.99. I think I'll be taking a drive to the store before the sale is over.



EDIT, just got back from HF and the quality def seems good, esp for the price. Looking forward to trying them out. I just picked up 5 pads, some steel wool and a set of detail brushes for about what I'd usually spend for just 2 pads. I love HF!
 
Had a chance to try the pads on a black 2013 Kia Optima today (tested them quickly on my own vehicle last night before putting them to a customer's vehicle), and I must say they are good quality. His trunk lid was full of RIDS, so I did one pass with the cutting pad with Opt Hyper Compound, then one pass with the polishing pad with Hyper Polish. Not a full correction with one pass, but it cleared up 95% of the RIDS and finished down very nicely. Very nice clarity as you can see in this lousy cell phone pic, though it was very overcast. Checked it under the LED's and it looked very clear, no haze whatsoever. Oh, and no comments on the receding hairline, got it? LOL



img20121125134707.jpg
 
YES Finally mentioned these! HF was caring these pads and I bought some to try out. Yeah pretty surprising results. The black pads are great for wax and sealants and the blue pads work great for polishing. The orange pads do a good job to. Even with a rotary! So CHEAP, how could I not buy them!

They even have a slightly raised velcro backing. I washed and dried them(box fan lying down) the same way as all my other pads. They seem very durable.
 
ExplicitDetails said:
Had a chance to try the pads on a black 2013 Kia Optima today (tested them quickly on my own vehicle last night before putting them to a customer's vehicle), and I must say they are good quality. His trunk lid was full of RIDS, so I did one pass with the cutting pad with Opt Hyper Compound, then one pass with the polishing pad with Hyper Polish. Not a full correction with one pass, but it cleared up 95% of the RIDS and finished down very nicely. Very nice clarity as you can see in this lousy cell phone pic, though it was very overcast. Checked it under the LED's and it looked very clear, no haze whatsoever. Oh, and no comments on the receding hairline, got it? LOL
Click to expand...



What hairline?
 
Boston Man said:
What hairline?
Click to expand...



The almost non-existent one on the top of my head. I swear it retreats more by the hour. That pic makes it look alot worse tho, it always looks like I have nothing left at all up there in every pic I'm in.
 
I jut reviewed these in the HF DA thread. Bottom line for me, they are junk. The exposed velcro on the backing plate chews up the backside of the foam. I only got 4 body panels before they were garbage. They also seperated when I tired to carefully remove them from the backing plate. It may be my technique, but I am returning them.
 
RenuAuto said:
Call me crazy but I had a dinner with a couple very well known detailers and one said that he throws all his pads in the wash with his microfibers. Been doing that for over a year now and it's made my life about six hundred times easier and I haven't had any ill-effects yet.
Click to expand...

I've always done this, could'nt understand the seperate wash and special detergent to wash micro. i always try and make my life easier as long as there are no ill effects.
 
deeman said:
I jut reviewed these in the HF DA thread. Bottom line for me, they are junk. The exposed velcro on the backing plate chews up the backside of the foam. I only got 4 body panels before they were garbage. They also seperated when I tired to carefully remove them from the backing plate. It may be my technique, but I am returning them.
Click to expand...



Did you read what a couple of pro detailers had to say about these pads earlier in this thread??
 
Bought and tried them. Crap. Sorry, I really wanted them to work, but they break down to fast and aren't as effective as the ones I usually use. I pay twice as much for pads that last 6 times as long. Math doesn't lie.



Robert
 
One note about HF products that I have realized. Poor quality control. You can get an item on a certain date and it will perform flawlessly. Get the same item a month later and it will be crap. This may be what's happening to those who got crap pads. I've used mine a few times since my last post and they are still completely fine and trust me, I'm not easy on my pads. I still plan to get more in the future and will report back if I get a bad one. Not a good thing for HF that their QC sucks, but for the price, if you get a good batch, they are def worth it. Get a bad batch and I've never personally had a problem returning stuff to my local store.



Side note: I've had LC and other pads come apart on me plenty of times. I'm not shilling for HF in any way, I've just not seen a problem with these pads yet. It can definitely be an individual thing, being happy or not with a particular brand or product.
 
deeman said:
I jut reviewed these in the HF DA thread. Bottom line for me, they are junk. The exposed velcro on the backing plate chews up the backside of the foam. I only got 4 body panels before they were garbage. They also seperated when I tired to carefully remove them from the backing plate. It may be my technique, but I am returning them.
Click to expand...





Get a 5'' backing plate to match the 5'' backing on the HF pads and that issue will not happen. I'm curious if they'll eventually supply the appropriate size backing plate on the DA they sell to match their pads or mod the backing on the pads to match.
 
mfewtrail said:
Get a 5'' backing plate to match the 5'' backing on the HF pads and that issue will not happen. I'm curious if they'll eventually supply the appropriate size backing plate on the DA they sell to match their pads or mod the backing on the pads to match.
Click to expand...



They're going to have to do one or the other, or else a lot of the people who buy this setup without knowing any better are going to start complaining and returning merchandise. In the case of the pads especially that's a ton of waste.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top