Cleaning rotary pads on the fly with a Terry towel?

B

BuffMe

New member
What are your thoughts on doing so? Any con's to such a procedure where you just spin the pad against a terry cloth in your hand to remove all the residue?
 
I can only assume you're talking about foam pads? My biggest fear on that would be the towel "Sticking" to the pad and ripping it out of your hand. Wool pads are simple to clean on the fly a simple flat head screwdriver works wonders. They also make wheel spurs for both Wool and Foam. I personally just take an air gun to my foam pads and blow them clean with they gum up. Wool pads I use a spur. When I'm done I use the Pad Cleaning bucket and put them away for the night.
 
Jakerooni said:
I can only assume you're talking about foam pads? My biggest fear on that would be the towel "Sticking" to the pad and ripping it out of your hand. Wool pads are simple to clean on the fly a simple flat head screwdriver works wonders. They also make wheel spurs for both Wool and Foam. I personally just take an air gun to my foam pads and blow them clean with they gum up. Wool pads I use a spur. When I'm done I use the Pad Cleaning bucket and put them away for the night.
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Pad cleaning bucket? Do you use the universal pad cleaning bucket or the System 2000 bucket? I'm VERY interested in both (probably my next big purchse) and would love to hear opinions. I use wool and foam pads via rotary and Flex 3401 and right now I'm just using the Duo Spur and cleaning the foam with soap and water. Next time I go to Wally world I plan on buying some Dawn Power Dissolver and see if that works good enough for me.
 
You won't be disappointed! Just picked up two more bottles last night. Remember, wear gloves when you use it. Also, IMHO, I use Dawn PD when nothing else works. Dawn Direct Foam seems to be plenty for me. When Direct Foam doesn't work, I'll break out the PD.



ABQDetailer said:
Pad cleaning bucket? Do you use the universal pad cleaning bucket or the System 2000 bucket? I'm VERY interested in both (probably my next big purchse) and would love to hear opinions. I use wool and foam pads via rotary and Flex 3401 and right now I'm just using the Duo Spur and cleaning the foam with soap and water. Next time I go to Wally world I plan on buying some Dawn Power Dissolver and see if that works good enough for me.
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Really? Foam pads included? Do you just use a pad spur for the foam pads?





David Fermani said:
Definately invest in a pad washer system. You can never clean your pads enough. I clean/spur them after each pass.
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Yea, I know what the options are for cleaning pads, I was asking what you thought about cleaning them with a Terry towel. Any drawbacks or bad things that could happen when doing so? I was thinking what if one of the pieces of nap got caught up in it and got sandwiched between the pad and the paint for your next pass? Am I overreacting here?
 
I don't think a towel will clean them good enough. It's only cleaning the outer layer and not really doing any deep cleaning. Either use a screwdriver (wool) or a tooth brush (foam) at the least.
 
Haha, I think everyone is missing my point here. I'm looking ONLY at this method in particular as someone else mentioned doing it. I know there are far superior ways to clean the pads. However, in looking *only* at this method, are there any drawbacks that could potentially end up hurting the paint like I described.



Edit: I guess I should really start posting more C&B's as it sounds like everyone thinks I'm a noob and addressing me as such :aww:
 
Lots of people mention alternative ways of doing things here, and as you're probably well aware, they're not always good ideas. Using a towel is not a good(forget about the best) way to clean your pads. I don't see a problem, let alone a way, for pieces of fabric/lint/strings getting caught on your pad to cause a problem. What I do see is the towel not cleaning the pad good enough and creating unnecessary swirls from dried polish buildup. Make sense?



Click N Brags have nothing to do with someone's knowledge about detailing and no one is stating you're a noob. I wish you wouldn't feel so defensive when someone's trying to help.
 
David Fermani said:
Click N Brags has nothing to do with someone's knowledge about detailing and no one is stating you're a noob. I wish you wouldn't feel so defensive when someone's trying to help.
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Defensive? I am very appreciate of everyone's help, which is why I have been continuing to post on the thread. I was laughing when I stated how everyone was missing the point of what I was trying to ask. So, I guess that was misinterpreted as well. Talk about batting 0 today.



Thanks for the quick help, all. You have put my concerns to rest and brought up other points as well that I wasn't even thinking about. I appreciate it.
 
Like I mentioned I think the towel would get ripped out of your hand and all twisted up in the buffer. That would be best case scenerio. Imagine if you hit the buffer with a towel in your hand and it wrapped around your hand instead? At that speed you're probably breaking a few bones and tearing fleash off your hands. There are simply put much easier much safer and much more effective ways to clean your pads. A terry cloth towel in your hand is nither of the above. You don't need to reinvent the wheel on this. Already very proven ways of doing it. Not everything in Detailing needs to be reinvented. Somethings that are common practice already are the best most effective ways of doing things.





And whoever asked.. I have the system 2000. The only downfall is if you leave the water in the bucket it quickly becomes the most god aweful stench you'll ever smell. Just FYI
 
I have tried a wet towel before and as David said it doesn't really clean much. Maybe get a way with an other panel but you might as well grab another pad or clean it.
 
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