Confused with Pad Selection

G

Gryz

New member
I have been detailing by hand for a while and plan on getting a PC soon. I also intend on getting Lake Country pads for this. My question is for a car with light scratches and swirls I see on here people using anything from orange pads to white.



Also, after using a pad of a certain aggessiveness, should I use next another pad of lesser such as black or blue, or once you get the scratches and swirls out with one pad is that it....you are done and then apply the wax or anyother LSP which I plan on doing by hand?



Thanks
 
Gryz said:
I have been detailing by hand for a while and plan on getting a PC soon. I also intend on getting Lake Country pads for this. My question is for a car with light scratches and swirls I see on here people using anything from orange pads to white.



Also, after using a pad of a certain aggessiveness, should I use next another pad of lesser such as black or blue, or once you get the scratches and swirls out with one pad is that it....you are done and then apply the wax or anyother LSP which I plan on doing by hand?



Thanks
Click to expand...



The pad you use really depends on the severity of the scratches/swirls, type of paint/clear, and product you are using.



if you start with a yellow, orange or green pad I would for sure go over the area again with a lesser polish and the white pad. I use the black pads for very light polishes. I would say my white pads get used the most if that helps.
 
As Danase explained, there are many variables, including the ultimate condition of the paint. My 16-yo car with the pitted finish, even though it was a fairly dark blue, would tolerate the use of some pretty coarse pads and polishes without showing any ill-effects, because it was hardly perfect (and would never be so). If you have a largely perfect black car, and try to finish out with a cutting pad and heavy polish, you would definitely see some artifacts from that work which would have to be removed by a lighter combo.



I pretty much agree with the advertising hyperbole about orange pads being almost as good as a cutting pad at removing defects but finishing as well as a polishing pad. As Danase indicated, if you are starting out, it's kind of a bell curve, most of your pads should be in the middle (polishing) with less pads at the extremes (cutting, finishing). If you really have only light marring, and are looking to start out with only a few pads, one orange (light cutting), a couple white (polishing), and one black (finishing) will get you going. Bear in mind that different suppliers use different color coding.
 
Thank you both.



I was thinking of using Meg #83 on the Orange LC pad because of many fine scratches and swirls. After that, I don't really know what else to use as a lighter polish....any sugestions? And should this lighter polish be used on both the black and white, or just one or the other?
 
Ok...after reading a lot more I think I have it figured out.



I plan on using the #83 on the white pad first and see how that works. If it is not enough, I will switch it over to the orange pad.



My question is what pad to use #80 on...

After #80 I plan on applying 100% carnuba.
 
Gryz said:
Ok...after reading a lot more I think I have it figured out.



I plan on using the #83 on the white pad first and see how that works. If it is not enough, I will switch it over to the orange pad.



My question is what pad to use #80 on...

After #80 I plan on applying 100% carnuba.
Click to expand...



The #83-then-#80 is a good progression. I'd use a polishing pad with the #80, *not* a finshing pad. As long as the polishing pad is nice and mild (no functional cut of its own) it'll end up ready-to-wax. Most of the time the LC white will be fine for this; it's not the mildest polishing pad there is, but it's not very aggressive either and the 380 has a lot of lubricating oils to help it finish out nicely.
 
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