How many of each pad?

K

king nothing

New member
For the weekend detailer how many of each color pad does one need? Im using the edge 2000 system so each pad=2. is one of each OK or do I need more
 
By weekend what do you mean? One car a weekend? Full details? I generally use ~20 pads per full multiple compounding step style detail. I'm a pad whore, though.
 
If you are taking care of just your car I would say 3 of each, if it is for a paying hobby I say as many as you can afford, pads and MF towels you can never have enough or too many
 
1 compounding 1 polishing and 1 finishing is all you NEED. you can play around with others but you don't need anything more than just 1 of each. As long as you know how to clean your pad and have the time. Especially if you're just a weekend warrior taking care of your own car. The only time in over 15 years of detailing have I EVER used more than just the 3 is when I'm doing a boat or just experimenting with new pads that have come in and I want to see what they do.
 
Ill just be doing my 3 vehicles and maybe some friends, and Im sure never on the same day. I was thinking 1 of each double sided pad in 6.5 and 4 inch. and maybe an extra orange in each size as that seems like it will be my go-to pad and they are getting hard to come by.
 
I would think I'd want more for doing single stage paint or working on heavily oxidized paint. I also use the edge system and it's really nice having 2 surfaces per pad.
 
SCoach said:
I would think I'd want more for doing single stage paint or working on heavily oxidized paint. I also use the edge system and it's really nice having 2 surfaces per pad.
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I personally dont own a vehicle older than 2003 so I dont deal with oxidation or single stage
 
King Nothing said:
Ill just be doing my 3 vehicles and maybe some friends, and Im sure never on the same day. I was thinking 1 of each double sided pad in 6.5 and 4 inch. and maybe an extra orange in each size as that seems like it will be my go-to pad and they are getting hard to come by.
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My initial order for my PC was:



1 Green 6" (cutting pad)

1 White 6" (no cut)

1 Red (LSP)

2 Orange 4" (cutting)

1 White 4" (no-cut)



Looking at my upcoming jobs I decided to augment that with:



1 Green 6" (utting)

2 Blue 6" (very light polish)

1 Blue 4" (very light polish)

1 White 6" (no-cut)





this gives me 4 6" cutting surfaces, 4 4" cutting surfaces, 4 6" light polishing surfaces, 2 4" light polishing surfaces, 4 6" finishing surfaces, 2 4" finishing surfaces, and 2 6" LSP surfaces.



I did this primarily because I need to finish in 1 day in most cases. So I won't have time to stop and wash pads. The pad selection was chosen to compliment the working process



Compound (green/orange pad with) M105/UC

Med Polish (Blue pad with) SSR2.5/SSR2/M205

Final Polish (White pad with) SSR1/Poli-seal/KAIO/etc.

LSP (LSP pad with) KSG/Liquid Glass/CG 50/50/etc.



If I am just doing a 1-step, then Poli-Seal or the like will be used on white or blue depending.



This is just *my* setup. Not saying it's right for anyone else. Just how I chose to go.
 
mmarmarou said:
Why 3 of each? When do you need to switch? Why wouldn't one for each compound/polish suffice?
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Welcome to Autopia!



While I often do pretty big details with very few pads, IMO everybody oughta have at least one backup pad of each type. [Stuff] happens, and usually at the worst possible moment, so it's just good insurance.



Other than that, unless you're in a pro environment or doing something, uhm...unusual, I'd think that one pad oughta suffice. Just stop and clean it as needed.



But some harsh cutting pads (e.g., Cyclo yellow foam) tend to wear down and lose their cut, or otherwise take a beating, so you might oughta take that into consideration when it comes to pads that're used for aggressive work.
 
SCoach said:
I did this primarily because I need to finish in 1 day in most cases. So I won't have time to stop and wash pads. The pad selection was chosen to compliment the working process
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If time is your major concern why are you using such small pads? I would think (because I do it myself a lot of times) you should be using 7.5 and 8" pads almost exclusively to cover the most area in the least amount of time. Small pads are great for spot work and hard to reach places but side panels and hoods and roof lines are done much quicker with a bigger pad. (when time is of the concern that is)
 
i agree with jakerooni's first post. i've used 3 before and have done fine. Constantly cleaning pads doesn't bother me and allows me to keep a constant rate of correction / easy to predict how polishes will perform.

of course i have a bunch of pads as back-up in case of anything...



5'' are my fav's.
 
Jakerooni said:
If time is your major concern why are you using such small pads? I would think (because I do it myself a lot of times) you should be using 7.5 and 8" pads almost exclusively to cover the most area in the least amount of time. Small pads are great for spot work and hard to reach places but side panels and hoods and roof lines are done much quicker with a bigger pad. (when time is of the concern that is)
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Because the PC won't spin 7.5-8" pads.
 
SCoach said:
I would think I'd want more for doing single stage paint or working on heavily oxidized paint. I also use the edge system and it's really nice having 2 surfaces per pad.
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Exactly right.



As someone who has polished two cars with SS paint in the last month, I can tell you that they plug up the pads very fast. Even on a car that wasn't in too bad shape, the pads plug up quickly. I would say at least 3 polishing pads for SS paint, and I would prefer 4.
 
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