How many pads?

MattZ28

MattZ28

New member
How many pads should I get if I (finally) order the PC today? 2 of each? (orange, white, grey)



If I wanted to apply Zaino with a grey pad, will 1 be enough? Or will i need 2? Will 1 orange pad be enough, or will 1 get caked up?
 
I would not get the orange pad. Mine fell apart on me. I would get the yellow an get the 6" backing plate and the 6.5" pads.



How many you need depends on how many cars you do I guess. I would start with one of each fo now.
 
I'm getting the PC from coastaltool.com, so it comes with everything I need except some good pads. I want to get the rest from Autopia. Are you saying the Autopia pads fell apart? Should I get the pads from somewhere else? :confused:



*EDIT* - What I'm worried about is, if I only get 1 pad, is it going to get caked up with polish to the point where I need to change to a fresh one?
 
Depending on the product, yet. If you are a casual user, get 2 cutting pads, 3 (or so) polishing pads (the white pads are great), and 2 finishing pads. You'll be doing most work with polishing pads, so keeping more around is good in times of need. I hand-apply many lsp's, so I don't use my finishing pads all that often.



I also don't see the advantage of the orange pads. I can't flatten the pad enough while allowing it to spin (if that makes sense) and a lot of product hangs out in that concave space. Mine never fell apart and I'll use them occasionally if I'm needing heavier cleaning power, but the white polishing pad is my go-to.



*edit* I will use 2 cutting pads when using 3m PI-III FG, so yes, it can present the occasional problem.
 
MattZ28....I found Zaino to be faster applied by hand. I too was anxious to use the PC for everything, but at least with the final step...it seemed to take longer to apply with the Pc, and then have to cut in around handles, etc.
 
I thought it was easier to apply thinner, more even layers of Zaino with a PC than it is by hand :nixweiss



For polishing (for now) I'll mostly be using 1Z UPP and PP, so will 1 orange pad be enough to do one car without needing changing? I might just get 1 orange, 2 white, and 1 grey.
 
I just ordered the PC, now I need to order the 1Z UPP (have PP already), so please let me know guys....there are no major defects on my car or my parents cars (for now they're the only ones I'll be doing), just some swirls and minor scratches, so I won't need the orange pad on the whole car. Please let me know if an orange pad, 2 whites and a grey will be enough.
 
Also, should I get Menzerna IP or 1Z UPP? Is it okay to go from IP to 1Z PP, or should I just get the Menzerna twins? Sorry for all the questions, I've never done this before!

-Matt
 
MattZ28- Do yourself a favor and buy a few extra pads. I'd never trust *one* of any type of pad...what if it gets contaminated or torn or something?



If you check the shipping costs, you'll be able to come up with a cost-effective number of pads to order at one time. I'm sure that if you find you need *one* additional pad it would a) be a huge hassle and b) end up costing more ordering in small quantities.



So get that extra orange pad (or a yellow) and maybe another white one too.
 
Get the 1Z Ultra/Extra for random deep scratches and either the 1Z Metallic Polishwax or the WaxPolish Soft. Heh heh, once you have the 1Z stuff, I doubt you'll ever use the 39009 again. You might not even want to alcohol-spritz it in order to use your Zaino, it'll look so good ;)
 
I think it would be really good *ideally*to get as many pads in different degrees of agression, i.e. yellow,orange,white,black as you do polishes. Each polish would have its own dedicated pad in every level of aggression. You don't have to do this right away. I'm still needing several myself if I want to do this. On the other hand,if you'd rather keep it simple and if I had to say which pad you should have the most of, I would say the white. You can do a lot of maintenance polishing with the white. It should be the only one you need for this type of work.



I'm finding more and more I'm going to have abandon trying to spot polish my cars by hand with either foam or mf pads, just next to no results. I'm going to have to consistently use my PC and white pads even for something as small as this :rolleyes:
 
I initially started with 2 cutting, 2 polishing and 2 finishing. Definitely the polishing pads are the ones you reach for 8 / 10 times IMO. The polishing pad is definitely the "worker" of the PC pad world, you can never have enough. I now have a samll army of 8 polishing pads! :xyxthumbs
 
MattZ28 said:
I'm getting the PC from coastaltool.com, so it comes with everything I need except some good pads. I want to get the rest from Autopia. Are you saying the Autopia pads fell apart? Should I get the pads from somewhere else? :confused:



*EDIT* - What I'm worried about is, if I only get 1 pad, is it going to get caked up with polish to the point where I need to change to a fresh one?
Click to expand...



Yes, my Autopia Orange pads fell apart. I believe they are Lake Country. They're crap. Stay away. The new Sonus pads look to be the same style construction too. Any level of pressure will cause the thick velcro backing to act like a razor and slice into the pad. You see, the 5" velcro lines up perfectly will the 5" backing plate circumfrance so it pushes down the velcro as if you are pushing in a door bell with your finger tip (if this makes sense). This pushing down eats into the pad.



Lake Country makes another awesome Orange pad in a different style (6.5") with a superior velcro backing that takes up the whole back of the pad. TOL sold them and I bought 6.



I have yet to see them listed anywhere. TOL doesn't have them. I will PM Davidb soon and see if he'll carry them.



I have a couple dozen pads now. Equal number LC White, Orange and Yellow with a couple Black.
 
Ok I'm going to order the CMA pad kit, and an extra orange pad along with an extra white. Now I'm confused which polish to get. I think 1Z PP will be enough for my paint's defects, but I may want to get 1Z MP and follow up with that.
 
I haven't had any problems with the orange pad (I have the 7.5" though if that makes a difference). The only time I've had trouble with my pads was when I was using them on my front bumper. I went through 1 LC orange pad, 1 Meguiar's Yellow Pad and 1 LC white pad trying to polish my bumper out. I ended up doing it by hand since I couldn't afford to waste anymore of my pads. It's probably the design of my bumper since my pads last quite a while when I'm doing the rest of my car.



I'd get at least 1 cutting pad, 2-3 polishing pads and 1-2 finishing pads. I haven't had a use for my finishing pads though since I only use my PC for polishing/compounding.
 
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