As soon as mine come off of the DA, I soak it with a degreaser like 8:1 Simple Green, then drop it into a 1 gallon bucket filled with water. They soak while I finish the project I am working on. I try to never let them completely dry with product in them, if possible. Once I`m done with that day`s work, I will work each one with my fingers to massage any product still in them, then rinse with the hose sprayer. It removes pretty much everything in the pads, and I don`t need to abuse them in the washer (or abuse the wash machine). I fling the excess water out by hand by snapping the pad toward the ground or will chuck them into the HF rotary on high speed and let physics do the work. They all get laid out backing-down onto a wire shelf I have in the garage just for drying purposes.
For pads with sealants or waxes, I`ll let them sit for a half-hour in a tray of Paint Prep or wax & grease remover and then rinse the same way as above.
It`s the least amount of labor I have found for the best results and the least amount of mess to clean up when I`m done. And, so far, this method hasn`t beat up the pads at all.
doug
