What kind of pad w/ 3m SMR

S

ShannanC

New member
Hey, When I use 3m smr I apply it with a foam pad. is this a good choice or should i be using a different kind of pad.
 
when you say foam pad that's kind of generic. What itype is it , where did you get it? I would recommend a white foam pad from CMA or an orange one but I haven't used an orange one yet so I can't say for sure how well it would work.
 
Fryd_Up said:
Hey, When I use 3m smr I apply it with a foam pad. is this a good choice or should i be using a different kind of pad.
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There are many foam pads, each has different cutting power.



What kind of pad you should use depends on condition of your paint, need more info to answer your question.:nixweiss
 
I agree with detailbarn, a white or orange pad is the preferred variety. You want to stay with a soft pad since SMR is a finishing polish.
 
I'd start with the white pad first if you still see the swirls you can take it down to a yellow pad that has more cut (assuming we are talking cma pads here) If you have it get the orange one it supposidly combines the best of both white and yellow pads. I'd be curious to see how they work?
 
BIGkev1001 said:
Can you apply SMR, or for that matter Meg's #9, with a yellow cutting pad from CMA? Or is a white advisable?
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You "can" but you get best results with the white pad. You will often notice slight hazing using the yellow pad. This is micro-marring, which is easily eliminated with additional "light" buffing or use of a white pad.



The harder pad often "overpowers" the lack of aggressiveness of the polish when it breaks down. Remember, SMR is a very fine polish and is meant to do finishing work, not deep scratches and swirls. If you are trying to do aggressive "cutting" with this product by using a yellow pad then you are mismatching the job at hand to the product.
 
Brad's advice resonates almost identical advice given by DavidB once: That pads and product should match. Very neat info. :cool:
 
I also agree with Brad's recommendations about matching products with the right pad. I know most people use the DuroFoam pads that CMA sells that have the three color aggressiveness scale: yellow, white, grey(now 4 inc. orange). I found that Top of the Line now sells the advanced pads made by the same manufacturer that are slightly larger and have the beveled edges on them. Same color scheme as the concave pads I have loved in the past. Best part is that they are only $8.25 ea. Seems like a pretty good deal so I stocked up. Anyone tried these?
 
Ok so let me get this straight (CMA pads)



Wool or Yellow = Things like compounds, cleaners or aggresive products.........



White = Meg's #9, 3M SMR, GEPC (polishes)



Grey = Wax or finishing glazes (anything with no abrasives)



Does anyone know of a post or another site that has pictures of paint condition and a corresponding fix? Or am I just asking for to much ;)



My car has very light swirls...... almost looks like the dealer used a buffer with a lightly dusted car..... very hard to describe alot of very light swirls



My mother tried to use green scrubbies and orange clean to remove baked on bird droppings from her car with very neglected paint (95 corolla)......... very very swirled with serious marring where she rubbed with the scrubbies so I'm thinking DACP and yellow at the very least. I will take pictures and post.
 
Here's something to add to the thread....



When I was SMRing my jetta, I mostly used the White pad, because as said, I wanted to use the proper pad for the right product. However, in a few areas the white pad just wasn't cutting it, so I switched to the yellow pad. Brad is right, it WILL haze the surface - but it removed all the swirls in that area. I then gently followed up some more SMR over that area with the white pad, and the paint was gorgeous again.



IMO, I didn't see a need to buy a stronger cleaner like DACP or whatever 3Ms version is, and this worked fine for me.



I do have an extra yellow pad from CMA though, because they sent me an extra one by accident, so I may want to try a stronger cleaner for when I go to detail my younger sisters Beetle.



I've read this forum for about 3 straight months now, and pretty much no one can tell you what will happen if you do this or whatever on a certain type of paint, because ofcourse we can't see exactly what you are talking about - so a lot of what you have to do is just try new things out, try different pads and polishes, etc.



HTH,



- Anthony
 
Happy_Dan said:
Where can you get the pads. I have looked in many local stores and when I find a sponge pad it is always yellow.
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are you probably looking at Meguiar's pads, which the ones being referred to here are by CMA (aka Lake County Mfg. pads) which come in different color schemes. the yellow meguiar's ones are the proper "polishing" pads for use with SMR.



Also just to clarify these aren't the same as the hand application pads, they are for the PC machine polisher. :xyxthumbs
 
Thanks for the info. I have a air compressor with a Milwaukee random orbital polisher. I just have trouble finding pads.



I am always a little nervous whenever I am trying to polish out swirl marks or buff out an area after wet sanding a scratch. Scary to me.



Is there an online store that you could recommend to order the pads from ?
 
As my earlier post mentioned, top-of-the line has the lake country "advanced" pads for $8.25 each. These have the same yellow, white, gray color scheme that most on this board are accustomed to. This is nearly $3/pad less than others. I got mine in two days but I am close to their facility.
 
Ahhh...I would rather use Meguiar's Beige W9006 Foam Finishing Pad with the #9. I find that the Meg Yellow W8006 too aggressive, thereby leaving hairline swirls.



If I were you, I would use DACP with a Meg Yellow Polishing pad (W8006), followed by #9 or 3M SMR with a W9006 Beige Finishing Pad.

You will love the results!! :up
 
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