Wool vs. foam - who wins???

R

RyanDe680

New member
I've been reading a lot about wool lately on here, and a lot people are living by it it seems.



My question is WHY should I, or anyone else, use wool. I currently use the Edge system on the rotary and the PC and it works great. I've had a few PC issues with the Edge system, but I have read a lot about people going to wool from foam.



I was recently in a class with Mike Phillips and he used a Meguiars wool pad to correct wetsanding. It worked great to remove deep imperfections, but he didn't finish with the wool.



Why use wool?

What are the benefits?

What are the downfalls?

Who has successfully finished down with wool?

If so, who's wool did you use?



I figured we could start a discussion. Thanks.
 
When it comes time to remove heavy swirling on hard paint you have two choices:

1) Spend hours fighting a foam cutting pad, follow with a lighter polishing pad and then a finishing pad.

2) Cut that puppy with wool that glides over the surface and finish it out.



Which would you choose?
 
SpoiledMan said:
When it comes time to remove heavy swirling on hard paint you have two choices:

1) Spend hours fighting a foam cutting pad, follow with a lighter polishing pad and then a finishing pad.

2) Cut that puppy with wool that glides over the surface and finish it out.



Which would you choose?
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Yeah basicly why i use wool for cutting.



I only know of 1 member who finishes with wool but thats with edge/presta wool line, the other people i know who finish with wool are......ummm........hacks.



I believe its possible to cut and finish with edge/presta line but they are the only company i know of who make different cuts of wool. They have a heavy cut wool all the way down to a fine finishing wool.



I use edge/presta wool ONLY for cutting and finish with foam.
 
Lake Country has a *very* robust line of wool pads. I spoke to a rep that indicated that their site only shows about half of what they offer.
 
That dont make a whole lot of sense though, how is anyone to know what they have if they dont have it on their site?
 
For me, wool is much easier to use when cutting is needed. Getting through a rough exterior detail with foam alone would take me twice as long
 
Coupe said:
That dont make a whole lot of sense though, how is anyone to know what they have if they dont have it on their site?
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My feelings exactly. I will have to give them a call.
 
RyanDe680 said:
Do you strictly use wool because of the heat issue, or because of its quick cutting ability?
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I use wool for these reasons (edge/presta wool)



1. Almost no heat, no fear of burning



2. WAY WAY WAY WAY easy to control



3. Cuts fast with little to no holograms/micromarring





Now i use edge/presta wool, they have a complete line of wool from heavy cut all the way down to finishing wool.



What i choose for the job is important to the outcome. If i am working on an audi/vette then i use the yellow medium cut wool or the black heavy cut wool, if im working on a ford then i use the green light cut wool or the blue polishing wool.



That is just a quick example, you never know what you are dealing with regardless of the vehicle so starting at the least aggresive approach still applies.
 
ZoranC said:
My feelings exactly. I will have to give them a call.
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What i dont get is if they offer such a line of wool and dont have it on their site and none of their distributers carry them then why do they make them? Just to look at them on the shelf? They obviously wont get sold if no one knows about them.
 
I think there's too many different kinds of wool pads on the market. I really don't see why there should be more than 2 (maybe 3). Cutting and polishing. There's not a big variance between each like there is with foam pads. I don't think I've ever had a need to use more than 1 kind for a single application. There's really no need to use a cutting wool and then follow with a polishing/foamed wool. You'll go to a foam pad instead.
 
David Fermani said:
I think there's too many different kinds of wool pads on the market. I really don't see why there should be more than 2 (maybe 3). Cutting and polishing. There's not a big variance between each like there is with foam pads. I don't think I've ever had a need to use more than 1 kind for a single application. There's really no need to use a cutting wool and then follow with a polishing/foamed wool. You'll go to a foam pad instead.
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Why would that be though? How come you wouldn't be able to finish with a wool, if it was fine enough?



I've seen some success stories on here....
 
I'd venture to say that paint finished with wool, no matter how fine or foamed, is going to have trails. They may be faint enough that they wont be obvious on lighter colors but on darker colors they'd be easier to see.



Wool to cut and foam to finish.
 
Can you finish - Yes. Will it look the best no. No matter how nice you get it with a wool pad, a foam will make it better every time. Wool will not create depth like foam. Depending on the product and your technique, there shouldn't be wheel marks / buffer trails left after wool pad polishing. I've seen people compound with a brand new wool cutting pad and not leave swirls on a black finish. It can be done.
 
I guess I don't really get the question. It's like asking which is better a dog or a trans am.... Foam pad and wool pads have nothing at all to do with each other. Each application is totaly different. You use wool/sythetic fiber pads for 90% of any machine work you do with a rotary. Thats your workhorse. You're getting you paint back in shape scratches and swirls removed etc etc etc.. with your wool pad. the only thing you should ever use a foam pad for is your very final polishing on dark colored cars. Other than that you should never have a foam pad on your machine. If your actually trying to cut and remove with a foam pad you're wasting just an unimaginable amount of time and effort. Use the right tools the first time and the job goes much much quicker with much better results.
 
And now for a countering point of view...



The finishing wool pads I use put an incredibly fine gloss on paint. Better than I've gotten with foam. Blue or white Edge wool pads with a high quality finishing polish produce amazing finishes in much less time than their foam counterparts.
 
Jakerooni said:
I guess I don't really get the question. It's like asking which is better a dog or a trans am....
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And this is why I asked my "dog vs. trans am" question.



SuperBee364 said:
And now for a countering point of view...



The finishing wool pads I use put an incredibly fine gloss on paint. Better than I've gotten with foam. Blue or white Edge wool pads with a high quality finishing polish produce amazing finishes in much less time than their foam counterparts.
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This is what I am interested in.



Now by finishing down with the wool, I take it you are making this a two-step, using more aggressive wool first and then finishing down with a 'polishing' wool?
 
RyanDe680 said:
And this is why I asked my "dog vs. trans am" question.







This is what I am interested in.



Now by finishing down with the wool, I take it you are making this a two-step, using more aggressive wool first and then finishing down with a 'polishing' wool?
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Yup, that's it. :up
 
SuperBee364 said:
Yup, that's it. :up
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Then my questions are why finish down with the wool? Is it because of the heat issue?



Also do you differ your RPMs because of the cutting power of wool compared to that of foam?
 
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