What color polishing pads to use for what.

[Chachi94]

Just bought a DA polisher. My question is now what color pads do i use for the clean, polish, and wax stage??

[Selectchoice]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

Are you using Meguiar's pads?

[The Guz]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

Did you buy pads already?

[Chachi94]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

Have not bought any pads yet. But from reading around the forum black pads are for wax, yellow for compounds, what about for polish?

[The Guz]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

I highly encourage you to consider these in 5" with the 5" backing plate.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?61956-NEW!-DA-Foam-Discs-and-Backing-Plates

[Selectchoice]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

Yellow pads and black pads can be used for polishing. The black pads are the softest finishing pads. Sometimes a sensitive paint surface prefers the softer pad and allows a more refined finish.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

We are in agreement with this:

I highly encourage you to consider these in 5" with the 5" backing plate.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...Backing-Plates

Now, here's the deal on pad choice:

In the most basic sense, you would use a cutting pad with compound, a polishing pad with polish, and a finishing pad with wax/sealant. For example, Ultimate Compound with our burgundy cutting pad for defect removal, Ultimate Polish with our yellow foam polishing pad to refine the finish and enhance gloss, and Ultimate Wax with the black foam finishing pad for a very gentle touch during application.

But those are just basic guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Everyone needs a starting point when first working with a buffer, and the above is a great reference point that will work great on the vast majority of cars. But........ here's where things can start to get a bit confusing -------->

You are free to mix and match any of the above, depending on the condition of the paint, how the paint responds to input, and what your goals are. If the paint isn't in really bad shape, and it's a bit on the soft side, then you may find Ultimate Compound on the yellow polishing pad is more than sufficient to get the job done. Or you may want to use Ultimate Polish on a finishing pad to really maximize the finish on darker colored, softer paints. Or you can flip it all around and use the burgundy cutting pad with a cleaner wax, like White Wax, as a highly effective one step process.

For a beginner just getting used to the whole process, however, it makes a lot of sense to simplify your process and stick with cutting pad/compound, polishing pad/polish, finishing pad/wax. What's more important than trying to experiment with every possible combination of pad and product is to get into the habit of working clean, and to concentrate on technique. The DA is a very forgiving tool, so using it correctly is critical for maximum results. We've seen far too many people searching for some secret liquid/pad combo that will overcome their poor technique. The problem there is two fold: 1) good luck finding such a combo that will truly offset lousy technique and, 2) they don't even realize their technique is terrible!! As for the working clean part noted above, this is critical for max results, too. Don't expect to compound an entire car with one pad. At the minimum you should use 3 or 4, especially if you're chasing a really high finish. And even with that many pad swaps, you want to clean your pad regularly to remove dried product and accumulated paint residue. Yes, you are removing paint when compounding, that should not surprise anyone. But where does that paint go? Yep, right onto the pad. And it starts to become a very random, uncontrolled abrasive mixed in with the compound, and that's not good. Clean the pad often (there is no such thing as "too often") and swap to a fresh pad a few times during a project. Your pad count goes down with each step - a secondary polish with a yellow pad and UP may only require two pads since you aren't being as aggressive in this step. Waxing generally requires just one pad as all you're really doing is spreading a bit of product onto the paint. Of course, this changes if you alter the basics above - White Wax on a cutting pad will require frequent cleaning and pad swaps, just as if you were using a compound.

[Chachi94]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

Thank you all for the help.

[IYAOYAS]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

I just used the DA burgundy pad with the compound, I plan on using the DA yellow pad for the polish next, can I use the yellow pad for waxing also?

[The Guz]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

It would be best to use the black finishing disc. I never used the yellow pad to apply wax but I am sure it would be ok. If not you could always apply it by hand.

[IYAOYAS]

Re: What color polishing pads to use for what.

Ty because I can't find the black pads, no Walmart or auto part store