Do 100% lambswool rotary pads leave swirls? Wool expert needed

[wifehatescar]

I have tried some of The Edge "blend" wool pads and was not happy because they left behind marring/swirls of their own.

However, they have a 100% lambswool "fine finishing" pad. Has anyone evr used one of those *to cut paint*? They claim it is for fine finishing but I would think it would cut with DACP or similar.

...yes I have used foam pads but do not like how the grab and move on the paint more than wool pads so I'm looking for alternatives.

[Mike Phillips]

Fiber buffing pads, whether they are cutting or finishing pads, will always leave behind buffer swirls. This is the nature of the beast. The fibers that make up the pad leave fine cuts or scratches in the paint.

In my life I have met detailers who tell me things like,

"I'm so good at buffing, I can use a finishing pad and not swirl-out the paint",

(that's an actual statement made to me by an detailer as he swirled out a Ferrari using a wool finishing pad).

The issue isn't about your skill level, expertise, or talent, it's about a fiberous pad, spinning against the finish, instilling hundreds of thousands of fine scratches in what usually looks like a zig-zag pattern when viewed in bright light.

Here are two pictures of swirls instilled into the finish of this hard tonneau...





The only way to remove real buffer swirl is to rebuff the paint using a foam pad on either a rotary buffer or a dual action polisher. Meguiar's realized the answer to a swirl free finish could only be achieved through the use of foam pad technology, diminishing abrasives embodied in a rich, lubricating oil film, thus the introduction of the foam buffing pad in 1965 called the Wooless Wonder,



and diminishing abrasive paint cleaners since 1901.



Mike

[wifehatescar]

Thanks for the quick response! Here's a couple of follow-up questions:

1. You make it sound like Meg's hasn't endorsed/used wool pads in decades. Although you show a pic of a 1965 foam pad, I was under the impression foam pads did not become popular until the 80's. How did people successfully buff cars before widespread foam use if all wool pads make the defects in your above pictures?

2. Is it difficult for *you* to use a rotary and not induce any type of swirls/holograms/defects using a foam pad? Do *you* usually follow-up with a PC in all cases? I have detailed a dozen cars with my rotary, using 1000-1500rpm, all types of products and foam pads and it seems very hit or miss as too if there are holograms left behind (as in the truck picture above, just not as bad)

3. When *you* use a rotary, do you stop buffing before the product dries or do you wait for it to dust?

Thanks

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by wifehatescar
Thanks for the quick response! Here's a couple of follow-up questions:

1. You make it sound like Meg's hasn't endorsed/used wool pads in decades. Although you show a pic of a 1965 foam pad, I was under the impression foam pads did not become popular until the 80's. How did people successfully buff cars before widespread foam use if all wool pads make the defects in your above pictures?

Meguiar's sells and recommends wool cutting pads for removing sanding marks, typically in the body shop industry, and at the manufacture plant level because speed is an issue and they are working on fresh paint. Meguiar's also recommends wool buffing pads for experienced detailers for removing serious paint defects and sanding marks on cured paint. The key with both of these groups are experienced people using the right tool for the job.

That said, Meguiar's recommends using a foam polishing pad to rebuff the finish after using a wool pad to remove the buffer swirl instilled by the fibers.

It took a long time for foam pads to become popular, at least in my neck of the woods when I started working as an outside Sales Rep and Trainer. I remember calling on many body shops and detail shops that were only using wool cutting and finishing pads and when I introduced them to the foam buffing pad in 1988 there were still plenty of people that had never seen one, let alone used one.

The foam pad increased in popularity when clear coat finishes became the norm in the refinishing industry, followed by detailing industry. Clear coats are much harder than traditional lacquer and enamel finishes, (although I am always reading someone's post talking about how soft their clear coat finish is). Although they are harder, they still scratch easily, Meguiar's coined the term, scratch-sensitive to describe this characteristic.

But foam pads don't work with traditional cutting compounds.

more on this later...

Mike