Softbuff buffing pads, will they go bad with age?

[Marcus]

Hi there!

I am in the process of ordering a couple of buffing pads (18 pads as a matter of fact) and I just realized that they might not age well? I will probably not use more than 1 pad per 2 months or something, at most! So, these 18 pads will be with me for maaany years I suspect!

Does anyone know if the material will go bad with age?

Kind regards,
Marcus

[Setec Astronomy]

That's a good question, because some foams deteriorate with age...I'll be interested in this answer because, um...I might have stocked up on a few pad as well...

[the other pc]

If anybody has speakers leftover from the seventies with foam woofer surrounds I'd be willing to bet they're falling apart by now (I know the ones in our family are). It's pretty common for many formulations of plastic foams.

Mike has an example of an unused original version foam pad he brings to class sometimes. It's disintegrating, presumably due to age. Not sure the vintage, but I think he said they came out in the sixties so it could be very old. (Wait a minute, I grew up in the sixties, I guess it's not all that old. )

I would guess that the usual things that cause plastics to age would accelerate deterioration, exposure to ozone, sunlight, chemicals, etc. but I would think they'd last for years in storage "in a cool, dry place".

Using them is definitely going to accelerate aging. Besides wear, exposure to the solvents and oils in products will accelerate the break down the foam. At NXT ti II they suggested that using microfiber towels to squeeze excess oils out of pads before storing them would increase their lifespan.


PC.

edit: ps. Marcus,

Last night I saw a travel show on PBS that visited Uppsala, you've got a very beautiful town there.