Sunday I'm supposed to detail a white car, but all my pads have residue from my red car. Is that residue going to stain the white car? If so, how could I clean it without? Should I just soak it in soapy water and use a stiff brush to get all the residue out?

 

If you have red paint residue on your pads that's not going to hurt anything. However, old dried up crusty polish on your pads will hurt paint. Plus old dried up polish on your pads will cause massive amounts of dusting.

Cleaning pads is easy. I do it after every time I use them. Just put a couple of gallons of warm watter in a bucket with some soap. You can use Dawn, Rug Cleaner, APC, or even a dedicated foam pad soap. If the pads are really crusty then put them in the bucket to soak for 20-30 minutes. Then massage the pads with your hands, squeeze them out, rinse them with some clean water, and then squeeze them out again. Finally, lay them on a clean surface to dry for a while velcro side up.

 

someone suggested (wanabe if im not mistaken, which i might be) the you place the pad back on the PC and spin at its lowest setting untill dry. if you need them in a hurry. however, the person warned against spinning them fast or the pad will tear and be useless.

 

Drying your pads this way works much better if you have a rotary. I don't know if the pad will tear, but you should hold the machine so that the pad is in a bucket. Otherwise, you'll have water flying everywhere. Also, make sure you squeeze out as much water as possible first or you could strain the machine's motor and shorten it's life.

 

somehow i missed this post!!

my answers are in here:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=407854

and yes, i am the guilty one who recommends drying pads on the pc (at the lowest setting though!)

 

If you look on the edge 2k packaging they recommend spinning dry on your PC or rotary. Works great... I like to wring it out as much as possible and stick the pad end into a sink first before turning it on =p. First time I did it outside and it looked like I pee'd my shorts after about a gallon of beer.

 

I need to revive this and add a question.

Cleaning my polishing pads was easy. But how do you clean the pads you use with Menzerna's FMJ ????!!!!!!!!

Jesus, I really am a believer that this product rocks but how the hell do you clean it off the pad? It doesn't seem to be water soluable.

 

i really like this stuff:

http://www.autogeek.net/xmtpadcacofs.html

i first rough them up with a spur, then spray some of the pad cleaner on, let it sit for just a minute and wash it off... for stubborn dirty pads, repeat.
really works!

 

As always thank you, oh great and knowledgeable one.

 

That Edge pad kit was great recommendation wasn't it.