Lake Country SDO, Scholl Polishes, open vs closed cell

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rover137

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Hi all

I’m relatively new to detailing and have been doing some more reading and research and came across something I was hoping i could get some clarity on.

Firstly, apologies if I’m mentioning brands that aren’t sold here, I am in Aus and a lot of the products available here I cannot get.

I attempted to polish my black Hyundai Nline with a 12mm throw DA with orange LC SDO pads and a few different Scholls polishes. I ended up going with the S30+ as this finished down very well and also did a fair bit of correcting.

I though I’d knock it back a notch for my next time around and ordered some black SDO pads and S40. Now I was reading around a few forums and many say you can’t use open cell pads with S40 as they absorb too much and will clog up the pad. I have been research a bit about open/closed pads with use of DAT polishes like Scholls. Does anyone have any knowledge of these combos? The S30+ seemed to work really well with the orange SDO.

I also came across someone saying S40 is too abrasive for a black SDO pad. This doesn’t make sense to me as S40 is one of the finest polishes around, and the black SDO is a very fine finishing pad?

thanks all!!
 
I cover open cell versus closed cell in my how-to book.

Here's the short answer. Just stick with open cell. The wear better or "last longer" and the idea that a closed cell pad will NOT absorb product as fast as open cell sounds great on paper but in the real world, it's of no matter. Plus, once a closed cell pad becomes saturated with liquids - because the cells are closed or sealed with a membrane, they are much harder to clean.


:)
 
Hi Mike

Thank you so much for your reply! I will have to buy that book I think!

That makes sense and I did read about some of those things.

Is open cell ok for DAT polishes? Ie do they take longer to break the abrasives down? I assume that as long as you work clean (which should be practiced anyway), then clogging them up is neither here nor there.

Do you know if the LC HDO/SDO pads are open or closed? I tried your ‘blow air’ test but I don’t have any other pads to compare them to. I’ve tried to find the specifications with data sheets etc but I can’t get a clear determination! I am leaning towards them being open from what I’ve read.

It’s odd that Scholl recommend closed cell pads with their polishes, I’m sure people have had great results with open cell pads.

Cheers!
 
The HDO pads are great pads. The SDO pads are also pretty good. They work fine with DAT polishes. I have used them with Sonax Perfect Finish, Scholl's S20 Black and CarPro Reflect. These are some of the DAT polishes that I have that I can think of off the top of my head.

Check out Sandro on Car Craft Detailing. He covers pads on his youtube channel and he uses Scholl's every so often. He is in Australia.
 
The Guz said:
The HDO pads are great pads. The SDO pads are also pretty good. They work fine with DAT polishes. I have used them with Sonax Perfect Finish, Scholl's S20 Black and CarPro Reflect. These are some of the DAT polishes that I have that I can think of off the top of my head.

Check out Sandro on Car Craft Detailing. He covers pads on his youtube channel and he uses Scholl's every so often. He is in Australia.
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Thanks mate! I guess you can find all sorts of views and experiences online and in this industry.

I didn’t think there would be any issues with these combinations. Can I ask how many section passes you do with the S20? I tried this with an orange SDO pad but it marred my paint pretty bad. Ultimate Polish also marred it, but the. S30+ had good cut and finished pretty good. I suspect my paint is pretty soft, that’s why I have ordered some black SDOs and S40 to go over it again.

Sandro is a legend! I’ve had a few chats with him and watched most of his videos. Great guy who is extremely knowledgeable in his field.
 
I used it with 4-5 section passes with S20 on a Rupes yellow pad and orange HDO recently. The cut and finish was very good other than some areas that were a bit finicky.

It does sound like your paint is on the soft side.
 
The Guz said:
I used it with 4-5 section passes with S20 on a Rupes yellow pad and orange HDO recently. The cut and finish was very good other than some areas that were a bit finicky.

It does sound like your paint is on the soft side.
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I did 4-5 passes as well with the orange SDO and got marring. Working area quite small - bit over 1 x 1 foot. Was just checking as I had a thought I may not have broken down the s20 enough but I think it is just my paint. I tested different speeds/passes etc but just couldn’t get it work well for me. Ult Polish marred the paint even worse believe it or not. 4-5 passes with the same technique and S30+ cleared up all marring and almost gave me complete defect removal on areas it was used on alone. This is all with a 12mm throw, 5” backing plate DA.

Do you have any experience with the black HDO/SDO? I think they are the same foam, just missing that other bit which increases ergonomics/durability? They are meant to be a very soft pad but shouldn’t have any issue breaking down a very fine finishing polish?
 
I have only used the microfiber, blue and orange HDO pads. I have used the orange SDO pad as well. The difference is the interface pad on the HDO. Other than that they are the same foam material. Soft paint can drive us crazy.
 
The Guz said:
I have only used the microfiber, blue and orange HDO pads. I have used the orange SDO pad as well. The difference is the interface pad on the HDO. Other than that they are the same foam material. Soft paint can drive us crazy.
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I was thinking of getting the HDOs but given they are 3 times the price of the SDOs here and i only do my own car I went with the SDOs.
it was not the best paint to learn on, but I am a lot more confident now!
I heard that sometimes soft finishing pads can actually not finish as good on soft paint, for e.g the orange being better for soft paint than the black. Have you found this?
thanks for all your help and for clearing up those things for me!
 
rover137 said:
I was thinking of getting the HDOs but given they are 3 times the price of the SDOs here and i only do my own car I went with the SDOs.
it was not the best paint to learn on, but I am a lot more confident now!
I heard that sometimes soft finishing pads can actually not finish as good on soft paint, for e.g the orange being better for soft paint than the black. Have you found this?
thanks for all your help and for clearing up those things for me!
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I read it a few times, sometimes its best to finish out soft paint with a medium pad. I have soft paint too. I can basically light compound using a LC orange with perfect finish or 3D one and then switch to a soft polishing pad using the same product.

Next year i will be using 3d one to cut and gyeon primer to finish though.
 
The Guz said:
Less vibration with the HDO on a long stroke.
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Much difference? i too went with the SDO, if i was polishing all the time i would of bought the HDO. Close to double the price in canada.
 
noorth said:
I read it a few times, sometimes its best to finish out soft paint with a medium pad. I have soft paint too. I can basically light compound using a LC orange with perfect finish or 3D one and then switch to a soft polishing pad using the same product.

Next year i will be using 3d one to cut and gyeon primer to finish though.
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That’s interesting, have heard that from a few different people. I will have to see how the black SDOs end up going.

LC orange as in the SDO range?
 
noorth said:
Much difference? i too went with the SDO, if i was polishing all the time i would of bought the HDO. Close to double the price in canada.
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Triple the price here in Aus! I couldn’t justify it for pads I’ll use once every 1-2 years... but now I’m intrigued.
 
I’ve got a large batch of the original HDO pads. The Orange ones are my favorite pads of all time but I’m kind of due for some new ones. The originals are very smooth running + a full 7” and also have them in 6” size.

How does the Yellow Rupes pad compare? I’ve heard so much about that pad but never tried it.
 
Eldorado2k said:
I’ve got a large batch of the original HDO pads. The Orange ones are my favorite pads of all time but I’m kind of due for some new ones. The originals are very smooth running + a full 7” and also have them in 6” size.

How does the Yellow Rupes pad compare? I’ve heard so much about that pad but never tried it.
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I have a one of the new yellow rupes pad coming and the LC SDO orange.

Not to confuse you rover137 but i actually used the griots garage orange boss pad - which is supposedly very close to the LC orange. But it did mar my paint with just perfect finish, maybe its technique - i have a BOSS G15, speeds where 3-4 and 3-4 slow section passes. BOSS pads are tough but hard to get here in canada.

I have started using higher speeds, 4-5 - on a family members car. The polisher is easier to work with in regards to stalling at those speeds.
 
I agree those HDO pads are mighty expensive per pad.. My favs but sheesh.
 
noorth said:
I have a one of the new yellow rupes pad coming and the LC SDO orange.

Not to confuse you rover137 but i actually used the griots garage orange boss pad - which is supposedly very close to the LC orange. But it did mar my paint with just perfect finish. BOSS pads are tough but hard to get here in canada.
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oh wow that’s some soft paint! Have you tried Scholls S30+ or S40? I did the S30+ on the orange SDO and seemed to remove all defects minus the RIDs and finished amazingly!

Any exp with the black SDO finishing pad or a pad of similar cut?

Do you reckon DAT polishes need a bit more time to break down on open cell pads such as the HDO/SDOs?
 
rover137 said:
oh wow that’s some soft paint! Have you tried Scholls S30+ or S40? I did the S30+ on the orange SDO and seemed to remove all defects minus the RIDs and finished amazingly!

Any exp with the black SDO finishing pad or a pad of similar cut?

Do you reckon DAT polishes need a bit more time to break down on open cell pads such as the HDO/SDOs?
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I never read much about DAT vs SMAT polishes, i just choose a few well known polishes that work. I finished my paint down fine after using the soft polishing pad which is a small step up from black finishing pads. My toyota doesn't need any of the heavy compounds. I even removed a bunch of deep scratches using my most course foam pad just using perfect finish.

Scholls is rather expensive in canada - so is sonax lol - and when i was starting out i just wanted one simple product - scholls lineup was confusing to me at the time. But next year i will using a true finishing polish, gyeon primer which is a little different in that it leaves behind a sio2 base layer. I have a fresh bottle of 3D one now so i'm good for quite sometime, unless i finally get a practice panel! Lots of good polishes. I enjoy 3D one more then perfect finish. Perfect finish is dusty for me for some reason. 3D one has a nicer smell has well.

Basically, i was drawed towards one steps. :) But i learnt after 2 steps are the gold standard in lots of circles. I had to 2 step anyways with just one product. :) Many different styles/systems out there. But polishing is very fun!

But who knows, i will do a very thorough test spot process next time,, never done one really last time just went on autopilot with BOSS orange pad and perfect finish - i cheated. And find a single step process. :D Overall, though for me the turnaround on the car was very noticeable and i'm very pleased - few family members and friends commented on it has well. Professional results? Of course not.

I do have a few black finishing pads from griots there actually relatively course but there's a big difference between black and orange.

BOSS pads have 4 foam pad system and a microfiber - Heavy cut, medium cut(orange), soft polishing pad and black finishing. So like HDO you have 4 different foam pads in the line. Some lines have 3 pads.

Caveat - I can and did one step some of the vertical panels with the soft polishing pad using perfect finish. I was more aggressive with the horizontal panels. And looking at the love marks on my bonnet it will be a 2 step process next year has well! Hardly anyone would notice however.
 
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