Help with picking pads

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Whipped500

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I can use some help picking out 5.5" pads for PC DA. I am new to the DA (only had an orbital before) so I have no idea what to get? At first I bought the deluxe 6.5 ccs package but have been told I don't want a pad that big, that I really want 5.5" pad with 5" backing plate. So then I thought maybe just a compound, a polish and a wax pad. Then reading more, it sound like the more the better (to switch out). I kind of have it narrowed down to LC flat (because of $$) and the LC thin. I want to be able to play around with my cars and my family's when I have time (which isn't much at all). For a beginner to have a variety is a 6 pack enough to play with and if so, which combination? If not 6, but 12, what combination as well? Also, which particular pad? I was leaning towards flat over thin because of price (would like to keep it as low as possible in case it just gets thrown on a shelf) but if the thin is that much better then that's what I will get. Also, is there 5.5" besides LC that I should be looking at?

Basically wanting a good variety to play with and the best bang for the $.
Thanks in advance!!!
 
price is a factor for me as well. never mind that i spend countless dollars on stuff i don't really need.

You can't go wrong with either LC option. i'm still using the flats quite a bit, to be honest with you. I have thins, but not nearly as many as regular flats.

As far as how many, that's tougher for ME to answer. I'd say go with 12, but then your cost just doubled. Some would say a TOTAL of 6 pads will not be enough for 3 steps of polishing/finishing.

Here is ONE approach, given your desire to keep costs at a minimum, AS WELL as your lack of time.
- Get the 6 pack
- Get two of cut, polish, and finishing (only if you plan to finish (wax/sealant) by machine. If not, then do 3 and 3 of cut and polish pads :)
- Do only a couple of sections at a time. For example, one day, just do the hood. Another day, do the trunk. Immediately after doing that one section, wash and dry your pads for the next time.

This method will help keep you from taking on too much at one time. Both in money and in time.

Orange and White would be my colors of choice, as I like to hand apply waxes.

Hope that helps some
 
I try to be as frugal as I can with pads, and I too don't bother with too many finishing pads. Just enough that I can use them if I need to if I'm finishing up on certain paints. I use 4 Microfiber cutting pads, 5 foam cutting pads, 6 polishing pads and 4 finishing pads. However, I also made sure to get the pad brush and I have a little trick that keeps my pads clean. Since I do use ONR, I dip the pads in ONR first and wring them out so that they're damp. After each section, I wash the pads out in ONR since I'm not concerned about the oils from the leveling liquids but more about paint residue and ONR gets that out just fine. Then I wring it out again so it's damp and re-use it. Any rinseless type wash will be fine really, I just use ONR since I have a massive jug of it. Get more pads, having a clean pad is what makes compounding and polishing work better.
 
After looking a while last night, I am leaning towards the 12 pack of LC flat pads. 4 of each, orange, white and black. I'm thinking this so I have enough to do a vehicle halfway nice all at once, I'll have what I need. I don't have time to do a panel at a time.
Does that combo sound good? I can tell you that with the little time I have I would mostly be doing a swirl remover or a cleaner then a coat of wax with the black (shoulder can't do it anymore by hand). Then, if I have even less time, I would do an AIO/cleaner wax (white pad?).
This a good combo or should I be less/more something for how I'm mostly going to use it?
Thanks
 
The Flats should serve your well. I started out with them and over time built up a good inventory. I'm now slowly transitioning over to the Thin Pro pads since I have found I like them much better.

As far as how many of which color, I think that depends on the vehicles you'll be working on and their condition. For me, most of my cars are in good shape and 2 of the three have paint that is on the softer side. Those conditions drove me to go heavy on white pads, a few orange for stubborn spots needing extra correction, and a couple of black/blue for wax application.
 
You'll be happier with the LC ThinPro pads. The LC Flat pads are good, but thin pads work much better on a PC.

You really don't need 4 black pads. You can easily do a whole vehicle with 1 black since that's pretty much just for spreading wax (regardless of what the AGO description says).

DesertNate pretty much nailed my thoughts.
 
2 of my cars sit in the garage. One does not see rain unless it comes out of nowhere! The other usually doesn't see rain either but not a big deal if it does. Then there are 2 that see the weather. The last one is my Boat that I would want to only wax it with the DA.
I do have a trashed work vehicle but I don't want any of these pads to touch it...I'll get some cheap ones off eBay if I really want to do it. Paint is chipping off in some spots and a bad repair job done so I don't care.

Sounds like maybe one less orange and one more white?
What color for swirl remover or cleaner? I assumed orange for that. I also assumed white if I was using an AIO or cleaner wax?
 
Also, I would love to get the LC thin but I don't want to invest the extra money when they might not get used very often. I'm​getting these pads to make my life easier for when I do have time to clean and wax a vehicle. Shoulder can't do it anymore...can't even hand was 1 car anymore.
Also to wax the boat.
 
Whipped500 said:
2 of my cars sit in the garage. One does not see rain unless it comes out of nowhere! The other usually doesn't see rain either but not a big deal if it does. Then there are 2 that see the weather. The last one is my Boat that I would want to only wax it with the DA.
I do have a trashed work vehicle but I don't want any of these pads to touch it...I'll get some cheap ones off eBay if I really want to do it. Paint is chipping off in some spots and a bad repair job done so I don't care.
Click to expand...

I would caution against using cheap pads. They might not work very well and most likely aren't that durable. I had the same thoughts when I started out and used the cheap Harbor Freight pads. They didn't correct very well and would self destruct by the time I finished a vehicle. I wasted a lot of money replacing cheap pads vs good pads that last years.

Sounds like maybe one less orange and one more white?
What color for swirl remover or cleaner? I assumed orange for that. I also assumed white if I was using an AIO or cleaner wax?
Click to expand...

Not always. Even on my hard VW paint I've found a mild compound/swirl remover works very well on white. I am also able to use white with a regular polish to clean up mild swirls on soft Toyota paint. For regular maintenance polishing each year I use white pads almost exclusively. The only time I break out the orange pads is on a bad scuff or other defect that requires it.

There are many people who tend to go straight for the compounds and heavy cutting pads/MF pads. I tend to be a little more cautious since I own vehicles for long periods of time and only go aggressive when absolutely nessicary and even then only on the offending spot/area.

Whipped500 said:
Also, I would love to get the LC thin but I don't want to invest the extra money when they might not get used very often. I'm​getting these pads to make my life easier for when I do have time to clean and wax a vehicle. Shoulder can't do it anymore...can't even hand was 1 car anymore.
Also to wax the boat.
Click to expand...

I found the thin pads to work much faster which led to fewer passes and less time polishing than with flat pads. Go with what you budget can tolerate. I can't go a full inventory of thin pads either, but will get a couple at a time as my flat pads wear out.
 
I think you'll be more than happy with the flat pads over the thins... I have both and the flat pads are more comfortable to use. They work pretty great to boot.
 
I suggest mf pads because they're fast cutters and great. I would actually suggest more orange pads then white pads because a stiffer pad and a fine polish finishes better than just a white pad and polish. Mind you I do use white pads and polish to take off the previous lsp but that's just setting the polisher on the highest setting and running it over the car quicker than an actual polish. Plus because I keep a small bucket of onr as a pad cleaner, I do tend to just use one or two pads for the whole vehicle. I use orange pads and a fine polish if I need to actually correct the minor swirls and what have you.
 
LC flats work wonders for me w/ my PC. Mind you, I never have that much correcting to do, but I do have some. And, IMO the paint on my Ram is somewhere between "medium hardness & hard".

My go-to is the LC orange & HD Speed. Orange because the white just won't quite get it on the harder paint.

Totally agree with Eldo on the Flats being more comfortable to use.

Also, I can easily do my whole truck with 4 pads using MP's "clean on the fly" method.
 
At the very least:

4 orange cutting
4 white polishing
2 black finishing

Get a pad conditioning brush to know off the caked stuff, and use a terry or microfiber towel to soak up the moisture. Probably going to want some good pad cleaner too. Maybe McKee's 37.

As far as flat vs thin? I never have issues with parents rotation, even when using 1.25" pads. If I were going thin, I'd also consider the Meguiar's version. They're awesome!
 
Once you get your process/pads dialed in, wait for a sale and pick up a six pack of Buff & Shine flats in white. Best move I made in a long time. I keep all my good pads for my own work (and nicer cars) and take really good care of them. And then when family and friends want a quick "wax job", I get out the B&S pads and use them with all-in-ones/cleaner waxes. They're great for those quick and dirty jobs-- durable, versatile, you get a little correction/cleaning ability, and the price is right. Then you don't have to worry about contaminating/abusing your "good" pads. That's not to say the B&S aren't "good". In fact, they're great. But it's nice to have a second set for rougher, quicker work where you aren't going to invest a lot of time (and your "customers" aren't autogeeks).
 
Thanks for everyone's help!
I already ordered and here's what I decided on and why...

12 pack LC flat. I chose these because from what I'm learning, you want a good amount of pads while working. Also, because I wanted to keep price down since I'm not sure how much I'll be able to use. I am sure the thin pads are better but for a beginner to play around I didn't want the extra cost at this point. If I use more often than I think then I will think about building a bigger supply and probably go thin, but until then I thought this was most effective (12 flat vs 6 thin).

Now for quantity.
3 Orange
6 white
3 black

I went this route because 2 of the vehicles I have in mind are very well taken care of so there really shouldn't be much need for correction with orange but I wanted them if I needed them. White because this is what I thought I would use most because I would either be doing a cleaner or swirl remover followed by a coat of wax. Also white because for as little time I have to dedicate to the cars, AIO's are looking more appealing to me and from what I'm told you need the white pad for that. Lastly, so many black because I also plan on using the DA to wax my boat and although I should only need one, I wanted extra if I only have time to do one side one day and if that pad isn't clean or dry I can still get back at it the next day.
 
I did also order the McKee's pad cleaner and a spur for my wool but I forgot to order a brush for the foam pads. I saw how to use a towel or compressed air to clean up the pad if need be, but how stiff or soft of bristles (maybe compared to a toothbrush) do I need for on the fly and or for cleaning with the pad cleaner? Or can anyone​ recommend something that that is readily available at a common store?
Thanks
 
I have been in love with the CG hexlogic pads. I avoided them for a while because of the price, but so far I am very pleased. The white pad is my favorite and for applying waxes and such the black is very good. But again, the price. I use Meg's otherwise though. They have decent pads and the variety packs are a very good value. I usually have a cocktail of pads.
 
Does hexlogic and lc flat advice options work the same with GG 6
 
Whipped500 said:
I did also order the McKee's pad cleaner and a spur for my wool but I forgot to order a brush for the foam pads. I saw how to use a towel or compressed air to clean up the pad if need be, but how stiff or soft of bristles (maybe compared to a toothbrush) do I need for on the fly and or for cleaning with the pad cleaner? Or can anyone​ recommend something that that is readily available at a common store?
Thanks
Click to expand...

I used a denture brush for years to clean on the fly.
 
PouncingPanzer said:
I have been in love with the CG hexlogic pads. I avoided them for a while because of the price, but so far I am very pleased. The white pad is my favorite and for applying waxes and such the black is very good. But again, the price. I use Meg's otherwise though. They have decent pads and the variety packs are a very good value. I usually have a cocktail of pads.
Click to expand...

The Hex Logic pads are manufactured for CG by Buff and Shine. You can fine the same foams in the 5.5" Buff and Shine Grip Pads. They excellent too!
 
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