Cleaning sealant pad...

[A.P.A.D.]

Cleaning sealant pad...


I use LC CCS red pads for applying sealants. but when I am through with the pad and throw it in the bucket of DP pad rejuvenator, it never gets clean like the polishing and cutting pads do which just had polish or compound on them. the red pads always have the slimy sealant/water residue on them. when dry, the red pads are just a little greasy and discolored.

am I doing something wrong? or is this normal? and are they ok to keep reusing over and over?

how do you guys clean your red pads(or whatever color of other brands you use).

Feed back please

 

[93fox]

Ive heard that dipping them in 70% ipa works. I spray wax and grease remover on mine and then a little degreaser and scrub them gently with warm water. Ive never found any problem and 0 sealant or wax remains IMO.

 

[Dr Oldz]

I clean them with Dawn the best I can. After they dry, I put them in a plastic bag and only use them for sealants. Seems that sealants never truly come out of the pads for me.

 

[Rei86]

Probably the issue that the pad has a coat of sealant and you all know what a sealant is supposed to do on the car. Protect it, so I don't see a difference whether its on the cars paint or on a foam pad.

Might i suggest instead of the Detailer's Pro Series Polishing Pad Rejuvenator bucket you presoak your pads in an APC solution bucket?

 

[maluminas]

I just had the same problem after using WG DGPS and Fuzion. Sealants are basically silicone compounds and they are not always removed by degreasers, and i guess Fuzion contains some too. I tried soaking them for 24h in DP pad rejuvenator but that didnt help at all, so i took out the big guns right away and sprayed each wet pad once with OPC full strength and agitated them. Everything came out and they are squeeky clean now. Other APCs could work too, ill try others next time.

OPC is really magical. I'm considering buying a gallon and using only that for all my cleaning needs (automotive or others) lol...

Edit: hm i forgot to try it on my UTTG applicator, might work...

 

[LuxuryMobile]

For the same reason we love particular sealants, we have trouble getting them out of pads.

I just try to have dedicated sealant pads and clean as best I can, then continue to reuse.

 

[BillE]

As others have said...a dedicated pad.

I clean it as best as I can and have it marked for poly.

Bill

 

[Flannigan]

I also have dedicated pads for each selant I use. I clean them as best I can with APC and Dawn, but I don't trust that every little bit of selant has been removed. So once they are dry I put them in a plastic bag marked with the sealant that they are used for. I do the same thing for carnuba wax applicators...but lately I've been using the cheap yellow applicators and just throwing them away after one use.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Probably the issue that the pad has a coat of sealant and you all know what a sealant is supposed to do on the car. Protect it, so I don't see a difference whether its on the cars paint or on a foam pad.

For the same reason we love particular sealants, we have trouble getting them out of pads.

Correct.

This question or topic comes up all the time, here's some related threads...


XMT 360 problems removing from pad

Having trouble cleaning pads

Cleaning Pads

How to clean LC HT pad from AG HD Wax?


Here's a reply I posted to the first thread above...

st professional grade compounds and polishes are water soluble, that's so in a body shop situation if after compounding a car they wanted to wash the car to rinse splatter out of cracks, crevices, body seams, etc, the can do so.

Waxes are supposed to LAST.


By this I mean, they are not supposed to wash off with water when you wash your car or drive it in a rain storm. The protection ingredients are NOT WATER SOLUBLE. If they were, and the wax washed off in the rain they you would be upset.

So for the same reason you dislike that the product won't wash EASILY out of your buffing pad is the exact same reason you love a wax in the first place and that is so it will stay on the paint and protect the paint.

Make sense?


In a nutshell, a quality wax or paint sealant SHOULD be VERY DIFFICULT to wash out of a pad. If it's not.... then how long is going to hold up on a car's finish?

I've written on this topic a number of times recently, doing a SEARCH using the terms or tags,

Soluble
Detergent-Resistant
Insoluble


Should find some more information on this topic...

It's normal for any kind of "Paint Protection Product" to be difficult to remove out of a buffing pad or even hand applicator pad. If it were easy... you would probably be complaining about how the wax or sealant you're using doesn't last very long...

As others have said...a dedicated pad.

I clean it as best as I can and have it marked for poly.

Bill

Great advice.

PLUS... if you use a pad washer, don't wash your wax or sealant pad in the pad washer until you've 100% done with all the compounding and polishing work, (all the water soluble product work), otherwise you can contaminate your water and then contaminate your compounding and polishing procedures.

 

[Crazy Amos]

After I use them I toss them in a bucket with some pad cleaner such as Snappy Clean to soak. When I am finished with the detail, I rinse them out and work them by hand, then toss them in a heavy concentration of Dawn and let soak for a couple hours then squeeze the contact side of the pad like a "pimple" to force the product out. Then rinse, then toss them pack into the bucket with fresh Dawn to soak longer. Usually after I rinse them out the second time, the sealant or wax is nearly completely out. I stop once the foam absorbs water again.

 

[Ron Atchison]

Funny this shows up today. I was getting ready to do a search on how to get WGPS out of my blue pad. Straight dawn gets a lot of it out but it's still there so I think it will become a WGPS pad now.