General questions

l SIC l

l SIC l

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Hey Mike,

Need a bit of help with a few things:

1) As the 'Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light' has a different voltage charger than New Zealand, would this mean there is no way that I could use a wall charger for this product - or is there an alternative? (taking out of consideration the car charger).

2) I purchased a 3.5" backing plate from Autogeek and 6x 4" Meguiar's foam 2.0 pads (2x black, 2x yellow and 2x burgundy) and also 6x 6.5" Meguiar's foam 2.0 pads (3x beige and 3x yellow). My question is; would the 'beige' pads be used for a polish such as M205, or would the 'yellow' foam pads be the better option? and also, are the 'burgundy' pads only necessary when the 'yellow' pads don't seem to provide enough cutting power for the task? Sorry if this is confusing!

3) Say I just finished using (as an example), a yellow foam buff pad and I was about to move on to waxing. What do I do with that yellow foam pad whilst I continue with another pad to wax the vehicle? Would it be OK to just 'clean it on the fly' and wait for 30 minutes or so before throwing it in the wash with the other pads?... but what if I were to apply a final polishing step with a separate yellow pad and then wax, this could take another couple of hours possibly - what would you recommend to keep the pads from 'drying hard' (or whatever other issues may occur).

Thanks a lot,
Shaarn :xyxthumbs:
 
Here's some articles on pad cleaning...

Why it's important to clean your pads often...

Cleaning Pads with the Flex 3401 and the Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer

How to clean your foam pad on the fly

How to dry a foam pad after hand washing



If you're going to machine wash and dry your pads then try to remove any excess residue off of them either with a nylon brush is the residue is dry, or with a cotton towel by blotting or squeezing any excess product out of the pad.

This will keep the easily removed residue from mixing into your wash cycle.

Also, in my opinion it's better to wash only compound and polishing pads and even microfiber together as most polish and compounds are water soluble and will wash and rinse out better than if you add to the mix a pad or microfiber towel used with waxes and paint sealants as they types of products are not very water soluble and you will transfer this residue to all the rest of your pads and/or towels if you wash them all together.


:)
 

l SIC l said:
Hey Mike,

What do I do with that yellow foam pad whilst I continue with another pad to wax the vehicle? Would it be OK to wait for 30 minutes or so before throwing it in the wash with the other pads?...
Click to expand...


Throw it into a bucket with soap and water. I've let pads soak for a few hours with no ill consequenses.




 
Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses! (I fell asleep straight after I made the thread heh :p). Cheers for the links and explanations Mike and Fly Bye, I will do that :xyxthumbs:
 
One thing from the 'Why it's important to clean your pads often...' thread Mike:

If you were to wash a pad under a running tap or let it soak in a bucket of water, followed by wring it out and letting it air dry on a rack... wouldn't there still be product residue in the pad? (or would you recommend to let the pads soak in a bucket of liquid detergent and warm water as opposed to just a bucket of plain water?).

Also, would there be a difference washing pads and MF towels in either a top-load or front-load cycle washing machine (both using liquid detergent)?

Cheers again,
Shaarn
 

l SIC l said:
If you were to wash a pad under a running tap or let it soak in a bucket of water, followed by wring it out and letting it air dry on a rack... wouldn't there still be product residue in the pad?
Click to expand...

I would let em soak in soap and water. I use Dawn. After soaking, I rinse them in my sink with a kitchen type sprayer. The kitchen type sprayer provides adaquate pressure to rinse the pads clean. I use warm-medium/hot water.




 
Thanks Fly Bye, by kitchen type sprayer you mean the tap-nozzle that is similar to a garden house sprayer? or just the pressure from the water from the tap itself? and do you dry them using a terry-cloth towel and air dry or through the dryer?
 

A kitchen type sprayer, as in the sprayer that's attached to my sink, which I also use to wash dishes. It puts out a nice tight spray.

As far as drying, I like the terry cloth towel idea. After that, I let em air dry for a day, then promptly put them away, so as to keep them clean. I think the dryer may be too hot, and could be considered too severe/hard on the pads.




 
Sorry for the late reply, we are currently in the process of moving house so things are pretty hectic!

I know exactly what you mean now and I will use the same technique ;) I just ordered [4x 3-pack Meguiar's terry-cloth towels] with a load of other products, so they should do the trick!

Cheers again,
Shaarn
 
Hey Mike,

Do H2 Hummers have fairly hard paint like a Corvette? (I'm only asking because I haven't had the chance to check it myself yet as I'm still in Singapore until Friday!) - If so, I'm sure I will be in for a mission when I start detailing it :xyxthumbs:

Also, I think I may have applied NXT Techwax 2.0 at some point (not more then 2 and a half months ago and it has been sitting in storage), would claying the car be adequate to remove whatever wax is remaining before I start to perform a complete detail on the vehicle?

Cheers!

Shaarn
 
l SIC l said:
One thing from the 'Why it's important to clean your pads often...' thread Mike:

If you were to wash a pad under a running tap or let it soak in a bucket of water, followed by wring it out and letting it air dry on a rack... wouldn't there still be product residue in the pad?
Click to expand...

Could be, the idea is to do the best you can... there's no perfect way to clean pads. Some pads can be thrown into a washing machine, that at least takes all the work out of the process and if you want you could wash and rinse them multiple times...

As long as you do a good job, any residue left in the pad doesn't seem to be a major contributor to buffing out cars as you'll see on all forums spectacular results posted by multiple multiple detailers and they're not all using brand new pads out of the package so that means they must have cleaned them somehow...

Good question though... :xyxthumbs:


l SIC l said:
Hey Mike,

Do H2 Hummers have fairly hard paint like a Corvette?
Click to expand...

From my experience I would say if it's the factory clear, then "yes", or at least in that range.

Always do a TEST SPOT on any vehicle you have never worked on before and dial in a system approach that works to your expectations in that one area before going over the entire vehicle and especially a Hummer!


l SIC l said:
Also, I think I may have applied NXT Techwax 2.0 at some point (not more then 2 and a half months ago and it has been sitting in storage), would claying the car be adequate to remove whatever wax is remaining before I start to perform a complete detail on the vehicle?
Click to expand...

Claying "tends" to remove anything off the surface, some will argue as to the level of how much of any wax or sealant coating claying will remove but I don't have time to argue.

Some clays are less aggressive than others and how long and how well you actually perform the claying process is a HUGE factor that various from person to person.

Washing with a detergent soap can work but lots of modern waxes and paint sealants are detergent-resistant. IPA won't remove all protection ingredients but Mineral Spirits usually will, so wiping with both is an approach. All Purpose Cleaners can be used when diluted but they're pretty harsh considering other options.

The safe way to remove a previously applied coating of protection is with a paint care product designed, formulated and intended for this purpose and that's a light paint cleaner or a light cleaner/polish.

If you're going to use any kind of compounds or abrasive polish, by hand or machine as your first correction step, then this will effectively remove anything off the surface.

If a product is aggressive enough to remove swirls, scratches and water spots, it's aggressive enough to remove a micron or sub-micron layer of wax or paint sealant.

Some will argue that the wax or paint sealant can interfere with the compound or polish you choose as well as the buffing process and while this my be true, simply clean you pad often and wipe each panel clean and free of any residue after the first application of product and it shouldn't and won't be an issue.

There are other ways of stripping the surface also,

Griot's Paint Prep

P21S Total Auto Wash


Does that help?


:)
 
Always helps Mike, thank you sir for the very detailed explanations!

I am writing all this information down so that I don't forget these things when I finally get around to working on the cars ;)... I feel rude not replying more, but what can I say that you haven't already? :p

Cheers again,

Shaarn
 
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