How do you wash your pads?

Speakerguy45

Speakerguy45

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When I'm done using mine i drop them in a bucket of hose water then I spray my APC ( all purpose cleaner ) on the face of the pad and agitate with my hand until i don't see any residue remaining.

I rinse them out really well with the hose, then I fold them in half and squeeze most of the water out.

After that I put the pad on my PCXP, face the pad away from me and start it up on speed 1 to sling the water out then rev it up to 5 or 6 to get the rest of the water out ( looks like mist )

I then lay the pads VELCRO - up just in case there is any more water remaining.

It takes about 2 minutes per pad max and I think this is also the funnest way to dry pads lol

:laughing:
 
My understanding is that drying pads with the PCXP is harmful to the unit itself. I can only imagine that it has to do with the weight of all that water being soaked into the foam, accompanied by high rpms, could cause premature wear on the bearings inside of the polisher.

My pads actually dried over night, so I thought I was going to have a heck of a time getting the dried 105 out. I just soaked them in a bucket of warm water and Dawn dish soap for about an hour. Then I aggitated them with my fingers and ran my finger nails over the pad to get anything on the top, off. I then rinsed them under running water and proceeded to fold them in different directions to wring out most of the water, then sat them pad-side down on a grit guard until they dried.

Someone else will probably chime in on why drying with the PCXP on high rpms is bad.

Mark
 
I drop them in a bucket with some snappy clean to soak then spray with some dilluted apc and finally a good rinse. Using this method I have yet to come across anything that has not come off.
 
I used to use Meg's APC but have since switched to Meg's Super Degreaser, it seems to do an even better job.

I will make up about a gallon or so of water and make the solution around 10-15:1 and drop the pads in there and let them soak for a while. After soaking I will squeeze and release the pads repeatedly to "work" the polish out. If the pads are REALLY fully of polish I will do this step twice.

After the Super Degreaser step I will make up a bucket of plain water and the same squeeze and release to rinse them off. To fully rinse them out I will need to do this several times.

When I am dealing with older pads I may just rinse them once or twice and then toss them in the washing machine with the MF I used to wipe the polish off with to rinse them off the rest of the way.
 
I had a really hard time getting WGDGPS out of pads - in fact it just basically wouldn't come out, at least not all the way. Now I've been spraying the pad with 70 to 90% IPA as soon as I'm done and the sealant comes right out with the same soapy bucket wash I always used before.
It seemed like such a no brainer to do this since we use IPA to clean the paint that I wished I had thought of it sooner.
 
I've had great luck with the XMT pad cleaner.
 
Recently I have been soaking my pads in Oxy Clean. I fill the sink with warm water and throw in some Oxy Clean powder. The stuff is cheap by the bucket load. It has worked great for me. A really good rinse in clean water and they are good to go after drying. I have a bunch soaking as I type.
 
Vacuums are also good for sucking loose dirt and hair off of your blanket or pad. Use the hose attachment of your home vacuum and go over the entire blanket or pad slowly. You can also use the vacuum at a local car wash.​
 
In my experience dawn dish soap works the best. Add a drop or two, some water and a soft-medium bristle and scrub. The more suds there are the better it cleans. Takes several minutes and I'm looking for a better way.

I've tried soak pads in dawn dish soap or apc and it doesn't seem to help much. Even soaking for hours it takes the same amount of time to clean.

To dry I them I squeze out the water by hand. I use to fold them in half, but CCS pads seems to seprate from the velcro easily and folding them or removing from the backplate rips them. So I squeeze by hand and let it dry or get the polisher out and put on speed 1 and work up to speed 3-4.

I'll try the IPA, or soak in apc, and a degreaser. Thing is that I wash the pad indoors and all of the car stuff is outside.
 
Typically I use Dawn diswashing soap for for my typical polish/wax, but, for my "heavy-duty" jobs or to clean a really durable sealant (FK1000P) I use this-
Dawn Power Dissolver

Really makes clean-up a snap.
Just make sure to rinse the pads well when done.

Jeff
 
I use the kitchen sink and dawn. I've been known to use a little folex and vinegar on stubborn stains. :buffing:
 
I spray them down with pad cleaner, let it soak in for about 5-10 minutes, then throw them in a 5 gallon bucket of warm water. Once I am done with the car, I use Dawn and hand wash them. Let the air dry. Does not take long at all.
 
For most of you that use dawn is there a specific dawn soap you guys use or any dawn will do the job?
 
I like to have a small bucket of snappy clean solution set aside while buffing cars. Every two panels I change pads and the used pad goes straight into the solution. It makes for easy clean-up.
 
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