How to clean your foam pad on the fly

parttimer said:
Any tips on cleaning your pad while using a Flex? Or pull them off and put them on a GG and clean them on the fly? I have a pad brush but it seems to eat up the pad on flex.
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Cotton Terrycloth Towel
I demonstrated this in my Flex 3401 Class at Detail Fest so while this class was taped live, there were people standing in front of me during the cleaning demo so all you see are their backs.

Basically, fold a towel into a ball and hold it tightly against the pad as it spins. Here's a screenshot from my power point presentation.

Clean_Pad_On_Fly_Flex_3401c.jpg


Note: You want to use terry cloth towel for this, like a wash cloth or a hand towel as the characteristic of terrycloth is the fibers are more stout than soft gentle microfibers that make-up microfiber towels and you need this stoutness to help clean the gunk off the pad.


Nylon Pad Conditioning Brush
You can also hold a nylon pad conditioning brush against the face of the pad with the machine turned on but if you push very hard at all it will tend to tear up the foam.

Clean_Pad_On_Fly_Flex_3401d.jpg



What I do instead is simply brush the face of the pad with the pad conditioning brush with the machine turned OFF. Still does a good job and doesn't tear up your pad.



:)
 
I find a toothbrush works fine as long as you don't apply much pressure
 
Mike,

I have used this technique on the PC for some time. I just bought a Rupees (hasn't come yet) and I assume it will work equally well on the Rupees. (The reason I ask is you have mentioned about every DA I have ever heard of except Rupees in this thread!)
 
Where do you get quality terry cloth towels anymore? All the ones in stores are so cheap you can see right through them, and Meguiar's terry towels are nowhere to be found.
 
I'm having real problems with my towels linting while using this technique to clean the pads on the fly. I'm using 100% cotton terry cloth towels, but getting all the "fuzzies" on my pads afterwards!
 
BlueBeast14GT said:
Where do you get quality terry cloth towels anymore?

All the ones in stores are so cheap you can see right through them, and Meguiar's terry towels are nowhere to be found.
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I have Nick looking for a sources for the towels I use.

Terry cloth towels are actually a very important tool. I know everyone always talks microfiber but there's so many times when the stoutness of terry cloth is preferred over the gentleness to microfiber.

I could probably list a dozen topics but here's one...

When doing a multiple step paint polishing process that includes compounding before polishing, a clean, soft terry cloth towel is preferred, (at least by me), for removing the compound residue FAST over microfiber because of the more stout fibers.

If the terry cloth towel induces any scratching the next step. the polishing step will remove it. So it's a non-issue in my book.


:)
 
A year and a half later, is the terry cloth still the best method for cleaning the flex on the fly?
 
Brunkel said:
I'm having real problems with my towels linting while using this technique to clean the pads on the fly. I'm using 100% cotton terry cloth towels, but getting all the "fuzzies" on my pads afterwards!
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I have exactly the same problem, even after washing them a few times they still lint when using them to clean on the fly.
 
Mike, first off thank you for creating this thread/sharing this technique!

The results I got after including this into my process has changed the game for me! :)

My next question is, do I do this with MF pads? I was told to clean them with compressed air on the fly with the machine on to 'fluff' them.

Or does this work better on that? What are your thoughts? Thanks again!
 
Interesting read, would anyone be able to comment on the cleaning of the Meguiars Dual Action Power Pads, the ones youd use with the DA Power Sustem deill bit? Would this terry cloth method of cleaning also apply? I need to clean my burgundy coloured cutting pads and given they have velcro on the back, im not sure why Meguiars claim they are machine washable....
 
When Mike says that the "Cleaning Step" wiill take 4-6 hours to do in the OP:

"While this works, it means turning the polisher off, (now you're not buffing out the car, remember the time issue?) and grabbing your brush and then brushing the pad. Nothing wrong with this but when you consider how long it already takes to do the cleaning step, (about 4-6 hours for an average size car and that’s if your good at this and if you work fast and don’t take any breaks. So stopping the polisher and using a brush to clean the pad works but it’s not as fast or effective as using a terry cloth towel."


Is he saying "Just" the Compounding Step with a DA in 4-6 hours. Or does he mean, BOTH, the Compounding and Polishing steps can get done in 4-6 hours?

Thank you!


Ray
 
If it's supposed to take 4-6 hours just to do the Compounding step, I have grossly misunderstood how much time I should be spending on cleaning and prepping my paint for my wax or sealant.
 
willowcat11 said:
When Mike says that the "Cleaning Step" will take 4-6 hours to do in the OP:

"While this works, it means turning the polisher off, (now you're not buffing out the car, remember the time issue?) and grabbing your brush and then brushing the pad. Nothing wrong with this but when you consider how long it already takes to do the cleaning step, (about 4-6 hours for an average size car and that’s if your good at this and if you work fast and don’t take any breaks. So stopping the polisher and using a brush to clean the pad works but it’s not as fast or effective as using a terry cloth towel."


Is he saying "Just" the Compounding Step with a DA in 4-6 hours.


Yes!


That is what I'm saying.


willowcat11 said:
Or does he mean, BOTH, the Compounding and Polishing steps can get done in 4-6 hours?

Ray
Click to expand...

NO!

If you're working on neglected paint and doing a three step process,

Step 1: Compounding
Step 2: Polishing
Step 3: Sealing the paint (wax, sealant or coating)

The the first step, the compounding step using a free spinning tool like the,

Porter Cable 7424XP
Griot's Garage 6" DA Polisher
Meguiar's MT300
Griot's BOSS G15 or G21
RUPES BigFoot 21 or 15 or Duetto
Cyclo polisher


Then the first step, the compounding step is going to take you 4-6 hours depending upon how GOOD you are and staying behind the polisher and polishing paint. Every time you STOP to talk on the phone or text, or use the bathroom or fill-in-the-blank, the paint is NOT getting closer to the end of the compounding step.

That's what I mean by

depending upon how GOOD you are and staying behind the polisher and polishing paint


willowcat11 said:
If it's supposed to take 4-6 hours just to do the Compounding step, I have grossly misunderstood how much time I should be spending on cleaning and prepping my paint for my wax or sealant.
Click to expand...


Here's the deal... in order to go faster you cannot simply move the polisher over the paint faster. Read the directions for any of the above tools and for doing paint correction, that is using a compound and a cutting pad to remove serious paint defects you're supposed to move the polisher SLOWLY over the paint as you make overlapping passes usually in a crosshatch pattern depending upon the shape of the panel being buffed.

There are two tools that can decrease the time needed for the correction step and these would be,

Rotary buffer
FLEX 3401


Somewhere on this forum I recently answered a question on choosing a polisher and I said something to the effect of using a FLEX 34001 to...

POWER THROUGH A DETAIL JOB

That's due to the gear-driven feature of the FLEX 3401.

Buy yeah... it takes time to do the correction step and the correction step is THE MOST IMPORTANT step. If you don't remove the defects in the correction step the polishing and waxing steps are simply going to make the remaining defects pretty.


This is also why I teach guys how to educate their customer when selling their services. Quality work takes time. There's no way around it. Time is money. If you're detailing cars you need to learn how to charge for your time otherwise you'll starve to death. That or like I teach in my classes, learn how to match your services to your customer so you can eat at the end of the day.


:)
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Mike, Thank you greatly for this Awesome and Very helpful response. This is all new to me, and could only help me moving forward, to be a better detailer.

The guys have all been suggesting your books and classes lately, and this will be the direction I'm heading in.

Have a Great week Mike, and take care!


Ray
 
willowcat11 said:
Mike, Thank you greatly for this Awesome and Very helpful response. This is all new to me, and could only help me moving forward, to be a better detailer.

The guys have all been suggesting your books and classes lately, and this will be the direction I'm heading in.

Have a Great week Mike, and take care!


Ray
Click to expand...


Thanks for your feedback... I hope to see you in a future class. If you haven't already, check out the feedback from Jaeda and Patrick, a wife and husband team that attended my last class here,


https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...ailing-class-mike-phillips-2.html#post1490641



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:)
 
Hi Mike, I have a question about the pad washer. I am thinking about purchasing the Universal Grit Guard washer today. Can this be used to clean the pads "on the fly" with my Rupes 21? I guess the only concern I have is the moisture after drying the pad. I would assume that the pad would not be completely dry after the drying step correct? Would that little bit of moisture affect the performance of the Rupes compounds and polishes?
 
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