How you guys cleaning your applicators?

SON1C

SON1C

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Microfiber and foam? How do you ensure it's clean
 
To get out LSPs, first I rinse them well with hot water. Nothing gets LSPs out of foam like mineral spirits. You may think an applicator is clean, and if you soak it in MS all kinds of spent product comes out. You have to soak it for a little while though. After that, I soak it in 70% isopropyl for a few hours. This gets rid of the mineral spirits and also removes any left over junk. I learned this on the forums and it removes the nastiest sealants and stains and the applicators come out new. I soaked some P21S applicators that had faded to gold this way and they came out bright yellow as new.

For polishes I use the Snappy Pad Cleaner and the Blackfire Pad Cleaner Spray.
 
Would it be fine to have a dedicated foam wax applicator for a specific wax and not wash it?
 
On a black car in a garage you can see particles (dust) accumulate on a panel in minutes. I never noticed this until I got a black car. Now, I wipe down each panel again prior to waxing it. However, some dust/dirt has to get pushed around or picked up by your applicator, even if its a small amount.

Also chemicals (LSP) can be activated by the oxygen in the air, that helps them to cure or flash. So, the sealant in your bottle isn't exactly the same as the old sealant in your applicator from a few months ago.

Just my opinion, but I think it's always best to start with a fresh clean applicator. If you try the mineral spirits / IPA soak, it will remove even the most difficult sealants and not damage the foam. Just rinse extremely well. This has been my experience.
 
ofr wax, glazes etc. i will rinse well in hot water and use dawn if necessary. Works great jusrinse really well after to make sure all soap is gone!
 
jjj said:
ofr wax, glazes etc. i will rinse well in hot water and use dawn if necessary. Works great jusrinse really well after to make sure all soap is gone!
Click to expand...

+1 recently started using dawn and it gets a ton of the lsp out. Then I'll use a dedicated pad cleanser just to ensure there's no remaining residues
 
looks like i need to get some more mineral spirits. Ive been having a bit of a hard time getting wax & sealant out of pads. Getting polishes out of foam pads is easy with the XMT pad cleaner, but other stuff isnt wokring out so well.

Shawn
 
I don't have a standard method (it depends on the LSP) but washing them in the washing machine is very effective and doesn't degrade the foam or the microfiber at all.
Just be sure that there isn't an applicator that can loose its colour: I have already turned a yellow foam applicator into green because there was also a blue applicator in the bundle (blue+yellow=green)...
 
A mild concentrate APC usually gets the job done, even a little dawn dish soap will usually break down most left over wax and sealants.
 
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