Product Review: Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer

Junkman2008 said:
Also, I rinse my pads in a separate bucket once I'm done in order to remove any remaining soap in the pads.

In order to speed up the drying of the pads, I stick them in a washing machine with the face of the pads facing outward and use the last spin cycle of the wash to force excess water out of the pads. This speeds up the drying time significantly.
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And this is why this device seems like a good idea at first, but in the end it doesn't really work for the enthusiast. What's the point of having a pad washer, and then you have to wash the pad out in another bucket and put it in the washing machine after that?

I can just stick with my current (sometimes) method of soaking them in some Snappy briefly then throwing them in the washing machine and then in the dryer--that's pretty much the same steps as you're doing. These devices are really designed (IMO) for high volume/low quality shops where you just want to get the major gunk out of the pad, and you don't really care about residues or show car finishes.
 
I understand and see your point, but totally disagree with who would benefit from one of these buckets. It works perfect for me because I usually end up washing sometimes 10 pads at at a time but won't need to use those pads again for days. Only if I need to use them the next day will I need to speed up the drying time. Washing the pads is the most boring part of the whole cleanup and this bucket makes it a breeze. The price is staggering but the time I save is worth it for me. I can definitely relate to those who choke at the price.

One thing that I would never suggest anyone do is put your pads in a dryer. This alters and shrinks the size of the holes in the pads which give each pad its unique cut. Drying them in the dryer practically turns all of your pads into finishing pads that may start scratching your finish. That is not the way you want to dry them. Air drying is always best.

I will share these two pictures with the group here. The pads in this picture where used on a car with no clear coat. It took all of 3 minutes to clean each pad using the Pad Washer bucket. I would still be scrubbing those pads today trying to get all that black paint out by hand. The Pad Washer had them looking brand new in no time. That bucket is so nice, I actually have two. I use one with DP's solution in the bucket and the other where nothing but water is in the bucket and I spray the pads directly. I don't have to rinse the latter pads out as the cleaning water rinses them for me.

dirty_pad1.jpg


dirty_pad2.jpg
 
Junkman2008 said:
The price is staggering but the time I save is worth it for me. I can definitely relate to those who choke at the price.
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It's not the price (and I just passed up 25% off and free shipping), it's that I don't really see it saving me much work. Everybody has been saying not to leave the cleaning solution in the bucket. So here's my comparison:

Pad Washer:

1. Fill with water or Snappy/DP cleaner (which may have to be mixed outside of the washer where I can be sure the powder dissolved.

2. Put pad on polisher.

3. Open splash guard.

4. Insert pad/polisher and close splash guard.

5. Wash

6. Open splash guard and check face of pad--done or repeat 4-5-6.

7. Now it's time to rinse...do I put my polisher under the faucet? NO! Do I dunk the nose of my polisher in another bucket? NO! So I pull the pad off and rinse it somehow...now I have a wet pad...so I put it back on the polisher? Back in the pad washer, but be careful not to push it down into the solution, close the splash guard, spin-dry the pad, open the splash guard, remove from polisher.

8. Now off to the clothes washer for another spin, then out on a rack to dry.

My way:

1. Dump all my pads in a bucket of Snappy at once.

2. Let them soak for a little while.

3. Squeeze, knead, inspect, repeat if necessary.

4. If everything seems really clean rinse and squeeze out, if not throw in washing machine.

5. Throw in dryer for a while.

Since you must be putting your pads back on the polisher to re-spin them after you rinse, I could always bring my polisher to the laundry sink and spin them there (plugged into a GFCI outlet of course ;) ).



Junkman2008 said:
One thing that I would never suggest anyone do is put your pads in a dryer. This alters and shrinks the size of the holes in the pads which give each pad its unique cut. Drying them in the dryer practically turns all of your pads into finishing pads that may start scratching your finish. That is not the way you want to dry them. Air drying is always best.
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I generally just tumble them for a bit and put them on a rack to dry while they are still damp.

PS I really wanted to buy one of these I just didn't see it saving me much work in my situation. I think maybe I'll mix up a bucket of Snappy with a grit guard in the bottom, rub the pads against that by hand, rinse them and the bucket out, squeeze the pads against the grit guard to get out excess water, throw them in the dryer until half dry, then air dry-- that sounds the quickest. Every time I clean my pads I seem to try a diff variation.
 
Sounds feasible. I'm sure that some folks will find your way an option to follow. :)
 
Like I think I said, if I ran a car dealer detail bay, this would be a great alternative to the pads never getting cleaned. Pop them in the pad washer, spin them dry, put on a rack until later in the day. End of the day dump the bucket.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
It's not the price (and I just passed up 25% off and free shipping), it's that I don't really see it saving me much work. Everybody has been saying not to leave the cleaning solution in the bucket.
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Just an FYI, I left my cleaning solution in the bucket for 2 weeks (I told you I was lazy), and all I had to do was pull it apart and rinse the pieces out. Didn't make anything harder to clean, and rather surprisingly, it didn't stink either. Just so you know. I would probably use your method if I had to spot buff something and only had 1 or 2 pads to clean, but if you have a bunch of pads, IMO, the pad washer is still the way to go. Just sayin'.
 
CieraSL said:
Just an FYI, I left my cleaning solution in the bucket for 2 weeks (I told you I was lazy), and all I had to do was pull it apart and rinse the pieces out. Didn't make anything harder to clean, and rather surprisingly, it didn't stink either. Just so you know. I would probably use your method if I had to spot buff something and only had 1 or 2 pads to clean, but if you have a bunch of pads, IMO, the pad washer is still the way to go. Just sayin'.
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:iagree:

It saves a boat load of time and I always hated washing the pads.
 
I picked up some snappy clean recently and just toss the pads into a bucket for a couple days, rinse them off and lay them out to dry. Can't get any easier then that and made me realize that I don't need to fork out the ridicules amount of money they want for a pad washer.
 
Dubbin1 said:
I picked up some snappy clean recently and just toss the pads into a bucket for a couple days, rinse them off and lay them out to dry. Can't get any easier then that and made me realize that I don't need to fork out the ridicules amount of money they want for a pad washer.
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Suit yourself. :props:
 
CieraSL said:
Just an FYI, I left my cleaning solution in the bucket for 2 weeks (I told you I was lazy), and all I had to do was pull it apart and rinse the pieces out. Didn't make anything harder to clean, and rather surprisingly, it didn't stink either. Just so you know.
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I knew I shoulda bought that thing!
 
i just use DP pad cleaner powder in a bucket while i am working when one pad is done just toss it in and continue working. once i am done with my buffer i clean them out and rinse them with a warm tap. then i spin them to remove excess water and place them on a open grate shelving unit i use a small space heater to give some radiant warmth and air flow beneath them. it actually works very well. without the heater they can take a few days to be completely dry. with the heater 6-8 hours.

i prefer a heater with a fan in it to promote air flow.
 
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