Why isn't there a universal color code for buffing pads?

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Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.

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Why isn't there a universal color code for buffing pads?


Lake Country 5.5" Flat Foam Buffing Pads

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/811/5_5FlatPads01.jpg[/img

[B]Yellow = Aggressive cutting
Orange = Cutting
White = Polishing
Black = Finishing
Blue = Waxing[/B]



[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial Black]So what's the deal?[/FONT][/SIZE]

After sending out a recent Autogeek Newsletter on all the various types of polishers available, we received a [B]GREAT[/B] related question about why there isn't some form of universal color coding for buffing pads?

That's a great question. And when I wrote my first how-to book and the second edition of this how-too book I included 20 PAGES on just buffing pads. (The second edition is 152 pages long so there's [B]TONS[/B] of other great information besides information on buffing pads).


And being in this industry for 30+ years now I know there's a [B]LOT[/B] of confusion over the different types of buffing pads. Part of the confusing is there is no universal color code for pads.

Kind of like the battery cables on your car.


[INDENT][B][COLOR=#ff0000]Red[/COLOR][/B] = Positive.

[B]Black[/B] = Negative.[/INDENT]


And this hold true for any modern car build anywhere in the world. This information is very important if you ever have to replace a batter or use a set of jumper cables to jump start a car with a dead battery.



[B]No Pad Police[/B]
I guess the reason there's no universal color code is there's simply no legal ruling authority when it comes to these types of issues. Each company is free to do as they will. Most pad manufactures are competing with one another and I guess there's no compelling reason to get together at the National Pad Manufacture Conference held each year in Vegas, (kind of like the Plumber's Union Conference), and come to any sort of agreement like,

[LIST]
[*] Maroon = cutting
[*] White = polishing
[*] Black = finishing
[*] Blue = waxing
[/LIST]



And so on and so on and so on...


Because I know there has never been any agreement on color coding in the past and I doubt there will ever be any UNIFORM color coding moving into the future, when I wrote my how-to book I did address it and I addressed it like this.

[INDENT][INDENT][B][COLOR=#0000ff]Foam Pad Color Coding[/COLOR][/B][COLOR=#0000ff]

Each pad manufacturer uses a different color coding system for the pads they manufacture. Even inside a single company's pad lines, there can be confusion. Since pad options are continually changing, the best thing to do is to post any questions you have to the AutogeekOnline.net discussion forum.[/COLOR][/INDENT]
[/INDENT]


And then when people e-mail me questions instead of asking on the forum, instead of answering for one set of eye balls, I take questions and turn them into articles and answer the questions for the person that asked and for everyone that is thinking the same questions but for whatever reason - does not ask it. Then I send the person the link to the article I created on the forum.


You can find this info on [B]page 85[/B] in [I]The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine[/I]

[IMG]http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/Pad_Color_Code_01.jpg

Pad_Color_Code_02.jpg


Pad_Color_Code_03.jpg


Pad_Color_Code_04.jpg




I think when I wrote the original copy for this section it actually included,

"I could probably write an entire book that includes every pad and or pad line and the color code but it would be out of date by the time it was published"


So the best thing to do if you have questions about what pad does what is to,


1: Send Autogeek or myself an e-mail.

2: Join the Autogeek car detailing discussion forum and start a thread asking your question - click here to join it's free

3: Call our Customer Care Hotline and ask one of our friendly Customer Care Staff at 1-800-869-3011



All our customer care staff have taken our 3-day car detailing class and have also read this book so they will likely give you the same answer I provided above BUT they can also then help you to get the right pads you need for your detailing project.


And if you're interested in The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine or any of my how-to books, the link is below...

Note some are paperback, some are ibooks and some are ebooks...


240_1_book.jpg
240_2_book.jpg
240_3_book.jpg
240_4_book.jpg
240_5_book.jpg



On Autogeek.com


Mike Phillips Detailing Books



I hope that answers the basic question.

I was also asked if I could write an article that covers all the current foam pads options and the answer is "yes" but my schedule is so full right now and will be until after my 3-day class in February.



:)
 
IMO:
So many aspects of “Detailing”
needs to be standardized.

70A2349F-13A9-4BD7-B411-C007B0B22773.jpeg



Bob
 
Thanks, Mike.

This was one of the most confusing things for me when I graduated from the terrible Harbor Freight pads I first used with my polisher. I can understand each vendor having a different color scheme, but when one vendor isn't consistent, it drives me nuts. I use Lake Country pads and while the white, orange, and black pads are pretty consistent between the Thin Pro and Flat pads, each line adds a different color on the "extream" of the pad line; i.e. yellow, gray, red for cutting and finishing. The Hyrdotech pads use three similar colors, but for totally different purposes; i.e. blue is for cutting while its waxing on the flat pads.

The lack of any documentation showing equivalency is also frustrating. At this point I've become pretty familiar with Lake Country, but if my DA ever dies I'm going straight to Griots for my next tool. That will most likely launch me into their world of pads and I'll be rather lost.

Thanks goodness for this forum!
 
I am new to all this, and have this same question about pads. I also have the same question about compounds, polishes, etc.

I have been toying with the idea of a cross reference chart - Purpose (like aggressive cutting, polishing, etc.) across the top, and then each manufacturer's lines in the rows. The problem is I can't do this from experience, it would have to be investigative. But if I find myself with nothing to do (no car to care for and no hockey game on), I just might start something like this. If I do, I'll certainly share and ask for comments, corrections, or additions.
 
That looks great for the products. It will be very helpful.

Does such a chart exist for pads? That's what I was going to work on.

Thanks for the info and the link!
 
mk9750 said:
That looks great for the products. It will be very helpful.

Does such a chart exist for pads? That's what I was going to work on.

Thanks for the info and the link!
Click to expand...


Such a chart does exist, but it is very old now. I'm not even sure where to find it. But it's very old.

I had started making something myself, but more inline with pad options and costs, and posted on the sister site. Lack of response, I threw out the project.
 
The reason there is no standard color assignment for pads is because that would make it easy for the consumer to mix pads from different manufacturers. Having a unique color pattern makes it harder to compare across brands and causes the buyer to focus on one particular brand at a time. altho that might not be their full intent when selecting colors. But I'm pretty sure they aren't going to go out of their way to standardize among each other specifically because of that.

But it would be nice if they at least standardized across their own product lines.
 
brettS4 said:
The reason there is no standard color assignment for pads is because that would make it easy for the consumer to mix pads from different manufacturers. Having a unique color pattern makes it harder to compare across brands and causes the buyer to focus on one particular brand at a time. altho that might not be their full intent when selecting colors. But I'm pretty sure they aren't going to go out of their way to standardize among each other specifically because of that.

But it would be nice if they at least standardized across their own product lines.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. Might also increase counterfeiting of pads.
 
I use four different and distinct brands of pads, all with dissimilar color assignment, including Chinese SPTA pads plus three brands available here or from CG. They are all different. I made a spreadsheet, printed it on a large address label and stuck the address label on my cart, in my pad cabinet and on the tool caddy where my polishers are stored.

I only use the SPTA pads for applying wax and grungy work where the pad is going to get destroyed so there are only two entries for those pads. The rest are 4-5-6 entries depending on the brand and variants.
 
I use a much more low-tech method to categorize my pads. I take a Sharpie and write on the edge of the pad... "POLISH", "MEDIUM" or "HEAVY". I can usually tell what brand the pad is by the shape so I only need to know how much cut it will give.
 
I wish all of the manufactures printed on the back of the bad what it was-I know some do. I too do the sharpie just in case, but most of the times it comes down to feel unfortunately since I have such a mix/match set of pads.
 
If pad manufacturers could print or screen print the pad name (flat, HDO, etc) and the cut (heavy cut, polish, finish, etc.) this would help a lot, Rupes is doing this with their new MF pads.
 
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