Detailgod I think you covered most of the relevent points-
Foam Pad Type Pros & Cons:
Foam pads absorb polishes quickly reducing polish and pad performance; because most of the polish is trapped below the working surface of the pad. Priming a foam pad with distilled water saves on product use by reducing polish absorbs ion and also avoids ‘dry’ polishing. Another reason for priming a foam pad for use with a rotary polisher is that it makes for a smoother polishing movement without causing the pad to ‘hop’ over the surface. Like foam a wool pads abrasive ability is closely tied to its composition i.e. ‘soft’ wool has less cut
How fast - the general rule is; the bigger the pad the faster the cut, the coarser the compound, the faster the cut, the more aggressive the pad, the faster the cut. Wool cuts faster than lambs wool, foamed wool is next and then foam. You pay the price for polishing too fast with swirl marks caused by the compound and pad combination.
Wool:
Pro- faster cutting generates less heat and therefore leaves the surface cooler (use on aerodynamic parts, spoilers etc and plastic bumpers)
Wool, dissipates heat through the fibres
Removes heavy oxidation much more efficiently than a form pad
Make certain to spur the wool fibres when it loads up with product.
Con- can leave micro marring (buffer trails)
Use more polish than foam pads
Don’t overwork the polish as wool will break diminishing abrasives faster than foam, the surface lubricants will dry up faster and you could end up dry buffing unless you’re careful.
Foam:
Pro - gentle (non-aggressive) light to moderate cutting
Con - heat paint quickly by transmitting the heat back to the surface, but leaves the paint surface with a smooth finish ready for application of last step product (LSP) Wool is also much safer to use on heat sensitive parts of your car. Aerodynamic spoilers and bumpers can be buffed with wool with a higher margin of safety than foam.
General note-
a) Cut with wool pads; finish with foam pads, foam produces the most surface friction heat
b) Limit speed on wool pads to 1500RPM
b) Compared to foam; wool pads have a larger available cutting surface area per square inch, which is due to the structure of the individual wool fibres compared to that of foam, allowing faster cutting action with less friction heat, utilizing less downward pressure
c) With a PC, a smaller pad (less surface area) will generate more ‘spot’ heat and is more aggressive, with a rotary, a larger pad's edges are moving much faster, so it has more cut (a PC at speed # 6 will transfer heat (up to 130 0 F) to the backing plate and may delaminate the Velcro™)
