The Foam That Polishing Pads Are Made From

[Setec Astronomy]

Mike,

Maybe you know the answer to this question. Forever, people have been frustrated that the colors of pads are not consistent between pad manufacturers, and even within the same manufacturer's line. I noticed that the Lake Country Force Hybrid orange is considered a cutting pad, and is much higher on their aggression scale than the HDO/SDO orange which they consider a polishing pad.

I always presumed that the reason was the foam was produced primarily for other uses than auto polishing, and the pad mfrs. had to take what they could get from the foam manufacturers. You've been involved with this for a long time going back to Meguiar's, and perhaps were involved with the Dr. Beasley's-branded LC HDO pads--can you provide any insight on this?

 

[Mike Phillips]

Mike,

Maybe you know the answer to this question. Forever, people have been frustrated that the colors of pads are not consistent between pad manufacturers, and even within the same manufacturer's line. I noticed that the Lake Country Force Hybrid orange is considered a cutting pad, and is much higher on their aggression scale than the HDO/SDO orange which they consider a polishing pad.

I always presumed that the reason was the foam was produced primarily for other uses than auto polishing, and the pad mfrs. had to take what they could get from the foam manufacturers. You've been involved with this for a long time going back to Meguiar's, and perhaps were involved with the Dr. Beasley's-branded LC HDO pads--can you provide any insight on this?

I'm far from an expert, but one time David Patterson shared some interesting information that I for one had never considered. What said was different types of chemicals can be added to the base mixture for the foam to alter it. I guess I thought, probably like most people, that foam is foam. Wrong. And I'm sure all that type of information is propriety to each pad manufacturer.

So, there's more to the chemistry aspect than I knew, and my guess is most people knew. It would be great to get a Foam Chemist that could share their insights into one of our LIVE broadcasts.

Coincidently, I've been amassing a large volume of different types of pads from different companies for a LIVE detailing class on buffing pads. I have 4-5 boxes of pads in the shop and waiting for pads from 2 other companies.

To your original question, I don't think there will ever be a consensus among pad manufacturers world-wide or just here in the U.S.A. - This is why besides absorbing, (no pun intended), whatever information provided by any specific pad manufacture offers, what I do and teach when you're trying to figure out what any pad may or may not be is to,

1: Feel the face of the pad with you clean hand - a cutting foam pad will have a sharpness to it. A finishing pad won't, it will be smooth to the touch. Polishing pads are somewhere in-between.

2: Compress the pad between your hands - cutting pads will tend to be stiff or dense, finishing pads will be soft or squishy. Polishing pads are somewhere in-between.


I discussed the issue surrounding the pad colors and how there is no industry standard in my second how-to book, The Art of Detailing, (published in 2011), and it's never been fixed or gotten any better since then. LOL

Mike

 

[Setec Astronomy]

My theory is this:

Pad Manufacturer: "I need 1000 square feet of 2 lb/sq ft density closed cell foam"
Foam Manufacturer: "sure, it comes in orange"
Pad Mfr.: "um...that's going to be confusing because our other pad that's 1.2 lbs/sq. ft. density open cell is also orange"
Foam Mfr.: "well, if you want to buy 10,000 square feet, we can make it any color you want"
Pad Mfr.: "we can't buy that much, that's a 10 year supply!"
Foam Mfr.: "well, xyz company is our big customer and we make it in orange for them, so take it or leave it"

My problem with that theory is I can't for the life of me figure out what else orange foam would be used for. I mean we're all sitting on a chair and car seats that have foam cushions, I've seen plenty of foam gaskets, weather stripping, packaging material, acoustic foam...but none of it is orange.

I can understand different manufacturers not agreeing on what color a polishing pad should be...but when the same manufacturer (Lake Country) has one line of pads where orange is polishing, and another line where the orange is a heavy cutting, there's something going on there with how they get the foam, because if they could control it, I'm sure they wouldn't do it that way.

Of course as you suggest, the color could also partially be a result of additives in the foam, just like tires are black because they put carbon black in the rubber, not because rubber is black (I don't think).

 

[chilly]

Buff and Shine is bad about this as well and their 2 Uro lines don't coincide with each other or the rest of their lines

To add to the confusion their products on their own website often don't jive with their products as shown on various retailer websites, as if either they or the resellers are behind in catching up to changes and added or dropped pad lines

That is one thing Rupes got right, dead simple color schemes

 

[Setec Astronomy]

B&S says this, which doesn't really explain anything:

"We make up to six grades of foam pads; each represented by a different color. Early on, foam buffing pad colors were standardized, however, more colors were added to the mix and now there is a broad band or examples. Yellow, black and white are the most common colors across the board; however, our own range of colors has expanded to include blue and green."

My problem is one of the stores was blowing out LC pads at half price, and I was reading the orange foam description for the HDO, but decided to buy the Force Hybrid pads instead, thinking the orange foam was the same. Turns out that Force Hybrid orange is a cutting pad (more aggressive than the SDO/HDO blue)...so I'm going to have to keep them separate from my other orange pads which I generally consider to be a general-purpose go-to pad, and remember after I use them to put them back with my cutting pads.

 

[chilly]

This is one reason (besides the fact I think they are great pads at an even greater price point) I have gone to Shinemate pads since I started rebuilding my arsenal after the move

They have 5 colors of pads in 2 styles, diamond face and flat face, and the colors are consistent across the 2 lines

Plus LC, BS, Rupes, etc have gotten stupid expensive

I got sick of trying to decipher the hype and noise from LC and BS and all the other pad peddlers with their constant additions and subtractions

It was amazing how often you would see a thread on AG about how LC or someone was discontinuing a line of pads that many people seemed to love and everyone was scrambling to stock up before they disappeared

I am all for meaningful improvement but it seems as if change for changes sake happens too often

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Just to make this more interesting, poking around I find that Koch Chemie has pads, 5 different levels of aggression....and the foam is black on all of them--however, the velcro backing is a different color on each, keyed to a matching polish which has that color on the bottle (not sure if the actual polish is colored).

I also see that the Buff & Shine EdgeGuard pads have the aggression level as part of the stenciling on the velcro--hopefully that stays legible with repeated use/washings.

 

[Big Dave]

I have pads from at least 3 different brands, the most recent is Shinemate, which are my favourite currently, especially the diamond face. Without going to the tub, I know I have some blue spider, they have a grid cut in them, but I can't remember what brand they are. I also have the originals that came with my Meguiar's RO, which are old, but mostly still serviceable, but I can't remember what brand they are, I originally used them with Menzerna polish and Dodo Juice Lime Prime. I also have some I've bought in auto shops, at least one of which is Meguiar's. I won't count the 3 that came my cordless Ryobi RO, I'm told they won't last.

I can mainly tell what they all are by feel now, if I'm going to work on something expensive, I'll buy some new pads, these are fine for mine and my family's cars.

 

[Mike Phillips]

Just to make this more interesting, poking around I find that Koch Chemie has pads, 5 different levels of aggression....and the foam is black on all of them--however, the velcro backing is a different color on each, keyed to a matching polish which has that color on the bottle (not sure if the actual polish is colored).

That's interesting that all the different levels of cut for their foam pads are black. Seems like this would cause confusion. Also kind of shows what I was saying previously about how foam formulas can be modified chemically.

I also see that the Buff & Shine EdgeGuard pads have the aggression level as part of the stenciling on the velcro--hopefully that stays legible with repeated use/washings.

I JUST ordered teh 6" and 3" EdgeGuard foam pads for my upcoming class next week and future classes. Rich Umbrell send me some samples and I used them on the 1968 Camaro I recently sanded and buffed.

Come SEMA, I'll be sharing a boatload of fresh content, both videos and articles for this project.


Mike