{"id":17266,"date":"2016-01-26T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/?p=17266"},"modified":"2016-01-22T09:40:56","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T14:40:56","slug":"polishing-pads-how-many-do-i-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/polishing-pads-how-many-do-i-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Polishing Pads: How Many Do I Need?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A decision that all amateur detailers have to make is how many pads they need to buy. \u00a0This is a question I am asked quite often, and something that is worth discussing in more detail. \u00a0Many consumers frequently assume that just one of each type of pad is enough to properly complete a paint correction job, but if you’ve gone through the process before, you know this is far from the truth.<\/p>\n

Why Do I Need Multiple Pads?<\/h2>\n

During the paint correction process, compound\/polish, dirt, and paint will begin to accumulate on the face of the pad. \u00a0This contamination needs to be removed regularly to help maintain a clean pad face and produce consistent results, however there comes a time when the pad is too dirty to ‘clean on the fly’. \u00a0When the pads reach this point, the performance is reduced, dusting will likely increase, and it may create other frustrations which hinder your progress. \u00a0In this instance, it is easiest to switch to a new pad, otherwise the dirty pad must be thoroughly washed, rinsed, and dried before it is ready for use again. \u00a0More pad cleaning information can be found in this great article<\/a>\u00a0by Ivan Rajic.<\/p>\n

\"ATD<\/p>\n

How Many Pads Do I Need?<\/h2>\n

The cutting\/compounding process will result in more material being removed and therefore more dust and residue will be present. \u00a0This often means more pads will be required for compounding than polishing.<\/p>\n

In general, I recommend at least<\/em> 3 of each type of pad to allow for best results. \u00a0Some jobs may require more if the vehicle is in considerably poor shape. \u00a0We tend to switch pads very regularly, and therefore\u00a0go through quite a few pads for each job, but it helps to ensure we are producing uniform results throughout the job.<\/p>\n

If you spread the job over multiple days you could get away with fewer pads, but this will require you to wash all of your\u00a0pads at the end of the\u00a0day and ensure they are dried so they are ready for use the next morning. \u00a0In general, I highly recommend buying more<\/strong> pads than you think you may need. \u00a0It never hurts to have a spare, or two.<\/p>\n

\"ATD<\/p>\n

Which Pads Should I Buy?<\/h2>\n

I often recommend microfiber cutting pads<\/a>, orange light cutting pads<\/a>, white polishing pads<\/a>, and black finishing pads<\/a>\u00a0(or similar options from other brands) as the basic pads to produce great results on almost<\/em> every type of vehicle when paired with appropriate products. \u00a0This variety of pads ranges from aggressive microfiber cutting pads to soft foam finishing pads, and therefore will allow for a wide range of work to be done. \u00a0Remember that the functionality of polishing liquids can be manipulated with a different pad choice. \u00a0This is discussed in my article about Pairing Products and Pads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ATD<\/p>\n

Before you start your next project, be sure you’ve got enough (or more than enough) pads to get the job done!<\/p>\n

Buy Products From This Article<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

View Products Now <\/i><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zach McGovern of Attention to Detailing goes over why you need multiple pads, how many you need, and which ones to buy in this helpful polishing article!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":19047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,35,64],"tags":[652,985,468,1112],"class_list":{"0":"post-17266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-imperfection-removal","8":"category-pads","9":"category-submitted-questions","10":"tag-buffing-pads","11":"tag-pads-2","12":"tag-submitted-questions-2","13":"tag-zach-mcgovern"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/23828043341_cbd6c64afd_b.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1kPO7-4uu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17266"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19046,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17266\/revisions\/19046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}