# If you could pick only 1 pad, what would it be?



## dg_pug106gti (Sep 26, 2006)

Just for fun as I know different paints require different approaches with different pads and machines etc.

But if you could only use 1 pad with different compounds to try do cutting down to finishing what would you pick?


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Rupes yellow


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## vectra (Feb 3, 2008)

It has been a while since I machine polished a car, but a few years ago when I did, my preferred pad was a Hex green pad.


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

Rupes green for me


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## Frog (Jun 28, 2013)

Yellow Rupes here


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## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

Meguiars Microfibre Cutting Pad for me


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## dg_pug106gti (Sep 26, 2006)

I would say the meguiars microfibre cutting pad aswell for me with a DA found it had good cutting with right compound and also finished down quite well.
Got the B&S URO-fiber pad to try which if reviews are true could be a good one.


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## H-M3 (Jul 13, 2006)

Thing is with MF you have to have few pads per car as they clog up easily.


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## big dave 666 (Aug 2, 2014)

3m green waffle pad.


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## dg_pug106gti (Sep 26, 2006)

H-M3 said:


> Thing is with MF you have to have few pads per car as they clog up easily.


Sorry didn't mean 1 pad per car just 1 type of pad.


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## H-M3 (Jul 13, 2006)

Cheers. Let us know how you get along with B&S pads as they have been on my list.:buffer:


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## Sawel (Aug 5, 2016)

Scholl purple spider - reasonable cut on hard paint with the right compound and finishes down very nicely.

On Medium paint, it cuts well and also finishes down well when using a one step polish like S20.

On soft paint it cuts really well but will leave hazing in some cases. 

Arguably the most versatile pad I've used TBH.


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## Citromark (Oct 29, 2013)

3M yellow for me .

Mark


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## Big Buffer (Jan 1, 2011)

Hexlogic for me. Look after them and they look after you


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## SunnyBoi (Apr 25, 2013)

LC CCS Orange


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## dg_pug106gti (Sep 26, 2006)

Sawel said:


> Scholl purple spider - reasonable cut on hard paint with the right compound and finishes down very nicely.
> 
> On Medium paint, it cuts well and also finishes down well when using a one step polish like S20.
> 
> ...


Good answer, good to get different views on the different paints.
👍


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## Lowlife (Jun 17, 2016)

B&S urofiber. Close second would be P&S purple foam pad.


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## sm81 (May 14, 2011)

Lowlife said:


> B&S urofiber. Close second would be P&S purple foam pad.


Onko nuo kalliita? Mistä ostat? Miten hyvin viimeistelee ?


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## Scotie (Aug 24, 2016)

Buff and Shine Uro Fiber


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

Surprising results in this thread... So far, no one has waded in and stated the obvious, which is that picking only one type of pad to cover the entire spectrum of work one might encounter as a detailer, is _physically impossible_... I would argue that you can actually choose one polish, and modify it with pads, more realistically than you can do the inverse...

Most of the pads mentioned in this thread could not finish down on some of the softer paints I've worked on... The ones that sometimes could on those more extreme cases (Rupes Yellow), are very difficult to clean sufficiently between sets on the softest paints to get them to continue to finish down beyond the first section. You could do it, but you'd need 20-30 pads of that type on hand, or maybe an air compressor. Conversely, few mentioned are capable of cutting more severe defects on the harder paints I've encountered; irregardless of what you pair them with... Pushing polishing pads to do the work of heavy cutting foam or textile pads is actually abusive to the pad, so you will end up spending even more money turning over pads or maintaining a huge stock of one type of pad, than maintaining a stock of at least 2-3 different types. Not to mention the time and possibly paint wasted having to repeat sets to achieve your desired result, because you're pushing a pad so far out of its comfort zone.

It's like touching up a straight razor between shaves and regrinding a damaged woodworking chisel with a single stone... Theoretically you could do both on the same soution, but no matter what option you pick, it's ideally suited to neither, and your result will suffer the compromise.

Unless I was happy to send work out the door, with either machine marring or defects left behind, I physically could not select one pad that could 'do it all'... Maybe one polish/compound, but never one pad... Even as a 'fun' thread, I really struggle with this concept, and worry that people reading it new to machine polishing might think that they could get away with whatever one pad the greatest number of people agree on in an attempt to make a complex subject simple...

I think that people should have their fun, and share their favorite pad, that works well on some or most of the paints and defects routinely... Good concept... But we really need a reality check, here.

Sandro at Car Craft Auto Detailing on YouTube has a healthy philosophy that you have two sets of products... You have your 'core' set of your favorite things that might work on maybe 50-80% of what you might encounter, and then you have a secondary set of 'problem solving' products for when those more 'flexible' combinations simply aren't cutting the mustard. He doesn't try to speak in absolutes on this issue.

This is a fun thread, and it tells a lot about the types of defects and paints and machines any individual detailer is working with, by the single pad they choose... But it's not repeatable outside that individual's situation, and even then is probably not 100% accurate that they could truly accomplishing 100% of their work with the pad they list... It's not maybe the intent, but the hyperbole of the wording that I feel needs a reality check. Just because I could probably get a Scholl White Spider Sandwich with the right machine and liquid to finish down and cut sufficiently on maybe 70% of the paints I've worked on when paired with the right product, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do for more than 20% of them, or that another person would have the same ratio of compatibility.

As Sawel listed, pads have a diminishing scale of compatibility depending upon the paint and defect type.

- Steampunk


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## rlmccarty2000 (May 31, 2017)

My favorite pad is the famous Rupes Yellow. The question could have been “which pad for cutting and which pad for finishing. Meguires microfiber cutting pad followed by Rupes Yellow is my number one combination.


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## budgetplan1 (Aug 10, 2016)

rlmccarty2000 said:


> My favorite pad is the famous Rupes Yellow. The question could have been "which pad for cutting and which pad for finishing. Meguires microfiber cutting pad followed by Rupes Yellow is my number one combination.


This. These 2 pads w the right compounds/polishes can deal w most anything *I* run across.


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