# Why it's important to clean your pads often...



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*Why it's important to clean your pads often... *

*ANYTIME* you're abrading the surface whether you're using an aggressive cutting compound of an ultra fine polish, you have two things building up on the face of your buffing pad...


*Spent product*
*Removed paint*
You need to remove both of these substances from the face of the pad _and the panel_ you're working on *before* you apply fresh product. If you don't,


Adding fresh product to spent product and removed paint adulterates the fresh product, it also dilutes it.
Buffing with a dirty pad will be more difficult.
The product will cake-up on the face of the pad.
The product will become gummy on the paint and hard to wipe off.

How to clean your pads and other options to make buffing clean again...


You can scrub the face of the pad with a nylon brush like a pad conditioning brush or even a nylon toothbrush
If using a Dual Action Polisher or a Rotary Buffer you can _How to clean your foam pad on the fly_ with a terry cloth towel
You can wash your pads in a bucket of water
You can wash your pads in a sink under running water
You can wash your pads in a pad washer
You can switch to a clean, dry pad
You can switch to a brand new pad

I just buffed out half the hood on an oxidized 1959 Cadillac and used the technique along with a nylon brush and it works adequately enough to allow me to work clean and get back to work quickly.

That's the whole idea behind cleaning your pad on the fly... you can remove a majority of the *spent product* and _*removed paint*_ and then get back to running the buffer... buffing out an entire car already takes a _l-o-n-g_ time... stopping to do some kind of pad cleaning procedure that *isn't* _quick and easy_ keeps you from buffing on the paint.

*Fast methods include,*

Pad Washers
Cleaning your pad on the fly with a terry cloth towel
Using a nylon pad conditioning brush
Using a Spur if you're using a wool pad on a rotary buffer

*Slow methods,* (they might work well but they take you away from buffing on the car)

You can wash your pads in a bucket of water
You can wash your pads in a sink under running water


----------

