My Pads... Is it me?
 

Hey guys its Rob (Route 66 Mobile Detail) again. I hope you have all had a great weekend. I had drill (with the Navy Reserves working on the Boeing 737) this weekend so my weekend was pretty jammed up.
I have a question about my pads. So far I've detailed 2 vehicles with the white pads. (One for each vehicle). I'm concerned about the condition of the pads as I progressed with the jobs.
As I was towards the end of the process (one step cleaner wax XMT 360), I noticed the pads were looking a bit darkish. You could see the pink spots where I placed the pea sized dabs of product after I of course PRIMED the pads. BUT....throughout the pad otherwise.... there seems to be darker (grayish) something going on all over the pads. Ill put a picture on here asap.
I'm curious as to what I've done wrong if anything. Have I completely botched the exterior cleaning to get these results on my pads? I thought I did a pretty good job cleaning the vehicle but I'm not naïve to think I may NOT have.

Anyone get these results on your pads after using them on a DA polisher? Please help. I couldn't help but feeling like a turd bag when I saw this.

Rob- Route 66 Mobile Detail

Re: My Pads... Is it me?
 

Washing pads regularly with a pad washer or in the washing machine is key. I would never use a pad twice without washing it first.

Re: My Pads... Is it me?
 

What type and how many pads do you have?? Are you using them for multiple products?

Re: My Pads... Is it me?
 

Dapper Don. Thanks for your question. So far Ive used the white Lake Country pads. Using only XMT 360 cleaner wax. We have only 3 or 4 of the black, pink, green and white. We will get boxes of each since we now realize using a few is essential to getting a job done faster.

Re: My Pads... Is it me?
 

Does it look something like this?

http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...toscrub013.jpg



It's the IMPACTED dirt staining like road film on the paint transferring onto your pads as you abrade the surface.

This will happen anytime you detail a daily driver as the paint on daily drivers gets dirty and it's NOT the type of dirt that will wash off or clay off.

I have a number of in-depth articles that show with pictures and explain exactly the issue.


How to remove stains and embedded dirt out of paint <--picture above came from this article.


Here's why you need to polish paint... <--Very good pictures and a video


Dirt in Paint or DIP - Stained Paint - Dirt Embedded Paint



Bonus article.....

Single Stage Paint - Tinted Clears - Basecoat/Clearcoat - Embedded Dirt



Try to find this on any other forum or on Facebook....



:)

Re: My Pads... Is it me?
 

Mike,

Thanks! I really thought I was doing something wrong to get my pads looking that way. It's unbelievable. Before I got into detailing, I really thought washing with a brush or sponge was all that was needed to clean a car, motorcycle etc... Thanks for the links! They are really helpfull to us as we continue to learn how to be better at what we do. I would be lost without the info that is available on the forums.

Rob- Route 66 Mobile Detail

Re: My Pads... Is it me?
 

No problemo....

The pictures in those articles really do a good job of explaining the issue.



:)