Cleaning 4" FOCUS Metal Polishing Pads

[toddimac]

Howdy All:

 

I picked up a pair of the blue 4" FOCUS metal polishing pads, and since it was too cold to work on the cars, I decided to go to town on our toaster. That's right. It is some fancy euro-made unit that has a nice stainless and aluminum housing.

 

Used metal polish #1 and #2, and the thing came out looking amazing. I have gone through a couple of rounds of trying to clean the pads with APC and water. They are still pretty dirty. My question is: do I care? It would be nice to having them all nice and blue again, but do they really need to be?

Edited February 18, 2013 by toddimac

[DaveVY]

In my experience the pads will NOT go back to a like new clean. Since it seems that most of us as detailers are OCD this can be problematic, but I have just resigned myself to the fact that they will not be perfect. Different cleaners may be more or less effective in removing the staining but in the end I believe it is ok for them to be a little dirty/stained.

 

Be sure to post up some pics of your detailed toaster!!

[G8chick]

There just going to turn black again and again, do what you can and caller done

[Team Adam's]

Metal polishing will always stain... just clean until no more residues come out, but otherwise don't worry too much about it. Won't impact performance.

[WhatsUpDoc]

Not to hijack the thread...but is it important to use the same pad for polish #1 each time, or can you just clean both pads and use either for #1 or #2 without concern?

[AmyAtAdamsAustralia]

It is all battle scars from intense polishing work. My White Gen4 pads are never to be pure white again.

 

Polish on!

[Agent 009]

Not to hijack the thread...but is it important to use the same pad for polish #1 each time, or can you just clean both pads and use either for #1 or #2 without concern?

 

i was curious about this too. and how much polishing can i do before i need to switch out pads or clean mine out?

[GerryC]

Doesn't matter which is which as long as you clean them out. Personally I use the blue 4" for MP1, and a mini Americana applicator for MP2, for color coordination and because of the different foam densities (americana app is softer).

 

Metal polish pads can go longer without needing to be swapped out because the Metal Polishes are completely liquid, so nothing dries up or gets caked inside the foam like paint polishes do. If you are doing a lot of metal polishing in one go, I say swap the pads out for fresh ones once you see they aren't working 100%.

[Agent 009]

Metal polish pads can go longer without needing to be swapped out because the Metal Polishes are completely liquid, so nothing dries up or gets caked inside the foam like paint polishes do. If you are doing a lot of metal polishing in one go, I say swap the pads out for fresh ones once you see they aren't working 100%.

 

even though they're getting black from the metal?

[GerryC]

It's just residue from the oxidation process, it won't interfere with polishing unless the foam becomes fully saturated. After one use the pads will be pretty much permanently stained black anyway. If you want, keep some paper towels on hand to blot the pads after each section.

[Agent 009]

Good to know. Thanks for the advice.