Why would use MF pads instead of foam. What's so different? I have a PC and usually use Uber blue foam with Wolfs Shine and Seal, Prima Amigo, Prima swirl,HD speed and HD polish. I also have Meguiars MF pads from Walmart both cutting and finishing. Which pad for which product? Mostly just use on my car that gets minor micro marring from ONR or Wifes van that has some decent scratches.
For removing more severe damage, MF is the way to go as it's more abrasive. I use Megs MF cutting discs for removing severe defects and if necessary, follow up with foam to finish. Only reason I follow up with foam is that MF can mar softer paints. Now. having said that, I will use Optimum MF cutting and polishing pads for removing from light to med/heavy scratches. The Optimum pads are not as aggressive as the Megs ones and for me, seem to resist clumping up better and are way easier to clean. On most paints, Optimum Cutting pad with Menzerna FG400 for the win! This combo will give you 80% correction on most paints with no micromarring.
^^^ yep. Opt pads IMO have a better cut using FG400. 80% is more then enough for most people, its a good base line IMO.
Thanks. So for light marring I would use Opt polishing MF. I have a Mazda which I assume has soft paint. What pad is best for Wolfs Shine and Seal? For my Wifes Honda Van with deeper scratches I will use Opt Cutting MF. I will also try some FG400.
If you have light marring on a soft paint car I would use a light polishing foam pad with menz sf4500. I don't know if honda has hard or soft paint so I can't give you an opinion. A mf cutting pad with fg400 can fix heavy defects nicely on hard paint. If the honda has softer paint and you're using fg400, I would start with a very light polishing pad. I don't know what wolf's shine and seal is. You probably should use sf4500 on a polishing pad for the honda. I'm sure someone will know if honda has hard or soft paint and can steer you in the right direction. Good luck.
At least in my experience Honda paint is usually both soft and thin. Unless you have a paint thickness gauge and mad skills I'd urge considerable caution. I certainly wouldn't start with either a cutting pad or FG400 on Honda paint.
^^^ good point, and I should have stated that I always do a test spot on a car, with the least aggressive method. Some cars I can get away with PF and green uber if its just swirl removal. and so forth. But for my VWs FG400 with opt MF pad works awesome. I have followed up with PF in certain areas, but usually go over the car with S&S and green uber due to the fact I use Wolfs
I think a lot of people are getting too paranoid when talking about soft or thin paint. If you were to use Menzerna Power Finish ( the old, more abrasive polish ) and a green Uber ( B&S ) pad, you could get very good correction and the difference in paint thickness using a PTG is immeasurable. I'm guessing the same would be true for FG400 and an Optimum MF Polishing disc. In my experience, the only time you will see a considerable amount of clear being removed is when you are using an aggressive pad with an aggressive polish.
So there is no chance of harming the paint with Shine and Seal and a green uber pad? So what is the blue uber pad used for?
This is what i have been wondering for the past few weeks.. I have a 2013 Toyota Prius (Metallic White) not sure whether the paint is hard or soft so hopefully someone can help me with that. From the looks of it, ill try getting some pictures when i make a new thread about this, the swirl marks are very light and i dont think i would have to use a cutting compound and step in general, i think some good polishing compound should be just enough to take those swirl marks out, but im still a noob and completely not sure so im not making any moves yet
No chance whatsoever. The green pas is a light polishing pad while the blue is a final polishing pad. Pads aggressiveness are rated by pip ( pores per inch ). The lower the number, the more aggressive the pad. Yellow (compounding)are typically 50, orange (heavy polishing)60, green (light polishing)70, blue (final polishing)80, black (final polishing / lsp application) 90 and red / gold (lsp application)100. As the numbers are so close, We typically use 3 of them - yellow , green and black. Hope this helps.
I have never used blue....... either black or green, I apply blacklight with green as well, or any AIO for that matter
Here's my thinking. Because the MF are so fine, that when grouped together, can act like a terry cloth type material, but is able to hold polishing liquids better so the polish is used more effectively. Kinda akin to hand polishing with a terry towel and M83. But use too much polish with a MF pad, then it gets caked up not effectively performing it's job, hence the pad cleaning after every panel or so just as with using a foam pad. Am I on the right track? I've only used the MF cutting disc once and it worked better than I expected it to.
