I'm quite curious about these... -either foamed or completely wool - what's the real difference? -what's the cut rated at? stronger than yellow? -who other than LC makes wool pads? -do they have velcro backing? -why do the finish so well? -how's the buffer hop on them? i don't know how these work, so i would expect that something that doesn't have much cushion to be terrible to work with. However, a lot of people seem to love this stuff. I'm looking to get some wool pads because I am not too big a fan of the LC pads. The orange is too stiff for me, and the others are inferior to the 3M ones from my experience. Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Wool pads are easier to use than foam pads. I prefer the full wool pad made by 3m, they are double sided and you need to by the adapter. The reason they finish well is that they level the paint better than any foam, being new to them you will need to follow up after them. Well you normally have to follow up after them anyway, just if you have been using them for years the holograms are not that bad at all. As far as buffer hop there is hardly any compared to a foam pad, I always tell people that are new to the rotary to practice with the wool pad first since they are so smooth across the surface.
since they finish better, would you say i could go SIP or M105 with it then follow up with a finishing polish that's even lighter than 106FF? edit: and do you have a link to the 3M wool pads?
Let me clarify finish better, they level the paint better so it will give you a better finish. Sip and wool really don't work very well. If you used M105 and wool, I still would go over it with sip then a finishing polish. I get the pads locally, I think some people have gotten them from Levin auto parts online.
Just gonna communicate my experience with foamed wool, specifically the LC PFW pad. Buttah Well, let me elaborate a bit, heheh. I used the PFW with a 3401 and SIP. On my very first pass with the combo on one section of my Mustang's trunk, I was happy enough with the results to use the combo on the next 2 (split the trunk into 3 sections) then move on to the finishing polish. Unfortunately, the next two sections didn't turn out near as well as that first one and I had to ditch SIP for SystemOne X3. I really like the feel of the PFW with the 3401. I can only imagine I'd LOVE 3M wool pads on a rotary.
I've never really looked into wool with much seriousness. Are wool pads "rated" in terms of level of cut, like foam ones are?
Micro Mesh TufBuf - these black lamb’s wool polishing pads are made from natural lamb’s wool, it leaves clear-coat finishes with less haze and micro swirls than conventional foam or wool polishing pads. The dense pile material; 60,000 fibres per square inch versus 13,000 per square inch for synthetic pads, this pile surface distributes and applies material evenly and consistently. A very soft 100% lamb’s wool pad can be used for final (finesse) polishing.
Yes they are; wool is most aggressive, 50/50 wool/acrylic blend is intermediate, and lambswool is least aggressive.
Why are some of you getting pad hop with your machine I don't have a problem at all with foam pads, no matter what brand Makes me think that perhaps you have not prepped the paint prior to polishing Paint could be dry and porous or have silicone coating on the paint This is my prep process Wash Glare Dewaxer clay bar, Glare Zero by hand (suck up the water from claying with it) . leave to sit on paint for ten minutes. then zero by rotary at 900 to 2200 rpm with yellow or black Glare pad. sucks up all the old coatings, wax and dirt from the paint and flattens the orange peel by 10 to 40 percent Residue is left on. sometimes I will then begin correcting but if I find the paint still feels tacky, Glare Knockout, Micro Finish and Toughseal step 1 are used to moisturise the paint first After this, sticky clear coat is not as much of an issue
