So you have used your orbital buffer, washed, and polished your car and you have two or three pads that were used, now what?
Do you put them in a plastic bag until you need them the next time or wash, rinse and dry them
carefully?
I wash and dry mine out but they seem to get a bit moldy, maybe there is a better washing method. Any ideas?

 

Really depends on whether you want to grow mushrooms.........or not!

 

No, I want to keep them sanitary.

 

I spray them with an all purpose cleaner dry them off the best I can and put them away in a locker. Never had a problem with mold, I think by putting them in a plastic bag can add to mold.

 

Dave,
there is a place (ehsine) in St. Catharines that sells online. I use this stuff to clean mine. I'm sure one of our friends in that neck of the woods could get you some and bring it along to Fleetwood.

eShine Canada: Detailer's Pride Polishing Pad Rejuvenator 3 oz. - 2 Pack

Aalternatively, there is this larger format:

eShine Canada: Detailer's Pride Polishing Pad Rejuvenator (16oz)

I'd try these. They word pretty well and then just hang 'em with some old velcro on the wall or lean 'em up against something to let them dry.

 

That's what I used, but I think they were a little damp when I put them away.

 

The only other thing that I could suggest, Dave, is to put them into a "breathable" cloth bag and throw in a few of those desecant gel pack things to soak up moisture. The bigger the bag the better, I'd guess.

Were you chasing swirls? How did it turn out?

 

It turned out OK, I'll have to do it again some time, no rush. It's not as if I am after perfection.

 

I had several dirty pads and hand washing wasn't doing much. I threw them in the washing machine and ran the through a normal cycle using laundry detergent.

They came out very clean and looked new.

 

I use Dawn detergent in a bucket of water. The Dawn removes all of the polish/wax residue within an hour of soaking. Then, I thoroughly rinse the pads in mild temp water and ring out the excessive water. The last step is throw them into the clothes dryer (no softner added) set at no heat for twenty minutes and they are completely dry.
It works for me...
Dennis
DTMenace

 

The only buffing pads I know of where the manufacturer actually recommends throwing them in the washer and dryer are Meguiar's Soft Buff 2.0 pads - the ones with the velcro backing laminated to the foam, not just glued on. Lake Country and most others caution against machine washing as doing so can fairly quickly break down the adhesive and cause the velcro backer to come off.

For those pads either use the Dawn dish detergent in a bucket of water, or a little degreaser in a bucket of water. I know a lot of guys who use Meguiar's Super Degreaser from our Detailer Line for this - diluted 10:1 with water, and then thoroughly rinse with water. But since most compounds and paint cleaners tend to be water soluble anyway, the degreaser is probably over kill. Dawn will work very well, just make sure to get it all out.

You don't want to wring out the pads as the twisting motion isn't a good thing for the foam structure, but squeezing them is fine. In fact, if you lay a pad onto a clean terry cloth towel and then very tightly roll it up in said towel, you can remove the vast majority of the moisture. After that, stand them up on end leaning in toward each other in groups of three (like making a little tee-pee) and allow them to air dry. I like to do this with the face of the pads turned toward the inside of the tee-pee so dust doesn't land on the face of the pads while drying. Or I'll lean 'em up against a bottle of product to do the same thing. Since it's so dang dry here in SoCal they usually dry overnight, at which point I stack them in a cabinet with plenty of airflow around them to both keep out the dust and prevent mold.

For the record, this is the exact same way we handle our pads here at work. And we go through more pads in a week than this whole forum probably goes through in a year!!

 

I can confirm (not that it matters) that this method works very well. I figured that if I use Dawn to remove the sealant on my car, I can use it to remove the polish and sealant on my pads. I don;t use a bucket as suggested, but I use continuously running water and squeeze until I no longer see any bubbles/suds coming out of the pad. I've been using the same pads using this method for 5 or so years and I have 2 cars to detail of which I detail the crossfire twice a year.