Buffing Pads For A Drill?

[rusty bumper]

I noticed in the new Meguiars catalog that they are selling 6" Gold Class foam buffing pads for a drill!?........I thought using a drill for detailing was taboo or something.

The part #'s are:

X4001 6" Yellow foam finishing pad $6.99

X4002 6" Charcoal foam cleaning pad $6.99 (Are these the same texture as the red cutting pads?)

I also saw microfiber bonnets for 3 different sizes of orbital buffers.......And Gold Class yellow foam finishing bonnets for 9" to 10" orbitals.

Does that mean I'm supposed to dust off the ole Craftsman orbital & drill?

[benhui86]

does that mean i dont have to dream about having a pc anymore and just use my dads drills to make the swirls go away forever?

[Mike Phillips]

Here's the skinny...

Without a doubt... the best tool ever created for polishing paint for the average person is the dual action polisher like Meguiar's G100.

That said, many people don't own one of these tools and many people in the world don't visit discussion forums like this to learn about tools like this and the different products available.

On the other hand... many people do have a drill, or access to a drill and while a drill isn't the best first choice, because of it's power and direct drive rotating action it's more efficient at removing swirls and scratches out of a clear coat finish than your hand. To this end Meguiar's had introduced a variety of tools to enable people to remove defects using the tools they already have available to them including a standard drill. Is it the best solution? Probably not. Is is solution many people can use immediately? Often times "Yes".

Just look at how often people post questions about how to remove a scratch by hand with ScratchX on this forum. These new pads will enable people that own a common drill to better remove scratches, or an etching by a bird dropping using a product like ScratchX, or ColorX than they could by hand.

[ebpcivicsi]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
These new pads will enable people that own a common drill to better remove scratches, or an etching by a bird dropping using a product like ScratchX, or ColorX than they could by hand.

Mike, wouldn't they also risk the scratchX gumming up since it is not intended for machine use?

Also, since the drill is essentially direct drive, don't they also risk instilling buffer swirls in their paint? Couldn't they burn paint as well?

Just wondering....

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by ebpcivicsi
Mike, wouldn't they also risk the scratchX gumming up since it is not intended for machine use?

Also, since the drill is essentially direct drive, don't they also risk instilling buffer swirls in their paint? Couldn't they burn paint as well?

Just wondering....

Yep... Those are all possibilities, that's why in my post I carefully crafted my reply...

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Without a doubt... the best tool ever created for polishing paint for the average person is the dual action polisher like Meguiar's G100.

That said, many people don't own one of these tools and many people in the world don't visit discussion forums like this to learn about tools like this and the different products available.

On the other hand... many people do have a drill, or access to a drill and while a drill isn't the best first choice, because of it's power and direct drive rotating action it's more efficient at removing swirls and scratches out of a clear coat finish than your hand. To this end Meguiar's had introduced a variety of tools to enable people to remove defects using the tools they already have available to them including a standard drill. Is it the best solution? Probably not. Is is solution many people can use immediately? Often times "Yes".

Using a drill is not the best solution for removing defects, but if your choice comes down to using a drill or your hand to remove an Isolated scratch or other below surface defect, then many people will opt for the drill and in most cases, with a little practice a little patience, and a little perseverance, the average person will be able to remove the defect, or at least remove it better using the drill than by using their 4 fingers pushing down on an applicator pad.

Will ScratchX become gumming and hard to remove? Possibly, it depends on all the factors involved. Here's one thing for sure however, if a person is only working on a small area and not a large panel like the hood of a car, then ScratchX isn't hard to remove even if it becomes gummy on the surface because you're working on such a small area, it's only when you have an entire hood, or fender covered with it, and it's become gummy, that it becomes a real problem.

Will swirls be a problem? Typically whenever you buff paint only with a direct drive rotating machine, the potential for swirls is real and likely. If a person is only removing an isolated defect such as a scratch then it shouldn't be a problem because it's such a small area. If a person tries to buff out the entire finish of the black Corvette with a drill, first they're a penny wise and a pound foolish because anyone that can afford a Corvette can afford a dual action polisher, but in the case of the person actually does try to do this then depending on the product they use and their technique, swirls may be a problem.

Like I posted in my firs reply,

Is it the best solution? Probably not. Is is solution many people can use immediately? Often times "Yes"

In a perfect world, many of the people that will enter into the world of using a machine like a drill to remove a defects will discover our www.meguiars.com website, and from there locate the button that sends them to this website and from there we can introduce them to even better solutions to their car care problems.

How's that?

[rusty bumper]

I must admit, before I came onboard to detail forums about 2 years ago, I used to use a drill with a foam pad to remove heavy oxidation (With #1) from single stage paint, and maybe clearcoat too.

I did manage to get the hang of this technique, especially on the side of a vehicle, but I doubt that I would recommend a drill to do swirl removal with.

Maybe these new pads would be a better choice for a cordless drill instead of a plug in model.

I'm curious about the charcoal pads texture......Is it similar to the W-7006 pad?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
I must admit, before I came onboard to detail forums about 2 years ago, I used to use a drill with a foam pad to remove heavy oxidation (With #1) from single stage paint, and maybe clearcoat too.

Starting back in the early 1990's, (I think), Meguiar's actually sold a foam buffing pad with an attached backing plate and auger for a drill, I've been looking for one for my collection of Meguiar's products over the years but haven't found one so far. They worked pretty well for removing defects.

I'm curious about the charcoal pads texture......Is it similar to the W-7006 pad?

Actually exactly the opposite, it's a closer foam formula to the W-9000 series pads. FYI, I'm told all the new Consumer foam formulas are unique to the Consumer Line and not re-colored existing foam formulas.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Starting back in the early 1990's, (I think), Meguiar's actually sold a foam buffing pad with an attached backing plate and auger for a drill, I've been looking for one for my collection of Meguiar's products over the years but haven't found one so far. They worked pretty well for removing defects.

Thanks for the info,

I have the pad that you are referring to........It's been used a few times, but you're more than welcome to it if I can locate it.

At one time I had the box, but I think I threw it away.