Hi,

I've been cleaning, polishing and waxing with my Flex. Now my pads are getting dirty. What's the recommended way to clean orbital pads?

 

So Mo, do I throw the pads in the washing machine?

 

Mo has been MIA of late but here's my take...

There are pad cleaners out there (Snappy I think is the one I've used and most commonly see) which do a nice job on pads soiled w/ polish. However, on wax pads it's not so good but Dawn dish detergent is (thus why you'd never want to wash a car w/ dish detergent as the soap agent).

Now I just use a squirt of Dawn detergent in a 5gal bucket to cleanse all my pads. Let the pads soak for a bit (squeezing occasionally to get 'stuff' out) then rinse thoroughly and soak again in fresh Dawn/water mix. Rinse thoroughly again and allow to air dry. Not so sure a washing machine would be good for pads... maybe on Delicates setting it could be ok but even then it's just so easy to soak and rinse as outlined above.

Good luck

 

Some pads are not made to withstand machine washing. The glue will fail and the velcro will come off. All you really need to do is use a degreaser with a soft brush. Rinse thoroughly with warm water. Spin dry on the flex, then allow to fully air dry.

 

Thank you both! You probably saved me from messing the pads up in the washing machine!

As a degreaser I am assuming Dawn is acceptable stuff.

I have white orange and red pads. Is there a color code somewhere for pads?

 

In general, orange is a light cutting pad, white is a polishing pad and red is a pad that has no cut so use it for final polishing or wax/sealant application.

Dawn is great to clean pads. I wash all my pads in the washer, but I have a lot of them. I even have a pad washer that I use while detailing.