After using the pads, how should I wash them to make sure they are ready for next time. I will be waxing my car a lot with the pc, so was just wondering how I should wash them.

 

Rinse them out under warm water, put them in the laundry machine with non-fabric softener, non-bleach detergent, wash, let air dry.

 

I use dawn on them and scrub them pretty good...then I let them sit in the sink for 24 hours with warm water and dawn

 

aren't you suppose to put them in a bucket with detergent and water.. leave it in there for awhile, then scrub them... refill the bucket with new fresh water and rinse them.. then air dry

 

I use dish washing detergent because its made specifically to break down oils, which are a majority of the lubricants in polishes. I soak in hot water and dawn overnight, and then give them a good scrubbing and rinse using a manicure brush you can find at most walgreens, and attach to the PC and spin it on 6. That gets rid of most of the water, then I airdry on my gritguards

 

How long does it take them to air dry? Can you use your porter cable to spin the excess water off?

 

Yes, you can spin them, but they still take a little while to dry, depends on the pad, but my edge2k pads take 2-3 days to dry completely

 

i like to air dry them, usually i'll push it against a papertowel to absorb most
of the water left in the foam. then it usually takes over night to dry.

 

I sunk them in warm water today and put some degreaser inside, left it for about 45 min and then took thm out and just left them to dry, seems to have done the trick. No harm done to them, I think, lol. These were the black LC pads.

 

you dont put foam pc pads in your washing machine, nor do you use dawn as it will leave trace elements behind. fill a bucket of warm water w/ some laundry detergent liquid w/no fragrance/bleach etc. when the pad your using becomes to caked up or your done w/it throw it in the bucket. when your done detailing rub the pad w/your hand to help break down wax/polish buildup,rinse, put on you pc to sling of extra water, then lay the pad foam side down to dry. you guys can gain alot of knowledge from going to autopia.com or www.topoftheline.com to purchase lc pads and some info

 

Lots of people on autopia.ORG use dawn to wash pads. It doesn't leave behind any residue as long as you rinse properly. Its the same as when someone washes their car with dawn. How does laundry detergent leave behind any less residue?

 

because the pads hold material due to the pores, dawn is to sudsy and it would take forever to rinse it all out. laundry detergent just rinses out easier. do you wash you microfiber or terry towels in dawn??????????? at least i hope you dont, you should use laundry detergent. I gave my opinion and if yours is different ok then.

 

The problem is you didn't state it as an opinion, you stated it as fact. Pads are a different story from towels also becuase they aren't used for soaking up water or removing polish, where residue is more of an issue.

 

What if your in the middle of a detail and your pad is caked up? Should you just remove the excess polish without soaking the pad? Can you soak them and still use them that same day or will they need drying time?

 

Pick up a pad brush or a manicure/pedicur brush, and brush off the caked up polish in the middle of your detail. I've found a MF works decently well also if you are in a crunch.