Last Saturday I buffed out a BRAND NEW 2014 BMW with HOLOGRAMS from a rotary buffer from the BMW Dealership. We all know what the traditional detailing industry does and that's swirl-out cars with holograms. The microfiber pad system introduced by Meguiar's was originally targeted to the production detailing industry to replace the use of rotary buffers to help change the industry. Nothing wrong with this if you're doing correction work but not if you're trying to create the best finish during your last machine polishing step. The individual fibers that make up a fiber pad have the ability to cut the paint just like an abrasive particle. The fibers that make up any fiber style pad, be it microfiber pad or a wool cutting pad or a purple foamed pad or even a Surbuf pad can act as an abrasive in and of themselves.
So if anyone is trying to increase the potential for success and reduce the potential for failure, (at least for the finishing step on what we all know are scratch-sensitive clearcoat paint systems), then you'll have a better chance with foam versus any fiber pad. Here's what I always say, you can quote me on this.Īll things being equal, foam pads will finish out nicer and more consistently on a wider spectrum of paint systems than microfiber pads.
Mike, what makes you prefer foam over microfiber pads? This is because the rigid structure of a pad will keep the pad surface flat and thus always engage the polish in an even and consistant manner while effectively squeege-ing away the paint residue of the freshly corrected paint. Therefore, at times, a more rigid pad is necessary to keep correction at a optimal rate. This can cause a variety of issues for inconsistent finishing. On super soft or finicky paint, a pad that good amount of play to the surface, be it microfiber and or a soft pad, will cause the face to fold up under itself. Then after it would be VITAL to perform a variety of test spots to further diagnose the issues and find some plausible solutions. Therefore definitive answers cannot be given to your particular issue without being able to be there, inspect the paint, and ask evaluative questions. Whereas, Car B was shipped to southern California and was made into a weekend cruiser/garage queen and the owners hobby was to care for the paint every 3 months on the dot, so the car remained flawless. Also, year after year minimal paint maintenance was performed, allowing the elements to wear the clear coat dangerously thin. This could be because Car A was shipped to Arizona and was a primary daily driver, subject to being parked outside in the intensely hot desert sun. Two of the exact model cars, say 5 years old, painted back to back in the same factory can react completely different to corrective steps. Since this is your first time using them, review your technique, and remember that you must keep any MF clean at all times. Rupes run much cooler but are not quite as aggressive. Meg's MF pads run really hot on Rupes polishers. The white spot is from the polish turning to glue and marring the surfaces. However, I have never used Uber compound, only Rupes Zephir. So why did I get that white spot? (It wouldn't buff off with just a microfiber BTW) Why did I get much better correction with a fine foam pad vs microfiber? (Thought microfiber gave faster correction)I use Meg's and Rupes blue MF pads with the Rupes Mini extensively and get outstanding results. Again I used Uber with the yellow fine 3" pad. I switched the mini over to a Rupes yellow fine pad, speed 4, and was getting amazing results, much better correction, faster, and close to LSP ready. Luckily it came out with an CCS orange pad on the 15ES and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze. I ended up getting a semi-translucent white spot on the bumper the size of the pad with a smaller circle inside it about 1" in diameter that was opaque. I wasn't getting good results and started to press down a little harder but nothing crazy IMO. I tried out the 3" Meguiars white fine microfiber pads on a Rupes mini speed 4 on the rear bumper (first time using microfiber for correction) with Uber compound. I'm working on a black Mercedes 2011 E550.