Unique Foam polishing pads designed for your car needs in 2022

Unique Foam polishing pads designed for your car needs in 2022 

Maintaining your vehicle to look attractive, similar to when it was brand new, is the owner's goal with investing effort when polishing their paint. Regular cleaning, fixing, and replacing worn-out parts of your polisher is the key to getting return on your investment as well as keep in peak performance. In addition to machine maintenance, polishing pads play a vital role in eliminating all potential blemishes to give the vehicle's body a new look without swirls or micro marring of the paint surface. 

Polishing is a process used to eliminate light oxidation, scratches from the surface, and haze/swirl marks that can't be taken out by washing a vehicle. In addition, a polish eliminates minor surface scratches, impurities, and other blemishes to make the vehicle's paint look brand new. 

Car polishing is done before you apply a protective product to your paint like wax, polymer sealant, Ceramic Coating or even Oberk Defense Gel to your vehicle. As they are not the same as waxes,  compound and polish will eliminate dirt or contaminants on the surface in combination with scratches and defects, yet won't give or provide any protection. This write up will highlight and discuss foam polishing pads, when to use them, and their benefits.   

Oberk Yellow Foam Pad 

It is utilized to apply compounds or polishes to the vehicle and is a firm foam pad with a fine 80ppi pore for a silky feel. It eliminates the scratches as well as oxidation and swirls. This foam pad is the most versatile pad Oberk offers and is a staple in our flagship polishing lineup. Coarse enough to cut, but smooth enough for a phenomenal finish, so it is utilized on damaged finishes and oxidized finishes that don’t require a full 2 step process. Conventional foam pads absorb polish in no time, but out yellow pad is engineered to be hydrophobic, reducing the absorption and the way the polish and abrasives sit on the pad.  Many of our customers love this pad for finish polishing on soft and finicky clear coats like GM black, Porsche, Honda and Subaru.  While traditionally Yellow was associated with a cutting pad on a rotary polisher, the industry has evolved and now resides ass an all purpose polishing pad for a majority of work. By design, this foam can run ip to 10% cooler based oin the foam chemistry and how it handles friction in use. This also makes them faster for cleaning and drying. 

Orange Polishing Pads 

They are semi firm and utilized for the removal of scratches and minor defects. They are used basically with any compound or polish, and swirl removers. Orange pads are light-cut pads that work on light to moderate blemish and produce a semi-gleam finish. Like yellow pads, orange pads have transitioned to be more of a polishing pad when used on a random orbital DA polisher. 

The multi-thickness design of the HDO increases control and stability on curved panels, but the orange foam can become soft and less effective when humid.  The average orange foam polishing pad falls in between the Oberk Yellow and the Oberk Red foam Polishing pad 

White Polishing Pad 

They are semi-firm and have high-strength foam for cleaning. White pads tackle the issue of traditional pads that absorb the clean excessively fast and reduce performance because most are a closed cell construction.. Also, their light cutting power makes them ideal for a pre-wax cleaner. They are regularly utilized after a a heavier cutting step with microfiber, wool or other coarse pad combinations. 

Green Polishing Pad 

They are utilized to apply one-step cleaner waxes. They can be used for cleaning as well as finishing. So, they are ideally suited for all-in-one product applications. All in one item alludes to a product that sparkles and protects. Green pads have become less common as we do more actual polishing and paint correction vs ALL in ONE polishing. The pads work well for products like HD speed , Blackfire AIO and other polish/wax combo type products. Oberk specializes in removal of scratches rather than hiding them, and we do not currently have a pad like the green pad. 

Black Polishing pad 

The best utilization of black pad is with Wax, Sealants, and Glazes. It is incredible for novices or experts to restore paintwork without any problem rapidly. Also, the black pad has fewer cleaning properties. It is an amazing pad when nothing else works.  With the advancement in DA machines, the black pad has become less and less used due to being very soft. 

Blue Polishing Pad 

It is exceptionally designed for removing heavy marks of swirls, oxidation, scratches, water spots, liquid waxes. Blue pads are amazingly delicate. They are utilized in the last step of paint correction, like a black of red pad, it is soft and plush. It will function admirably with a complete polish. It gives the unique correction power of the product used with it. 

Red Polishing Pad 

The Oberk Red pad is the pinnacle of finishing or finish polishing pads on the market today. It is firmer than a black or blue pad, but softer than our yellow pad or orange pad. Perfect for Jeweling paint, polishing, wax or sealant application, as well as general polishing.  The red foam pad is firm enough to eliminate light swirls and haze, but soft enough to contour to panels and make the polishing experience easier and car free. The red pad is the softest pad in the Oberk range and had a unique desity and feel that is firmer than most red pads on the market. 

Note: The red foam used in the Oberk x KXK KO-1 punch sheets is actually a different foam and has the same firmness and density as out orange microfiber cutting pads. 

Flat Polishing Pad 

It typically is a Non-Reticulated Pre polymer foam designed for swirl removal, polishing and compounding. Flat pad have become the most effective and widely used pads since DA polishing has become the norm for a majority of detailers globally for paint correction and intensely swirled paint. 

Wool Cutting Pad 

It stays reliable for extended operational periods and is a Veteran in the game. The distinction between Steamed and Un-Steamed pads is that un-steamed pads are sewn tightly together, and steam pads strands sprout with moisture and heat.  We used and unsteamed wool for the most aggressive cutting pad and we combine this pad with Silk. Silk is the most sustainable natural product for polishing pads, as well as being the strongest natural fiber in the world. That strength creates a pad with unmatched durability to any other material on the market.  Microfiber pads become the most popular for DA cutting and are frequently considered the “wool pad” for DA polishers. One main reason the microfiber pad works so well is the fine strands allow for maximum amount of abrasives to load the area and provide cutting power. Microfiber (essentially plastic) creates a lot of drag and heat when used on a rotary polisher, making it difficult to use and unpleasant user experience.  Silk is the finest natural fiber and offers similar benefits for a rotary cutting pad as the microfiber does for a DA pad.  Being it is a natural fiber, and not plastic, it glides over the painted surface easier, allowing for the abrasives to help work, and increase cutting ability.  Silk is the first evolution in the traditional wool category to offer increased benefit and value for technicians in the OEM, aftermarket, collision repair and detailing markets. 

Waffle Hex or other textured face Polishing Pad 

Textured face pads were originally designed to reduce heat when used on rotary polishers.  The waffle or texture allowed for a break in the friction on the surface, helping to dissipate heat as well as balance the friction to avoid damaging paint. It makes the polishing process much smoother, and eliminated chatter, skipping or hopping of the polisher. Some of the pads on the market offer channels or other features to break friction, but pads like the LC CCS have unique additional features that increase polish working time as well as limit the absorption on the pad.  The CCS pad is one of the only pads in the market with a textured face that offers additional value besides breaking friction. Since heat is managed a little differently when compared between DA and Rotary polishers, textured pads are not as commonly used in the detailing market, but still widely popular in the collision repair industry where rotary machines are still very relevant and used more.