Using Wool Pads

Why not Wool buffing pads?

That’s my question. I know you have heard, or have possibly seen bad things happen to paint while using a wool pad. You’ve seen burned or blistered clear coat, burnt moldings and trim, the horrible swirl marks and hazed up paint. Yes, we have all seen these disastrous problems when using a wool pad. However, not only can these issues be avoided when using a wool pad, but to create a truly breathtaking paint job, you need to start with some kind of wool pad.  

A little history

Let’s go back a few years….well about 30-40 years to be exact when all paint systems were single stage and either lacquer or enamel. These single stage paints had more material and they were much harder. Therefore, more aggression was needed to remove “dead” paint and buff the surface of the fresher paint. The big, fuzzy, caked up wool pad was a fixture on every single buffer. 

Wool was needed to correct the paint. Ask any old timer how he buffed a paint job way back when. He will say he buffed it with a wool pad, a beach sand compound, and used a heavy and fast spinning buffer. They even finished with wool back then.  

Fast forward to the 80’s When clear coats came into prominence in the 80’s, more detailers switched to foam pads. They found that buffing with wool was getting too aggressive and they were quickly burning and rubbing through this new clear coat system. More detailers found foam to their liking and buffing pad manufacturers started making foam in different grades. Foam could now be used effectively for compounding without leaving such nasty swirl marks behind. The paint surface had a nicer gloss and detailers found foam pads more user friendly. Mistakes still could be made with the wrong kind of foam such as burned moldings and trim, and if too much heat was created, clear coat could still blister and burn. But foam basically took over and many detailers said goodbye to wool for good. Now, with orbital buffers being so popular, foam is now the type of pad almost exclusively used in buffing for all purposes. But again, my question is Why not Wool?

Wool is now almost a taboo word. Ask a detailer today if he wants to buff with wool and he will pretty much look at you like you have 2 heads. He will tell you about every kind of foam pad out there with all the crazy cuts and shapes and colors….and gimmicks. Of course there are fantastic foam pads out there that do a great job. However, for me, if I want total correction in a short amount of time, I am grabbing a WOOL pad. Yes, I said it……. Wool! Here’s why 

Today’s clear coats

I recently wrote a set of articles on today’s newer clear coats. They are much harder and more scratch resistant than those of even 5 years ago. Many product companies have answered with more aggressive products, but detailers continue to use foam to try and correct the finish. The denser and harder foam pads that are used for correction and compounding are just too hard for me. They are very difficult to use with a rotary buffer. I have yet to find a perfect foam compounding pad. The foam compounding pads that have a great feel generally are not as aggressive as I like. The harder, denser foam pads are a nightmare when used with a rotary, have poor feel and are sometimes more dangerous than a wool pad if you are not careful. But we all will agree that a scratch resistant clear coat needs more aggression. So what should you do? 

Wool vs. foam, the viewpoints

Some detailers will use a very aggressive compound. There are some really good products out there now that have good cut. Some of these products have been made for scratch resistant clear coats. In theory, one of these products can be used with a foam cutting pad, even with an orbital buffer and create the desired finish. However……foam will always take longer and you will never get the same correction that you will with wool. Some people may disagree. They may argue that foam will get you there (eventually) and you will be left with virtually no swirls if used with an orbital buffer, and very limited swirls if used with a rotary buffer. The other part of their argument is that it will take less buffing steps using foam because you are avoiding the harsh swirl marks that may be a byproduct of using a wool pad.  

These are all good points, especially if the customer is not looking for perfection. But now it’s my turn to stand up for wool. I argue that if we are attempting and looking for near total paint correction, a wool pad is needed to start the job. Yes, time spent on the job may be a concern and what the customer is willing to pay may play a part, but the goal is paint correction. Once that’s established, the pad for the best correction is always wool. But wool today is a dirty word in most detailers’ vocabularies. It’s the forgotten underdog, the black sheep, the little guy, the last one picked in gym class, etc. I like a good David vs. Goliath battle. I’ll take wool. 

Wool will get me the correction I want much faster. I am not afraid of either a wool pad or using a rotary buffer, so wool is my choice. I will still use the same product as my foam pad using counter-part, but I will get the job done faster. Sure, you say that I may get faster paint correction, but now there are tons of swirls and hazy paint which will need more polishing steps of swirl removal to get the clarity and gloss back. Not necessarily. Choosing the correct wool pad will mean extra cut but also limited swirls which can easily be removed. We will talk specifics of wool in a bit. 

I have tried all kinds of foam pads with a rotary attempting to get perfect correction. It’s extremely difficult to do so and much more time consuming. I demonstrate this in my classes all the time. I buff an area with a compounding foam pad and right next to it, buff an area with wool. In ALL cases the wool does a better job of correction. Yes there will be slightly more swirling with a wool pad, but I want to look “through” the swirls and judge my overall correction. That's my goal. I get there faster with a wool pad. The wool does its job quickly and if it’s a quality wool pad, there will be very limited swirls and hazing.  

With a compounding foam pad, you will create much more heat, especially if you are really trying to fully correct the area. Too much heat will cloud the clear coat, cause blistering or possibly burn it. A compounding foam pad generally will be harder and denser which will give the detailer a poor feel and he will struggle a little more to control the buffer.  

I am not saying a foam pad can’t do a great job in many cases. If a customer isn’t willing to pay for total paint correction and you need to get the job done quickly, I will also use a foam pad for the corrective work. But the reality is, foam just can’t cut as good as wool, or as fast. 

Rotary vs. Orbital

I am a bit biased here as well. I am a rotary guy. I always have been. Once I learned how to correctly use a rotary buffer, I use it for almost every step, sometimes even wax application. It’s quicker and I like the feel of a rotary better than an orbital. I also want to get the job done faster and better, so I use a rotary. But let’s look at the counter-point again. 

Orbital buffers have been around for a long time. They have evolved and gotten much better over the years. The advantage of an orbital buffer is NO swirls. This is huge for most detailers. You can lean heavily on an orbital buffer at its highest speed and still not cause swirls. Orbital buffers now have more power and that’s a plus. Combine more power and torque with a good compound and a good compounding foam pad, you can get some great results. You can cut down the number of buffing steps and produce a swirl free finish.  

But again, there is a flip side. Many detailers try to get excellent correction with an orbital buffer and a foam pad. To even attempt to do that you will have to turn up the orbital buffer to a very high speed which makes it vibrate much more and is more taxing on the user. It also takes far longer to get the desired result. Therefore I am not a huge fan of an orbital buffer to do correction work. After I wet sand a blemish, a scratch, an entire panel, or an entire car, there is no way to get the sand scratches completely out with an orbital buffer and a foam pad. It’s a waste of time. 

So that brings me back to the rotary buffer and a wool pad. Many detailers are still afraid of both. There is no reason to be. A rotary can be just as safe and more effective if used correctly. A wool pad can be the same. But why am I so adamant on using a wool pad? I wasn’t for a long time. I hated wool. I have access to just about any foam pad that’s out there and some proto-types that never even hit the market. And I have some pretty good ones that I really like for “light” to medium” paint correction. But for the heavy correction I just haven’t found that perfect foam for heavy cutting that felt great, had a great cut in a short time. True, swirls will be less (only slightly if the correct wool is used) but I can deal with swirls easily. I want the correction in a shorter time frame and a better feel while not over-heating the clear. Foam just can’t cut as good as wool and it takes way too long. So I started gravitating back to wool to see what was out there. Let’s examine what makes up some wool pads and why they may be very aggressive and have such a bad reputation. 

Old school wool

In the olden days (50’s, 60’s, 70’s) a wool pad was very aggressive and very nasty looking. It just had a look of intimidation where you knew it was going to “grind” off some paint. They were big, fuzzy, twisted and they meant business. But it was a different time. Paint was hard, oxidized and there was a lot of it. Excess paint removal was not catastrophic. This pad was combined with high speed on a rotary buffer and a “beach sand” compound to get the job done. 

Of course today we have much less material to work with and clear coat is a different chemistry. It’s a form of plastic which means if you heat it too much it will soften, causing swirl marks, possibly blister and/or burn. So much more care must be taken in buffing today’s clear coats. But this is a big reason why detailers are still horribly afraid of using a wool pad.  

With clear coats getting harder and some being a re-flow scratch resistant clear, you cant over heat them or you will be in trouble. This is also a reason why I have looked more closely at wool in the last few years. The new wool pads that are currently available are not your typical “old school” wool. Let’s see why 

How wool is defined

Wool pads are graded a couple of different ways. First the kind of wool used is important. A conventional wool pad is 100% wool and is generally a twisted yarn. It’s also a dense pile making it more aggressive. These pads look more like a “mop” and feel like carpeting. Sure, running a pad like this in a rotary direction at 2000 RPM will cut into a paint job very quickly and leave it severely marred, hazed and swirled. These are the pads of yesteryear that many detailers are deathly afraid of. They still exist but often are not needed, even on the more scratch resistant clears. 

The twists of the yarn that you may see in a wool pad is what’s known as “ply” If a pad is referred to as a 4 ply pad, it means that the yarn is twisted 4 times, making it more aggressive. There are pads that have 4 ply, 2 ply, single ply (no twists) and combinations, where sometimes every other strand of yarn is twisted. The more twists or higher the “ply”, the more aggressive the pad will be. 

The other way a wool pad is graded is by what’s called “pile height”. This is how tall or thick the yarn is. Generally the thicker the pile height, the more aggressive the pad will be. Some pads have a 2 inch pile height (more aggressive) while some pads have pile heights at about 7/8’s of an inch (less aggressive).  

Wool pads can have other strands sewn in to make it more or less aggressive as well. Acrylic yarns can be added to make it more or less aggressive, nylon can be added to make it more aggressive, or the pad can be made of a sheepskin or even lambs wool to make it less aggressive. These are some of my favorite pads for factory clear coats. These pads still cut much better than a compounding foam pad but they will leave a very nice gloss with minimal swirls. I have used these pads for years. Sometimes also dying a wool pad will make a difference. I have tested pads that were dyed to make them “prettier” but the dying affects the cutting ability of the yarn. So there are many variables in wool that will make them more or less aggressive. 

Now, new to the market are exciting new pads with silk sewn in. These pads keep the aggressiveness of what the pad was designed for, but the silk adds polishing strands that limits swirls and really brings up the gloss. I love these pads even more than lambs wool or sheepskin. These newer wools also throw less lint and sometimes are even non linting so they won’t make a mess.  

So a wool pad is just not a “wool” pad to be scared of anymore. There are still aggressive versions out there which the body shop industry still loves. They want aggressive, quick cutting pads that will help eliminate sand scratches, orange peel and other blemishes from a paint job. I like an in between wool pad such as these new silk blends which I recently tested.  

Wool pads as an advantage?

You may think I am crazy but I actually find wool to be an advantage over a cutting foam pad in many cases. I want the cut and correction. Wool gives that to me quicker than foam. I want to keep the temperature of the clear coat lower to prevent blistering and creating so much heat that the clear coat softens and the swirls actually go deeper into the clear. Deeper swirls WILL take more polishing steps to remove. A correctly chosen wool pad buffs cooler, cuts quicker and leaves you with minimal swirls. I love the feel of a good wool pad. The buffer glides across the paint surface and I can use as much pressure as I need and will not over heat the clear. The wool also contours to the body panels where a harder foam pad will not.  

No need to use wool on the entire vehicle.

If you are truly worried about heavy swirls but want a little quicker correction, here’s a trick. If you want total correction in the areas that are most noticeable such as the hood, trunk, sides of the roof and the top portions of the doors, fenders and quarter panels, try this. Just use the wool in those areas. Other lower areas like the lower portions of side panels can be buffed with foam. When a customer can stand over and look directly down on areas like the hood and trunk, you may want to use wool on these sections and leave foam to do the rest. It’s not cheating if they really don’t or won’t notice, or are not paying for a true show car appearance. This is a way to incorporate wool and get better and faster correction in key areas without doing the entire car with wool. 

Because foam has been around for so long now and many detailers only use an orbital buffer, they may still shy away from wool. Some detailers are also younger and they were never exposed to a wool pad and have only heard horror stories. Well, let this old timer (well, not really) tell you that wool can be your friend and ally if you give it a chance.