FAQ: What do different pad colors mean and what are they used for?
FAQ: What do different pad colors mean and what are they used for?
We’ve all seen the rainbow of colors used by floor pad manufacturers. Did you know that there is a fairly standardized color code scheme at play? The color of the pad actually tells you when it’s appropriate to use it. Below we will go over the most popular colors and even dive into some specialty pads.
White pads are the least aggressive. They are used for polishing, buffing or light scrubbing wood, linoleum, laminate flooring. white soft pads won’t scratch surfaces and can also be used to apply paste wax. These pads are a medium aggressiveness. These are best for marble and stone cleaning. They are more aggressive than red polishing pads. Best used when green pads are too aggressive.Black pads are the most aggressive. They are a heavy-duty scrubbing and stripping pad used for stripping floors or heavy duty scrubbing on very dirty floors. They remove floor finish with wax stripper and can be used to remove almost anything else. Use only on floors durable enough like commercial vinyl flooring to remove the wax, smooth concrete or industrial type floors.
Red pads are slightly aggressive. Red pads are designed to clean the floors and polish. For wood floors you should not use anything more aggressive. You can‘t apply paste wax with this pad. **Most common pad**Green pads are moderately aggressive. They are used for scrubbing and general cleaning floors. This is the most aggressive pad you should use on linoleum.Ultra blue stripping pads are an aggressive stripping pad used when you have significant amounts of wax buildup on the floor. (Do NOT confused with blue scrubbing pads).
What about specialty floor pads?
Hog hair/Horse Hair pads come in regular and light. These are used for polishing and light cleaning all in one. A hogs hair light pad is great for regular cleaning when the floor has small scratches in it. Prepares wood, vinyl tile, sheet vinyl, marble, terrazzo and concrete floors for finish applications. Requires only neutral cleaner or water to effectively deep scrub. Coated with specialized abrasive for rapid, smooth cutting of floor finish. No slippery residue from strippers; no stripper cleanup on baseboards or nearby floors. No chemical contamination on skin, clothes and shoes. This pad requires the use of a backer pad, usually red to prevent damage to the machine.
3M diamond coated floor pads are used for cleaning and polishing marble, terrazzo, slate and polished concrete flooring. It’s a one step process that cleans and polishes stone floors and helps elimate the need to use floor finishes, coatings, stripper and crystallization products.
What size should I use?
You should use a pad that fits your machine. These pads all require the use of a ‘pad driver’. The pad driver connects to your machine and usually has ‘teeth’ or ‘hooks’ to hold on to the pad. If you measure the diameter of the pad driver through the center you will know which size pad you need. We do not suggest using a brush as a pad driver. We stock all the common sizes from 11″ all the way up to 27″ in most colors.
