Transcript
When you hear the word Rupes—and by the way, that is the correct way to pronounce the name—the first thing that comes to mind is normally their amazing tools, like the long-stroke polishers, the Scorpio sanders, and also the Rupes Nanos.
But something that a lot of people might not know is they also make all their own pads and chemicals. In fact, this makes Rupes unique in the industry because they make pretty much everything except for the paint that’s on the car—and I wouldn’t be surprised if they do that one of these days.
Rupes Pads Work Great on Any Machine, Not Just Rupes
Let me just share some of the pads and some of the technology they have. Of course, Rupes wants you to use these on their tools, but I’m here to tell you these work great on any tools. They’re some of the highest-quality pads I’ve ever used in my life.
Foam Pads by Rupes
Teal Intermediate Foam Pad
So first, let’s take a look at some of the foam pads. Now, this is their brand-new intermediate pad, and I love the color—this teal color. But more importantly, they changed the design of their pads a few years ago to what they call a contour profile.
The back side of the pad is kind of dished out or cut out like this, and this is an important feature. What this does is, anytime you’re buffing into a curve or, say, you go up on edge, the foam will tend to flex backward. If you have a cylindrical pad so it’s just straight edges, a lot of times the foam twists in, and then you can expose the backing plate or the back edge of the pad.
So, it’s kind of a built-in safety feature that I really like, and it works great, again, as I said, on all tools.
So this is their teal intermediate pad.
Blue Coarse Foam Pad
They also have a coarse foam pad—very coarse.
Mike’s Tip: How to Know Pad Type Without Color Codes
Let me just share something with you: there’s never going to be a universal color-coding system for foam pads. Everybody wishes there was, but there is not ever going to be. So, every pad manufacturer has their own colors.
A lot of times, people are confused about which pad is which. But here’s a simple way to tell what the pad is: take your hand with a clean pad and just feel the surface like this. You can feel a sharpness. Take it and compress it like this, and I feel this one’s very stiff.
That’s because this is a coarse foam cutting pad. It’s got a sharpness and a stiffness that enable it to cut, combined with the abrasive technology you’re using, very quickly.
| Pad Type | Texture | Use Case | Color | Sizes Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate Foam | Moderate stiffness | Intermediate cutting and polishing | Teal | 6″, 5″, 3″, 2″, 1″ |
| Coarse Foam | Very stiff and sharp | Heavy cutting | Blue | 6″, 5″, 3″, 2″, 1″ |
| Fine-Cut Foam | Soft and pliable | Fine polishing | Yellow | 6″, 5″, 3″, 2″, 1″ |
| Ultra-Fine Foam | Extremely soft | Finishing on soft or finicky paints | White | 6″, 5″, 3″, 2″, 1″ |
| Coarse Wool | Thin, coarse wool | Heavy defect removal | Grey | Varies |
| Wool Polishing Pad | Softer wool and foam | Follow-up polishing | Black | Varies |
| Fine Microfiber | Smooth, fine texture | Light correction | White/Black | Varies |
| Ultra-Fine Microfiber | Ultra-smooth fibers | Final polishing | White/Blue | Varies |
Other Foam Pad Options
Besides the blue coarse pad, they have the teal intermediate pad, the yellow fine-cut pad, and the ultra-fine pad, which is white.
The ultra-fine pad is very soft, and it’s perfect for working on paints that are finicky or softer. These foam pads come in different sizes, all the way from six to five to three inches. They also have two- and one-inch sizes, so you have a complete selection of pads no matter what tool you’re using.
Wool Pads
Besides the foam pads, they also have amazing wool and microfiber pads.
Coarse Wool Polishing Pad
This is their coarse wool polishing pad, and you notice it’s really thin. This is designed to use on orbital polishers to give you incredible cutting power, especially for those deeper defects or if you’re working on harder paints.
Wool Polishing Pad
If you’ve got something that’s kind of in-between or you’re going to do a follow-up step, they’ve got the wool polishing pad. One of the things you can see right away is you can easily color-differentiate them between the color of the wool itself but also the foam interface pad between the backing and the fibers themselves.
So, there are two options for fiber pads.
Microfiber Pads
Then, over here, of course, we’ve got their microfiber pads. Rupes has been creating microfiber pads for a long time, so they’ve really brought out some very high-quality microfiber pads.
This includes the design of the fibers, the foam, and the backing. It has strong attachment strength to the backing plate.
For this, they’ve got the fine and the ultra-fine, and these are primarily used for doing light correction and also paint polishing.
Conclusion
Now, besides the pads that you see right here, they also have a complete array of other pads, and you can get more information about those, of course, on the Rupes website.
If you’re ever looking for quality pads for your Rupes tools or any of the polishers that you may use, I know you can count on Rupes pads. They’re high quality, just like their tools and chemicals.
For more information about these pads or any of the pads on the market, be sure to check out our other videos on the Dr. Beasley’s YouTube channel.