I just bought a PC 7424 from a fellow member along with (I think) a green, orange, and a white pad. I'm trying do remove the swirl marks (quite a lot) and some very long surface scratches on the bumper of my TSX.

Question is, which pad should I use for the swirl mark removal, and which one for the scratches? I'm planning to polish the entire car since the swirl marks are all over the place fromt the dealer's car wash I usually hand wash, but anyway...

What polishes should I be using with which pad for the swirls, and what to use for the scratches?

 

Are there any marks or logos? Pad manufacturers use different colors to identify aggressiveness however there is no standard what colors represent what. Try and contact the member you purchased from and find out where he/she got them from. Here is a thread on polishing pads. Hopefully it helps out. The majority here use Erasure/LC pads . . .
White = Light polishing
Green = A little more cut than white
Orange = A versatile light cut pad

 

Thanks, wow, that's a very good thread that you made. The pads were purchased from Excel detail. So if I read your correctly, I should:

1. Use the Orange pad to first remove the scartches on the bumper
2. Then White pad on entire car to remove swirls
3. Use the Green pad to apply wax?

but above you said green is more cut than white, contrary to your thread.

Also, what polishes should I be using for each pad?

 

the green pad has more cut then the white, so it would not be a good idea to wax with that .

go to excel detail and buy any of his polishes, pick up a medium cut and a finishing polish. probably should get optimum products, they say it has a long work time, and its good for beginners.

 

So in my case for removing swirls, should I start with the white pad first? Which type of polish should I use for that?

What about for removing the clearcoat scratches on the bumper? (I tried Meguires Scratch-X by hand and didn't work)

Sorry, still a bit overwhelmed by all the different pads and polishes, first time using a dual action polisher... everything was by hand before

 

yes the forums recommend to start light, then work your way down to the more aggressive stuff. you can probably start off with orange pad though.
-you should probably use optimum compound, medium cut polish, first with an orange pad.
-then you need a finishing polish to bring your paint back to full gloss, sticking with the optimum line use optimum polish with a white pad.

and you should probably top it off with a sealant, last way longer then wax and has a nice durable gloss, try Four Star Ultimate paint protection, then you can top everything off with a sacrificial layer of wax.

i would recommend going to excel detail online store and picking up some 4oz bottles of the optimum product, very cheap for a trial size. will run you like 5$ a bottle. then pick up the Paint protection while your at.

and last but not least make sure you prep your car throughly to ensure the best results.

 

If they were bought from me, the Orange is the most aggressive from the bunch, followed by white then green. The Green sounds like an old Propel Pad, which is also a light polishing pad, yet not firm lke the White, so its just a notch down from white. You still need a pad to finish up with like Red or Black.....
Give Optimum Compound a shot with Orange, then Optimum polish with white or Orange. The compound can be a little tricky finishing out on dark colors, and you need to stay with a firm pad to abrade the abrasives.
Seal up with your favored (Many of us really like Four Star UPP) sealant.

 

See Post #3 of that thread (posted by TOGWT). One of the other detailing sites carries a green pad and it is explained here. I don't know if the pad's properties are the same as the green pad from Autogeek. Sorry for the confusion.

 

when you say finish with a red or black pad thats for applying the sealant right?

 

Yep, that's what it means.

 

Thanks a lot guys Will be placing order with Exceldetail soon

One more thing, what's the proper way to clean these pads after I'm done with the polish? Do I just wash them with Dawn dish soap and let it dry?

 

Everyone has a different process, here are some threads to give you an idea what can be done.
https://acurazine.com/forums/wash-wax-23/do-you-clean-reuse-your-pads-385114/
https://acurazine.com/forums/wash-wax-23/cleaning-pads-353529/
https://acurazine.com/forums/wash-wax-23/cleaning-pc-pads-340714/