3M™ Perfect-It™ 1 Foam Finishing Pad

An Alternative Option for Traditional Compounding
3M™ Perfect-It™ 1 Foam Finishing Pad was engineered to help operators forego compounding and still achieve a polished appearance. When used as a system (PDF, 177 Kb) with 3M™ Perfect-It™ 1 Finishing Material, this combination cuts like a compound but handles and finishes like a polish. It allows you to eliminate the use of a traditional rubbing compound pad and machine polishing pads while still leaving a high gloss finish with minimum swirl marks.

For optimal performance, it's important the surface has been thoroughly sanded prior to polishing. Once the surface has been adequately prepped for polishing, apply 3M™ Perfect-it™ 1 Finishing Material to the panel and hold the finishing pad as flat as possible. The blue-colored pad corresponds with the blue-color liquid and cap on the Perfect-It™ Finishing material. We created these corresponding color schemes to help operators who conduct multiple applications in the shop keep track and minimize errors.

Applying medium pressure (egg crates collapse) followed by light pressure tends to work well. Operating the buffer tool at or below the recommended RPM is also a good idea. Exceeding this limit may cause sling and excess heat, which can burn the paint. To check for any remaining, barely-there scratches after using the foam pad, we recommend applying 3M™ Inspection Spray and a 3M™ Sun Gun™ to highlight any imperfections that may otherwise be hard to detect.

Choose from Two Attachment Styles
This pad is available in 6" and 8" diameters (PDF, 320 Kb), as well as two different attachment types:

• Double-sided — 3M™ Quick Connect Adaptor (8" and 6")
• Single-sided — Hookit™ Backup Pad (8")

The 3M™ Quick Connect Adaptor is a metal 5/8" thread that fits through the pad's center hole and attaches to the polishing tool. It helps center the pad for more effective use and helps operators alternate between compound and polishing pads.

The 3M™ Hookit™ Backup pad features a hooks that attach to loops on the pad's backing. Attaching the foam pad to the backup pad is easy — simply use light pressure to stick the two together. Hook and loop attachment systems act like a cushion, absorbing shock and adding an extra buoyancy to the substrate, so you can stress less about gouging or over scratching.

Altogether, our 3M™ Perfect-It™ products are designed as a comprehensive system. The progressive series of abrasives, from buffing and compounding pads to propriety polishes, help repair substrates and produce show-room grade finishes with deep color and rich gloss.