Floor pads are available in a wide range of different colours and sizes. It is important to select the correct pad for the task at hand. At best, choosing the wrong floor pad to use with your machine will result in a poor quality job and wasted effort; at worse, you could damage your floor, which may result in a considerable cost to rectify.
This Gopher Chooser Guide helps you with the selection of the appropriate floor pads to use with your floorcare machine. This Chooser Guide can also be downloaded in PDF format at the foot of this page.
If in doubt about which is the correct pad to use, please seek guidance from us.
Floor Pad Colour Types
There is an accepted colour scheme to denote the grade of pad, defined both in terms of ‘coarseness’ of material, and the degree of difficulty of the work the pad must undertake.
As a rule of thumb, dark coloured floor pads are the coarsest and used for the most aggressive dirt removing tasks, while light coloured pads are the softest and largely used for polishing.
The full colour classification is as follows:
Colour
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Grade |
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Use |
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Coarse |
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Black floor pads are at the very coarse end of the range. They are designed for wet striping of floors with large build-ups of old finishes and heavy stains. They are used with low speed machines. Particular care must be taken when using these pads, as concentrated use on any one spot, can lead quickly lead to floor damage
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Coarse |
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Brown floor pads are at the coarser end of the range and can be used wet or dry for heavy duty stripping of floors, prior to re-coating. The brown floor pad is not commonly used, as green will be sufficient for most stripping jobs where a black pad is not required.
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Coarse |
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Green floor pads are also at the coarser end of the range. They are used for heavy duty scrubbing of floors and lighter stripping work. They are used with low speed machines
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 |
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Medium |
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Blue floor pads are of medium coarseness and are intended for scrubbing floors and heavy-duty spray cleaning applications. They are used with low speed machines.
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Medium |
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Red floor pads are designed for cleaning (light scrubbing) and spray buffing. They will remove scuff marks due to their slightly coarse finish and are used with low and medium speed machines.
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Fine |
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White floor pads are the softest and finest grade available. They should be used for dry polishing, burnishing of floors, or light water spray polishing for a super high gloss finish. They are used with high speed machines. The white floor pad is not commonly used, as the red is a generally suitable alternative.
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Floor Pad Sizes
The size of floor pad needed will be determined by your floorcare machine. Generally speaking the larger the machine disc the greater the productivity of the machine (in terms of the reduction in time taken to perform a task). The majority of machines in everyday use carry a 15” or 17” disk.
Downloads
Choosing the right floor pad
Disclaimer: Every precaution has been taken to ensure that the information and advice given in this Gopher Chooser Guide is accurate and reflects current best practice. If you in any doubt on any matter in relation to the information or advice given then you should always take further professional advice. No responsibility for loss occasioned by any corporate body or individual acting or refraining from action as a result of using any material contained within any Chooser Guide shown on this site can be accepted by Gopher Supplies or its associated companies.
Version Update: January 2012