On what to put on the cyclo head (under the cloth)- I don't think the perfect solution has been found yet. Each configuration had its pluses and minuses.
Here is what I have tried under the cloth:
 | Cyclo wool/poly bonnets |
Positives: nice polish, easy to purchase
Negatives: balls up fast, balls are hard and scratch a lot so you have to comb them out with a wire brush very often.
| Cyclo wool/poly bonnets covered with a terry bonnet |
Positives: almost as good a polish as the wool/poly bonnets, the bonnets do not ball up nearly as fast
Negatives: The heads seem to knock together more (because of the increased bulk) so the operation is not as smooth but this might just be on my old polisher, the bonnets still do ball up eventually - check under the terry bonnet often. If you start getting "twirly" scratches you probably have formed balls.
| Medium or Firm Cyclo foam |
Positives: a good polish, no balls to comb out!!, easy to purchase
Negatives: does not get around the rivets quite as well, seems to leave a few more swirls. Even the firmest foam from cyclo is still a bit too spongy.
| What gave me the best polish was actually cut up 100% wool seat covers
(the kind with the actual skin on the back). To these I glued Velcro on the
back. Even under the cloth the wool gets around the rivets and gives a nice
polish. On the minus side even the 100% wool balls up but the balls are not
as hard as the poly blend bonnets you buy from cyclo. These balls still
scratch so you have to comb out the bonnets all the time. |
| What I ended up using in the end was left over firm dense foam, from our
new airstream couch, glued, directly on to the cyclo heads with rubber cement. I used
a couple sets of these. I had to do a bit more hand cleanup (with glass wax
and micro fiber cloth) around the rivets but that was easier than combing
out the balls. |
| Firmer Foam - I have just started trying an even firmer foam. I sanded the edges to round them off a little. This seemed to work well for the flat areas but it does not get around the rivets very well. If you put the terry bonnets over the firm foam it does get around the rivets better. The terry bonnets with eventually ball up so check them often. |
Try a few variations - invent something new - let me know what works for you!! I think there is an ideal solution that has yet to be found.
