Old thread I know but I figured I'd throw out something here that some can come back to and try out... Everyone made good points and everyone has their way of doing things, especially with paint and body work. As for the pads, I learned from an old timer and always used Wool pads. I've tried foam and they work great but I am just stuck on wool. Now I used to be a HUGE 3M fan and still am for body shop and paint jobs. I now run my own detailing business and what I use now is Optimum compounds and polishes which have pretty much ZERO dusting (this is important on a freshly detailed/washed car that you dont want to wipe down and blow out again for the dust) and it works great with long working time. IMO it's quicker with less steps than 3M but for fresh paints and some makes of cars the 3M is better (it just all depends). Now for a pad I still use 3M sometimes but now I am using all Lake Country. They make a wool/foam blend that works awesome and doesn't shed/dust! Using this along with their pad cleaner helps a lot.
Not sure how many others here have used a wool/foam blend cutting pad but I never knew about them until I started doing more of the detailing stuff and learning about more products out there that aren't just for the body shops. Someone told me to use them, I put it off not wanting to change how I do things and then one day just decided to try it and love them.