Stick with mild soap for coated pads.

Mild soap. Alcohol strips the coating over time, and once that’s gone, the glide goes with it.

Coated hard pads—like the Glorious Helios or most glass-infused surfaces—have a thin top layer that gives them that fast, smooth feel. Isopropyl alcohol is a solvent. It slowly dissolves that layer, especially if you soak the pad or scrub hard. The result is uneven wear: spots that feel slow and sticky, then a pad that needs replacing months early.

Mild dish soap and warm water do the job without the risk. A drop on a microfiber cloth, wipe the pad down, rinse with a damp cloth, dry it. Takes thirty seconds. No damage.

Alcohol works fine on uncoated hard pads (plastic, glass, aluminum) but if the manufacturer says “coated” or mentions a special surface layer, keep the IPA away.

Your pad’s glide lives and dies by that coating. Don’t speed up its death.