Just a question But do anyone still use these today and why to add surface? With abralon I went away from them and haven't used on today's coverstocks

I still use a white Scotch Brite pad when washing the ball surface off. Still have a bunch of different grits but seldom use them anymore. Same with the trizact pads.

Just wondering if the white pad is about 2500 grit FEPA, then why would anyone use the expensive gold colored pad (2000-2500 FEPA) which is fairly close to the white pad.  Would the difference be worth the additional cost and difficulty to find?
For me probably not, but others?

Because the abrasive on a white pad is talc or talcum powder, it is so weak, it won't affect the surface of resin balls which are quite hard. Talc is or was used in many bath powders and baby powders. It's that mild; so why would one expect it to affect the surface of a bowling ball? That's the best explanation I can provide.

The gold pad uses aluminum oxide.
See http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSuUn_zu8l00x4Y_9oYt1ov70k17zHvu9lxtD7SSSSSS--

I like the gold and light gray.  Used in my seesaw for taking the lane shine off the ball.  With water by hand for refreshing the surface.