Abstract: A flexible, shape conforming pad for use in cleaning, smoothing or finishing. The pad has an abrasive cover and an absorbent core. The edges of the core are anchored to the edges of the cover by compressing and heat sealing the core's edges between the cover's edges. The cover is fabricated from an abrasive material or a combination of different materials. When a combination of the materials is used, the different materials cover separate areas of the pa to provide different surfaces. The fabrication of the cleaning pad is automated, and a plurality of the cleaning pads are fabricated at the same time by a plurality of sealing and cutting devices which simultaneously compress and heat seal spaced strips of the uncut cover and core blank and then the compressed strips are cut to form plural cleaning pads. In the fabrication method using two different materials, all four edges of the cleaning pad are heat sealed.