I never use wool pads period. I am just not a fan of them. With foam, i have more control of where I am buffing and I know where the pad ends. Sometimes with the wool pads, you will burn through on plastic on the ends of the wool.
I use Lake County pads and I always start with a yellow pad and a rough cutting compound, before I know it I am done. Just nib them out with 1500, get the nib completely out with 1500 and then 2000 where the nib was and about an inch around the surrounding area. Of course use a block.