particles were to be present during the subsequent polishing operation after the fining operation has been completed the pad 14 is removed and is replaced by a polishing pad of the type denoted at 31 in fig4 alternatively the pad 14 could remain on the lap and the polishing pad 31 could be adhered to the pad 14 this pad comprises a flexible water soluble matrix 33 containing an abrasive polishing powder the particles of which are denoted at 32 this matrix 33 is secured to one side of a fabric substrate 34 which is fastened at its opposite side by a layer 35 of adhesive to a tough flexible reinforcing layer 36 of plastic material the reinforcing layer 36 is in turn releasably secured to the upper surface of lap 10 by a layer 38 of high shear low peel strength adhesive similar to that employed in layer 18 of the fining pad 14 during the polishing operation the lens blank 20 is engaged with the surface of pad 31 in a manner similar to that illustrated in fig1 in connection with pad 14 and an abrasive free water stream is directed onto the lens polishing pad interface by tube 22 preferably pad 31 is of the type disclosed in u s pat no 4 576 612 so that during the polishing operation the matrix 33 slowly dissolves in the water stream thereby slowly releasing the particles 32 which thereby combine with the water at the lap lens interface to produce an ideal polishing slurry during this operation the water can be discharged to a waste line or if desired may be recirculated polishing particles cannot contaminate future grinding operations in the same machine after the polishing operation on a given lens blank has been.